Empire by Orson Scott Card

reviewed by Gerti

For those who have read Orson Scott Card’s classic science fiction novel “Ender’s Game”, the book “Empire” will sound familiar. The hero here is not a small boy, but a seasoned war veteran, who understands that conflicts are not only fought with weapons, but also with words and deeds. When we first see Reuben Malich, the soldier is stationed in an Arab country. He sees and survives an ambush with rare and almost prescient intelligence. This special knowledge gets him recruited for other anti-terrorist missions. Which is why it is no surprise that when Reuben comes back home, his Princeton history professor selects him as a verbal sparring partner.

The debate between Reuben and his teacher, Averell Torrent, about whether the United States is like Rome before the days of empire becomes the central theme and core question of the book. Card’s point, which is brilliantly made, is that the US is like Rome before it became an empire, and our various political divisions now are just prelude to one strong leader seizing power and uniting the country. In this book, that leader is Torrent. What Reuben doesn’t know at the beginning stage, is that the professor’s siren call has been heard by many people, some of them with the money and connections to bring such a change about.

I don’t want to ruin the plot for you, but Reuben gets involved in this conspiracy to end democracy in the US based on some paper he wrote about the best way to kill the President. His new assistant, Captain Bart Coleman, is with him the day they see scuba diver’s heading toward DC intending to fire rocket launchers at the White House. Reuben and Cole (his nickname), are able to prevent one assassin from firing his weapon, but another’s weapon has already gone off, killing the President, the Secretary of Defense, and several other important people who had gathered in one place. Reuben is a suspect, especially after a trip to NYC with Cole occurs during the first battle in a war to take over that city.

Reuben’s jeesh, which is Arabic for posse, try to help him figure out who is setting him up, and who is behind all the high tech weaponry they see in New York. These soldiers Reuben formerly fought with have a cadre of special skills, and together with Cole, they help uncover a conspiracy to make his former college history professor America’s new dictator. After he is killed, Reuben’s wife Cecily and Cole continue to gnaw away at the extent of the conspiracy, but stop when they realize how dangerous it is to oppose this country’s new leader.

A tremendous book which will probably be especially appealing to those who love conspiracy theories. I’m not a big fan of war or politics, but this book was so well written by Card, and the characters were so well defined, that it was a joy to read up until the end. I hated that protagonist Reuben died three-quarters of the way through, though, and constantly expected him to show back up.