The Risen Empire: Book One of Succession: by Scott Westerfeld
Science fiction is doomed if it cannot successfully blend science with fiction…the science needs to be believable…characters no matter how exotic have to be plausible…science fiction is not fantasy and vice versa…certainly there are styles that successfully blend these two distinct art forms which is challenging…however this book is science fiction from galactic empire and artificial intelligence to micro ships…and machine augmented humans…
This is science fiction that is plausible scientifically and has a heart of creative fiction. The Risen Empire is enormously successful at developing a feel that is futuristic star empire with many imaginative concepts injected with gritty personalities that are complex, dynamic and multidimensional.
Military, political and religious interactions aplenty, personal relationships that are multifarious in degrees, intricate lifestyles and a dreaded enemy along with an Undead Emperor enhance the experience…The Risen Empire is not simply a book…it is an experience…
The universe of The Risen Empire does not obfuscate some of the dirty secrets of science fiction…space travel between stars has a price in this version of high speed travel…those traveling thus do not age at the same rate as those bound to planets…this provides a fascinating launch pad to explore how this affects a society, human relationships, military, technological application and governance. Time is an interesting sub-character or plot device in this story…
Love across political lines and separation across light years can be transferable from historical events of the golden age of global exploration hundreds of years ago yet Westerfeld is more than creative in exploring many facets of these themes in unique ways in The Risen Empire…a future universe…
The technology is interestingly described yet the story is not a slave to it. The book is more space and planetary in nature but the characters and their relationships are always a stabilizing force.
The Risen Empire is one of those books that cause you to think while reading, certainly it is not burdensome but sparks many lines of thought when various concepts are presented. It is a fluid read with layers of complexity tuned for various kinds of readers…
It is not a mega galactic empire science fiction series but it provides a story that is appetizing and robustly enjoyable…it is good science fiction…it is a GOOD BOOK.
If you like Book One of Succession you may like Book Two of Succession (soon to be reviewed here at The Purple Bookmark): The Killing Worlds
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