I don’t compare the two series, but it’s almost uncanny how similar things have worked out for both the authors, both love history and write a first person POV badass sci fi series that are both going to total 7 books in the series. We’re lucky as hell to have both of them writing such great stories and can’t wait to hear both of them talk one day, will be an awesome convo
I’m glad you mentioned the pacing because that was the stand out for me…Red Rising is constantly moving while Suneater is often standing still and contemplative. They are compared I think because of the sheer size of the environment, similar pivotal characters…but they are different stories. 📚😎
I just finished Morning Star today, and I'm going right into Disquiet Gods tonight. I absolutely LOVE both series for very different reasons. They are both fantastic authors in their own very different ways. I agree with you, I do not understand why readers have to like one or the other. That doesn't make sense to me. I have been looking for more space opera type sci fi as that is my favorite sub genre in the sci fi genre itself. I own and am going to read the entirety of The Expanse after I read Disquiet Gods. If you have any recommendations in the space opera genre, I'd very much appreciate that. But if not, no pressure. I enjoy your perspective that you have to offer about the sci fi/fantasy genre in general. Just want to say love the videos and keep up the good work. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness you put into your videos, and that you genuinely try and connect with your audience as much as possible. Thank you for giving me a place to come and learn about different authors and stories that I might not have otherwise have known. I started reading Sun Eater after watching one of the interviews you did with Christopher Ruocchio. So again, Thank you so much and I wish you nothing but the best.
I am eagerly awaiting the last installment of Sun Eater. If I was marooned on an island, I would take Dune, then the Sun Eater books then Lord of the Rings. I am 62, so I have read a LOT of books. In the meantime: please, please read the first of Gene’s “Claw of the Torturer” books. Honestly, I really do not think you can do a full 100% review of Sun Eater without that. Keep up the good work!
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first book in The Book of The New Sun series, the second book is the Claw of the Conciliator. Great recommendation though.
In regards to every aspect of a story from characters to plot to pacing I love red rising more. The one thing Suneater does really well for me is due to the nature of it being reflective the passing of time and the melancholy of it is cool. But yeah they’re doing very different things.
Six books of Red Rising and one book read of the Suneater series, have to say that they are very different, at least based on what I've read of Suneater so far
I think your best point was reminding people that if you love one, don’t criticise the other just for the sake of it. Completely agree, both series are great for different reasons!
I listened to Red Rising trilogy earlier this spring. I was blown away, one of my favorite series. The song at the end is so good. Suneater is on my list just haven’t got around to it yet. (Just finished garden of moons and my brain hurts lol, liked it tho) appreciate the video and enjoy the content!!
I love both! I’ve read all of Red Rising and am eagerly awaiting Red God. I’ve just finished Demon in White so still a way to go with Hadrian but loving it! Room for both definitely! ❤🤍
You introduced me to Sun Eater and you convinced me to read Red Rising after I stopped reading it. Thank you for this because both series are great! And they have similarities but they are not the same.
I had someone in a group on Facebook describe Empire of Silence as "Dune with the isbn filed off" I left that group shortly after that. I love both series.
Honestly I don't compare them at all and I don't see the why people compare it. I read both books 1 of each series due to Mikes channel and I thank him for that. I would recommend if you read Sun eater read the glossary in the back of the book. Its a huge help!
Red Rising got me into SFF and I never looked back, so much so that I just can't read "Romantasy" anymore. I recently finished Empire of Silence and loved it too. Both are different and excellent in their own. Looking forward to finishing Sun Eater series.
Love me some Christopher Rothfuss. Haha Love to hear you talk about these two series Mike. I can tell how much you enjoy these two series, as well as these authors.
This is why I hated you telling Merphy that Sun Eater was "What if Patrick Rothfuss wrote Red Rising?" or whatever the quote was. I was like "Nooooo!" LMAO
@@Speed202 No it isn’t, but Merphy doesn’t like Red Risinfg, so that comparison was basically guaranteed to get her to not read it. She said it was on her TBR like 6 or 8 months ago when Daniel badgered her about it, and here we are.
They are in my top two sci fi series of all time. Sun Eater skyrocket to the top spot though. Hadrian is probably my favorite character in all of literature.
I don't understand why people can't like both series. I've only read the first 3 Red Rising and the first 2 Suneater books, but I like both. Although I think Suneater will end up being my favorite of the two.
I have only read the first book of both series. Got them from the library, and had to wait for book 2. Really liked Suneater, not so much Red Rising. Didn't hate Red Rising, and didn't completely love Suneater. Eventually got book 2 of Red Rising, but lost any interest I had from the first book and DNFed. Still looking forward to Suneater.
Although it is very very slow at times and lingers on some of the plots way too long, I really enjoyed Sun Eater until it got to the gladiator trope bit which I hated! But it finished in a good place and I’m excited to read the next. It’s soo beautifully written. Red Rising I thought was a little cheesy with the colour classes, wings and all that, a bit too YA, reminded me too much of Hunger Games but I enjoyed it as it was fun very fast paced until it got to the battle royale trope section. I’ve tried three times to get past this bit and each time I have given up. I can’t remember any of the contestants names, don’t know who belongs to what faction, don’t care about the battle royale, it’s stupid, YA, cheesy and boring.
I’ve enjoyed them both immensely though if i were stranded on an island with just one series of books it would be Sun Eater series. I loved Red Rising series so much that i was searching for something along the same lines after reading all of them and found Sun Eater. I went into it not expecting for it to be quite as good and I could not have been more wrong. Having said all of that they are both phenomenal reads and i absolutely recommend both of them to anyone looking for great scifi to read.
Love both series and love comparing them. Talking about both the similarities and the differences is how comparison works. Saying they are the same is an argument which is a whole different thing. Book of the new sun is also an absolute BANGER if anyone is on the fence about it but enjoyed sun eater give it a go!
They are very different 😂 I made a video on the same thing but articulated it way worse (as it was one of my first) but yes each author does what they set out to do so well-but the stories are SO different. Sun eater does Hadrian Marlowe’s journey so well And of course red rising does Darrow’s journey so well.
Was very surprised to hear you haven't read Disquiet Gods yet considering you like the series so much. Are you waiting to read it back to back with the final book next year?
I read Sun Eater and loved it. I've finished the six novels to date and all the fillers. The whole series is top level for me. And the standout is Ruocchio's prose. He's got the magic touch and there is very little of his work that I would criticise. I've also seen a lot of people compare it to Book of the New Sun and also Dune. I've tried Dune a few times but it's DNF each time for me. I finished the whole Book of the New Sun series and some other of Wolfe's work and also loved his writing. But I don't find myself comparing Ruocchio to Wolfe to see who's ascendant. Wolfe deliberately hides things in his prose, it's as if he's planted little bits of sweet stuff in there just to see if we can find it. It's the grown-up's version of an Easter egg hunt. 😀
I went from reading the original Red Rising trilogy to the Farseer Trilogy and my neck is still sore from the whiplash the change of pace gave me lol I loved both series for different reasons. The Farseer Trilogy is one of my favorite things I’ve ever read. I’ve had Empire Of Silence sitting on my shelf for a while now, and I may have to dive into that next if it’s anything close to being able to capture the magic of the character development and the prose of Hobb.
Once you’ve read 3 books of each - they really seem like the same books. They could easily both be in the same universe. And there’s a lot of the same scenes and story beats in both. Suneater lifted Hyperion’s whole time travel bit and added in some 3 body for good measure. Both are pretty derivative, but I don’t mind that. Red rising just goes off the rails - read 1-3 and call it a done.
I discovered these two titles at the same time, and read one after the other. My opinion, in terms of the first book "Red Rising" is better. But from the second book onwards "Sun Eater" is superior in every way.
I like Red Rising...I LOVE Sun Eater. But you hit the nail on the head, I also love Dune and Robin Hobb. Now, can we stop comparing Sun Eater to Name of The Wind? That book does nothing but piss me off.
Read the first 2 books in both series and honestly I dont really see the similarities beyond the epic sci-fantasy genre. I loved both for extremely different reasons. But the only similarity I can even pull through is just how I felt afterwards. Both are good, but for both series, book 1 so far is my least favorite. Have the best 2nd book and made me excited to continue farther. But with that being said. Id say they are both incredible books for very different reasons.
I love both but the appeals and intentions of the books and authors are so wildly different. It really doesn't make sense to ship one series to fans of the other without more information. Even to some of the closest points like the pov and being some of the best sword fighting writers in the game, their approach to pacing gives you such a different feel. The way pov is played kind of fast and loose in red rising where some stuff you probably should know from being in darrows head is hidden for the sake of elevating pace and tension. Whereas ruocchio stays pretty damn close but uses the whole recollection mechanism to hide things. It might not be anything close to a similar reading experience even in that way. The similarities are damn near all aesthetic and even the way you experience and interact with those aesthetics is so different.
I have read Red Riding and loved it. I’m currently reading all of the Cosmere books but as soon as I’m done with Wind and Truth I’m starting Sun Eater and can’t wait!
This was a much needed video although I'll say Sun Eater's tone does get really really Dark age dark in Book 4 too but overall you could say it's lighter in terms death even if in terms of subject matters like crimes, slavery, eugenics and such it's as dark overall tbh. Anyways i believe they're both great. One is definitely cast great: Red Rising while the other is world building + lore and central character great: Sun Eater. Similar on a surface level but vastly different nonetheless.
Both series are on my tbr. Thanks to you. I want to get to them so bad but I’m trying to finish series I’m on before I start new one so I’m not on 12 series at once. Lol
I’ve always thought these things stem from one small grumpy group of people lashing out for whatever reasons, but mostly it propagates due to someone seeing their series they like get (in their mind) attacked, and feel they have to defend it. And that causes fans of the other side to do the same etc etc, and the reason why anyone started it in the first place is long gone
I read Red Rising and really liked the series, and I would love to read Sun Eater. 👍 Apart from that, you could find some similar elements in many SF series, it is important for me that it is a good story and that the book is well written.
Interesting distinctions here, but with both of these being ongoing series that are more alike each other in a broad sense than dissimilar (and with few better RECENT options to compare instead) they’re always going to be placed against each other
Red Rising and Sun Eater are two different books. You can compare them with themselves. There is a rule in logic that says you can only compare two things with the same features and properties
Yeah they have some similarities but not the same, told from different perspectives is the major one. I loved Red Rising even if it’s a bit juvenile at times, couldn’t finish sun eater but maybe will return to it when I have nothing else to read
Man I found this channel like 2 days ago, i think I'm too late Is it too late to join the bookworm community? I'm 25 and just started reading books I was reading manga and stuff but new to the novels
This week i found out that Empire of the Vampire isn't a stand-alone but going to be a trilogy... And book 2 only just came out, halfway through already. Fml..... Anyways, i'll go and read Suneater after that so I can compare it to Red Rising 😎
I see the comparisons on Reddit all the time and it’s infuriating. Thank you Mike for attempting to squash this weird tribalism… why do we ALWAYS have to “pick a side” ?!?
I started reading both of them this year starting with Sun Eater and then Red Rising. Idea was to bounce between the 2 but after Howling Dark I had to go straight through with Sun Eater… I enjoyed both but Sun Eater just grabbed me completely
I've only read the original Red Rising trilogy. I'm currently going through it again with plans to read the sequels after. I wish I could find the Sun Eater books but they're so expensive
Red rising is the best sci fi series of all time. The writing in the last couple books is ridiculous. It’s so dense but just flows. His character work is second only to Abercrombie
I started Sun Eater after watching your video on the series. Currently about 70% through book 3. I’ve read all Red Rising books through Light Bringer. Two different series to be sure, but I can absolutely see where the comparisons come from. But yes, they’re both great- you just have to recalibrate your expectations going into them if going from one to the other. I personally prefer Red Rising overall (so far… as I said, I haven’t finished Sun Eater yet), but I LOVE Sun Eater’s prose and the originality of some of its plot dynamics. Excited to finish both series (hoping for Red God release announcement SOON!!)
@@DoNotLookDown may i ask why you DNF'd. i picked up the fist book when it came ou, couldnt get into it and then picked it back up 4 years later and enjoyed, so much so that its my favorite set of books now!
@@jbjorkman09 I really disliked the prose and main character. I read 200 pages and just didn't like any of it. I understand his prose is well liked but it's not for me. I also dislike the book being narrated by the main character from the future. The entire book is pretty much the exact opposite of what I like.
Honestly there wasn’t a single point where I compared them outside the very general body modification stuff. I think the comparisons to Dune and Name of the Wind are MUCH closer, at least in book 1. By later books I would compare it more to the journey of Fitz through the Elderlings books
I do not get the comparison too. Maybe people compare them because they are both kinda recent works and may attract similar readers because of their hype and setting. They are also the typical two space series that attract fantasy readers along with the Expanse. Personally I am not a fan of any of the two but I found Red Rising serving its premise in a better way. Unlike you I found Brown's writing more consistent than Ruocchio's. Also I think he was more able to write what he had in mind which is this frantic, over the top, wild, violent, tense space opera thing. I read one and a half book of Sun Eater and so far it must be one of my biggest disappointments. I loved the premise and I really like such settings but I did not like the character and I found Ruocchio's prose inconsistent to say the least. He is an author who can write good sentences but I thought he has no control of it. He repeats the same things and explanations. He is overdescriptive and he has a weird and bad, for me, tendency to foretell what will happen all the time with every character Hadrian gets to meet. People that compare his writing with Hobb or Wolfe I think only see the surface. The intentions and pace. The delivery lacks a lot in comparison. Especially with Wolfe.
How about doing a video on books that are just straight-up unapologetic rip-offs of Lord of the Rings, Dune, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. I'd like to see what you have to say about the copycats if you have read any of them.
Red Rising is great schlock YA fantasy. Its a fun and memorable ride. Sun Eater sniffs its own farts and describes the scent as potpourrie while nothing really interesting happens to anyone interesting. At least in the painful first two books. At least Red Rising's hunger games section was executed well. Sun Eater's was dry like an encyclopedia entry and about as exciting. Read Red Rising if you wanna have fun and dont mind a bit of cringe. Read Sun Eater if you want all the bad elements of Dune and Name of the Wind meticulously executed for maximum boredom.
I would follow Darrow to Hell and back. The hero of Sun Eater, I won't follow anywhere. To be fair, I have only read Empire of Silence and I have read all of the Red Rising books.
Suneater is in a lot of ways a response to dune. Literally a reintegration of the hero narrative where Dune was a warning of charismatic leaders, from messiah onwards. It'd be like looking at two people arguing opposite sides of a debate and going one guy copied the other because they are arguing the same topic.
They start off similar but become quite different once the aliens and robots show up in Sun Eater. The 1st person, memoir style of Sun Eater also makes it feel very different to Dune
In a weird way this video feeds into why people tear the other series down. There’s always an undertone that Red Rising is not as intelligent or high brow. And that Suneater is superior to it in this way. Even if it’s not explicitly stated this is the undertone of it. And my opinion couldn’t be more opposite of this.
How far would you recommend because I read the first book, and I have the second, but after about 50 pages, I just couldn’t keep going. The writing is very and the cast immense, and I just didn’t have the strength to both keep going while keeping track of what was happening.
I don’t compare the two series, but it’s almost uncanny how similar things have worked out for both the authors, both love history and write a first person POV badass sci fi series that are both going to total 7 books in the series. We’re lucky as hell to have both of them writing such great stories and can’t wait to hear both of them talk one day, will be an awesome convo
Space opera that gets darker over time is a perfect description of Sun Eater too though
Agreed. Kingdoms of Death is the darkest book I've ever read.
And that tells nothing.
@@TarabyteYea im never finishing kingdom of death at this rate. Probably gonna leave it at a happy note with demon in white.
I guess I’ll just have to read them both so I can not compare them. 😁 Always great to hear your thoughts on books, Mike!
I approve of this course of action.
I’m glad you mentioned the pacing because that was the stand out for me…Red Rising is constantly moving while Suneater is often standing still and contemplative.
They are compared I think because of the sheer size of the environment, similar pivotal characters…but they are different stories. 📚😎
I just finished Morning Star today, and I'm going right into Disquiet Gods tonight. I absolutely LOVE both series for very different reasons. They are both fantastic authors in their own very different ways. I agree with you, I do not understand why readers have to like one or the other. That doesn't make sense to me. I have been looking for more space opera type sci fi as that is my favorite sub genre in the sci fi genre itself. I own and am going to read the entirety of The Expanse after I read Disquiet Gods. If you have any recommendations in the space opera genre, I'd very much appreciate that. But if not, no pressure.
I enjoy your perspective that you have to offer about the sci fi/fantasy genre in general. Just want to say love the videos and keep up the good work. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness you put into your videos, and that you genuinely try and connect with your audience as much as possible. Thank you for giving me a place to come and learn about different authors and stories that I might not have otherwise have known. I started reading Sun Eater after watching one of the interviews you did with Christopher Ruocchio. So again, Thank you so much and I wish you nothing but the best.
You'll enjoy Iron Gold, the next good. One of my favourites, but then the whole book series is soooo strong.
Man I’m so glad you made this video. It’s been killing me to see people STILL making these comparisons
I am eagerly awaiting the last installment of Sun Eater. If I was marooned on an island, I would take Dune, then the Sun Eater books then Lord of the Rings. I am 62, so I have read a LOT of books. In the meantime: please, please read the first of Gene’s “Claw of the Torturer” books. Honestly, I really do not think you can do a full 100% review of Sun Eater without that. Keep up the good work!
The Shadow of the Torturer is the first book in The Book of The New Sun series, the second book is the Claw of the Conciliator. Great recommendation though.
In regards to every aspect of a story from characters to plot to pacing I love red rising more. The one thing Suneater does really well for me is due to the nature of it being reflective the passing of time and the melancholy of it is cool. But yeah they’re doing very different things.
It reminds me of metalheads and the Maiden vs Priest arguments. For some reason, it never dawned on them that you can love both. 😂
I'm a simple man. I see a new mikes review drink my coffee and click like
Sounds right
Six books of Red Rising and one book read of the Suneater series, have to say that they are very different, at least based on what I've read of Suneater so far
Keep going! It just gets better and better
@@EmperorHadrian-k3s just got the second Suneater book, will reas it soon
I think your best point was reminding people that if you love one, don’t criticise the other just for the sake of it. Completely agree, both series are great for different reasons!
I listened to Red Rising trilogy earlier this spring. I was blown away, one of my favorite series. The song at the end is so good. Suneater is on my list just haven’t got around to it yet. (Just finished garden of moons and my brain hurts lol, liked it tho) appreciate the video and enjoy the content!!
I love both!
I’ve read all of Red Rising and am eagerly awaiting Red God. I’ve just finished Demon in White so still a way to go with Hadrian but loving it! Room for both definitely! ❤🤍
You introduced me to Sun Eater and you convinced me to read Red Rising after I stopped reading it. Thank you for this because both series are great! And they have similarities but they are not the same.
I had someone in a group on Facebook describe Empire of Silence as "Dune with the isbn filed off" I left that group shortly after that. I love both series.
Honestly I don't compare them at all and I don't see the why people compare it. I read both books 1 of each series due to Mikes channel and I thank him for that. I would recommend if you read Sun eater read the glossary in the back of the book. Its a huge help!
Having those two sit down with Dan Carlin and just talk about history would be insane to see
Red Rising got me into SFF and I never looked back, so much so that I just can't read "Romantasy" anymore. I recently finished Empire of Silence and loved it too. Both are different and excellent in their own. Looking forward to finishing Sun Eater series.
I agree! I am a huge fan of both series and authors. They are both five star series in their own way.
Love me some Christopher Rothfuss. Haha
Love to hear you talk about these two series Mike. I can tell how much you enjoy these two series, as well as these authors.
I think the fact that we have a few modern space opera is the reason they are compared 😅😅 in epic fantasy we have a lot that’s why no one does it
This is why I hated you telling Merphy that Sun Eater was "What if Patrick Rothfuss wrote Red Rising?" or whatever the quote was. I was like "Nooooo!" LMAO
It's kind of accurate....SE meanders and goes on and on with melancholy and a loose promise ....NOTW does pretty much the same.
@@Speed202 No it isn’t, but Merphy doesn’t like Red Risinfg, so that comparison was basically guaranteed to get her to not read it. She said it was on her TBR like 6 or 8 months ago when Daniel badgered her about it, and here we are.
They are in my top two sci fi series of all time. Sun Eater skyrocket to the top spot though. Hadrian is probably my favorite character in all of literature.
I don't understand why people can't like both series. I've only read the first 3 Red Rising and the first 2 Suneater books, but I like both. Although I think Suneater will end up being my favorite of the two.
I have only read the first book of both series. Got them from the library, and had to wait for book 2. Really liked Suneater, not so much Red Rising. Didn't hate Red Rising, and didn't completely love Suneater. Eventually got book 2 of Red Rising, but lost any interest I had from the first book and DNFed. Still looking forward to Suneater.
Although it is very very slow at times and lingers on some of the plots way too long, I really enjoyed Sun Eater until it got to the gladiator trope bit which I hated! But it finished in a good place and I’m excited to read the next. It’s soo beautifully written.
Red Rising I thought was a little cheesy with the colour classes, wings and all that, a bit too YA, reminded me too much of Hunger Games but I enjoyed it as it was fun very fast paced until it got to the battle royale trope section. I’ve tried three times to get past this bit and each time I have given up. I can’t remember any of the contestants names, don’t know who belongs to what faction, don’t care about the battle royale, it’s stupid, YA, cheesy and boring.
I’ve enjoyed them both immensely though if i were stranded on an island with just one series of books it would be Sun Eater series. I loved Red Rising series so much that i was searching for something along the same lines after reading all of them and found Sun Eater. I went into it not expecting for it to be quite as good and I could not have been more wrong. Having said all of that they are both phenomenal reads and i absolutely recommend both of them to anyone looking for great scifi to read.
Love both series and love comparing them. Talking about both the similarities and the differences is how comparison works. Saying they are the same is an argument which is a whole different thing.
Book of the new sun is also an absolute BANGER if anyone is on the fence about it but enjoyed sun eater give it a go!
They are very different 😂 I made a video on the same thing but articulated it way worse (as it was one of my first) but yes each author does what they set out to do so well-but the stories are SO different.
Sun eater does Hadrian Marlowe’s journey so well
And of course red rising does Darrow’s journey so well.
Was very surprised to hear you haven't read Disquiet Gods yet considering you like the series so much. Are you waiting to read it back to back with the final book next year?
13:57 for a second I thought Mike was saying that Lonesome Dove deals with outer space
I read Sun Eater and loved it. I've finished the six novels to date and all the fillers. The whole series is top level for me. And the standout is Ruocchio's prose. He's got the magic touch and there is very little of his work that I would criticise. I've also seen a lot of people compare it to Book of the New Sun and also Dune. I've tried Dune a few times but it's DNF each time for me. I finished the whole Book of the New Sun series and some other of Wolfe's work and also loved his writing. But I don't find myself comparing Ruocchio to Wolfe to see who's ascendant. Wolfe deliberately hides things in his prose, it's as if he's planted little bits of sweet stuff in there just to see if we can find it. It's the grown-up's version of an Easter egg hunt. 😀
Finished first 3 red rising and love it,waiting to do sequels once last one’s out,but starting Sun eater next,pumped.
I went from reading the original Red Rising trilogy to the Farseer Trilogy and my neck is still sore from the whiplash the change of pace gave me lol
I loved both series for different reasons. The Farseer Trilogy is one of my favorite things I’ve ever read. I’ve had Empire Of Silence sitting on my shelf for a while now, and I may have to dive into that next if it’s anything close to being able to capture the magic of the character development and the prose of Hobb.
I just know you are going to love Disquiet Gods. I cannot wait to hear your thoughts on it.
Ok, you got me interested in Sun Eater now. Thank you.
Once you’ve read 3 books of each - they really seem like the same books. They could easily both be in the same universe.
And there’s a lot of the same scenes and story beats in both. Suneater lifted Hyperion’s whole time travel bit and added in some 3 body for good measure. Both are pretty derivative, but I don’t mind that. Red rising just goes off the rails - read 1-3 and call it a done.
I discovered these two titles at the same time, and read one after the other. My opinion, in terms of the first book "Red Rising" is better. But from the second book onwards "Sun Eater" is superior in every way.
I hate that some people think there should be an either/or! I'm (finally) starting Empire of Silence in October!
I know you’re going to love it as a Hobb fan.
I like Red Rising...I LOVE Sun Eater.
But you hit the nail on the head, I also love Dune and Robin Hobb.
Now, can we stop comparing Sun Eater to Name of The Wind? That book does nothing but piss me off.
Read the first 2 books in both series and honestly I dont really see the similarities beyond the epic sci-fantasy genre. I loved both for extremely different reasons. But the only similarity I can even pull through is just how I felt afterwards. Both are good, but for both series, book 1 so far is my least favorite. Have the best 2nd book and made me excited to continue farther. But with that being said. Id say they are both incredible books for very different reasons.
Howling Dark and Golden Son are both amazing books! Both are some of my favorites ever!
I love both but the appeals and intentions of the books and authors are so wildly different. It really doesn't make sense to ship one series to fans of the other without more information. Even to some of the closest points like the pov and being some of the best sword fighting writers in the game, their approach to pacing gives you such a different feel. The way pov is played kind of fast and loose in red rising where some stuff you probably should know from being in darrows head is hidden for the sake of elevating pace and tension. Whereas ruocchio stays pretty damn close but uses the whole recollection mechanism to hide things. It might not be anything close to a similar reading experience even in that way. The similarities are damn near all aesthetic and even the way you experience and interact with those aesthetics is so different.
I have read Red Riding and loved it. I’m currently reading all of the Cosmere books but as soon as I’m done with Wind and Truth I’m starting Sun Eater and can’t wait!
All valid points, but I still want to know who would win in a fight between Darrow and Hadrian.
Hehe nice video.
Sun Eater I read 5 of the main books, Red Rising I read 2. They were very different.
I really appreciate the sentiment of this video Mike, thank you, I have both on my tbr and am looking forward to both
My two favorite series, love them both
Ive done red riding all 6 books 3 times gonna try sun eater next but your review has me cautiously excited about ir
This was a much needed video although I'll say Sun Eater's tone does get really really Dark age dark in Book 4 too but overall you could say it's lighter in terms death even if in terms of subject matters like crimes, slavery, eugenics and such it's as dark overall tbh.
Anyways i believe they're both great. One is definitely cast great: Red Rising while the other is world building + lore and central character great: Sun Eater. Similar on a surface level but vastly different nonetheless.
Both series are on my tbr. Thanks to you. I want to get to them so bad but I’m trying to finish series I’m on before I start new one so I’m not on 12 series at once. Lol
You say that sun eater isnt grimdark... have you finished kingdoms of death though?
I agree. Comparing both is stupid. both have their own merits.
I've read 3 red rising books and 1 suneater book. Not once, did I think they were similar.
I’ve always thought these things stem from one small grumpy group of people lashing out for whatever reasons, but mostly it propagates due to someone seeing their series they like get (in their mind) attacked, and feel they have to defend it. And that causes fans of the other side to do the same etc etc, and the reason why anyone started it in the first place is long gone
I read Red Rising and really liked the series, and I would love to read Sun Eater. 👍 Apart from that, you could find some similar elements in many SF series, it is important for me that it is a good story and that the book is well written.
Interesting distinctions here, but with both of these being ongoing series that are more alike each other in a broad sense than dissimilar (and with few better RECENT options to compare instead) they’re always going to be placed against each other
I have read both and prefer Sun Eater but I think comparing them is bizarre. They aren’t similar, especially once the whole huge story opens.
Red Rising and Sun Eater are two different books. You can compare them with themselves. There is a rule in logic that says you can only compare two things with the same features and properties
SameFeaturesAs(Sun Eater, Red Rising) - Boom, solved it with logic.
Now I want Lonesome Dove in space.
Yeah they have some similarities but not the same, told from different perspectives is the major one.
I loved Red Rising even if it’s a bit juvenile at times, couldn’t finish sun eater but maybe will return to it when I have nothing else to read
I haven't read either series yet, but even I know that they both stand on their own as different stories by different authors....
Mike doing the Lord's work.
mike really held up two copies of the same book and thought we wouldn't notice.
HA HA!
Could not be more different and great in their own but different ways. And definitely don't compare Suneater to NoTW either!
People who don't read much and don't have much knowledge about genre and different stories always make these sort of comparisations
Always enjoy your reviews mike. Just wondering if you've read the kane series by karl edward wagner? Excellent books
I love both books
OMG I love your mug 😍
Man I found this channel like 2 days ago, i think I'm too late
Is it too late to join the bookworm community? I'm 25 and just started reading books
I was reading manga and stuff but new to the novels
This week i found out that Empire of the Vampire isn't a stand-alone but going to be a trilogy... And book 2 only just came out, halfway through already. Fml.....
Anyways, i'll go and read Suneater after that so I can compare it to Red Rising 😎
I see the comparisons on Reddit all the time and it’s infuriating. Thank you Mike for attempting to squash this weird tribalism… why do we ALWAYS have to “pick a side” ?!?
I started reading both of them this year starting with Sun Eater and then Red Rising. Idea was to bounce between the 2 but after Howling Dark I had to go straight through with Sun Eater… I enjoyed both but Sun Eater just grabbed me completely
Mention of the Hunger Games is correct, but to my knowledge most fans hate the main character's sacrificing wife in Red Rising.
Hi Mike. I’m reading DUNE. Cheers.
Hope you’re enjoying it!
I've only read the original Red Rising trilogy. I'm currently going through it again with plans to read the sequels after.
I wish I could find the Sun Eater books but they're so expensive
Thry just reprinted the hardcovers, but the paperbacks were never expensive?
Could you maybe get them from a library? That's what I did
@@offworlder4694 I'm a cheapskate. I thrift my books. $15-20 for a paperback from an author I've never read is way too rich for my blood
@@KALtheHighstorm117 nah, my library doesn't have them, unfortunately. Thankfully there are plenty of other things to read in the meantime
@@emosongsandreadalongs OH yeah, the TBR is endless lol
Red rising is the best sci fi series of all time. The writing in the last couple books is ridiculous. It’s so dense but just flows. His character work is second only to Abercrombie
They are both epicly great... love them both
I started Sun Eater after watching your video on the series. Currently about 70% through book 3. I’ve read all Red Rising books through Light Bringer. Two different series to be sure, but I can absolutely see where the comparisons come from. But yes, they’re both great- you just have to recalibrate your expectations going into them if going from one to the other. I personally prefer Red Rising overall (so far… as I said, I haven’t finished Sun Eater yet), but I LOVE Sun Eater’s prose and the originality of some of its plot dynamics. Excited to finish both series (hoping for Red God release announcement SOON!!)
Well, I finished one and DNF'd the other so I can confidently say they are not alike at all.
Well, which one did you finish? 😁
@@Lokiboy1717 Red Rising
@@DoNotLookDown may i ask why you DNF'd. i picked up the fist book when it came ou, couldnt get into it and then picked it back up 4 years later and enjoyed, so much so that its my favorite set of books now!
@@jbjorkman09 I really disliked the prose and main character. I read 200 pages and just didn't like any of it. I understand his prose is well liked but it's not for me. I also dislike the book being narrated by the main character from the future. The entire book is pretty much the exact opposite of what I like.
Honestly there wasn’t a single point where I compared them outside the very general body modification stuff. I think the comparisons to Dune and Name of the Wind are MUCH closer, at least in book 1. By later books I would compare it more to the journey of Fitz through the Elderlings books
I sit in the bath and watched mikereviews
I do not get the comparison too. Maybe people compare them because they are both kinda recent works and may attract similar readers because of their hype and setting. They are also the typical two space series that attract fantasy readers along with the Expanse.
Personally I am not a fan of any of the two but I found Red Rising serving its premise in a better way. Unlike you I found Brown's writing more consistent than Ruocchio's. Also I think he was more able to write what he had in mind which is this frantic, over the top, wild, violent, tense space opera thing.
I read one and a half book of Sun Eater and so far it must be one of my biggest disappointments. I loved the premise and I really like such settings but I did not like the character and I found Ruocchio's prose inconsistent to say the least. He is an author who can write good sentences but I thought he has no control of it. He repeats the same things and explanations. He is overdescriptive and he has a weird and bad, for me, tendency to foretell what will happen all the time with every character Hadrian gets to meet. People that compare his writing with Hobb or Wolfe I think only see the surface. The intentions and pace. The delivery lacks a lot in comparison. Especially with Wolfe.
How about doing a video on books that are just straight-up unapologetic rip-offs of Lord of the Rings, Dune, Star Wars, or Harry Potter. I'd like to see what you have to say about the copycats if you have read any of them.
I will try a new series I think I am open minded. I just love to read books HC or PB it don't matter to me.
I’ve only read Red Rising, but Sun Eater is on my TBR, just farther down the list than most books. lol
Read sin eater its very good
I’m definitely going to give it a try, since I’ve heard a lot of good things about it.
Other than sci fi and gladiators there’s really not much else in common . If you want to be reductive and insulting everything is essentially the same
They aren't the same, but if you like one you'll pretty much like the other.
Red Rising is great schlock YA fantasy. Its a fun and memorable ride.
Sun Eater sniffs its own farts and describes the scent as potpourrie while nothing really interesting happens to anyone interesting. At least in the painful first two books.
At least Red Rising's hunger games section was executed well. Sun Eater's was dry like an encyclopedia entry and about as exciting.
Read Red Rising if you wanna have fun and dont mind a bit of cringe. Read Sun Eater if you want all the bad elements of Dune and Name of the Wind meticulously executed for maximum boredom.
I would follow Darrow to Hell and back. The hero of Sun Eater, I won't follow anywhere. To be fair, I have only read Empire of Silence and I have read all of the Red Rising books.
Love both series!
How about Dune and Sun Eater?
Suneater is in a lot of ways a response to dune. Literally a reintegration of the hero narrative where Dune was a warning of charismatic leaders, from messiah onwards. It'd be like looking at two people arguing opposite sides of a debate and going one guy copied the other because they are arguing the same topic.
They start off similar but become quite different once the aliens and robots show up in Sun Eater. The 1st person, memoir style of Sun Eater also makes it feel very different to Dune
Howlers coin is going nuts! HOWL
Ah yes, the good old book tribals.
One is sci-fi and other is also sci-fi... but a taco isn't a burger but they are still food lol
Romans in space and surprising deaths , that’s all these (excellent) series have in common.
I think it's because they're constantly compared on Reddit
both are good series
In a weird way this video feeds into why people tear the other series down. There’s always an undertone that Red Rising is not as intelligent or high brow. And that Suneater is superior to it in this way. Even if it’s not explicitly stated this is the undertone of it. And my opinion couldn’t be more opposite of this.
Clearly not my intent as I adore Red Rising
I didn’t even know people compared these two. No real opinion on Red Rising, but Empire of Silence has always felt like a Dune knockoff to me
This is really funny because it's actually the opposite of that if you keep reading.
How far would you recommend because I read the first book, and I have the second, but after about 50 pages, I just couldn’t keep going. The writing is very and the cast immense, and I just didn’t have the strength to both keep going while keeping track of what was happening.