Empire

Empire by Orson Scott Card

My review

rating: 2 of 5 stars
Way too political for my taste. People disenchanted with the current state of our nation's political system may not agree with the premise of this book or the main characters' core values. Card spends too much time on the blue-red seesaw, landing on the red side a little longer than the blue, but I can appreciate that he at least tries to keep them balanced.

The characters were the usual bare bones style you get with an action plot, and I missed the more subtle aspects of Card's more character-driven plots. The spy-espionage angle is exciting and keeps the plot moving, and the cause and effect of plot turns were fun to see unfold in this national-scale disaster. Card does know how to create a well-layered plot.

And, as always, he knows how to get you to turn the page with consistent tension that keeps you going until the end. The ending was predictable and cut shorter than I would have liked, but he did get me there, and given that I'm not into politics, that's saying something.


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