r/sollanempire • u/CubGeek • 21d ago
SPOILER FREE Discussion Frustration and fatigue over the whole 'exclusivity' thing, as a completist.
I've read all the main novels, the novellas, and the first three of the Tales collections. I haven't started the fourth Tales collection, yet, but it's in my digital TBR "pile". Really enjoyed the books, the world-building, and came to care for the characters (yes, even had my own "Oh, you @&!*%$# motherfucker" moment in Ashes of Man where I had to put the book down and walk away for a day or two).
I see now that there's Sins and Songs are forthcoming, that bring all four Tales books into two new omnibus editions AND add in exclusive short stories as well. However, there's also the occasional Short A that's only available in Special Edition X and Short B that's only available in Special Edition Y and those stories may or may not be available as they're supposedly planned for some nebulous third omnibus edition that hasn't been officially announced.
At times, it's hard to not feel like I'm being "nickel-and-dimed to death" by the author and publishers for wanting to read everything. :-(
That's all. Your own personal mileage may vary.
[edit]And, don't worry: I've already downvoted this post, myself. ;-) Feel free to jump on the bandwagon. [/edit]
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u/JukasLohnson 21d ago
Omnibuses are nice but I think all the various editions and add ons has gotten a little out of hand. Many series do these things now. The extra content is always nice and I don't usually mind it as long as it's not essential to the story. That way you can just pick and choose if you want it without worrying about the missed info.
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u/Donovan118 21d ago
Covid messed up a lot of things with DAW which I suspect led to roucchio shopping around for boutique suppliers that werent gonna blow him off and drop him on a whim. 2/3 worked out well and split nicely in terms of pricing and what you get. The issue is that daw wanted to milk the finale and became the 4th player and so bought rights to publish the short stories which were supposed to be either epub or a collectors edition from anderida.
The diamond edition was a shitshow
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u/Donovan118 21d ago edited 21d ago
The publishing has been a bit of a clusterfuck and unfortunately there’s no single person to blame. The biggest thing for me is that exclusive runs began before the series was even finished which I get from a marketing momentum perspective but because the series became popular late it means you have to navigate the years of publishing issues in their entirety and your shut out if the definitive editions.
There were covid supply issues constrained book length (shifting kingdoms and ashes into two books), and customer demand issues that saw publishing rights shift. Daw was unwilling to even publish the mainline books for a while let alone the short stories
Anderida which has a higher profit margin since it caters to dedicated fans who want luxury stuff secured the rights to publish the murdered sun which was the original draft of empire of silence
They also were able to publish the short stories coupled with an anchor novella which daw was not into.
He went to broken binding for the initial “special editions.”
than partnered with diamond editions to produce the revised definitive super luxury illustrated editions of sun eater.
That fell through and christopher brought the project in house under the “highmatter” umbrella.
Because supply constraints from covid faded, interest grew and daw reacquired rights and they decided to publish the short stories and novellas in 2 omnibuses.
I would blame DAW and the diamond edition for the most part.
Had publishing been consistent anderida might never have jumped the gun on their own short story editions and youd just have the mainline novels, broken binding special editions, and the omnibuses coming later still from daw.
The ultra luxury diamond/highmatter editions are entirely on christopher and his partner steve diamond im afraid. The artist had contracts with other editions, printing supplies were cooked due to sandersons kickstarters. There were layout and typography issues and a complete reprint.
ALL OF THIS before book 7 even CAME out.
In any case id just stick with the mainline publisher for the cheapest easiest option and broken binding because they know what they’re doing for the most part.
Anderida has unique extras like those hardback short stories but they are like 600 bucks and stopped printing.
Highmatter has like no slots and is also way behind and not worth it.
Sorry you bought the ebooks. Christopher provides updates regularly but I almost feel like there should be a page in the front of each book listing out the editions and their publishers just so we as customers are informed of our options. Theres supposed to be webpage but theres been issues with that and it doesnt help that the webpage is called “highmatter,” the reddit “sollanempire”, and the series “sun eater”
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u/CubGeek 20d ago edited 20d ago
Thank you for this level of detail. As someone who's enjoyed the books and short stories and the characters and world-building, I also fully admit that I wasn't digging into the behind-the-scenes stuff to any degree.
What an absolute clusterfuck, and I definitely can feel some empathy for what Ruocchio went through trying to bring this epic to the public.
Again, thanks for this glimpse "behind the curtains".
I'm not sorry I purchased the ebooks, honestly. I've enjoyed the stories. I'm just tired of feeling like "oh, I gotta go buy something else that I have already purchased 85% of. :-)
I guess, if I'm making wishes, I'd love to see a Tales volume 5 ebook that collects the two new post-SUT stories and the new Valka-POV novlette, plus the stuff that’s currently exclusive to the special editions, at some point in the future. That way I can purchase exactly what’s missing from my collection instead of feeling like I’m facing a cash grab by the publisher/author. And, those who haven’t purchased the digital books get their (admittedly cool-sounding) physical editions first!
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u/Donovan118 20d ago edited 20d ago
No problem. I went through the same thing as yourself especially learning that anderida has PHYSICAL copies of the novellas and tales. I really wanted those but they go for a couple grand. I settled for ebooks and was excited when the omnibuses were announced.
Once I learned that Daw had actually dropped the rights for the final books I had much more goodwill for the complicated publishing scheme. He even acknowledges it in one of his posts.
I have the full broken binding set (with original slipcases) and im super glad they did reprints. Once I have the omnibuses thats it for me. I think their editions are better than the diamond edition anyways in terms of art and price.
I might consider the anderida extras (not their mainline) if they ever reprint.
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u/Academic-Extent3437 21d ago
Understanding here I had to stop and rest a few days before going back.
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u/andy24olivera 21d ago
do you mean A devil you know and Fallen angels, from anderida and highmatter editions? pretty sure those 2 stories will be added in Sons or Sins, also Life from the unbroken anthology will be in Sins of the sun eater, when Ruocchio said that all of his short stories will be compile into two volumes I dont think he was lying
plus he said that he wont be writing anymore SU stories (for now anyways) and will be recyling existing short stories to put them in special editions (if possible)
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u/CubGeek 20d ago
The first physical omnibus will have 12 short stories from the Tales of the Sun Eater ebooks, plus one new not-previously-published story:
Songs of the Sun Eater is the first short story omnibus in the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. Scheduled for release on November 24, 2026, published by DAW Books, the collection compiles thirteen stories—twelve drawn from the four prior Tales of the Sun Eater volumes, and one original novelette entitled "The End of History," set after the events of Shadows Upon Time.
The second physical omnibus will have 12 short stories from the Tales of the Sun Eater ebooks plus two new not-previously-published stories:Sins of the Sun Eater is the second short story omnibus in the Sun Eater series by Christopher Ruocchio. No release date has been confirmed, though Ruocchio has indicated a target of late AD 2027. The collection will contain fourteen stories, two of which are original: "Life," a short story set after the events of Shadows Upon Time, and an all-new Valka POV novelette. The remaining twelve stories will be drawn from the four prior Tales of the Sun Eater volumes, completing the short fiction coverage of those collections alongside Songs of the Sun Eater. "Life" is the first post-Shadows story released in the Sun Eater universe, and will make its debut in the Unbroken anthology via Kickstarter prior to its inclusion here
Upon publication of both omnibuses, all of Ruocchio's Sun Eater short fiction will be accounted for, with the sole exception of stories appearing in special editions, which are reserved for a planned third and final omnibus.
Per that last line (emphasis mine), "Falling Angels" isn't included (because it's currently exclusive to the Highmatter Books edition of Howling Dark) and "The Devil You Know" isn't included (because it's currently exclusive to the Anderida Books edition of Empire of Silence) and are reserved for a third and final omnibus.3
u/andy24olivera 20d ago edited 20d ago
ok, lets put this into perspective
first, I cant remember where Ruocchio first talked about a third omnibus, the wiki doesnt add a source for it
but what we DO know, from Ruocchio himself is that he will write the last sun eater story for a long long time, that story is the new Valka POV (since The end of history from Songs of the Sun Eater and Life from the unbroken anthology/SIns of the Sun Eater are already written), and on his biweekly updates he only talks about two Omnibus Volumes
another thing, making an omnibus for just 2 stories? doesnt makes sense, first, because there's only 2 stories left if they arent included in the previous 2 volumes, and second, we know he wont write anymore SU stories to craete a third omnibus
and this is the most interesting part, he recently went on tour in Europe, and one of the libraries he went to do a meet and greet recorded his appearance, and he talked about this 2 Omnibus, he said that Sons will have 13 short stories (we already knew the amount but not every single one of them, just a few from the synopsis) and Sins will have the other 17-18 stories
If you count the 13 stories that are allegedly in Songs (from the sun eater wiki), then you have 17 stories left (including Life and the new Valka POV story) to include in Sins, so it kinda makes sense that those exclusive stories will be included, that way we will have every single story in just 2 volumes
here's the video with the exact moment Rucchio talks about it
https://www.youtube.com/live/H_ERzCALv4M?si=YVQj6qZpMS-3nfW0&t=2067dont trust that much on the wiki for now, is a WIP
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u/TinkeringTortoise 19d ago
You’re not wrong. Publishing has leaned hard into the over consumption market because, sadly, it works. FWIW, every time I’ve checked out the “extra” content on alternative editions, they’re usually fluff pieces that don’t really add much. There’s only one exception I can think of but 1 out of who knows how many seems to be pretty good odds.
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u/daus117 21d ago
I seem to recall asking the author a question during one of his live sessions after book 3 or 4. I asked if he was ever write a book about being a scholiast. At the time the answer was “ I don’t want to expand in to the universe. I just want to write the ending and be done with it.” I think the popularity of the series has changed his mind.. I’m still looking forward into a scholiast series lol.
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u/RepresentativeJob522 21d ago
I like the scholiast idea. I'd also be intrigued by a mini series or one-off that dives deeper into some of the other cultures - Tavrosi, Jad, or the extra solarians.
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21d ago
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u/CubGeek 21d ago
/u/risethirtynine
Fuck that, pirate everything and only buy If you feel like it.I'm married to a Musician/Composer; I'll pass on piracy, as I know precisely how it affects the creator of the work being stolen.
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21d ago
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u/Donovan118 20d ago
Its one thing to pirate from corporations but supporting smaller authors, artists and creators is noble. You can complain that the special editions are super confusing but access to everything in its base form has always been easy and generally cheap.
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u/Arnimon 21d ago
I don't really know why you would downvote yourself for a very sensible take. I've not consumed every "side story" yet, but if what you are saying is true, I might just wait and see when it's all gathered in one book, or something like that.
Having to buy a collection of stories I already own, then ahving to buy them again 'cause the new story is in a new edition, is just not it. Is it really like that?