At Empire's Edge

Zak Cato #1

by William C. Dietz

Zak Cato is a xenocop. He's returning a fugitive shape-shifting Sagathi when things go horribly awry. Saved from being slaughtered with the rest of his men because he is drunk, Cato must now become the hero he was created to be, recapture the Sagathi, and exact revenge.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction

320 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

New York Times bestselling author William C. Dietz has published more than fifty novels, some of which have been translated into German, Russian, and Japanese. He grew up in the Seattle area, served as a medic with the Navy and Marine Corps, graduated from the University of Washington, and has been employed as a surgical technician, college instructor, and television news writer, director and producer. Before becoming a full-time writer Dietz was director of public relations and marketing for an international telephone company. He and his wife live near Gig Harbor, Washington.

Reviews

[A.B. · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF - Couldn't get past how mysoginistic the perspective characters were, or how often a lesser character got a brief perspective just to wax poetic about the supposed "hero". I might come back to it when I feel like torturing myself... just to see if the worse characters get killed in iteresting ways.
And why are there so many exclamation marks in this book?

[Tasula · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointment. I really liked the series beginning with Legion of the [author:William DietzDamned|722434] (interesting aliens, heroic soldiers, cyborgs) and liked the series about Andromeda, but this one was full of gratuitous and frequent allusions to nakedness, sex, dismemberment, squalor, death, etc.

[David Miles · Rating 3 out of 5]

An OK book, but certainly not what I expected from Dietz. The "Military Proceedures" and SOPs in the story were laughably childlike and definitely would not have flown in any military that Im aware of.

I think this book would be best read by someone from the Youn Adults crowd.

[Becky Beaman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A (h)uman, an android, and a Kelf walk into a bar... and if the (h)uman hadn't gotten as drunk as he did, there would have been no story because he would be dead with the others in his unit. Actually, the three didn't meet until after the ambush, but I wanted this opening line anyway. Mostly a story of political intrigue, alien interaction, and gunfights, this book is nonetheless entertaining. Think of it as the Old West with the Cantina scene from Star Wars as the introduction of characters. Entertaining and a fast read -- recommended!

[Troy Romans · Rating 3 out of 5]

Main: Cato
Vilian: Shape shifter

[Angraecus Daniels · Rating 2 out of 5]

I quit reading about half way through. Except for the protagonist, all the characters are one-dimensional idiots. And the writing is awful. I've seen amateurs write better.

[Rose · Rating 4 out of 5]

"At Empire's Edge" might start off as a standard sci-fi novel, but the emergence of themes political, territorial, and the characterization that develops throughout make this a very well-rounded novel in overall scopes. It surprised me, because it took quite some time for the stage to be set with respect to the setting and the unfolding conflicts, but once it did, the story and characters drew me in, and didn't let go until the final scenes of the work.

Jak Cato, a Xeno Corps officer, is the centerpiece of the novel as the story has him bringing in, and guarding over, a dangerous shapeshifting criminal named Verafti, of the Sagathi race. Things go horribly wrong as another alien race, the Vord, attack Cato's ship, forcing the crew to land to make repairs. The crew find themselves in Dantha, a planet with limited resources to provide them with the repairs they need because of the greedy ruler Nalomy. Nalomy realizes the benefit of having a dangerous criminal in her territory, and sends men to ambush Cato's troops in order to recruit the Sagathi to act as her own assassin.

Cato is the only one who survives the ambush (as he's off getting drunk versus getting supplies for his team - he has character flaws in the beginning, so he starts as a character that some might not identify with initially), but as he hears and witnesses the aftermath of the ambush - he vows to bring justice for his team's brutal demise.

What happens after that drives the novel from there on out - as Cato lands smack in a political crossfire between corruptive practices by the government and citizen unrest. Granted, there are a lot of players in this conflict, and the novel takes time to sift through the perspectives of the people witnessing the unfolding of events, from military officers to a simple slave girl, to Cato and even the parties that he comes to meet, but it invites the reader in when it hits its stride with the characters and events, after Cato tries to find out everything behind the attack on his team, and finding the Sagathi criminal.

That said, there were some characteristic flaws in the novel - it does take on quite a few cliches to start, and it does take its time developing the settings and the political tete-a-tetes that are going on, so much that there are slower points the reader may have to slog through to get to the better strides. I don't like the subjectification of women in this novel as depicted in spurts, but at the same time I realize that's part of the world in which this novel exists, and it can get rather dark at times - mentioning instances of abuse, rape, and murder.

I didn't expect the ending. Don't get me wrong - I liked the ending, but it was more or less something that you'd have to take in to decide whether it suits you or not. It ties in the character relationships well, but at the same time, leaves you with one really surprising revelation.

All in all, I did enjoy "At Empire's Edge." It may not be a novel that suits everyone's tastes, but if you're into sci-fi stories with adventure, political intrigue, some hints of romance, and interesting characters and motifs, it's one to look into.

Overall score: 3.5/5

[Scott Holstad · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this sci fi novel by William Dietz. It was fast moving and action packed, particularly as the novel progressed. It's military sci fi, so if you go for that, it's a good book.

The book is about Jak Cato, a Xeno Corps officer, who is bringing in and guarding an extremely dangerous shapeshifting alien named Verafti, a Sagathi. Things really go wrong early on as another group of aliens, the Vord, attack Cato's ship, forcing it to land to make repairs. They find themselves on the planet Dantha, which has limited resources for repairing the spacecraft because of the narcissistic ruler, Nalomy, who is plundering the planet's resources. Nalomy soon realizes the benefit of having a dangerous criminal around because Usurlus, the emperor's representative, is coming from Corin to confront Nalomy and take away her rule. She thus wants Verafti to assassinate Usurlus and sends men to ambush Cato's troops in order to recruit the Sagathi to act as her assassin.

Cato is in the main town looking for supplies for his troop out in the desert with Verafti, but his primary downfall is drink, so he gets drunk. And misses Nalomy's assassins killing his colleagues in their outpost. When he later arrives to discover their bodies, he vows vengeance, as well as a promise to recapture Verafti. During his travels, he picks up some companions in a robot and a creature that resembles an Ewok from Star Wars. Together they raid a hideout of some winged warriors who assassinated his crew, escape after a shootout, make their way to Solace, the main city, and look for the answers to their questions. Other characters are introduced, including a slave girl who turns into a somewhat unnecessary romance for Cato, and an underground dedicated to replacing Nalomy with justice. Toward the end of the novel, the planet's militia is on the lookout for Cato, now an assumed criminal, as he looks out for Verfafti and for a way to warn Usurlus that he's the target of a soon-to-be assassination attempt.

I won't give away the ending, but the book builds to a climax that I found immensely satisfying, while leaving open the opportunity for the requisite sequel, which I now must read. Who lives and who dies? You'll have to read it to find out, but it is action packed and well written. It seems no stone is left unturned. Dietz does a nice job of tying everything together for the reader, especially when it seems like all might be lost. This isn't the best sci fi I've read, but it was immensely enjoyable and as such, it's recommended.

[bkwurm · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was terrible and nowhere near the standard of the author's other books.

The setting was a thinly disguised Roman empire in space but for some reason, even though they had the technology to build robots and androids which could presumably be programmed to work tirelessly and be utterly loyal, the culture is still reliant on slaves. While I could probably accept that some in the aristocracy would flaunt their wealth by keeping slaves, the complete absence of computers, robots and androids was just bizarre.

Nor did the plot help. Unconvincing and plodding and so stereotyped, you could predict what was going to happen with near certainty.








Spoiler

Just as an example, why would 2 conmen voluntarily agree to join the protagonist in an apparent suicide attack on a numerically superior better armed enemy? It made absolutely no sense, especially since they could have abandoned the protagonist at any time during the trek to the enemy base.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a big fan of Dietz' novels and series, so I'm a bit biased. Even so, I was pleasantly surprised by 'At Empire's Edge'-At first, I thought that this work would be a standard hard sci-fi action romp. The main character, Jak Cato, has a number of failings and weaknesses which give him (and the book as a whole) some very real depth. He's an alcoholic, he's short-tempered and short sighted in his decision-making, he a bit acerbic. Thank God he's an empath! His ability helps him do his job as a member of the Xeno Cops, whose duty it is to hunt down a race of shape-shifting predatory aliens and inter them. One gets loose on Jak's watch, which sets in motion a series of (high adrenaline-level) events. Y'all gotta check this book out!

[Steven Allen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have always been fascinated with ancient Roman history. When I heard that William C. Dietz wrote a SciFi novel blending Roman empire elements with a cop story I was intrigued. This was a good read, something that I expect from this author as I have read most of his books. This was a good book in a two-part series. The beginning of the story I expected to be slow as the author needed to establish the world, but the story starts almost immediately. Like the ancient Roman there is slavery, Roman ranks in the army, and even Roman-esq uniforms. Sex and rape are mentioned but not graphically. Lost of violence, but almost no profanity from anyone alien or not. I was sorry to see some of the characters die, but I wonder what happened to the little fur ball? Will he appear in the next book?

[Kevin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic space opera, a Roman inspired empire. Characters seemed shallow and mostly two dimentional. The conclusion depends hevily on one character being extremely credulous, in a way that was not believeable. It was necesary to leave the hook for the sequal, but he should have found another way. The major problem I had with this book was the clumsiness of the prose. Dialog especialy was ocasionaly painfull to read.

[Alex Boothe · Rating 1 out of 5]

I would say that if you're a fan of William C Dietz and are interested in reading this one then get it from the library. If you're 12 then it's all good, if you're use to other book from years ago you'll probably be disappointed. IMHO

[Andrew Ziegler · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not Dietz's best. You will be sad when C3P0 dies. I have the second book, so I mine as well finish this nonsense. I have to say, really not great. He had a hard time chasing the shapeshifter because of his ability to change his appearance...you know...shift his shape. sigh.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

Slow to start, but as usual, very good characters and once the story got rolling... it got rolling! Enjoyed... perhaps not as much as others, but still a good read!

[Doc · Rating 5 out of 5]

All I'll say is that my first thought after finishing this was "I hope he writes more." Of course, since it's a duology, he probably won't.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

good enough but not great. I didn't feel for the main character (Jak Cato) though. Dietz's creation of the "evil" alien shape-shifter, Sagathi, was pretty good.

[Sean · Rating 2 out of 5]

a little slow and generic...

[Eric · Rating 3 out of 5]

75/100

[Joe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun technical military sci fi so far.