Empire
From AwardAnnals
 | |
| Author(s) | Orson Scott Card |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Honors | |
| 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? | |
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?
Orson Scott Card is a master storyteller, who has earned millions of fans and reams of praise for his previous science fiction and fantasy novels. Now he steps a little closer to the present day with this chilling look at a near future scenario of a new American Civil War.
Honors
Reviews
Barnes and Noble
Inspired by video game developer Donald Mustard and the design team at Chair Entertainment—who are creating a multi-format entertainment franchise revolving around a second American Civil War that includes a video game, comic book series, etc.—Hugo and Nebula Award-winning author Orson Scott Card’s apocalyptic vision of this near-future conflict is as chillingly conceivable as is it downright disturbing. (In the novel’s afterword, Card states that coming up with a plausible scenario for such an event to happen was “sadly enough, all too easy.”)
In an America where “divisive, vicious, hate-filled rhetoric” has increasingly dominated elections, the rift between the left and the right has become unbridgeable—and something has to give. When terrorists assassinate the president, the vice president, the secretary of defense, and other officials in a masterfully coordinated attack, the country slips into chaos and rumors spread about a vast right-wing conspiracy. At the center of the pandemonium is Major Reuben Malich, a celebrated war hero who is being set up as the fall guy. But as Malich and his crew race to uncover the real conspirators, an elaborate scheme has already been put in motion—one that will transform America into a true empire
Equal parts apocalyptic thriller, militaristic science fiction adventure, and soul-chilling political cautionary tale, Card’s Empire offers readers not only a glimpse of a possible war-torn future for the United States but also a hopeful preview at what could be: “a single society, linked together by a shared culture, a shared history, and a shared future.” Regardless of political affiliation, this thought-provoking novel—and especially the author’s candid afterword—will spur hours and hours of heated discussion among those who read it. Paul Goat Allen
