Synopses & Reviews
From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author of Evolutions Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and a New York Times notable book) and Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, comes a sweeping epic. The Risen 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 Emperors 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.
Review
"Westerfeld's exceptionally smart and empathetic novel...confirms the buzz that space opera is one of the most exciting branches of current SF....Keeping the reader constantly off-balance, Westerfeld skillfully integrates extreme technologies with human characters." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Review
"Westerfeld manages the action impeccably, and he leaves threads of plot hanging for a grand space-opera finale in a promised sequel." Booklist
Review
"Westerfeld handles this fraught material with a surprisingly light hand....Westerfeld's speculations about the rise and fall of civilizations are appealingly quirky...and his action scenes have a breathless realism that does not gloss over the bloody nature of combat....I eagerly anticipate the sequel." Gerald Jonas, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"In between breathless action sequences, Westerfeld treats us to flashbacks, many horrendously slow....By the time all that is handled, the story is over, seemingly before it quite began. Not much more than an exposition-heavy introduction to a sequel though sprightly enough for what it is." Kirkus Reviews
Synopsis
From the acclaimed #1
New York Times bestselling author of
Evolution's Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and a
New York Times notable book) and
Uglies,
Pretties, and
Specials, comes a sweeping epic.
The Risen 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.
Synopsis
From Scott Westerfeld, the acclaimed author of the Leviathan trilogy and the Uglies series comes a sweeping space opera, The Risen Empire, book one of the Succession duology.
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.
Synopsis
In this space opera of the 21st century, Zai and pacifist senator Nara Oxham must face the challenge of the of a new race of humans who want to overthrow the powerful, undead Emperor of the empire.
About the Author
Scott Westerfeld lives in New York City and Sydney, Australia.
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