Empire: The Empire Duet, Part 1

By: Orson Scott Card

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

Length: 11 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller who has earned millions of fans and reams of praise for his previous science-fiction and fantasy works. Now he steps a little closer to the present day with this chilling look at a near-future scenario: a new American Civil War.

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 countryside. But the vast majority, who only want the killing to stop and the nation to return to more peaceful days, have technology, weapons, and strategic geniuses of their own.

When the American dream shatters into violence, who can hold the people and the government together? And which side will you be on?

©2006 Orson Scott Card (P)2006 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

"Couldn't be timelier...heartfelt and sobering....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...it drives it home." (Booklist)

very Good Read

This was a very good book from start to finish. Well done.

Engaging and thorough provoking story

If you think you have a corner on the truth, then you are a fanatic. I live in downtown blue, but tend medium rare myself. Those who wish to enforce their belief system on everyone else will bring instability on us all. Where do you draw the line? Our country’s founding fathers struggled with this same questions. We still don’t have all right answers. At least considering this story, no matter how improbable, keeps the debate alive.

I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Something to think about!

Enjoyed the plot, narration, characters! Our great nation and people share many of these same issues.

Even a great author can have a bad day

America?s War on Terror is being fought and won across the globe. Ruben Mallitch is a bona fide hero in that war and a rising star in the US Army. After completing his tour of duty in the Middle East he is promoted to Major and returns home to complete a Masters Degree at Princeton and then assume new duties in the Pentagon. Those duties include identifying weaknesses in domestic counter-terrorism efforts and formulating plans to exploit them. His ?unofficial? duties include acting as a covert go-between for the White House in the world?s hot spots.
This double life doesn?t trouble him until he witnesses a plan he prepared being executed by terrorists.
Are you hooked yet? I was! This has the makings of a fantastic story.
Orson Scott Card?s military SF offerings are unique in that the military characters are believable. In Empire, the author manages to convince us that Mallitch is both a Professional Soldier and a Patriot without him becoming a parody. He isn?t cold-blooded and mindless, he thinks about, and believes in, what he is doing!
Something terrible happened to Empire on the way to its conclusion:? having made the effort to develop the characters; the author doesn?t find anything useful for them to do!
Empire maintains Audio Renaissance?s high production standards and the reading, by Stefan Rudnicki, is clear, precise and well paced. Unfortunately their efforts cannot save this story from itself.

Civil War?

If you are an Orson Scott Card fan because of the science fiction aspect of his stories, expect something different from this book. However, his books are really about intrigue, political maneuvering, and strength of character. Empire brings those elements to a current setting.
Be prepared for the range of emotion that would be inevitable if you witnessed another Civil War in America. Some parts are painful; more so than if they were taking place at a future time and place instead of here and now.

So Says the Oracle

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who thinks that our current polarized political situation could lead to and an uprising. If it wasn't for the fact that Orson Scott Card did not see the fall of Bill O'Reilly coming, I would be tempted to call him a prophet.

Interest! Unusual!

Really a good read! I'm used to the wars in his books being in space or the future, but this seemed to be right now and it was a little scary! Almost too close to what's really happening in our world. Actually I'm glad he wrote this series when he did...It's almost like he foresaw some or what we are going through right now, Much of if was still very much sci-fi with equipment that our soldiers would love to have but only dream about. Really a great read, but read both books!

Ridiculous premise good story

M Crichton's State of Fear has environmentalists conspiring to blow up the West Antarctic Ice Sheet to advance their cause. Here, progressives mount a terrorist attack on the U.S. government and frame the right for it. In each case the author's political opponents are not only portrayed as cartoon villains, but to rationalize this portrayal they are required to commit an act that is completely inconsistent with their own philosophy.
Card always tells a good story. I enjoyed this one and will read Part 2. But the injection of his personal beliefs, and his manipulation of reality in order to justify those beliefs, has damaged his credibility.

Rightwing Leftist Alert!

Orson Scott Card is a democrat... a liberal, even. And yet, we find ourselves reading a book where the Conservative Right makes up the majority of the protagonists. Why would Card do that? Probably because even though he's a democrat, he's actually a democrat of the "Right to Choose the Right (or wrong)" variety, rather than the "I'll do whatever I want to do, and you can go hang" variety.

Empire opens us up to a world not too far off from the one we live in today... I even got the impression that the book takes place mostly in 2007/2008. He shows us how the heated, bitter, angry partisan attitude in this country could, though hopefully won't, tear the nation apart.

I am a long-time fan of Card, and like many of his fans, his earliest work will always be our favorite. But like anybody in any career, he has matured, and he's moved away from the boyish fun and intrigue of Ender's Game and become much more politically oriented, it seems. Empire is more of a lavishly decorated political commentary, an allegory, even, than it is a true novel of Science Fiction. The "holes" that so many other reviewers are keen to point out are the kinds of holes you could find in any one of Aesop's Fables (the Grasshopper and the Ants, for example).

Though this is not my favorite Card novel, it is certainly an entertaining political story which deserves attention, and having Stefan Rudnicki narrate it certainly makes the audio experience pleasant.

Not Ender's Game

This story starts out great and turns into an episode of "Sliders" before you get very far. Although I will applaude Card for giving Today's Press a hard time, the story has gargantuan holes in the technical and strategic aspects. Plus you can see Mr. Card somewhere on vacation here and there noting how he will have to use this in a story somehow. It's kinda thin for modern Sci-Fi. I would have expected a more thorough continuity study before issuing this version. It's only about half done. It really could have been a better book with some more 'due dilligence.'

The premise that the country is deeply divided is a line of silliness that's been going on ever since people could say impressive things like "This country is deeply divided!" for orator effect.

True, I would rather see terrorists invade somewhere in Georgia rather than New York for fear of NY surrendering too soon.

Fun book, but low marks for a master writer.