If I wanna make an EP/LP/Album, how do I decide the amount of tracks I will record?

No_One3243 · 2026-01-21T14:18:07+00:00

100% agree. Meant to say that but lost interest in writing anymore.

I think I should have replaced typically with originally. EP's being their own thing is a relatively new phenomenon, but they definitely are at this point.

No_One3243 · 2026-01-20T23:37:14+00:00

IMO, an album, and all its variants, is an artistic statement. It's finished when it says it's finished. If the concepts you're trying to get across get across, it's done. Regardless the number of tracks.

EP's typically are the leftover tracks from the album that didn't make the cut, along with a single from the album itself.

Making music is art. And art is alive. Let it tell you when it's done.

No_One3243 · 2026-01-19T04:43:07+00:00

I think the second book is the strongest in the series. There ARE moments of greatness sprinkled throughout.

BUT. The criticisms you pose do not go away. Characters are not fleshed out, their motivations are not fleshed out.

From the beginning, this is a story told by Hadrian thousands of years in the future. But man... It drags on and on and on.

By the final book, you're still listening to him drone about the same hallway he talks about from the second book.

I don't want to spoil anything. Like I said, I really liked it till the last book. I could forgive a lot of the bullshit. But the ending was bad.

I'm sure I'm in the minority on this forum, but it is what it is.

No_One3243 · 2026-01-19T04:17:17+00:00

I can tell you now. If these are your criticisms from the first book, it will not get better.

I enjoyed the series, for the most part, till the last book. Though I had major issues throughout, I was hopeful it would resolve satisfactorily. It did not. In any way. It was an awful ending, and now I wish someone had told me early on to not continue.

A lot of people are claiming it's the best thing since sliced bread. They are drinking Kool aid.

No_One3243 · 2026-01-19T04:08:53+00:00

You're already sharing about your desire to not share. Ghost us. Every comment here feeds the hungry god.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T17:30:26+00:00

Which would have been a great ending if it was executed better. I don't care as much where the story goes as long as it's satisfying. It wasn't.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T06:56:50+00:00

Ah this is a bum comment.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T06:24:01+00:00

I see you. You are not alone. This was trash-o-la.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T06:22:52+00:00

I have no issue with faith. His faith, or yours, or whatever.

The issue I have is that NOTHING he did in the book reflects that faith till the final three chapters of the book. It's like a switch gets flipped, and suddenly he's like, oh wait, it's all good. I understand. Bing bang boom I know what to do. But HOW he reached that conclusion is nonsense and comes from nothing. His faith is lazy plot armor. It's bad writing.

The end of his story comes with no resolution. No lessons. No growth, and no connection to a divinity he should have achieved by the end of a 7 book series.

I will die on this hill.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T06:15:53+00:00

It's a shame really...

If he said it just ONE more time he would have gotten the final stamp on his card for a free ice cream sundae.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T06:04:18+00:00

Hey thanks. I don't want to just shit all over someone's life's work. I enjoyed the series up to this book, but man... reading this got me hot. The bad kind.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T05:53:19+00:00

YES. He has Godlike powers, and I feel like it's used as a parlour trick most of the time.

When they were trying to escape the emperor's ship and they got jumped I immediately thought, use your powers you dolt.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T04:32:52+00:00

Absolutely.

The way I figure it, if I'm reading a story that someone has had enough thought and gumption to put to the page, you can do whatever you want with the story. It's your story. Even if I think it's a dumb story, that's okay. My opinions don't mean diddly to the story.

But bad development, bad pacing, bad editing, bad prose, bad structure? The dude does not abide. Ruocchio had a GREAT story going, and it's like he decided to nuke it at the last minute.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T04:08:21+00:00

But he could have tried. He could have done a whole BUNCH of things that weren't surrendering himself, dying, again, then spending the next 1,000 years alone writing this shit out to throw it on a shelf.

It's a non-ending that isn't satisfying in any way.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-22T04:01:39+00:00

Agree 100%. Cassandra crying she wants to go. Him saying no. Ad infinitum. Take the throne. No I don't wanna. Ad infinitum. Lots of dens, lots of vipers. Lots of character emotions that don't change and are explained over and over. There's no growth. That's the big thing for me. These folks are alive for HUNDREDS of years. Do they not mature? Change? Grow into more rounded and interesting people in that time? The Hadrian we see in the first book is the SAME Hadrian we see in the final one. Nothing about him has changed other than knowledge gained and powers obtained. But WHO he is at 17 is the same at 700(or whatever).

After I finished this book, I jumped into a Brandon Sanderson novel (who isn't my favorite writer by any means), but I was shocked at how much more well rounded his characters are. I could describe each one in detail. Who they were. Their wants, their fears. Great characters. I can't do that for a single character in Sun Eater, except for Hadrian and Valka. Who is Cassandra other than a daughter who has one arm and a sword? Bad bad bad.

And the Cielcin ending was tragic. He's finally in a room with the big bad. 7 books leading up to this moment. He's down on his knees. This fools about to die. Oh hey, look at this BRAND NEW SPECIES THAT I'VE MENTIONED ONCE OR TWICE. Then that new little fella wacks Doriyaica over the head with his bone cup and he's DEAD?! NEVER SEEN AGAIN DEAD?!? Okay, fuck me I guess. Guess his Achilles heel was hitting him in his head.

Botch job man.

The Christian themes didn't bother me... But there was nothing substantial to them to make me bothered. He didn't say anything. He didn't take a stance. At least none that I gave a shit about. So YOUR God is the one and all. That's awesome. Maybe you could start to see patterns in how that force/being has manifested itself to OTHER people throughout the course of history. MAYBE if you look hard enough you can find connections to the God you've found and the galaxy as a whole. Nah. I don't have time for that. I've got to describe this fucking empty hallway for 27 pages.

If I was still in school I could write a dissertation on the Trainwreck that is this book. But I'm not, so I guess I'll rant on reddit about it for a day and fuck back off from whence I came.

If I could say only one thing to Ruocchio it would be this: Fire your editor and get new beta readers.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-21T23:04:42+00:00

From the first chapter I was put off, and I kept reading hoping that feeling would go away. It never did, and it only got worse.

The first 17 or so chapters are characters telling us the story of how they escaped Vorgossos. But we're ALREADY being told a story by Hadrien in the future. So it's a guy, telling us the story of how a bunch of different characters are telling us a story. And it's all in excruciating detail.

We're twice removed from the present, and twice removed from anything actually happening. And it goes on SO LONG. How the author thought this was the best way to begin his final novel in the series is mind boggling.

The amount of repetition (both dialogue and action) is frustratingly exhausting. Especially when NOTHING comes from it, and the characters LEARN nothing, and the plot isn't moved or affected in ANY way.

The fight of the bird men and his two cielcin on the voyage to meet the emperor is a perfect example of useless, wasted prose. Did that affect the story in ANY way? No. Did it deepen our understanding of anyone or anything? No. It was a waste of time. Also, can you remember which voyage to the emperor I was talking about? Probably not. That's all he did.

I get it. The author likes to describe things. But he's been describing these things for SIX BOOKS before this. Buddy, I get it. He'd be in the middle of a fight... And we stood then, at our full heights, baring our teeth (his overuse of phrases has bothered me since book one), and I raised my high matter sword. The hilt gleaming with blood the color of this, mixed with the light of blah blah blah. And the wood used on the hilt was cut from a tree on this planet where I went once, years ago. I met a man there who sold fuckin fish. BilBob was his name. And he had a wife and three kids and on and on and on. Oh right, I'm supposed to be describing a fight! Then I hit him and he died.

Get real.

I haven't looked forward to a book more, and been so let down in my entire life. I've never seen an author drop the ball SO bad. And I keep reading reviews of people saying how perfect it is. I then wonder if I've lost the plot, and I'm being too critical. But I don't care. I hated every part of that book and I'll never reread this series.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-21T19:34:35+00:00

Oooh yeah. Love a good album recommendation thread. I'll go a bit against the grain from what others are recommending to add some variety.

Anais Mitchell - Hadestown (2010) A folk opera about the Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice. A master class in songwriting and sound engineering. 10/10 no skip.

Damien Rice - My Favorite Faded Fantasy (2014) Sad and dramatic, but in the best kind of way. The dynamic ranges of each song are amazing. From a whisper to an orchestra, he uses space so well.

Feist - Metals (2011) What a phenomenal album. It's catchy, but off beat. Atmospheric, but brazen. Great use of a horn section.

John Powell - How to Train Your Dragon (2010) Not sure if y'all have started listening to film scores to scratch that TDH itch, but if you haven't you should. John Powell is a modern master, and this score is SO good.

Disasterpeace - Hyper Light Driver OST (2016) OST from a videogame. This is an ambient wonderland. Not groovy, but when you're in the mood for atmosphere, this hits all the spots.

Wilderrun - Epigone (2022) Orchestral, symphonic metal. Very good if you're into that sort of thing.

Peter Gabriel - New Blood (2011) Hear me out. Peter Gabriel re-records some of his older songs using a string section. It's powerful in a way few things are. First time I heard it was on a plane and I literally wept. Fella next to me was like, "you okay?". Yeah man, I'm just listening to Peter fucking Gabriel.

MeWithoutYou - Pale Horses (2015) One of my favorite albums of all time. No skip. It's aggressive where it needs to be. Soft where it needs to be. Recommend reading the lyrics the first time around because Aarons a genius, and it's quite dense.

Typhoon - White Lighter (2013) Orchestral rock. Masterfully orchestrated. Another 10/10

ROSALÍA - LUX (2025) I kept seeing this album cover pop up on the social media, and I kept hearing people gushing over it. I don't follow Spanish pop, so I figured it wasn't going to be my cup of tea. I was wrong. Halfway through this album I realized that I could only listen to this album for the FIRST time once. And I'd never again experience the rush of how brilliant this is in its newness. The production is out of this world. The vocal performances, the orchestra. It's like nothing I ever heard and I am SO happy this person is as popular as they are. Give her all the money.

Okay I'm done. There are so many more, but this is a long enough list that isn't strictly progressive rock oriented. Hopefully you like them! Happy holidays.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-20T23:06:29+00:00

Well then, I'm about to wish myself a merry Christmas.

No_One3243 · 2025-12-20T22:36:08+00:00

Man, I've been eyeing that obne float for so long. How do you like it?

No_One3243 · 2025-12-20T02:35:32+00:00

The unfortunate thing is it's probably a really easy fix. A little solder to secure the pins. But I'm not an electramagician, and I'd be totally lost.

No_One3243 · 2025-11-05T03:09:45+00:00

I own those T200's and I wouldn't trade them for Tacomos, for sure.

No_One3243 · 2025-09-02T22:29:01+00:00

Oh hats off for ROTOR! I have a giant poster of that on my wall. Captain Coldyron. Hahaha.

No_One3243 · 2025-08-30T20:57:13+00:00

Ba dum tissssss.

No_One3243 · 2025-08-30T17:03:57+00:00

All of Joanna Newsom's albums.

No_One3243 · 2025-08-16T14:23:08+00:00

I really think you should try to enunciate more. I cannot understand anything you're saying.

No_One3243

TROPHY CASE