Charles Stross is one of the greatest futurists of science fiction. Not only was he one of the first great post-singularity novelists, but he also gave artificial intelligence a lot of legitimacy in his works. So, when I saw a 150-page sample of his new Empire Games on NetGalley, I dropped everything to read it. Although I read and review a lot of speculative fiction, I don’t expect every novel I read to be visionary. Sometimes I just want to kick back and relax with a good spy thriller.
At its heart Empire Games seems like a fairly decent story about spies hopping across divergent timelines. The granddaughter of an East German agent, Rita Douglas cruises through life’s ups and downs in a security-sensitive surveillance state of 2020. But when the entire timeline is threatened, she’s called to rise to the occasion and awaken the World Walker within.
The problem with Empire Games (at least insofar as the sample is concerned), is that it isn’t terribly original and features a lot of poor story elements. Illegal trade and threats between multiple timelines — like One, with its enemy merchant princes and Three with its British-centric New American Common Wealth — should be cool, but they’re shallow homages to H. Beam Piper’s Paratime series. I did enjoy what Stross did with sci-fi homages in character dialogue: nods to Blade Runner, Crisis on Infinite Earths, and other Easter Eggs occasionally manifest.
Although I haven’t read the full novel, I think the problem is with its pacing. It tries so hard to be a quick action read that it glosses over many of Timeline Two’s interesting technology (Two features that U.S. surveillance state). The other timelines are not given any real exposure. Does Miriam’s fringe group care about the ethical considerations of their terrorism? Unknown.
There’s also a fair bit of “cheese” in Empire Games. The sample starts with an annoying glossary that repeats the word “nuke” excessively. The U.S. is painted early on as a caricature of itself, referring to “Rumsfeld’s America.” The sample did improve. But constant inane dialogue between government officials painted federal law enforcement in a goofy light (stern faces, silly gaffs, botched ops, flag waving as if in mockery).
On a positive note, I enjoyed reading about the World Walker courier Hulius Hjorth. A Major in Timeline 3’s Department of Para-historical Research, he’s an experienced spy with a deep knowledge of Timeline Two and Three. Through his involvement, we learn a lot about both timelines as he fights the panopticon that is the United States.
Empire Games offers a fast-paced, high-tech spy story complete with alternate realities, and divergent timelines. I didn’t love the sample but wouldn’t advise against reading the whole novel. It has the potential to be an interesting, world-hopping tale of empires at war. I rate the sample between 2 and 3 stars.
(12/8/2016 Update: An edited version now appears on Edge here: https://edgeofinfinity.tk/2016/12/08/first-impression-empire-games-stross/
This sample was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. You can check out the up-coming novel by Charles Stross here.)
