Palantines such as Hadrian are, by their very nature, quite long-lived. Add to that decades of being in suspended animation while traveling between the stars and Hadrian's been around for nearly four hundred years. In that time, the stories of his accolades have grown and spread, bringing with them attention that he really would prefer to do without. Some regard him as a god or, at the very least, a prophet; some believe him to be the original, divine Emperor rebor; some think him a devil, and many in the Empire think he may be a threat to the Emperor's reign. The fact that he repetitively and readily states that he doesn't desire the throne and wants only to serve the Emperor doesn't seem to dissuade their concerns, either.
Poor little rich boy. Lord Marlowe wants nothing more than to retire; to oversee a small backwater province somewhere, perhaps, and just live out the rest of his days in peace with Valka, his lover and would-be-wife, if they weren't from vastly different cultures which didn't allow such marriages to occur. Alas, even as they grow closer, the war conspires to require Marlowe's service all the more. The Cielcin had managed to extract the Sollan Emperor's route from Hadrian and his men (although not necessarily in that order) while holding Hadrian captive for years on their world-ship. Now, they are using that information to track the Emperor's movements and the Emperor, himself, is in real danger.
Soldiering is quite different for Marlowe, now, however. With almost no survivors from Hadrian's fleet, he now serves more as a passenger - a guest - than as a commander, among troops that have been ordered to fight with him, but don't have the love and respect for him that his soldiers had. Worse yet, they know the demise that had befallen his men and have doubts about Hadrian's true convictions and loyalties, as well as what might happen to them. However, out of this, Hadrian encounters a company called the Dragonslayers. It will take some shared combat experience for each to appreciate the other, but the Dragonslayers seem to be stout and true soldiers.
When the Emperor, himself, is cornered, trapped in a underground bunker being besieged by the Ceilcin, it is up to Hadrian and company to save the Emperor and the day. However, Hadrian knows that more than just the Emperor is at stake. Should the Ceilcin get the Emperor, they would not merely kill a man, but kill the Empire itself and spread horror throughout the universe. And, unknown to Hadrian at the time, he stands to lose something even greater than all of that... and ultimately, himself.
They say that stress is caused by anything - good or bad - that is out of the ordinary. If so, then Hadrian Marlowe has been stressed to the point of being torn apart and, for that matter, ripped limb from limb. In Ashes of Man, he does manage to put some ghosts behind him and find a small bit of respite before the galaxy comes crashing down upon him again, but it then sets to tearing poor Hadrian down in every way it can. Marlowe finds himself at odds with everyone, from the Ceilcin to the Extrasolarians, to the Chantry and finally, the throne, itself. Additionally, he loses enough to be reduced, as if in a crucible. Exactly what shall come from those "Ashes" of such a man remains to be revealed in the next story, but this one ends with the revelation of how Hadrian manages to secure freedom and some semblance of agency.
Often, I will recognize the direction a story is going to go in before others would, whether it's in a book, television or movies. I will say, however, that there we some unexpected turns of events for me in Ashes of Man and that events occurring in this book will definitely change Hadrian in the upcoming installments, although I'm not sure in exactly what ways. I look forward to the next installment to see what lies ahead for poor Hadrian Marlowe.
