Any thoughts on Empire? It is the first OSC book that I've read that seems completely unlike his others-- and I've read just about everything he's written. The characters seemed out of line with his writing style... but maybe that's just me. I'm not saying that I disliked the book; I just found it a bit atypical for Card.
Posted by Rodger Brown (Member # 11476) on :
There are lots of Empire threads you can check them out just use the search engine. I actually really liked Empire and found it quite thought provoking. Empire is not an OSC original idea it spawned from an idea for a video game by Chair Entertainment, this might be why you found it unlike his others
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
Thank god someone started a thread about Empire! I thought we'd never get around to it.
Posted by Terry O'Brien (Member # 12014) on :
Personally, having read almost everything by both writers, I think Empire's style and character builds are OSC's homage to the great mystery writer Robert Crias, of whom OSC has been a long time fan. Even Crais' main character is named Cole.
And the action sequences are very Crais-ian. SO I think it's OSC's version of a Robert Crais novel, which is indeed high compliment. (If I'm wrong, I hope Mr. Card doesn't revoke the blurb he wrote for my own book last year... it's a MAJOR selling point.)
I found Empire slightly frustrating with its lack of a real ending, but I understand the reasoning behind it. A) For us ot make up our own minds and B) to keep the "franchise" alive for further installmants. I'm sure OSC probably thinks of Empire as a one-off, but Ender's Game was supposed to be as well, neh?
Posted by K_heron (Member # 8893) on :
quote:Originally posted by Terry O'Brien: Personally, having read almost everything by both writers, I think Empire's style and character builds are OSC's homage to the great mystery writer Robert Crias, of whom OSC has been a long time fan. Even Crais' main character is named Cole.
And the action sequences are very Crais-ian. SO I think it's OSC's version of a Robert Crais novel, which is indeed high compliment. (If I'm wrong, I hope Mr. Card doesn't revoke the blurb he wrote for my own book last year... it's a MAJOR selling point.)
I found Empire slightly frustrating with its lack of a real ending, but I understand the reasoning behind it. A) For us ot make up our own minds and B) to keep the "franchise" alive for further installmants. I'm sure OSC probably thinks of Empire as a one-off, but Ender's Game was supposed to be as well, neh?
Its interesting to hear from someone who is very familiar with both authors. Personally I am just familiar with OSC.
I did find the ending frustrating, as am sure many others did. The ending was another element that I found to be rather atypical for Card. Even in his novels that leave room for interpretation and imagination at the end seem more... well, conclusive.
In reponse to Rodeger Brown, perhalps the elements that I read as being un-OSC-like stemmed from the origination of the idea for the book.
Posted by Xann. (Member # 11482) on :
quote:Originally posted by Terry O'Brien: Personally, having read almost everything by both writers, I think Empire's style and character builds are OSC's homage to the great mystery writer Robert Crias, of whom OSC has been a long time fan. Even Crais' main character is named Cole.
And the action sequences are very Crais-ian. SO I think it's OSC's version of a Robert Crais novel, which is indeed high compliment. (If I'm wrong, I hope Mr. Card doesn't revoke the blurb he wrote for my own book last year... it's a MAJOR selling point.)
I found Empire slightly frustrating with its lack of a real ending, but I understand the reasoning behind it. A) For us ot make up our own minds and B) to keep the "franchise" alive for further installmants. I'm sure OSC probably thinks of Empire as a one-off, but Ender's Game was supposed to be as well, neh?
Based on what OSC has written it seems like it was more a homage to 24 then anything else.
Posted by Terry O'Brien (Member # 12014) on :
[/qb][/QUOTE]Based on what OSC has written it seems like it was more a homage to 24 then anything else. [/QB][/QUOTE]
The 24 references were pretty transparent, as was his hatred of all things Microsoft. I was speaking mainly to the previous posters assertion that the writing was un-Card like. If you read a few of Robert Crais' Elvis Cole novels (which I cannot reccomen highly enough) you'll see what I saw.
But again, I may just be reading too much into it.