Reviews

The Empty Chair by Diane Duane

crashhard's review against another edition

adventurous slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

Tough to get through.   But get through I did.  Just ok.  Nothing special  


Here is my rating system.  Of course this is all subjective

5 star exceptional.  Must read book
4 star excellent book.  I enjoyed it
3 star. Average.  Take it or leave it.  Just ok
2 star.  Bad.  I finished it but didn’t enjoy it
1 star.  Did not finish or so bad I wouldn’t recommend it

wetdryvac's review

5.0

Love how it all comes together. Sometimes wish that the whole set - including Wounded sky for #6 - would be re-edited as a single book. Still, an excellent bit of work.

djwudi's review

adventurous fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

A strong end to Duane’s Rihannsu series - though it does begin in media res, and as it has been years since I read the preceding book(s), it took me a bit to regain familiarity with some of the characters. Her take on the Romulans, while very different than that explored by the official canon, is very strong and well worth reading.

frakalot's review

4.0

Elements help us! I have mixed feelings at the end of this saga. The scale of world building in the Rihannsu series is grand and is handled very well by Duane. The story is persistently interesting, with a perfect execution of intrigue, wit and humour.

I think that Duane gave Spock and the Romulans a unique and believable sense of humour. I also loved the horta as a character with its own cheeky brand of humour.

I don't think the end was an anticlimax. It was at times quite dramatic and tense. I would enjoy more stories that have this cast meeting again in the future. But not right now. I'm after a light read after such an intense series.

acreech's review

4.0

"This is the fifth book in Diane Duane's twenty-two year long tale of the Romulans. The first four books (My Enemy, My Ally, The Romulan Way, Swordhunt, and Honor Blade) have been collected and published in an omnibus entitled Rihannsu: The Bloodwing Voyages which was released last month along with The Empty Chair. I have been eager to read this final book ever since I finished the cliffhanger Honor Blade in 2005, and I was quite frustrated with my local bookstores for not carrying it. However, I was able to pick up a copy during my holiday travels....more"

bdplume's review

4.0

I enjoyed this series in some ways, but in others it was a slog. I find it interesting that it mentioned the Remans as early as the 1980s; I'd thought they were farcically added for Nemesis.

fbone's review

3.0

I hoped for more of out of Diane Duane. There seemed to be hundreds of pages of build-up for a rather tepid finish. She waited a long time to finish the series so I expected super fabulous instead I got just ok. All that planning by Kirk made the ending come neatly together.

wilwa's review

3.0

Ahh, well, spaceships and military strategy's always kinda nice, I think.

I picked this book up not acknowledging that it's not the first of the series. I've also never seen Star Trek; though the series is one of many of my series to watch (eventually). While it's hard to miss out on Spock and Kirk when you read and watch sci-fi I didn't know anything about them our their world besides their names.

All these factors didn't make the enjoyment of this book any less. While it was a bit difficult orientaiong in the beginning with unfamiliar names and places, the plot and story I was able to follow and enjoy and after a little while the characters were able to stand out and be separated.

The writing was okay, it wasn't overdramatic but plain in a good way. The story had a good pace to it, with a mixture of action and waring, strategy, talking tech and plans and politics and some downtime playing games and the normal life stuff happening.

There were some small plot twists and overall an enjoyable read.