“To go to war is easy. It is peace that is hard.”

This is very reminiscent of Dune at first. There’s mentats (called scholiasts), sword masters, transparent shields that block fast projectiles but not swords, and a ban on thinking machines due to trouble in the past. The saying “Fear is the death of reason” replaces Dune’s “Fear is the mind killer.” Doctors also have a symbol tattooed on their foreheads. Moisture‐recycling clothing gets mentioned and the hero has a vision of countless billions of deaths that will occur in the future.

However, after you get past the introductory chapters, it goes in a completely different direction. Unlike Dune, there are intelligent alien species and there is no faster-than-light travel. The world feels far more detailed and lived-in than Dune. I love the little details sprinkled throughout such as one alien creature having a vestigial head!

The story is told from Hadrian’s point of view. The society he comes from is very Roman with gladiators, a Legion, and scholars quoting the likes of Marcus Aurelius. There’s also a militant religious order called the Inquisition so the world is a bit medieval as well.

The rulers are genetically engineered to have longer lives than commoners, and they try to make the commoners think they’re godlike.

Humanity’s war with the Cielcen has been going on hundreds of years. It’s a slow war due to faster than light travel not being possible.

Hadrian falls in love with a member of his household guard, but realizes consent isn’t possible between them due to his position of power over her.

When he first travels to a different world, he notices the gravity is different, the sun gives off a different amount of sunlight, and there are different animals. Many world-hopping sci-fi stories don’t bother with this level of detail.

There’s no sexism in this universe. Woman are just as likely as men to be rulers, soldiers, gladiators, etc. Racism also isn’t a thing. The race of a character doesn’t matter with regard to their class or status. Instead, prejudice is based on class, and of course, directed against non-human aliens.

Hadrian is recounting the story later, and drops hints of the future throughout. If these are references to future books, it must be an intricately plotted-out story.

The Chantry know torturing people makes them say anything to stop the torture, so it’s not a great way to gather intelligence. They do it anyway to make everyone afraid of them.

There some great quotes such as “Weak men are the most aggressive and unskilled ones loudest to boast.” I really enjoyed this one and can’t wait to find out what happens next.