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)

Not his best

Interesting but not engaging. I expect much better from the man who wrote Ender's Game.

Set up as if it was taking place during 43

But it's just as applicable in today's "cancel culture" and "rabid" political discourse. This is a vision of how a few people of determination can change our nation... and not for the better.

Card…Always a good read.

I listened to so many Card novels that I am getting them mixed up in my head. Like always they cover theology, moral and the plight of man. A good story as always.

Great listen, whether you're left or right.

This book will (hopefully) make you recognize and question your own fanaticism. I know it did for me. Also, I could listen to this narrator all day, he always does a superb job.

Awesome, not perfect

If it wasn’t for the sci-fi thrown in there (which I do love on its own), this could’ve easily been one of my favorite books, but I can’t help but feel like it was completely unnecessary in a novel otherwise very grounded in reality to a point that it really took me out of the very intriguing political and physical battles that the characters were going through. The plot itself does get a bit far fetched even without the sci-fi, but not to an extreme that makes it unenjoyable. To all the reviewers saying that this book is a hit piece against the left and just right wing extremism, I have to say I majorly disagree. While it is obvious that the author leans right, he remained fairly impartial to that in the story. Several main characters on the good guys side were even leftists. This book isn’t attacking the left or the right, it’s attacking the far extremes on both ends of the spectrum. My review would easily be 4.5/5 if it was an option.

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.

Another great work by Card

Its scrary how plausible he makes this out to be. The parallels drawn between America and Rome and why we aren't Rome is pretty interesting. Also the Red state Blue state issues were addressed well.

Its a really good book and I highly recommend it to any other Card fans.

*Spoiler Alert*
The only thing I had a problem with is that the civil war wasn't big enough.

Scary and Believable

Card paints a picture of the future of America that is both scary and believable.

Absolutely Riveting and a Commentary on Politics

The most frightening thing about this CD is that it appears that it really could happen. Red and Blue states take on a new meaning and it is very up-to-date as a recognition of what is happening in America today.