CHRISTOPHER RUOCCHIO Interview! - Author of The Sun Eater Series

Thank you so so much to Christopher Ruocchio for giving me the time to ask him questions about his INCREDIBLE first entry in the Sun Eater Series, The Empire of Silence.
You can buy Empire of Silence here!
www.amazon.com/Empire-Silence...
If you enjoyed the video, please feel free to check out some more, leave a like, or subscribe to the channel! All of those things help out more than you know :)
Twitter/X: / jajminton
Send me things at the address below:
John at Talking Story
475 Jake Alexander Blvd W
Ste 102 PMB 306
Salisbury, NC 28147

[@avantgardenovelist]

Ruocchio's got that Sanderson/Scorsese/Tarantino energy.

[@Talking_Story]

Now that you mention it I can see that.

[@pillarmusic1641]

What, Autism? 😂

[@pillarmusic1641]

@@avantgardenovelist Making the connection between all four having similar traits to people with autism is not making fun of autism. Getting offended over comments online doesn’t make you right either.

[@avantgardenovelist]

@@pillarmusic1641 it _doesn't_? darn. okay then, I'll leave it up to those reading your comment to decide whether or not you were employing ridicule.

[@pillarmusic1641]

@@avantgardenovelistI have autism

[@PhilipChaseTheBestofFantasy]

I am very much looking forward to reading Sun Eater in 2024. Thank you for doing this discussion, John -- marvelous job!

[@Talking_Story]

Means so much coming from you my friend. I am almost positive you will find alot to like in this one.

[@raiden_187]

I love how John is genuinely so happy in this interview. So enthusiastic about it and it's lovely.

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much. I have never been very good at hiding how I feel. Glad you enjoyed the interview.

[@groofay]

I'm so happy you got to do this interview. I love Ruocchio's awareness of the non-Dune things he's riffing off of, and his critics assuming he's just ripping off Dune without doing their research, and just your ability to talk to him person to person. I would love it if you could talk to him after each of the big books. This is one of your best videos yet.

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much! I am sure I will be talking to him again. I plan on going to his signing and meeting him in person since we live pretty close to each other. He is for sure IMO putting something together far beyond a riffing off of the source material that inspired him but he is so conscious and reverent to some of the stories that came before him. I guess I can understand how someone could say that, but I am with you they should dig a little deeper. Your kind words have made my day by the way.

[@NamasteBbooktube]

"Ripping off"?

[@Talking_Story]

@@NamasteBbooktube meant to type more than what he is riffing off of.

[@NamasteBbooktube]

@@Talking_Story I understand your comment, I was actually replying to @groofay's comment above because their comment makes it sound like Ruocchio just copied from some legendary books. I don't know because I haven't read these books, but in their comment "ripping off" seemed to be a strong choice of words (to me). Because all (well, most) writers are influenced by what has been done before, T S Eliot said in 'Tradition and Individual Talent' that the act of creation does not happen in a vaccum.

[@christinalangstone2520]

How you guys managed to avoid spoilers while still being able to have such an in-depth discussion is amazing. I am definitely going to start this series in a few weeks' time. Great interview John 🤓👍

[@Talking_Story]

Thank you so much. It is a tap dance.

[@tgibridays]

Dude. Such a good interview! And I've watched almost every Christopher interview. I love how thoughtful Christopher is about so many things and how much you two fed off each other in that regard.

[@Talking_Story]

Thank you so much I had such a great time getting to talk to him.

[@kylearmstrong4363]

This is a great interview. What I enjoy most is that you are really engaged with Christopher. No monitoring chat. It feels like a conversation.

[@Talking_Story]

Wow thanks so much I really appreciate that.

[@regulah2125]

This was FANTASTIC! It will probably be too hard to manage but one of these after each of the next 4 books would be absolute gold. You brought up such interesting insights and questions for Christopher and I'd be so much fun seeing that continue as you get further into the series. Thank you for setting this up. That hour went by way too quickly!

[@Talking_Story]

Wow. Thanks so much. I would love to talk him again. He was so great as a guest.

[@JustBSingProductions]

He’s reading Harry Potter at 4, and I was still trying to figure out if q came before or after “n n n o p” in the alphabet. Still not sure sometimes, to be honest. Fascinating guy and great discussion! Well done!

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks the book is something you should check out.

[@Morfeusm]

I didn’t know q existed until I was 8!

[@Talking_Story]

@@Morfeusm 8 seems like a good age to meet q😂

[@Morfeusm]

@@Talking_Story funnily enough I probably “met Q” in TNG before I knew letter q existed so I probably thought his name was Cue or something 😂😭

[@Talking_Story]

@@Morfeusm 😂

[@mattamant915]

This has to be the best author interview I've watched yet.

[@Talking_Story]

Wow can’t tell you how much I appreciate that!

[@mattamant915]

@@Talking_Story I can't wait for you to do more.

[@Talking_Story]

@@mattamant915 Thanks! I am looking forward to more so so much.

[@huntersteed2880]

I’ve listened to a lot of author interviews and a lot of Christopher Ruocchio interviews. This one was really well done. Thought provoking questions and insightful comments about the text and subtext. Really enjoyed it

[@Talking_Story]

Wow! Thanks so much this really means a lot to me.

[@brentasmith]

Great talk John. I've watched a lot of Christopher's interviews and discussions on here and you brought up and brought out things from Christopher I haven't heard before. It's very interesting.

[@Talking_Story]

Thank you so much. I had a blast! Looking forward to continuing the series.

[@callum7081]

This was a really well done interview, glad to see ruocchio gaining popularity across KZbin.

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much!

[@tracejefferson3169]

Thanks for such a fabulous interview. I learned quite a bit more about Christopher in this one. I will be starting Demon in White in January, really enjoying this journey.

[@Talking_Story]

I appreciate that so much Trace. I will be hitting Lesser Devil in January.

[@Shaad2321]

This was an awesome interview! Christopher is smart! I love the pendragon mention. That was a favorite of mine growing up in my teens!

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks Shaad!

[@MoraleHazard]

Great interview. Sun Eater is my favorite series and I credit it with reading (or rereading) a lot of other works, e.g. Book of the New Sun, some 40k books, Meditations, etc. just to better understand the references in Sun Eater.

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much. Be sure to watch for the video we got coming next week of us meeting him at his signing.

[@dphunk87]

Incredible series

[@Talking_Story]

Oh yes it is!

[@sharihoutman]

What a great interview! I'm almost done with Howling Dark and Now I'm looking forward to starting the next one. I'm in awe at the age he wrote these books. I never would have guessed that when I began this series. His intellect is rather intimidating but he's such a down to earth guy that you forget about it until he drops the next intellectual bombshell. Just, Wow!

[@Talking_Story]

So glad you enjoyed the interview!

[@m.j.johnsonbooks7856]

What ash interview! This guy has blown my brain

[@Talking_Story]

Right?! He is awesome!

[@nmal8702]

One of my favorite Booktubers interviewing one of my favorite authors! This is the life!!

[@Talking_Story]

Wow made my day with 1 😃

[@Zivilin]

This was a really great interview. Actually made me want to pick up the books sometime soon to read the series myself. 😊 One of the main things that got me was when you talked about genre blending and each book being slightly different. Really curious to see how that is (and adventure novels are one of my favourite genres so glad to see it represented in scifi).

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much so glad you enjoyed it. If you dive in please let me know your thoughts.

[@X-FAct0R]

John, I've watched many Ruocchio interviews and I have to say that I might have enjoyed this one the most. A lot of the ideas and themes that you brought up about EoS are things I hadn't really considered and it was endlessly fascinating getting to hear Christopher discuss them in depth. I sincerely hope that we have the opportunity to hear you two discuss the rest of the books in the series on a similar format, maybe even without the restrictions of trying to remain spoiler free. Either way, great job, great video. 👏🏻👏🏻

[@Talking_Story]

Made my day my friend and I haveto thank you for helping me to find this and push it to the top of my TBR. He was so cool to talk with. We will for sure be talking again I hope. I plan on meeting him in person at his signing since we don’t live very far apart.

[@X-FAct0R]

@@Talking_Story he seems like such a cool dude. I always make sure to pre-order all his new books at Quail Ridge which must be his local bookstore because he signs them. Definitely looking forward to hearing more about your SunEater journey

[@Talking_Story]

@@X-FAct0R yep that is where the signing will be. Thanks again my friend.

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

Wow what an awesome interview! These were the best most engaging author questions I can ever remember seeing, and my experience of Sun Eater is enriched for it!

[@Talking_Story]

Ben wow made my day with those words.

[@Talking_Story]

He was awesome to talk to and after reading EoS boy I had questions! Such a thought provoking book.

[@BooksWithBenghisKahn]

@@Talking_Story I can’t wait to track your journey through the rest of the books, and boy will you have more questions!

[@TonyTheJabroni]

What an outstanding interview, John. Your excitement is so infectious, I was grinning for most of the chat. I love the fact that even after dozens of interviews you still had questions for Christopher that he didn't seem to get repeatedly. And, Christopher, took the time to think and give thorough responses. He seems like an awesome guy, not to mention smart as hell. I can't wait to see what he has waiting for us in the next several books! I'm sure I've rambled enough, but I wanted to drop by and say I love the book so far, love the channel, and now I love the author too lol.

[@Talking_Story]

He was so great and I had a blast I can't wait to get back to this series in January with Lesser Devil. Thanks so much for the compliments by the way they mean so much to me!

[@TonyTheJabroni]

Of course, thank you for taking the time to make these videos! I should be reading Lesser Devil around the same time and can't wait to hear your thoughts on it.

[@Talking_Story]

Awesome! Working on the channel with my son is a blast on our end. Thanks to you for checking them out.. @@TonyTheJabroni

[@fatjay9402]

Great interview

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks so much!

[@ryanskeff]

I love how many times you absolutely just cracked up at his comments/jokes. His english degree to rhetoric joke about hating money got me rolling.

[@Talking_Story]

He is a funny dude I was not expecting that. Thanks as always Ryan.

[@Ribshack2012]

I've never heard anyone mention Pendragon by DJ MacHale on KZbin and I LOVED those books as a teen. Hearing Christopher mention it makes me feel so vindicated

[@Talking_Story]

It was awesome to hear him talk about the some of the building blocks that moved him early on.

[@BeardofDarkness]

Nice!

[@Talking_Story]

You are gonna love talking to him my brother.

[@BeardofDarkness]

@@Talking_Story can’t wait.

[@briankelly1817]

Good choice of Bubbly for this interview.

[@Talking_Story]

It was refreshing.

[@someokiedude9549]

I haven't read The Sun Eater books yet, but this was a great conversation. Also sorry to hear about you guys' grandparents, on your birthdays no less. Once again, I must commend your knowledge of mythology John. It's impressive!

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks Britton. You would like this series I think.

[@MacScarfield]

I’m not gonna lie: As a history and mythology buff, the concept of «Cid Arthur» made my day and bumped «Suneater» from my Longterm TBR List to my 2024 MBR List! 😄 Great interview and reflections!

[@Talking_Story]

Thanks can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this 1.

[@MacScarfield]

@@Talking_Story From the preview of the first 5 chapters, I caught: Jadd: The Jaddite Faith from several Guy Gavriel Kay novels (GGK’s mix of Christian Trappings and Sun Cults from Antiquity: Ruocchio has stated himself as a fan of GGK, with signed books of him) & Jeddah, an Ancient Port City in Modern Day Saudi Arabia Birth Vats for the Nobility: «Brave New World» by Aldous Huxley Hadrian’s home planet of Delos: Greek Island, Holy Site for the worship of Apollo and Artemis and the Athenian-led Delian League which fought Sparta in the Peloponnesian War of the 5th Century BC + The Name of the Mega-Corporation running the parks in «Westworld» Hadrian’s brother Crispin: The St. Crispin’s Day Speech from «Henry V» The Alien Antagonists, the Cielcin: Ciel (French: Sky) + sin (Mr. Ruocchio is Catholic, alright! 😄) Lothrian: Have some similar language structure as the Free City of Lorath from GRRM’s «ASOIAF» + Lotharingia/Lorraine in Modern Day France Hadrian’s family name Marlowe and their Devil Symbol: Christopher Marlowe wrote «Doctor Faustus», about the eponymous scholar who make a pact with the devil Mephistopheles (+ a reversed color scheme of the Manchester United Devil Logo?) Kephalos: Cephalus, whom Socrates have a dialogue with in Plato’s «Republic»

[@Talking_Story]

@@MacScarfield you are downright Holmsean with you observation skills!

[@MacScarfield]

@@Talking_Story BTW: When asked to give a definition of justice by Socrates, Cephalus replies «to give each what is owed to them», which Socrates refutes by saying that returning a borrowed knife to someone who has turned mad and might therefore hurt themselves, is not just.

[@Talking_Story]

@@MacScarfield think I gotta go with Socrates on that 1 😀

[@heidi6281]

I bet if Hadrian Marlowe was able to time travel back to Earth in the year 2022 he would be A-Ok with a female Dr. Who.😜

[@Talking_Story]

No doubt 😂