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Loading... The Risen Empire (Succession) (edition 2008)by Scott Westerfeld
Work InformationThe Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. 197 If you like lots of techno-detail in your SF, this is some pretty cool tech to read about. I prefer a somewhat lower tech:(plot&characters) ratio myself; but it was pretty cool tech. Be warned, tho: this is not a complete story. Only one of several subplots gets resolved by the end of the book. I might go get the others from the library. It wasn't bad. Disappointing space opera filled with typos. This novel was nominated for some of the SF literature prizes, but it ultimately didn’t measure up. The technology and the universe Westerfeld creates are intriguing – a cross between Dune and cyberpunk with some nanotechnology thrown in. It was engrossing at times, but the characters never really live because the text is exposition heavy. I did care enough to be peeved when it ends with a cliff-hanger. On one hand, Westerfield has given us a setting with a lot of interesting elements with which to play: symbionts that confer immortality, remotely-piloted drones the size of dust motes, and entire civilizations dedicated to the propagation of AI minds. On the other hand, the book is a giant teaser leading to a cliffhanger: nothing is explained, nothing is resolved. Basically, he's given us 304 pages of introduction. We don't even know what all the people who have fought and died (and are about to start a galactic war) are struggling over…it's just "The Secret." It pissed me off. no reviews | add a review
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From the acclaimed #1New York Times bestselling author ofEvolution's Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and aNew York Times notable book) andUglies,Pretties, andSpecials, comes a sweeping epic.TheRisen Empire is the first great space opera of the twenty-first century. The undead Emperor has ruled his mighty interstellar empire of eighty human worlds for sixteen hundred years. Because he can grant a form of eternal life-after-death, creating an elite known as the Risen, his power is absolute. He and his sister, the Child Empress, who is eternally a little girl, are worshipped as living gods. The Rix are machine-augmented humans who worship very different gods: AI compound minds of planetary size. Cool, relentless fanatics, their only goal is to propagate such AIs. They seek to end the Emperor's prolonged rule, and supplant it with an eternal cybernetic dynasty. They begin by taking the Child Empress hostage. Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial Frigate Lynx is tasked with her rescue. Separated by light years, bound by an unlikely love, Zai and pacifist Senator Nara Oxham must both face the challenge of the Rix, and both will hold the fate of the empire in their hands. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.54Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th Century 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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