Tales of the Sun Eater, Volume 4

Five stories from the universe of the Sun Eater written by internationally award-winning author Christopher Ruocchio, collected here for the very first time.

A legendary hero. An old soldier. A monster from beyond the stars. In the far future, an old man must kill to save his unborn daughter, must fight to prevent an assassination--the start of a war that would shatter many worlds. Now bear witness go the noon of mankind, of an age when humanity's empire stretches far across the stars: a time of war, of great evils, and of still greater good.

Here are further tales of strange, far worlds. Tales of battle, of desperation, and holy law. And here, too, are tales of a man who will change the fate and future of the galaxy as a whole. Tales of the Sun Eater, of Hadrian Marlowe himself.

— Synopsis from Highmatter Books

Pending Summary Information

Broadly summarize each short story here. It should be no more than a few paragraphs per story.

The Guns of Pharos

The Prince of Man

The Royal Game

The Fangs of Oannos

On the pleasure world of Jadd, an aging Hadrian Marlowe stands at the side of High Prince Aldia du Otranto as a delegation from the distant realm of Oannos makes its grand arrival. Prince Izemrasen rides onto the landing field astride a massive golden lion, dressed in gleaming armor, and wastes no time presenting his offer: a marriage alliance between his house and the ruling House Otranto of Jadd. With the Lothrian Commonwealth having allied itself with the Cielcin, Oannos can no longer afford to pay tribute to such an enemy, and Izemrasen is willing to subordinate his entire realm to Jadd in exchange for protection and a seat on the Domagavani, the council of princes.

Aldia receives the proposal graciously but confides in Hadrian that though the Domagavani would never permit it, Oannos might still prove a useful weapon against the Commonwealth.

That night, at a lavish feast, Izemrasen presents what appear to be gifts: a collection of ornate cages filled with genetically engineered songbirds, capable of singing in human voices. When the cages are opened and the birds fill the pavilion, Hadrian recognizes the danger too late — the birds are carriers of homobatrachotoxin, a lethal neurotoxic poison, and one is headed straight for Aldia. Hadrian cuts it down and orders the rest killed.

The following day, Izemrasen's own birdkeeper confesses to serving the Lothrian Commonwealth before detonating a hidden weapon in a final attempt on Aldia's life. However, Izemrasen himself stops the assassination attempt. Yet when Hadrian accompanies the prince to his departure, Izemrasen betrays him and attacks him directly, leaving Hadrian to wonder if the true target of the Oannosene plot may not have been the High Prince at all.

The Acosmist

Print and Ebooks

Edition	Cover	Publisher	Cover Artist	Interior Artist	Format	Pages	Dimensions (MM)	ISBN-13	Publication Date	Notes
US Edition		Highmatter Books (Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing)	James L. Cook	N/A	Ebook	179	N/A	B0F83V8TZY (ASIN)	July 15, 2025

Footnotes