Empire

Empire Orson Scott Card. 344 pages. Published by TOR. $7.99.

America: Economic Powerhouse to Empire

by Alex Gruebele

The Republican President and Vice President have just been assassinated by a terrorist attack on the White House. A group of renegade Democrats rampages over America, taking over state after state to turn the US into an Augustan Empire. Empire, by Orson Scott Card, is a book that combines a clever political plot with an adventure following a US analyst. It belongs to the genre of science fiction that extrapolates to a possible near future, and the message of the book is that democracy will not last any longer now than it did in Rome.

Card builds up a fast-paced and entertaining plot about a Democratic take-over of America. The book follows a civil war taking place sometime in the near future. A Democratic faction uses the chaotic time to try and take over America because they want to transform America into an empire. They are pitted against Republicans who want to avoid violence. Yet violence begets more violence. On the news, one of the main characters says: “The country might be screwed up, but if you get an order to point your weapon at Americans who are just doing their job, don’t obey that order. Point your weapon at the guy who gave it.” The book purposely is written from a biased point of view favoring the Republicans. The main characters are two Republican analysts who are trying to figure out what is going on and stop it. Since they are the main characters, the Democrats are placed in a slightly negative light. Yet the book is still written in a way that makes it obvious that they are not evil, but have their own point of view. The reader will have to decide whether a democracy or an Augustan empire is ultimately the better solution for the United States.

The situation gets increasingly complicated, and the only definite answers are hidden on the PDA of a dead Major. The book will keep readers on the edge of their seat as they try to weave their way through all the propaganda and subplots. Ultimately one discovers that there are deeper complications than one could have realized.

From the very beginning, when one of the main characters meets the mysterious history professor Torrent, one can sense that something odd will happen. Torrent had predicted everything about the war years before it happened, and many of the people in the Democratic faction had been to his lectures and heard his “America must become an empire” speech. He says: “If America is ever going to matter to history the way Rome does, instead of being a brief episode like the Sassanid or Chaldean empires, then it will be because we spawn our own Augustus to rule, where right now we only buy and sell.” There is no definite proof that Torrent had anything to do with the war, but who is puling the strings that make his predictions come true? Readers looking for deep or subtly painted characters should look elsewhere. The character’s thoughts move in a straight, obvious line, and one does not really learn much about their background or their lives. Although they are not very deep or complex, Card still manages to make his main characters likeable heroes. They serve the plot well.

Empire can be compared to a classic written almost 60 years ago: Foundation, by Isaac Asimov. They are similar in that Foundation is about historians predicting that the Empire they live in will fall in a few hundred years. They pull strings in the background, and at the same time preserve knowledge so that the downfall will not be as destructive as it might be. Although not stylistically superior or any more character driven, Asimov’s work takes a far more sweeping view at political maneuvering and war as a tool for control.

Overall, the book has an interesting, complex plot that flows well and keeps the reader in suspense. The reader often has to think carefully about all the events in order to understand the outcomes. The book allows the reader to make up their mind about who is right, and who is wrong. The mystery reaches a climax at the end, as Card leaves it to the reader to decide just who is pulling the strings.