Empire by Orson Scott Card

In contrast with Homeland which presented a perspective far on the left of the political spectrum, Empire is squarely on the right. The premise of Empire is that the assassination of the President, VP and the Secretary of Defense sparks a civil war between the right-left/ red-blue states in America. At the heart of it, investigating what looks like a conspiracy are military men "Rube" Malek and "Cole" Coleman.

The book is definitely a fast paced thriller with a few sharp twists and an ending that isn't so much surprising as an interesting take on a desired future for America. I admit there are parts of the book that are a little contrived and simplistic, particularly the assault on the bad guys that happens in the final quarter of the book. Still, there's a lot to like in Empire if you're looking for a good entertaining read.

Bottom line: Interesting premise, a story that holds your attention, some great twists and a satisfying ending make Empire worth picking up.

Avi's Book Rating: B+

Homeland by Paul William Roberts

Here's an excerpt from the front flap describing this book:

The year is 2050. The US is by now a global empire, sealed off from an outside world that has been reduced to a series of wars against several Chinese factions. America is little more than a wasteland. The great cities have disintegrated into memories of a bygone glory. New York has become a tourist haunt and theme park. Washington is the hub for central command operations, and only those on official business ever visit the capital. The president and Vice President, along with the Secretaries of State and Defense, are no longer identified for reasons of national security. There is no sense of the past. History, as we know it, ceases to exist. It is in this grim and terrifying landscape that we find David Leverett, a former government advisor and architect of Americas twentieth century postwar foreign policy. Having just reached his one hundredth birthday, Leverett confronts his past, chronicling his role in the evolution of the American empire, from the end of the Carter era, to the glory years of the Reagan administration, and finally to the solidification of Americas foreign policy of world domination under the influence of corporations, think tanks and lobbies of the two Bush administrations.

Sounds pretty interesting doesn't it. Unfortunately the book wasn't really as advertised. It wasn't so much the left wing slant that pervades the book in the way it attacks America since World War II and primarily the republican Presidents throughout (although the way it ignored Clinton's 8 years office stood out). That perspective was interesting even if it was clearly coming from a happily biased position.

The problem is that Roberts in trying to write fiction felt the need to interrupt the narrative every few chapters to lecture the reader on political theory. This was distracting and really hurt the flow of the book.

The bigger flow however is the lack of alignment with the dust jacket. Reading the description one would think that the story was a walkthrough of history showing how America evolved from a post-WWII superpower to a collapsed wasteland in 2050. Nope. The majority of the book was spent outlining America's evolution through to the Bush administration and only the last 10 pages touched on what happened after.

Bottom line, there was a lot of interesting moments in the book but the political theory was distracting and the parts detailing the disintegration of America between 2006 and 2050 were unconvincing.

Avi's Novel Rating: C+