Ashes of Man is my favorite of the Sun Eater novels so far, and in my opinion the best and first to really deserve 5 stars. It feels like the second half of the fourth book, and where that book didn't feel entirely complete, this one definitely does. It's less dark than the previous novel but almost as grim.

The first few Sun Eater novels, after the first half or so of the first book, are full of triumph after triumph for Hadrian. He gets recognition, promotion, wins victory after victory. Here in these last two books, he has come down to Earth a bit, and it feels like we're on the downswing of the story, that the Hadrian on the page is getting closer to the Hadrian in the frame story.

The writing has improved book by book, though it's not a match for the best in the genre. Where Sun Eater shines is in its vast cast, its monumental worldbuilding, and its universe-spanning plots. There are dozens of worlds mentioned and referenced, all unique, and hundreds of named characters of which many have distinct personalities. Even common soldiers are given some characterization, and it makes these gigantic battles and vast distances feel more human. Ruocchio won't blow you away with the beauty of his prose, but you could do much worse for a space fantasy epic.