Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

Ender's game is one of the great science fiction novels. It's characters are well-rounded and the society Ender lives in gradually unfolds as we see him react to it. The somewhat lurid cover of Empire--and Card's name--led me to pick the book up from the new books section of my local Barnes and Noble. I really looked forward to several enjoyable hours in Card's universe, thinking, perhaps, that it was a prequel to the Ender novels. I always give a science fiction author my willing suspension of disbelief when I start a story. To do less is to imply that I already know all about the story line. But this participation by me as a reader is fragile, and depends on the skill of the author and of me as an educated reader to keep alive. Sadly, that belief died an excruciating death during the first few chapters, and never recovered. Card has complained that Empire is viewed as good or bad depending on the political views of the reader. That may be the case but as an independent voter, leaning toward Libertarian, I am not wedded to either the far right nor the far left. I find them both equally odious. I enjoy Atlas Shrugged as well as more liberal stories such as Brave New World (liberal in the classic sense that the state knows best). In Empire, Card tries to paint both sides as evil, with the liberals in the most evil column and the conservatives in the "maybe-a-little-evil" position. Fine. I can live with this when it is skillfully woven into a story line. I didn't see that in Empire. CNN = bad. FOX = good. Red states = good. Blue states = bad. Again, if it is a given, I can accept that in a story. But Card seems to have forgotten that editorializing through characters is a thin film to base a book on. There are other problems with Empire, such as the unexpected and unsupported actions of various characters. Without giving anything away, an example is "minor character stepping out of place to affect major character and then being tossed aside". Sure, people can act irrationally, but if they do so in a story, more than a couple of paragraphs are needed to explain their actions. If not, the action reeks of Deus ex machina. Worse, this problem occurs several times during the novel. Empire must reflect the views of the author, else it would be a story and not an apologia. In the end, it robs the reader of money and time, supplies little entertainment, and illustrates how a writer--any writer--can fail when stepping outside their expertise as a story teller. Empire is a great disappointment. Do yourself a favor and don't let it be one to you, too. Think fondly of the Ender saga and hope the next book returns to Mr. Card's otherwise excellent output. Harry Turtledove could have handled the story very nicely, but then I wouldn't have the chance to complain about Mr. Card's amateurish venture.