Book Review: Empire by Orson Scott Card

[roo_ster]

Bottom line: Preachy & mediocre, and life is too short to read mediocre books.

OSC is one of those funny birds who thinks of themselves as a "centrist," which means they hold both left & right-wing political positions, with no consistent philosophy holding it together.  He really is more a statist, IMO., without the far-left-wing philosophy to back it up, just instinct and predilection likely stemming from his religion.

Anyways, the book is about a George Soros analog who incites a left/right civil war in America.  The good guys are centrists like OSC and the bad guys are almost all caricatures of the left or right.

The two main protagonists are two SF soldiers riding desks in the Pentagon, who manage to be in the middle of every development.  OSC really ought to have read Ian Flemming about Goldfinger's once, twice, three times = enemy action thesis, because there are two coincidences too many with these guys.

Toss into it a Roger Moore-ian era penchant for arch-villains and their over-the-top lairs, and we have a degenerate un-entertaining 007-meets-12-Angry-Men spy preach-fest.  Without much festivity.

Not recommended.

OTOH, OSC's Ender's Game is a terrific read. 

[Brad Johnson]

OTOH, OSC's Ender's Game is a terrific read. 

Wurd.

Brad

[BrokenPaw]

we have a degenerate un-entertaining 007-meets-12-Angry-Men spy preach-fest.

"No, Mr. Bond.  I expect you to acquit."

[Perd Hapley]

"No, Mr. Bond.  I expect you to acquit."

Well played, sir. 

[RevDisk]

Is that the one where the Soros clone builds an "EMP laser", battle mechs and an army of leftist mercs?  Somehow with NO ONE noticing?  I read part of it, skipped to the end, said "meh" and tossed it.  It's not a bad book.  It's a BORING book.  Yes, a book about an American civil war with mechs was boring.  That alone is an accomplishment. 

I often suspect Ender's Game was not OSC's work.  It's the only book he wrote that was a) decent and b) not long winded or boring.

[roo_ster]

Is that the one where the Soros clone builds an "EMP laser", battle mechs and an army of leftist mercs?  Somehow with NO ONE noticing?  I read part of it, skipped to the end, said "meh" and tossed it.  It's not a bad book.  It's a BORING book.  Yes, a book about an American civil war with mechs was boring.  That alone is an accomplishment. 

I often suspect Ender's Game was not OSC's work.  It's the only book he wrote that was a) decent and b) not long winded or boring.

Yes, you have described the critter.  I also have not found anything else by OSC in the same league as Ender's Game.  I don;t doubt he wrote it, as it was (IIRC) an short story first that he later expanded upon.

[Phantom Warrior]

Is that the one where the Soros clone builds an "EMP laser", battle mechs and an army of leftist mercs?  Somehow with NO ONE noticing?  I read part of it, skipped to the end, said "meh" and tossed it.  It's not a bad book.  It's a BORING book.  Yes, a book about an American civil war with mechs was boring.  That alone is an accomplishment. 

I often suspect Ender's Game was not OSC's work.  It's the only book he wrote that was a) decent and b) not long winded or boring.

The Bean thread of books after EG is quite good.  The Ender thread though is long winded and boring.  A shame.

[S. Williamson]

I enjoyed all his Ender stuff, Bean stuff, and Empire.  But then again, I'm the sort of person who will read any book or watch any movie at least once, and glean whatever insight/ knowledge/ entertainment from it I can.   

The only book out of the Ender run that I didn't particularly enjoy was Ender in Exile, as that was, to use a term Rev once used regarding OSC, pure ShovelWare.

[MechAg94]

The Bean thread of books after EG is quite good.  The Ender thread though is long winded and boring.  A shame.

I never read the Ender's Game direct sequels.  I was told they were not as good and not worth reading so I didn't.  I never regretted it. 
I did read the books following Bean and those were pretty good. 

The only other book I have read by OSC is I think Speaker for the Dead which I probably would consider boring if I tried to read it now. 

[Racehorse]

I've also read the book, and I agree with you. Preachy and mediocre. It was better than the lame in-flight movie that was my other choice at the time, but just barely.

However,

He really is more a statist, IMO., without the far-left-wing philosophy to back it up, just instinct and predilection likely stemming from his religion.

this seems an odd comment to me. Are you saying Mormon religious thought predisposes one to statism? Or am I misunderstanding?

[Matthew Carberry]

Not to speak for jfruser but more likely a willingness to accept some flavors of authoritarianism as opposed to "statism".

LDS has, or used to have, in my understanding, more top down control by one person (the Prophet) of both spiritual and "secular" life, inasmuch as there wasn't much distinction made between the two, than most other Protestant sects or modern Catholicism as practiced by the majority in the US.

If you are devout, as Card is (again in my understanding) and that's how you're raised you might get in the habit of accepting valid (to you) direction from above, which could lead one to more easily agree with authoritarian secular leadership if one was of a mind to anyway.

[Racehorse]

Not to speak for jfruser but more likely a willingness to accept some flavors of authoritarianism as opposed to "statism".

LDS has, or used to have, in my understanding, more top down control by one person (the Prophet) of both spiritual and "secular" life, inasmuch as there wasn't much distinction made between the two, than most other Protestant sects or modern Catholicism as practiced by the majority in the US.

If you are devout, as Card is (again in my understanding) and that's how you're raised you might get in the habit of accepting valid (to you) direction from above, which could lead one to more easily agree with authoritarian secular leadership if one was of a mind to anyway.

I guess I can understand the thought process that leads one to that conclusion. Despite the perception that Mormons all walk in lockstep and aren't allowed to question pronouncements from above, that hasn't been my experience, and it hasn't been the experience of most of the other Mormons I know. In fact, many aspects of the religious doctrine and especially the Book of Mormon specifically preach against secular authoritarianism and encourage members to seek independent confirmation of what's being said by the prophet.

Anyway, I don't want to derail the thread. I was just trying to understand where jfruser was coming from on that comment.

[roo_ster]

Racehorse:

Carebear covered most of it, but my analysis also includes what OSC has written in his online column.  OSC (and the LDS) in not unique in this respect by a long shot.

[Silver Bullet]

A couple years ago a sci-fi web site polled readers for their favorite sci-fi in tv, movies, books.

I read through the books recommendations to try and extrapolate the overall favorites so I could read some good new (to me) sci-fi.

Ender's Game was one of the three I settled on.  It was okay, but not nearly as good as the other two I tried:  Rendezvous with Rama and The Mote in God's Eye.

[S. Williamson]

Marnoot seems unusually absent... 

[roo_ster]

Marnoot seems unusually absent... 

Perhaps Marnoot == OSC ??   

[SADShooter]

SB:

Doesn't get any better than Pournelle/Niven for me, although I will say The Gripping Hand was a bit of a letdown after The Mote in God's Eye.

[roo_ster]

SB:

Doesn't get any better than Pournelle/Niven for me...

Pournelle was not nearly prolific enough.  He wrote the best military-ish scifi evar.

[SADShooter]

Agreed. I suppose the paradox lies in the diversity of his other interests. They enriched his writing, but limited his output.

[Silver Bullet]

The Gripping Hand was a bit of a letdown after The Mote in God's Eye.

That's true for me, also, but I don't think there was anything wrong with Hand so much as it just had too tough an act to follow.

The Mote in God' Eye had a terrific underlying menace and suspense because the extent of the Moties abilities and intentions was unknown, but being hinted at in the way they were plainly keeping secrets, for so long through the book.  Everything was known about them at the beginning of Gripping Hand.

[sanglant]

Perhaps Marnoot == OSC ??   

at the very least it's an interesting google 

Marnoot Orson Scott Card

[Marnoot]

 

What's to say? I thought Racehorse covered it nicely. I'm not a big fan of OSC, I liked Ender's Game, but not much else. I don't think his statist views are necessarily a result of his religion; myself, Racehorse, and the majority of Mormons I know are more likely to be tea-party type conservatives than statists.