YouBet said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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YouBet said:

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Absolute said:

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YouBet said:

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Started Suneater. I've read first four chapters and just wanted to say how brazen the author is for flat out plagiarizing Dune like he did.

Enjoying it so far though.

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Agree that the plagiarizing IS pretty obvious.....not just Dune to me. Gets original enough to excuse it as you go. I am on number 4 and taking a break right now. Feel like it is dragging/getting a little repetitive. Hopefully it picks back up.

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Makes me wonder how many people who love this series read Dune.

Did you read any of the short stories/novellas? Looks to be some in between the main books.

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I read Dune and Hyperion 2x before Sun Eater. The author is unapologetic about the influence both had on him and wrote his story as an homage to them.

The similarities fade the further you read on but at the end of the day it's still a classic "Hero's Journey" tale. I'm half way through book 7 and it's incredible. Books 3-6 are 5* masterpieces and this is shaping up to be the cherry on top.

I will say if book 3 didn't sell you (probably a top 5 book I've personally ever read) and still find the story tedious after that, it might just not be for you.

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I'm sure I will enjoy it. And as much sci-fi as I've read over the years it's hard not to copy themes from others. It just is. However, his first 3 chapters with some of the details and scenes he laid out was the most blatant I think I've ever seen. I was just surprised by it that's all.

Looking forward to it though.

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Aye. Big fan of it but no denying in my eyes that it REALLY stresses that line between "inspired by" and outright stealing ideas. At least for the first book. Which is where I am currently stopped at. I was waiting for the last one to be complete to pick it back up so I need to get back at it soon.

Eliminatus said:

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YouBet said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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YouBet said:

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Absolute said:

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YouBet said:

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Started Suneater. I've read first four chapters and just wanted to say how brazen the author is for flat out plagiarizing Dune like he did.

Enjoying it so far though.

---

Agree that the plagiarizing IS pretty obvious.....not just Dune to me. Gets original enough to excuse it as you go. I am on number 4 and taking a break right now. Feel like it is dragging/getting a little repetitive. Hopefully it picks back up.

---

Makes me wonder how many people who love this series read Dune.

Did you read any of the short stories/novellas? Looks to be some in between the main books.

---

I read Dune and Hyperion 2x before Sun Eater. The author is unapologetic about the influence both had on him and wrote his story as an homage to them.

The similarities fade the further you read on but at the end of the day it's still a classic "Hero's Journey" tale. I'm half way through book 7 and it's incredible. Books 3-6 are 5* masterpieces and this is shaping up to be the cherry on top.

I will say if book 3 didn't sell you (probably a top 5 book I've personally ever read) and still find the story tedious after that, it might just not be for you.

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I'm sure I will enjoy it. And as much sci-fi as I've read over the years it's hard not to copy themes from others. It just is. However, his first 3 chapters with some of the details and scenes he laid out was the most blatant I think I've ever seen. I was just surprised by it that's all.

Looking forward to it though.

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Aye. Big fan of it but no denying in my eyes that it REALLY stresses that line between "inspired by" and outright stealing ideas. At least for the first book. Which is where I am currently stopped at. I was waiting for the last one to be complete to pick it back up so I need to get back at it soon.

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Yeah, sorry to beat this horse and I'll shut up after this, but as I was reading the first couple of chapters I legit starting thinking (1) I was reading a reboot of Dune but then thought (2) How hard has Brian Herbert sued this guy and for how much?

I can see some Dune similarities, but these are logical predictions from what our future potentially could hold...

Main Character:
Young noble
Separated from family early (by his own choice and by mishap, not by war / house animosity)
Starts over from the bottom
Natural Leader

Worlds / Society:
Empire / God Emperor
Royal Houses
Old Earth Destroyed / Location "Lost" - References
Past AI war, now computers are forbidden (for the Sollan Empire anyways) - Mentat = Scholiast
Political intrigue and assassination attempts
Royalty somewhat controlled / heavily influenced by Religion
Chantry = Bene Gesserit
Knife Missile = Hunter-Seeker

Fuzzy similarity: (I am only on book 3) - Paul Atreides "prescience" could be similar to what Hadrian is experiencing but he seems (so far) to be fed information / help from a future alien race through their ability to manipulate time / multiverses

Sure it may steal some framework ideas which is logical for the world-building; but the story itself is pretty amazing (so far)... if what is written above is true (books 3-6 are 5*) then I am very excited to keep going. Books 1-2 were very intresting, but a bit of a slog at points.

YouBet said:

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Eliminatus said:

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YouBet said:

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M.C. Swag said:

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YouBet said:

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Absolute said:

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YouBet said:

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Started Suneater. I've read first four chapters and just wanted to say how brazen the author is for flat out plagiarizing Dune like he did.

Enjoying it so far though.

---

Agree that the plagiarizing IS pretty obvious.....not just Dune to me. Gets original enough to excuse it as you go. I am on number 4 and taking a break right now. Feel like it is dragging/getting a little repetitive. Hopefully it picks back up.

---

Makes me wonder how many people who love this series read Dune.

Did you read any of the short stories/novellas? Looks to be some in between the main books.

---

I read Dune and Hyperion 2x before Sun Eater. The author is unapologetic about the influence both had on him and wrote his story as an homage to them.

The similarities fade the further you read on but at the end of the day it's still a classic "Hero's Journey" tale. I'm half way through book 7 and it's incredible. Books 3-6 are 5* masterpieces and this is shaping up to be the cherry on top.

I will say if book 3 didn't sell you (probably a top 5 book I've personally ever read) and still find the story tedious after that, it might just not be for you.

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I'm sure I will enjoy it. And as much sci-fi as I've read over the years it's hard not to copy themes from others. It just is. However, his first 3 chapters with some of the details and scenes he laid out was the most blatant I think I've ever seen. I was just surprised by it that's all.

Looking forward to it though.

---

Aye. Big fan of it but no denying in my eyes that it REALLY stresses that line between "inspired by" and outright stealing ideas. At least for the first book. Which is where I am currently stopped at. I was waiting for the last one to be complete to pick it back up so I need to get back at it soon.

---

Yeah, sorry to beat this horse and I'll shut up after this, but as I was reading the first couple of chapters I legit starting thinking (1) I was reading a reboot of Dune but then thought (2) How hard has Brian Herbert sued this guy and for how much?

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Sun Eater is a Dune clone the way Wheel of Time is a LOTR clone. Ruocchio uses/used in his pitch to get people to read the first book: "Imagine Star Wars if Anakin being forced to become Darth Vader was right." The Star Wars/Dune/Hyperion influence is pretty obvious in Book 1 but it does evolve into its own thing. The theme of religion in the context of a hero's journey remains the most broadly similar theme through 6.5 books, but those are hardly inventions of Frank Herbert (it's just the most well known within the Sci Fi realm).

I can only say...IF you loved Dune, keep reading. Whereas the Dune series gets progressively weaker, Sun Eater gets progressively better and many of the complaints ive seen here will fall away.

Edit for context: Also the 'rip off' arguments correlate strongly with Ruocchio's age when he wrote Empire of Silence (he was 22) whereas Herbert was 45 when he wrote Dune. A common 'pitfall' (lack of a better term) for young authors is they struggle to find their own voice/style so they rely on their influences early on. Ruocchio clearly evolves as a writer (much like Pierce Brown did with Red Rising - which was called a 'Hunger Games' rip off when it was published).

Ok, FTR, I'm not complaining at all and I'm looking forward to digging into this. I was just taken aback by it because I've never seen such obvious lifting from someone else's work like this.

I don't really care; I was just surprised by its obviousness. I wish I could write like the author!

Onto the next topic!

Edit: and if it does get better over time unlike Dune then even better. I seem to be one of the few modern day Dune readers who thinks the same; Dune is peak and everything after it is levels below it and in some cases many levels below it.

lol oh buddy, you want the most egregious case of plagiarism in modern literature?

I unfortunately spent too much time reading a book that I would recommend people AVOID..."The First Binding" by R.R. Virdi. This man should be sued for plagiarism because it is almost a carbon copy rip off of Name of the Wind. I don't mean in some vague "every story has already been told" trope style similarity, I mean a beat for beat rip off. I'll spoiler tag this next part for anyone who hasn't read Name of the Wind yet, but this book features:
a man who is introduced in a tavern retelling his story as an orphan boy who's theatre family was killed by a band of mythical demons who then quests to a magic school where he is trained by an eccentric professor that literally takes him up to the residential insane asylum and throws him off the building....

And the worst part is...even in copying Name of the Wind (which is really good despite its flaws), this book sucked. It wasn't just a ripoff, it was a bad ripoff. I wish I could get a refund on the time I spent with this book.

lol. That's funny. Coincidentally, I'm one of the few people out there who is confused by everyone else's enamor with Name of the Wind. I thought it was boring and average and never went back to it. In hindsight, I made the right move considering the author has completely trashed his own fanbase by not finishing the series, lying about finishing the series, and then told us all to FO about it.

I agree, it's very overrated. I do like the magic system & generally the world building but the main character is too much.

Apache said:

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I agree, it's very overrated. I do like the magic system & generally the world building but the main character is too much.

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I didn't mind the main character 95% of the time, but when his love interest completely stoned him - he was a pathetic puppy about it. Completely used and abused and coming back for more. I'd have 100% stayed with the Fae chick...

M.C. Swag said:

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lol oh buddy, you want the most egregious case of plagiarism in modern literature?

I unfortunately spent too much time reading a book that I would recommend people AVOID..."The First Binding" by R.R. Virdi. This man should be sued for plagiarism because it is almost a carbon copy rip off of Name of the Wind. I don't mean in some vague "every story has already been told" trope style similarity, I mean a beat for beat rip off. I'll spoiler tag this next part for anyone who hasn't read Name of the Wind yet, but this book features:
a man who is introduced in a tavern retelling his story as an orphan boy who's theatre family was killed by a band of mythical demons who then quests to a magic school where he is trained by an eccentric professor that literally takes him up to the residential insane asylum and throws him off the building....

And the worst part is...even in copying Name of the Wind (which is really good despite its flaws), this book sucked. It wasn't just a ripoff, it was a bad ripoff. I wish I could get a refund on the time I spent with this book.

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Its literally the Bollywood version of Name of the Wind.

Finished The Wager and Crichton's Sphere over the last couple of weeks. Need to pick something else up now to finish out the year.

How did you like The Wager? I've had it sitting on my bookshelf all year but still haven't cracked it open yet.

FWIW I enjoyed it but didn't think it lived up to the hype. I feel like I heard rave reviews leading up to reading it and thought it was just good.

I didn't care for the poems, "songs" and stories even though they seem to be integral to the storyline. It definitely is a ripoff of the KingKiller Chronicles but I found it entertaining and hope that it actually gets finished. Rothfuss can eff off.

I liked it, but feel similar to what BR said. It was good, but not great. I found Lansing's book about the Endurance much more enjoyable.

Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson. Audiobook.

I finished this book last night & I highly recommend it. A fantastic read and great story telling. Brand is a sip but a very good historian & writer.



Finished Jack Carr's latest book back in October & fantastic read!