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jojo50's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
meganmme's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to love this book- I love politics as well as card's other books. I thought much of the premise was excellent; believable enough to make a great story but about halfway through it really lost that believability factor and the characters weren't developed deeply enough for me to continue reading just to see what happened to them.
gregtatum's review against another edition
2.0
Card has written some very brilliant and engaging novels such as Ender's Game and Ender's Shadow. Unfortunately this isn't one of his best novels. It's still a decent and easy read, but it felt like a generic Michael Crichton or Tom Clancy novel. The politics in the book seemed a bit forced, the technology not that interesting, and some of the characters repeated phrases that were just so damn corny. Despite all of this it still wasn't too bad of a book. There was lots of action, and the plot moved forward nicely. It did paint some interesting pictures, but overall I think the book felt a little too forced and artificial.
josiahdegraaf's review against another edition
2.0
This wasn't a great book, but not for the reasons suggested by other reviews here. The basic premise of this book is a civil war that break out in America, a war which many people here are trying to paint as a simple Right-Left conflict, one where the Republicans are the good guys and the Democrats are the bad guys.
The problem is that's a way too simplistic depiction of this book. Contrary to what reviews here suggest, this isn't a book advocating for everyone to become part of the Right--but rather, a book advocating for a return to moderation and a refusal to run toward extremes on either side of the political spectrum. Yes, the "good guys" happen to be led by a Republican president. But Orson Scott Card also makes it quite clear in the book that the president is supported by a bipartisan coalition. Yes, the "bad guys" happen to be leftist extremists. But Card makes it clear that they could very well be right-wing extremists and it would still be problematic. This book isn't trying to make a statement on whether the Right or Left is right. It's trying to make a statement about the dangers of political extremism, and all the reviews bashing Card for his right-wing views are really missing the point. Yeah, some of that comes in since Card can't completely separate the book from his views. But reviewers are really being unfair to Card to paint the book in this kind of way. Card went to great lengths to avoid making this a simple Left-Right conflict, and was quite clear that it was really an extremist-moderate conflict. So I'm not sure why it is that everyone else is raging against this book as being some kind of Right-wing propoganda, because it really isn't.
All of that being said, while the political viewpoint of the book wasn't problematic, surprisingly enough, the writing was. This book had all the potential to be great: a political thriller with tons of twists. The problem is that the pacing was horribly off. There was no lead-up at all to the deaths of the president and . In fact, in both cases, I had to read the page twice because I missed the fact that both characters died the first time I read it because of how off the pacing was. The plot twists could have been great. But Card dramatically mismanaged them both, and as a result, they didn't have much of an impact. Both should have been relatively simple mistakes to fix. But they weren't, and the story suffered as a result.
In addition to this, the characters and theme, coming from Card were really was a step down. Most Card novels have intricate, complex characters and deep themes. The characters and themes in this novel weren't bad. But they weren't anywhere close to the level of depth and complexity that Card normally pours into them. If it weren't for the fact the Card's name was plastered on the cover, I don't know if I could have guessed that this was his work because of how different it was.
Overall, this book would be a decent book if it didn't have so much wasted potential. Between the plot, characters, theme, and premise, I feel like a lot could have been done with this book. Instead, it was just an average story. This probably would have made it a three star read if coming from any other author. Coming from Card, however, I was disappointed.
Rating: 2.5 Stars (Okay).
The problem is that's a way too simplistic depiction of this book. Contrary to what reviews here suggest, this isn't a book advocating for everyone to become part of the Right--but rather, a book advocating for a return to moderation and a refusal to run toward extremes on either side of the political spectrum. Yes, the "good guys" happen to be led by a Republican president. But Orson Scott Card also makes it quite clear in the book that the president is supported by a bipartisan coalition. Yes, the "bad guys" happen to be leftist extremists. But Card makes it clear that they could very well be right-wing extremists and it would still be problematic. This book isn't trying to make a statement on whether the Right or Left is right. It's trying to make a statement about the dangers of political extremism, and all the reviews bashing Card for his right-wing views are really missing the point. Yeah, some of that comes in since Card can't completely separate the book from his views. But reviewers are really being unfair to Card to paint the book in this kind of way. Card went to great lengths to avoid making this a simple Left-Right conflict, and was quite clear that it was really an extremist-moderate conflict. So I'm not sure why it is that everyone else is raging against this book as being some kind of Right-wing propoganda, because it really isn't.
All of that being said, while the political viewpoint of the book wasn't problematic, surprisingly enough, the writing was. This book had all the potential to be great: a political thriller with tons of twists
Spoiler
including, but not limited to, killing off the main character in the middle of the bookSpoiler
the main characterIn addition to this, the characters and theme, coming from Card were really was a step down. Most Card novels have intricate, complex characters and deep themes. The characters and themes in this novel weren't bad. But they weren't anywhere close to the level of depth and complexity that Card normally pours into them. If it weren't for the fact the Card's name was plastered on the cover, I don't know if I could have guessed that this was his work because of how different it was.
Overall, this book would be a decent book if it didn't have so much wasted potential. Between the plot, characters, theme, and premise, I feel like a lot could have been done with this book. Instead, it was just an average story. This probably would have made it a three star read if coming from any other author. Coming from Card, however, I was disappointed.
Rating: 2.5 Stars (Okay).
ferrozm's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
iggymcmuffin's review against another edition
1.0
What a horribly simplistic world view. Sadly it's all I've come to expect from Card given his Shadow series and it's ridiculous geopolitical machinations. However in the Shadow series it can be forgiven to some degree by it being set on the distant future. Empire has no such excuse to fall back on.
kdferrin's review against another edition
2.0
one of my least favorite card books. I am not a fan of war/politics. Inspired by a video game and it shows.
cocoanut7's review against another edition
4.0
Horrifying and believable glimpse of what the future could hold for America if we continue to be this polarized against one another. It’s fascinating.
giftsintogold's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed the fast-paced novel and the imagined civil war between the red and the blue. More closely associated with urban and rural than state.