''The Risen Empire'' is a science fiction novel by American writer

Scott Westerfeld Scott David Westerfeld (born May 5, 1963) is an American writer of young adult fiction, best known as the author of the ''Uglies'' and the '' Leviathan'' series. Early life Westerfeld was born in Dallas, Texas. As a child he moved to Connectic ...

Setting and plot

The novel is set in an undefined distant future (although it is implied to exist roughly 5,000 years from now), in which there is a

galactic empire Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fantasy and science fiction, particularly in works known as 'space operas'. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background or written about the growth and/or decline of ...

spanning eighty worlds, amongst other human civilizations. The empire is ruled by the Risen Emperor, who has discovered the secret of immortality through means of a symbiont (spelled "symbiant" in the novel). Immortality is conferred on favored Imperial citizens, referred to as the 'grays'. The life of the 'grays' is governed by strict ritual and a form of worship towards the Empire, including long pilgrimages in his honor. To create balance, the living citizens of the Empire are represented by an elected Imperial Senate, and by elected governments on each world. Another prominent group within the Empire includes the Plague Axis, a group that deliberately leave themselves vulnerable to disease to preserve human genetic diversity. Faster than light travel is impossible (although FTL communication via quantum entanglement is used), and the result of more mundane

interstellar travel Interstellar travel is the hypothetical travel of spacecraft from one star system, solitary star, or planetary system to another. Interstellar travel is expected to prove much more difficult than interplanetary spaceflight due to the vast diffe ...

between the eighty worlds of the empire results in relativistic effects due to the high speeds involved; as such, the ages of space travelers become out of sync with those of their friends and family, an effect known as the "Time Thief". Other parties in the Empire, such as the Imperial Senate, are also subject to the "Time Thief" due to the use of

cryogenic In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th IIR International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington DC in 1971) endorsed a universal definition of “cryogenics” and “cr ...

freezing. The Empire, protected by the Imperial Navy, is at war with a cult of fanatical cyborgs known as the Rix, who worship compound artificial intelligences. These emergent intelligences arise from sufficiently interconnected computer networks, ranging from public communications to traffic lights to classified government computers. The central characters are

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Laurent Zai of the Imperial Navy, and

Senator A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

Nara Oxham, a member of the Secularist Party, which opposes worship of the Emperor and the use of the symbiont to create immortality. Despite their political differences, the two become lovers. Zai is sent away to fight the Rix; due to the death of the Emperor's sister at the hands of the Rix, Zai is expected to commit ritual suicide to mark his failure, but chooses not to do so. Senator Oxham, appointed to the Emperor's War Council, opposes unpalatable war plans that would lead to the sacrifice of billions of Imperial citizens in order to preserve state secrets contained in the compound intelligences. The storyline is continued in'' The Killing of Worlds'', released in 2003.

Reception

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

'' called it "exceptionally smart and empathetic", and noted that Westerfeld "keep(s) the reader constantly off-balance". THE RISEN EMPIRE: Book One of Succession
reviewed in ''

''; published January 20, 2003; retrieved October 12, 2017 ''

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...

'' was less positive, faulting the book for having "horrendously slow" flashback sequences and judging the book as a whole to be "an exposition-heavy introduction to a sequel" (while conceding that it was "sprightly" and had "breathless action sequences").THE RISEN EMPIRE Vol. I, Succession by Scott Westerfeld
reviewed at ''

''; published January 15, 2003; retrieved October 12, 2017 '' SF Signal'' considered it an "excellent example of space opera", with "strong characters" and "lots of cool technology", but criticized Westerfeld for excessive portrayal of politics.REVIEW: The Risen Empire by Scott Westerfeld
reviewed by John DeNardo, at '' SF Signal''; published September 26, 2004; retrieved October 12, 2017

John Clute John Frederick Clute (born 12 September 1940) is a Canadian-born author and critic specializing in science fiction and fantasy literature who has lived in both England and the United States since 1969. He has been described as "an integral part ...

described it as "considerably better than good", and praised Westerfeld for providing "some of the neatest, most kinetically exact, clearest-written hi-tech action (Clute has) come across".Incipit Rising
by

, originally published in '' the New York Review of Science Fiction'' #204 (August 2005); archived in ''Canary Fever'', published 2016 by Orion Publishing Group

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Risen Empire, The 2003 American novels American science fiction novels Novels by Scott Westerfeld Tor Books books Space opera novels Novels about artificial intelligence 2003 science fiction novels