This was another "random pull" from a shelf, and it was a pure gem. I've never read anything by Lawhead before, but will now seek out his other works. Empyrion is a 2-in-1 collection of the books "The Search For Fierra" and "The Siege of Dome".

The main character, Orion Treet, is sent on a mission to document the foundation of a new, extra-solar colony, but he must travel through a little-understood wormhole to reach it. The wormhole flings them forward in time and they arrive 3,000 years in the colony's future, after several catastrophes, diseases, dictators, etc ravage the people. They degrade until the corporation that sponsored their journey is only known as a religious figure.

Those left living under the dome are controlled by power-hungry leaders. A splinter group that left thousands of years ago have formed a Utopian society (Fierra). Orion sees that the people of Dome are hell-bent on destroying the Fierri and returns to Dome to stop them from launching an ancient atomic bomb at the Fierri.

The story was well-written, and though it was a 900 page book (in small print, at that), it was difficult to put down. I would really like to have had a third book about their future, but the story ended well enough, I just didn't want it to be over.

I highly recommend this book if you enjoy any type of science fiction. ( )

This is the epic journey of a man named Treet to a distant and dark world. Lawhead weaves a fantastic tale of treachery and redemption. In my estimation, the book could have been shortened to one book, but it stil makes for a great read. ( )

http://www.refracted-light.net/empyri... ( )

Readable, but trite. Shallow chracters and simple plots on a fairly well descibed world. ( )

hmm... what to say... this book starts off sci-fi, but I think it really ends up being fantasy with a tiny bit of sci-fi mixed in... It follows the path of Orion Treet, who lands on a planet expecting to find a few colonists, and instead finds the colony has grown from the tens to the thousands, perhaps even millions, and has already split apart in a matter of a few years. Him and his friends are kidnapped and reconditioned into the society. Treet must find a way to free his friends, and save both of the civilizations before one destroys the other and itself. ( )