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Empire (Empire #1)

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 5,699 ratings · 632 reviews

The American Empire has grown too fast, and the fault lines at home are stressed to the breaking point. The war of words between Right and Left has collapsed into a shooting war, though most people just want to be left alone.

The battle rages between the high-technology weapons on one side, and militia foot-soldiers on the other, devastating the cities, and overrunning the...more

Hardcover, 352 pages

Published November 28th 2006 by Tor Books (first published 2006)

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Apr 02, 2008 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars

Recommended to Tim by: Orson Scott Card

Shelves: on-my-bookshelf

I have to say that Orson Scott Card has got to be one of the most intelligent authors I have read. He is very sensible and knows how to get to the real issues. I really liked the story of Empire however the way in which this story is told I did not like. I recently attended one of Cards lectures on how he writes and how he comes up with ideas for stories and I found out that he doesn't ever write a second draft. He rewrites his first draft several times because he believes that the actual life o...more

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May 16, 2010 Becky rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: political, library, audiobook, 2010, reviewed, challenge-1010

This was an interesting look at how a new civil war in the US might occur. I think that this is one of those books that you should read twice to really get the full measure of the story. I listened to it on audio, and a lot of the time that I was listening to it, I was listening but not focusing intently, so I may have missed a lot of the nuances of the story. However, that being said, I do think that it was very smart and well written, and plausible.

Many people might take offense to the milita...more This was an interesting look at how a new civil war in the US might occur. I think that this is one of those books that you should read twice to really get the full measure of the story. I listened to it on audio, and a lot of the time that I was listening to it, I was listening but not focusing intently, so I may have missed a lot of the nuances of the story. However, that being said, I do think that it was very smart and well written, and plausible.

Many people might take offense to the militant party which staged the coup to set off the events that start the civil war being liberals, or "Progressives" as they are referred to in the book. We, or at least I, generally think of the right wing republicans as the militant type, and as the stiffly traditional type that would be more apt to take up arms to defend that traditionalism. And in fact, I was surprised by it, because I lean toward the liberal side myself (although I consider myself a moderate - but I am for many liberal ideals), but again... it was plausible. Get any extremist faction together, and no matter what their ideologies are, they will do what they think that they have to do to defend them.

I actually got more out of this book from the author's afterword than I did from the story. Not to say that the story wasn't good. It was. The story was interesting, and futuristic and the kind of story that I'm fascinated by, but the afterword was more... informative, I guess. That's not what I'm trying to say, but I felt that the author's words there aligned more with my own thinking than the story that he represented in the pages did. In the afterword, he talks about the hateful rhetoric and divisiveness between parties, and how it only takes one party thinking that they need to actively defend, with arms, their ideals from the attack of the other party, and there you go - we're in a civil war.

It's a scary thought, and it's incredibly likely. One thing that really bothered me in the story though is the representation of Fox News. In the story, as the "good guys" (I quote that because both sides believe that they are the good guys, but we're being shown the defenders as good guys rather than the attackers) are Republicans, the use of Fox News as their outlet was quite frequent, and they WERE presented as "Fair and Balanced", which to me is an outright falsity. Fox News is one of the most vitriol-filled and antagonistic and attack-oriented "news" right-wing organizations out there. They no longer even really have "news" segments, it's all opinions and interviews and talk about the news, which is quite different. I have a hard time reconciling an organization that is argumentative, downright rude and would tell a guest to "shut up" when they don't agree with them with a trustworthy and reliable news organization.
To me, Fox News does more for divisiveness in this country than any other factor, probably ALL other factors combined, actually. I don't say this as a liberal, I say this as someone who thinks that all opinions are valid and thinks that everyone should have a chance to express their opinion respectfully, EVEN IF IT IS UNPOPULAR - not be cut-off, harassed by the show host and then demonized later.

Aside from this ONE thing (and sorry for the rant- but I had to put it out there), I think that this story does a pretty good job of representing the opinions of both sides as valid and realistic. I may not agree with them, but to the opinion holder, they are right.

I think that we have to be willing to step back and see things from another person's point of view. If we are not willing to do that, then we probably WILL have another civil war in America - quite possibly in my lifetime. =\(less)

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Aug 15, 2007 Dan rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Right wing fanatics, People who like Tom Clancy Op Center books

This is the story of a group of left wing militants who try to take of the US with high tech weaponry.

This book was not very good. Card is a good writer, but this is not his best writing. The characters are static and unbelievable. It reads like a script to an action movie: it is fast paced and there is a lot of action.

Also, this book is fair and balanced like fox news. The left wing extreme in this book holds beliefs that only a small, unmobilized percentage of the population of America holds....more

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Feb 09, 2008 John rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Orson Scott Card lovers

Shelves: should-read-once

An interesting exploration in American potentials. Yet applying Orson Scott Card's usual character perfection to a world much closer to our own is slightly out of place. Worth a read once for being a thriller, psychological thriller, and Yet Another Scott Card Book, it leads you to think about where our political extremism is headed. If you watch alongside Ken Burns' Civil War documentary, it strikes impressive similarities.

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Feb 07, 2011 Rollie rated it 2 of 5 stars

I thought I could not finish reading this book. Not because I didn’t like it but because of my busy schedule. School work, feasibility study, exams and now we’re having a general cleaning. See, how can I sneak up just to read this? Fortunately, instead of resting, I read this book. Yay! Thanks to my reading buddy Juan este Kwesi Ian Jay who finished reading this book first. (his review)

After reading Ender’s Shadow and loving it; after hearing a lot of praises about Ender’s Game; I thought it was...more

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Jan 19, 2009 Cristy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm proud to say that this book is the fruition of a dream of my brother's, Donald and Geremy. They came up with the idea for a Video game, which is currently in production and will be out later in 2009, but Orson Scott Card loved the idea and wanted to write the book. So after much consultation with the Mustard's, the book was written, the first in a trilogy. It is important to know that it is only the beginning of the story, otherwise the ending will feel very unsatisfactory. My major grief wi...more

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Jun 11, 2008 Jared rated it 1 of 5 stars

It was recomended that I read this book because it deals with politics. Though this is something I am interested in this book seemed entirely too one sided. It was more a polemic than a novel, and its attempts to be non-baised were far outweighed by the moments of its blatant one sidedness. If you are a strong supporter of the right and think that our patriotic duty is to not question either the president or the military then you would like this book. If, on the other hand, you think that this c...more

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May 06, 2008 Franziska rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction

I could not finish the book, and stopped half way through. It gets one star because it wasn't the worst thing a person could read. It was just one of the worst books I've read in a while. I feel like my IQ dropped steadily with each page I read. I haven't read anything else of Card's books, but I think he really should stay away from political themes. It just made me wanna puke. Sure, it's just fiction, but I actually felt Card was sharing his political views in the book just as much as he share...more

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Dave Please do not let this experience scar you forever. Read the Ender's Game saga; especially volume 2 Speaker For the Dead & volume 3 Xenocide. Trea...more
Apr 08, 2009 04:38pm

Terence Franziska,

I agree with Dave here. Check out some of Card's early stuff like Ender's Game, Hart's Hope or the first books in the Alvin Maker series. Th...more
Jul 07, 2009 09:32am

Ben I give that motion a third. Card was my first favorite author after I read Ender's Game a decade ago. Since then I have been reading through his catal...more
Apr 07, 2013 02:31pm

Feb 02, 2009 Alan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Not one of his best. This one is convoluted and proves that Card should not try to write the techno-thriller. It also proves that he should stay out of politics. I didn't like too much that he never answers (only hints at) one of the main questions of the book. I also didn't care at all for the ending.

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Aug 04, 2011 Jacob Aitken added it

Just pretend for a moment: imagine if I said that a book, based on a video game, written by a Mormon who specializes in science-fiction, and is as heavily didactic as a Dan Brown novel, would actually be a very good and thoughtful book? You would (rightly) say that I am mad. Yet I am not.

The fact that Orson Scott Card actually managed to pull off this stunt--never minding his necessarily bizarre Mormon worldview--demonstrates he is a fiction writer of the highest calibre. I'm not going to revea...more Just pretend for a moment: imagine if I said that a book, based on a video game, written by a Mormon who specializes in science-fiction, and is as heavily didactic as a Dan Brown novel, would actually be a very good and thoughtful book? You would (rightly) say that I am mad. Yet I am not.

The fact that Orson Scott Card actually managed to pull off this stunt--never minding his necessarily bizarre Mormon worldview--demonstrates he is a fiction writer of the highest calibre. I'm not going to reveal too many of the details, but will rather highlight several major themes.

Demonstrating himself to be intellectually superior to Fox/CNN, Card points out that the "red state/blue state" divide is a myth. It is actually a divide between urban/elite/academia versus rural/suburban/religious (for all of you who keep laughing at me and agrarianism, keep in mind that California, from a geographical perspective, is overwhelmingly conservative. It's simply the three Sodoms on the coast that make it liberal"). The whole backdrop to the novel is "civil war." What this divide means--and is something I have noted for a long time--is that the next civil will happen between cities and counties rather than between North and South.

Card does a good job in showing the lunacy both of neo-conservatism and neo-liberalism. At first you would think he is stereotyping the Left and the Right. He isn't. Just watch Fox or CNN. Card's analysis, while on target, misses the target in the end, though. I'll explain below.

Does Card Base a Character off of George Soros?
I wonder how many conservatives picked this up. Soros is the uber-rich financier who has bankrolled every leftist cause for the past 20 years. Technically, neo cons are opposed to Soros (though they cheer when he tries to destroy Christians and traditional societies in Serbia and Russia). Anyway, I think Card based a character off of Soros and it was a brilliant move on his part.

The Writing Style
Card does everything correctly. His characters have fitting names yet they avoid allegory (unless there is some deeper meaning behind making the main character a war hero and an ethnic Serb. No doubt neo cons are enraged).

The Inadequacies of the book
I know from Card's blog that he is a neo con and a Zionist. Sadly. While he does tone down the Zionist rhetoric considerably, it emerges from time to time. My main problem with the book is that he actually thinks there is a true "conservative-liberal" divide. Yes, he is right to reject the red-blue divide, but he still thinks that (neo) conservatives and (neo) liberals are actually opposed to each other. While he hints that powerful people up top may may play both sides against each other, he leaves it at the level of "accidental side plot." He does not see, unlike C. S. Lewis in That Hideous Strength, that the main point is that powerful people (either CFR or Bilderbergs) are playing "republicans" and "democrats" against one another. This artificial opposition serves to mask what the Bilderbergs are really doing. You want proof? Point out to both sides that the leaders of Republican and Democratic parties are actually funded by men with connections to National Socialism and openly espouse many of their tenets--and see how you are laughed at. Yet conservatives cannot account for the fact that McCain and Bush (not to mention Obama) openly supported (enforced?) the bailouts. That was fascism that would make Hitler blush.

I don't expect Card to know that the members of the Council on Foreign Relations openly control Republican Party members (this stuff isn't even secret anymore). Nor do I expect him to know that the founders of the Council on Foreign Relations allowed ex-Nazi Party members to bank with them in the 50s through the 70s. This stuff is public knowledge but most people don't want to admit it. Still, Card should have known at least that someone is controlling both sides.

But don't let that dissuade one from reading the book. It really is a well-done piece.(less)

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Mar 22, 2009 Moses Operandi rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: readandenjoyed

I enjoyed this completely improbable version of America where militant partisan feeling drives the nation once again to civil war. This takes the form of a leftist rebellion during the middle years of the Bush administration (after his and most of his administration's deaths in the first section) that conquers New York and some other liberal states. That sounds like a recipe for outcry from the Left, but as the characters stress over and over, it could have been a right-wing military coup just a...more

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Apr 18, 2013 Francis Gahren rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

Some video-game developers asked Card to write a scenario for "about a near-future American civil war." They came to the right man and held off on releasing the game until he completed this relentless thriller, which couldn't be timelier and is, for all its hyperactivity and flip, Hollywoodish one-liners, heartfelt and sobering. Its heroes are two special-ops army officers who keep their oaths to defend the U.S. against all enemies when far too many of their ostensible colleagues have decided to...more Some video-game developers asked Card to write a scenario for "about a near-future American civil war." They came to the right man and held off on releasing the game until he completed this relentless thriller, which couldn't be timelier and is, for all its hyperactivity and flip, Hollywoodish one-liners, heartfelt and sobering. Its heroes are two special-ops army officers who keep their oaths to defend the U.S. against all enemies when far too many of their ostensible colleagues have decided to abandon theirs. A rocket hits the west wing of the White House, killing the president, vice-president, and secretary of defense. While those directly responsible are Arabs, the next day, 14-foot-tall, bulletproof, armed globes on mechanical legs, backed by shooters on individual hovercraft, seize New York City by killing anyone in uniform. None of the new attackers looks anything other than American. A "Progressive Restoration" administration is established in the city, and it encourages other cities and states to join it to restore government as it should have been but for the stolen elections of 2000 and 2004. Intriguing plot wrinkles come fore and aft of those basic developments, there are many deftly shaped supporting players, and major shocks explode in a split second (no Stephen King slo-mo for Card!). Moreover, all the action doesn't obscure the author's message about the dangers of extreme political polarization and the need to reassert moderation and mutual citizenship; indeed, it drives it home.

Suggested Reading: Robert Kaplan's THE COMING ANARCHY http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199402...

I agree with this guy…

A lot of liberals read this book and get their feathers ruffled because Card portrays a handful of liberals as the bad guys and a handful of conservatives as the good guys. If that makes this book "Ann Coulter screed" then everything by Robert Heinlein is "Al Franken screed." Kurt Vonnegut is just Jane Fonda's puppet and Neal Stephenson copies Greenpeace pamphlets. Come on, people! Most Americans acknowledge that there is a liberal bias in newspapers and TV news broadcasts, and a conservative bias in talk radio. Why is it perfectly all right for there to be a liberal bias in the science fiction of Heinlein, Vonnegut, LeGuin, Bradbury, or Stephenson, but when Card (who is, like half the country, a conservative) allows his own political views to influence his novel, he is a mudslinger?

The story itself is a work of fiction, obviously; that being said, Card's afterword makes clear his opinion on the plausibility of the story. He claims that as liberals and conservatives become more polarized, we stop seeing each other as rational people and start seeing each other as ideologues. If I say I believe in protecting our environment, conservatives immediately assume I am pro-choice, I am anti-war, I am atheist and I want to bring class-action lawsuits against every gun manufacturer in the world; clearly I am a commie left-wing extremist. On the other hand, if I claim to support the privatization of Social Security, liberals immediately assume I am fascist, I drive a Hummer, I hate gays, and I blow up abortion clinics with bombs I purchased at a gun show.

How long do you think Americans can keep hating each other as ideologues and not get violent? Card observes, "A good working definition of fanaticism is that you are so convinced of your views and policies that you are sure anyone who opposes them must either be stupid and deceived, or have some ulterior motive. We are today a nation where almost everyone in the public eye displays fanaticism with every utterance." Fanaticism can only lead to hatred, and hatred can only lead to violence. This fictional story takes today's fanatical ideologies (not everyday liberal or conservative, but extremist on both sides) and carries them to the logical conclusion: war.

Bias doesn't make the book bad. It doesn't make any book bad, or good. It just is. How you react to someone else's bias can be socially irresponsible, however. You can accept the differences and disagree on the beliefs, or you can choose to hate the person. Which do you think is more civilized? Which do you think is more rational?
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Mar 10, 2013 Deborah Bell rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is from something I wrote about this book several years ago (so I was talking about a different president in the first paragraph):

I've just finished reading Empire, a novel about a civil war - with guns stemming quite logically from the war of ideas already going on - in America, very quickly, and very soon. Orson Scott Card's ill-fated president, though unnamed, is obviously the current one, though in a few years a reader might find him obviously whoever is then in power, if our political...more

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Mar 09, 2013 J.r.hoffman rated it 1 of 5 stars

I enjoyed many of Card's other book (Ender's Game, Speaker of the Dead, etc). In my opinion, his writing has an infused magically quality of it. Unfortunately in Empire, it completely lacks that and feels more like a work of an amateur than of a professional writer.

One of the biggest qualms I had was the constant info dumps done by the characters. What could have been a great action-adventure booked with information paced throughout evenly, there's only a few scenes of actions and then many chap...more

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Nov 03, 2012 Sean Watson rated it 1 of 5 stars

As a frequent reader of OSC, this book was a monumental disappointment. Its premise is a violent revolution in America as the vocal fight between the Liberal and Conservative movements ultimately results in a civil war as one side becomes determined to take the country back from the traitors who have seized it. These unscrupulous fanatics hoard dirty money in secret, assemble a high tech army, and finally when the moment is right, they pounce and attempt to take the government by force. Which gu...more

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Jul 15, 2012 Daisy Langford rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: political-thriller

Thoroughly enjoyed this change of pace for Card. If you think his idea for a modern day American civil war is improbable, just read the reviews here and on Amazon. People either loved it (mainly conservatives) or they hated it (mainly progressives/liberals). What us fascinating is to read how the liberals tear Card apart in this book while praising his other books. Yet I doubt how Card writes a sentence or develops a character has changed that dramatically from one book to this one. So the chang...more

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Mar 31, 2012 Jeff Walden rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, politics, government, thriller

Card turns his hand to writing a thriller about sour politics turned violent. The idea's fairly pedestrian, but it could have legs if done right. This book, however, doesn't really do it. The science-fiction technology introduced for the baddies to use seems hokey in a book which is otherwise supposed to seem like it could happen any day now. The "good guys" are all vaguely toned-down right-wingers, or plaintive moderates hoping for more civility, or (I'm going from years-ago memory now) "sensib...more

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Feb 02, 2012 Miles Reid-lobatto rated it 1 of 5 stars

I never thought I could hate a book so much. I thought Battlefield Earth would be the low point of my reading life.

There is an interesting idea here, that's the thing. The idea of a New American Civil War (although I would say that the book's idea of it being Blue and Red is now outdated. If there is to be a Civil War in the US, it will be between Rich and Poor) is a potentially fascinating subject for a book. If done correctly. This means without bias. I may be left-leaning but I would be repel...more
I never thought I could hate a book so much. I thought Battlefield Earth would be the low point of my reading life.

There is an interesting idea here, that's the thing. The idea of a New American Civil War (although I would say that the book's idea of it being Blue and Red is now outdated. If there is to be a Civil War in the US, it will be between Rich and Poor) is a potentially fascinating subject for a book. If done correctly. This means without bias. I may be left-leaning but I would be repelled by the same book if it was just as biased to the left as it clearly was to the Right.

But this book wasn't interested in telling a story, it was a political screed about how the Left and Liberals are somehow inherently evil and detrimental to the Great American Melting Pot. It was a story where Righter than Right Men stood up and said 'We are the best country in all of time and all of history and everyone else can go hang.'

It was a book which claimed that 'In Europe, the media always told people what to think, and they thought it.' Only a good ten or so pages after showing that the main character and Gary Stu only ever watches Fox News at home. It was at this point where I tossed the book out of the window, never to be seen again. It was a book which had an essay in the back detailing how 'Homosexual Marriage is somehow evil and is contributing to the moral collapse of America.'

This is a book which is not designed to appeal to intelligent audiences, like the works of John Ringo and other far-right SF Authors, it is only meant to appeal to the types of people who thrill in reading passages where crew-cutted good guys kill anyone who isn't as Right-Wing as them, who spout bullshit ideas without a hint of irony. This is a book, like so many of this sort of gung-ho Military SF genre written by the kind of people who listen to Rush Limbaugh and watch Fox News perform hideous crimes to the word 'News'. Where so many SF books show us the potential of humanity or the limitless reaches of the imagination, this particular genre of books only exists to do one thing. They only exist as the fetishistic wish-fulfillment to say 'we are right.'
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Jan 15, 2012 Tamara rated it 4 of 5 stars

While not one of Card's best books, I did enjoy it. The main character is hired to find ways that enemies may be able to attack the White House, with the idea being that it would help the good guys defend it. After his presentation, terrorists attack the White House in the exact way he suggested they could, so he is suspected of planning the attack. The story continues from there leading to an all out modern day civil war in the United States.

I love how Card's intelligence is written into his st...more

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Dec 30, 2011 Timothy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, sci-fi

I totally enjoyed Empire. I thought it was engaging and entertaining. I thought the premise was just as good, if not better, than Clancy-like situations. I liked the characters. I liked the action.

The political overtones, made explicit in the afterward, sat just fine with me, with its criticism of fanaticism on both sides. I thought that the sparkle of plausibility was there, and the sci-fi twists were no problem to integrate.

I really liked Malich and Cole. The whole "intelligent special ops guy...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Cori rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought the premise of the book was fascinating — an American civil war between red and blue, though it wasn’t between states, but more between large cities vs the suburbs and rural areas. Watch the news and you’d think this was about to happen! I’ve read some of Card’s writing about politics, and I can agree with quite a bit of it, so I thought this would be a really interesting look at a possible future. The plots itself races along, though I thought it would be bigger and more epic than it...more

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Jul 05, 2011 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

In Empire, Card paints a chillingly plausible picture of a near future civil war, brought on by the differences between the extreme left-wing liberals and the ultra-conservative right. I steered away from this novel when it first hit the shelves, but recently picked it up in audiobook form from the library for a road trip. I'm a fan of Card's other works and I can't really say what turned me off about Empire when I first saw it in the book store, but I can say that I was wrong to wait. It's a su...more

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May 31, 2011 Serge Boivin rated it 2 of 5 stars

Orson Scott Card is one of my favourite writers. I have loved every book of his that I have read over the years... until Empire.
This book was very disappointing, and really not up to the quality writing standards I have come to expect of Mr. Card.
First, I have to say that I really do not care what Mr. Card's political views are. If he wrote an interesting and intellectually challenging story with fully fleshed out and plausible characters on both sides, I would enjoy it very much, regardless of...more

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May 03, 2011 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

I spent some time wavering on this book between three and four stars--which is unusual for me. Card is one of my favorite authors. I have thoroughly enjoyed his explorations into other cultures, including alien ones, in the Ender series. I love his Alvin Maker series, the rewrite of American history that is included.

And I really like the idea and development of the idea that is contained in Empire. But. I think I have an easier time reading his other novels because I don't have to face current...more

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Apr 12, 2011 John rated it 3 of 5 stars

Here on the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, it seems perfectly appropriate to post this review of Orson Scott Card's Empire, a novel that imagines a new civil war in a fictionalized modern America.

The premise is simple enough: as the rhetoric between America's right and left has grown more heated, the country has become more divided and ripe for a civil war. The dividing lines here are not so simple as red state / blue state, but instead leans toward an urban / rural di...more Here on the 150th anniversary of the start of the American Civil War, it seems perfectly appropriate to post this review of Orson Scott Card's Empire, a novel that imagines a new civil war in a fictionalized modern America.

The premise is simple enough: as the rhetoric between America's right and left has grown more heated, the country has become more divided and ripe for a civil war. The dividing lines here are not so simple as red state / blue state, but instead leans toward an urban / rural divide.

(view spoiler)

I will avoid giving away much more. As a thriller, it was fine. That's not a genre I tend to read--we picked this up on the basis of Card's name, because we needed an audio book for our recent trip to Ohio. If it had been an ink-and-paper book, I imagine it would have been a page-turner--certainly, it kept our interest all the way through.

In his afterward, Card makes an impassioned plea for Americans to reject the divisive, hateful, and closed-minded rhetoric of both sides, and it's a thought-provoking little afterward. From what I've read Card is fiscally liberal, socially conservative, and at least since 9/11 has been fairly hawkish--that's an oversimplification, because Card's views refuse to be sorted by anything like party lines. And that's perfectly understandable--neither the Republicans nor the Democrats as political parties have a truly coherent worldview with ethics and politics that follow from them.

All that said, in the novel itself Card seems much harder on "the Left" than "the Right." I'd like to say that this is simply a function of his characters, that the characters represent themselves and not Card himself, but I've read enough of his essays to recognize when he's using his characters as a mouthpiece for his own ideas, and that seems often what's going on here. That's his prerogative, of course, but when some of that commentary seems like oversimplification, exaggeration, or over-generalization, then it goes back to the author and there's just something about it that rubs me the wrong way. Maybe, as Card might well say, this is simply a function of my own biases. I can't say for sure that it isn't, and that did bring me back around several times to question both my own positions on some of the issues that came up as well as my view of the novel.

The plot itself is... fine. It's a bit unbelievable at times, but better than a lot of films (for what that's worth), and it moves along nicely while also being very willing to surprise (nay, shock, at least at one point). Kudos to Card for that.

There was another idea that was a powerful driver of the story: early in the novel, we see a fictional Princeton historian and professor who argues that if America "fell" at this point in history, its achievements would be ephemeral, at least by the standards of Rome which, when it fell, shaped the culture of Europe and the near east for centuries afterward. The reason, he says, is that America is still in its republican stage, not having passed to being an empire. Although he claims not to be advocating this, he claims that only as an empire could America achieve anything of lasting cultural significance. As the novel's title suggests, this comparison to Rome runs deep through the book and was one of its more interesting aspects.

In the end, this wasn't great literature, it probably won't survive the fall of America, but it was an enjoyable and sometimes thought-provoking read. 3 stars? 2 1/2? It probably depends on the day.(less)

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Jan 25, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

I thought the concept behind this book was really good. Basically, it's a story about how the political rhetoric between the right and left in this country could lead to all out civil war. (It was even more interesting to be reading this right when Congresswoman Giffords was shot, and everyone became very critical of hateful rhetoric.) However, I thought the first part of the story was believable, but the second part delved too much into sci fi. Obviously, Card is a sci fi author, but I felt thi...more

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Dec 22, 2010 Stasa Fritz rated it 2 of 5 stars

I will keep my review “fairly” brief, after scanning a number of the positive and negative reviews. I have no problem with the main characters having a conservative point of view. I do have a problem with the execution of the writing. As I pursue my own masters in creative writing, I am stunned by how Card violates some of his own advice from his two good books on writing (Character and Viewpoint; How to write science fiction). Whether you call this science fiction, or an espionage/thriller, it...more I will keep my review “fairly” brief, after scanning a number of the positive and negative reviews. I have no problem with the main characters having a conservative point of view. I do have a problem with the execution of the writing. As I pursue my own masters in creative writing, I am stunned by how Card violates some of his own advice from his two good books on writing (Character and Viewpoint; How to write science fiction). Whether you call this science fiction, or an espionage/thriller, it still has to be believable within the confines of the world he is building. It doesn’t.

Card choses to build a world that is essentially “right now” and post 9-11. He populates it with people that actually exist (O’Reilly on FOX). If you do that, in broad brush strokes you are setting expectations that this is the world we live in right now and people would react as you have seen them recently react. They don’t.

Card does a number of things that make this hard to swallow: 1) Major attack in and on New York City, where the entire nation still empathizes with the police and fire department (left or right politically) and has the revolutionary forces kill all uniformed people and the city then rolls over and embraces that group? This world? Today? Really? Embrace the killers of anyone in uniform? Then he basically ignores the entire situation for several months (elapsed novel time) and focuses strictly on the remaining protagonists? Card, what happened to “world building” as you discuss in your craft books? Yes, you wanted to keep it fast paced, but that much time elapses and we get close to zero feel for what is happening in the nation. A few blurbs about city council votes does not cut it!

The premise at its core could have worked. I have had two similar ideas boiling in my head for years…but if I ever approach the idea, I will look to this book as a list of things to avoid, not to emulate.
My concern (for Card’s future) is that this book seems to have not been fully edited by a good set of critical editors. As authors become popular, this seems to occur frequently. Good and great authors still need to be told when something doesn’t work and they need to not let their past success go to their head. I recently read a collection of Card’s short stories, which included some LDS oriented stories. Despite the obvious political and religious leanings, those stories were quite good and the short essays that went with each story were insightful. But, most of those were written long ago.
Finally, as mentioned by a few, this also feels “video game-ish.” I will probably not spend the time on the sequel to this, “Hidden Empire,” as I suspect it will be in the same world and follow the same style. I don’t begrudge Card the opportunity to get preachy, I just would like him to do a better job at it. Sometimes, when an author is too passionate about something s/he loses objectivity and the ability to self-edit. I think this may be the case for this book (and its sequel).

(less)

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Apr 16, 2010 Dlora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: adventure-action, lds-author

This slightly-science-fiction story is set just barely in the future. In fact, the setting is so true to the present American political scene, that many of the references to TV personalities, government officials, and political trends will soon make the book out-dated. It postulates a possible second American civil war between the extremists of the Left and the extremists of the Right set off by a terrorist assassination of the US president and vice president. There is lots of nonstop action and...more

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Feb 11, 2010 Matt rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: trashed-after-reading

It's rare that I get to use the term "puerile shit," especially when it comes to one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card.

However, 'Empire' afforded me that opportunity -- in spades-- and before I'd finished this right-wing-infused manifesto thinly disguised as a novel, I had many, many other opportunities to generate even more graphic and offensive terminology.

OSC's foray into the techno-thriller world dominated by Clancys, Coonts, and Browns, is mediocre storytelling at best, and stunning...more It's rare that I get to use the term "puerile shit," especially when it comes to one of my favorite authors, Orson Scott Card.

However, 'Empire' afforded me that opportunity -- in spades-- and before I'd finished this right-wing-infused manifesto thinly disguised as a novel, I had many, many other opportunities to generate even more graphic and offensive terminology.

OSC's foray into the techno-thriller world dominated by Clancys, Coonts, and Browns, is mediocre storytelling at best, and stunningly sub-par for Card. But it's the passages such as this that bore me:

“A lot of Americans would love to slam the doors shut and let the rest of the world go hang.”

“And if we did,” said Cole, “who would save Europe then? How long before they find out that negotiations only work if the other guy is scared of the consequences of not negotiating? Everybody hates America till they need us to liberate them.”

“You’re forgetting that nobody cares what Europeans think except a handful of American intellectuals who are every bit as anti-American as the French,” said Malich.

Yeah, it would be one thing if these characters represented one perspective in the book, balanced by others, however, these characters are tasked to present the ONLY perspective -- or rather, the only perspective worth respecting -- and as a result, their dialogue and ideology both become even more strained, growing both tired and tiresome. The narrative is written in a manner that suggests that to disagree with this "America! Fuck yeah!" position, you immediately are in league with the novels "villians" -- the weak, leftist intelligentsia.

OSC was once an innovator, a dreamer, someone who saw promise even in bad situations. Drawn into writing the Empire series by a computer-gaming company (no, I'm not making that up), OSC offers little in the book with which I could empathize, and that is strange territory as a Card fan. Instead of rooting for the protagonist, I found myself rooting for some breakthrough moment when Card would cast away the pretense and show you it was all a rouse -- but it never comes and instead I rooted for the book simply to be over already.

(And yes, you read that correctly -- Empire SERIES. Don't wipe just yet, because OSC is pinching off another turd.)(less)

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Oct 12, 2009 Jason rated it 3 of 5 stars

I think 3 stars may be too generous, but I enjoyed the book and it was a fairly quick read. I liked the premise and plot of the book - America in civil war with the sides being the political left and right. I don't quite agree with some of the reviews I've seen claiming Card's writing in this is too far to the right. I felt he showed the idiocy of extremism on both sides of the political spectrum, and if it came across as too conservative that may be a result of having the major characters being...more

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About Orson Scott Card

Orson Scott Card is the author of the novels Ender's Game, Ender's Shadow, and Speaker for the Dead, which are widely read by adults and younger readers, and are increasingly used in schools.
Besides these and other science fiction novels, Card writes contemporary fantasy (Magic Street, Enchantment, Lost Boys), biblical novels (Stone Tables, Rachel and Leah), the American frontier fantasy series Th...more

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“Being young is an 18 year prison sentence for a crime your parents committed. But you do get time off for good behavior.” — 71 people liked it

“Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment.” — 64 people liked it

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