Empire Audiobook

" See my review of Hidden Empire. Ditto. "

" Not his best. But entertaining. Not one I'd recommend though. "

" As a frequent reader of OSC, this book was a monumental disappointment. Its premise is a violent revolution in America as the vocal fight between the Liberal and Conservative movements ultimately results in a civil war as one side becomes determined to take the country back from the traitors who have seized it. These unscrupulous fanatics hoard dirty money in secret, assemble a high tech army, and finally when the moment is right, they pounce and attempt to take the government by force. Which gun-toting movement is fanatical and unprincipled enough to resort to violence to change the country? You guessed it - the Liberals! Card's protagonist is a brilliant right-leaning Special Forces soldier, who despite his conservative nature, has complete empathy and a deep cultural appreciation for the Muslim civilians in the theater wherein he fights because we all know conservatives are never judgmental of those who hold different beliefs. When he uncovers the treachery of the Liberal movement, he knows the media cannot be trusted since it's been completely corrupted, so he goes on the only fair and balanced show left: The O'Reilly Factor with host Bill O'Reilly, and no - I'm not kidding about that. I typically enjoy OSC because he challenges me and presents fresh perspectives. This book was utterly predictable, base, and pandered to the lowest common denominator of our current political landscape. I thought Card was better than this. If you genuinely believe that Fox News is a legitimate news organization, I expect you'll love it and I would encourage you to buy it. It sucked several hours out of my life that I'll never get back. "

" What a disappointment!! I absolutely love Orson Scott Card but this had none of the insight and compassion found in his other novels. Basically it's an ode to the special forces and a weak rendition of a disturbing view of our future in a red state versus blue state country. "

" I agree with other reviewers, this book was not his best. The characters were very one dimensional, and the plot was an action story. However, his essay at the end was fantastic, and it brought another dimension to me that I didn't get in the book. So, for that, three stars. I would highly recommend the essay! "

" Just read this for book club. It was ok. I wouldn't recommend it. "

" Plot does not match the blurb. For right wingers only. "

" Not his best work, but pretty good. "

" The premise of this book was interesting. There's an unexpected twist that was a pleasant surprise. I would have liked a bit more character development, but given the background of the book, that probably would have been asking a lot. "

" I love the political philosophy. I was pulled in from the beginning. It was a fun story and made me think. "

" Excellent book. Good mix of intrigue, politics, technology, and military action. If only, he wouldn't have killed XXX (it'll be pretty obvious who this is). As a National Guardsman, I enjoyed that he didn't portray the NG as boneheads. "

" loved it! made me realize how little I actually knew about us politics and made me think about how certain things could actually happen. "

" At first I was hesitant to read a book involving politics, but I thought the author did a good job of pulling in history and presented the idea of the US becoming an Empire very plausible. There is actually a point in which the book surprises me. Enjoy! "

" Politically intriguing, especially given the campaign right now. I can't help but wonder how this election year would have influenced the book, if Card hadn't already published it back in 2006. Maybe not at all. "

" Good book with a lot of action and an interesting plot but not a heck of a lot of substance. A good sumer book. "

" I don't usually like adventure books but Cooper convinced me to give this one a shot. Really, really good but taps in slightly to my mild sense of paranoia. :) Orson Scott Card is a great storyteller and, like Ender's Game, does not dissapoint! "

" I liked Card's reasoning about the future of America and a possible outcome of it. "

" Like Dan Brown, but a bit better for those interested in Roman history or US politics. And I am a bit of both. But still a bit pedantic. "

" Oh, Orson, how far you have fallen. Instead of the brilliance that was Ender's Game, you now write a Tea Partier's political doomsday fantasy/sub-par action movie. A shame. Hopefully you'll recover from this. "

" This is the first time I will not not be reading the sequel if that tells you anything. I think this is the worst book I have read in a long time. "

" wow. this was just one of those books I could not put down. Fast-action and very enjoyable. "

" Intriguing beginning, but falters a quarter of the way through with wooden characters and laughable plot. Devolves into outright silly camp towards the end. A thinly disguised vehicle for Card's politics, unworthy in my view of the author of the excellent "Ender's Game." "

" Great political thriller. What would happen if the Republicans and Democrats started a civil war..... "

" Interesting idea, not the greatest implementation. It was like a caricature of a book to promote how great right wing ideals are. The left wing is the bat shit crazy imperialists trying to take over NY, and the right wingers save the day. Which is ass backwards, if nothing else. "

" Another book that was hard to put down and had me totally engrossed. "

" Action! Packed! Plausible? Plausiblish. I felt like I was supposed to learn more than I did. I regretted that I had not skipped the preachy postscript. But there were briefly robots, so I learned what I could from that. "

" Not bad, but not great. Good plot, but I've never really enjoyed Orson Scott Card and this didn't change my mind "