Publication Date: July 28, 2020
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Back when I first read Empire of Silence, I commented that I found Hadrian's lack of immediate victories in that book somewhat disappointing. We love adventure stories because we love living vicariously through their heroes, you see, and it was hard to do that with someone whose great victories were all being saved for future books.
In Demon in White, the Sollan Empire holds a Triumph to honor its newest savior---for what great deed, I won't spoil here---and during it, I thought a lot about my earlier commentary. No slave whispers in Hadrian's ear "remember, thou art mortal" as he parades through the streets of Forum, that impossible city in the clouds. . . but Future Hadrian serves a similar purpose for us readers, I think. This is the book where Hadrian's star well and truly begins to rise; this is the book where honors and glories fall upon him like rain. And always, always, as we watch Hadrian emerge victorious---as we readers experience his victories firsthand---his future self whispers in our ear of the degradations to come. No statue can rise to him, but that we are told of how it will topple. No status is conferred upon him but he reminds us of Gododdin. "Remember, I am mortal" Future Hadrian seems to whisper, as Present Hadrian barrels onwards and upwards . . . though after the events of this book, and from comments made in earlier books, it's not entirely clear that that's the case.
Hadrian Marlowe becomes many things in Demon in White. A teacher, to a spoiled young prince with a heady destiny ahead. The focal point of a mystery cult that sends the Chantry into a rage. A soldier, a politician, a hero of the realm. And . . . something else entirely. That, I won't spoil, except to say that the events at the end of Howling Dark are no longer the undisputed strangest in Hadrian's life.
This was no longer than the earlier books, but I found it a much quicker read. I'm not sure why; perhaps because a good chunk takes place on Forum, where we get the sort of political drama that I as a reader adore. Perhaps because we lean even further into the eldritch horror aspects of the series, which I also adore. Perhaps because we seem to be moving toward endgame, rather than merely setting up the pieces, and the pace picks up accordingly. Or perhaps it's simply because this is the first book where Hadrian has his feet firmly planted in a cultural milieu he understands, where much of the earlier two books were explicitly about throwing Hadrian as far off his own map as possible.
Overall, this is a rich, deep installment of a spectacular new series, epic and heartbreaking and breathtaking in its scope.
Read on, readers; you're in for a treat.
A big thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review!
