I had such high hopes for this book, primarily because I love the Xbox 360 game Shadow Complex, and I know that the game is the prequel to the Empire series. However, I was very disappointed.
Empire is yet another book that hypothesizes on what an American civil war would like in the 21st century. Given the current political climate and cheeto in charge, I can't say that the book's fiction elements grabbed me like it should. (Perhaps I'm simply desensitized to the absurdity Chief Cheeto is turning this country into....)
I appreciated the opening about how Malich (who is sadly betrayed - spoiler alert) chose to engage with a Persian community despite the fear of retaliation from Al Qaeda. He grieved the civilian loss in a powerful way in order to ensure the trust that his special forces team had worked so hard to build was not lost. It was perhaps the most touching part of the book - in the first chapter.
It went downhill for me after that.
A revolutionary team taking over the American Government, and turning NYC into their personal war zone with high-tech mech? Not out of the realm of possibility, but at least set it at the Capitol if it's a coup that's happening.
Card did a nice job of setting up the plotline for sequels - and since it is the first in the trilogy i may consider reading them at some point. But overall, this was not my cup of tea (storyline or writing style).
As my first experience reading anything by Card, I'm a little disappointed. I have Ender's Game on my list this year, and I'm already adjusting my expectations for that book based on feedback from others and this experience with Empire.
2 stars, and I feel like I'm being generous.
Happy Reading!
--Jennifer
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