Janelle C. (jscrappy) reviewed on 1/6/2008 + 59 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 16

The premise of this book sounded interesting--extremists on both sides of the political spectrum propelling the country into a civil war--but the execution is extremely lacking. This is a very poorly-written, silly book. The characters, the settings, the dialogue, the situations, are all under-developed and have the feeling of being simply pasted into the book to prop up Card's premise and his message. This is not how successful fiction works, and of all people, Card should know that. "Empire" could have been a truly thoughtful, compelling book, because the issue Card's concerned with (extreme political polarization) is a timely and important one--but instead it has a rushed, superficial feel, possibly because Card was attempting to time to book's release with the release of a corresponding video game. Again, this is not how fiction should work.

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