Customer Reviews

Burdens of Empire

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I just finished C.J. Ryan's "Burdens of Empire" and can't help but see it as a sci-fi re-telling of the United States' current situation in Iraq. Unbalanced by the demise of it's enemies, an aging empire has over-extended itself. Hungry corporations are pushing the government to conquer planets in order to provide cheap natural resources. You know this story. It's in the daily news, it's on tv, and now it's in your sci-fi. The author has it's characters quote college professors who give an historical perspective. There are venerable reporters who give the whiskey-bar-in-every-battlefield version too. A little older, a little more worn down, tiger Gloria and her lapdog Petra are once again sent out to save the galaxy. The aliens on this far away world have been conquered, but are still mounting a resistance. In doing so, they have captured a diplomat who happens to be a relative of the royal family. Gloria and Petra are not allowed to violate policy and negotiate with the terrorists directly, so their cover story is to reconcile the differences between the military, the Dexta administration, and the corporations; while along the way finding a way to free the hostage. I won't spoil the book for you, but I'd like too. This is your parent's "Star Trek" which has been dusted off, licked by academia, and spat out in ABC coloring book fashion. I thought it dumbed down, lacking in character development, and a little too thinly veiled, but then again, I finished it in a day and was grateful that somebody cares enough to indoctrinate our children on the burdens of empire. Remember to flash your privates on the way to the voting booth

The series stumbles a bit in this book in some ways, and is stronger in others. We find that our hero is not as invulnerable as she usually appears. That could have made for an excellent development of other characters and to some extent that happened. I was just left wanting either more from the other characters, or my old heroine back in the attire we lust to see her in.

In the thirty-third century, Earth has conquered many other worlds in numerous galaxies with those planets containing sentient life forms occupied by force. However, there are not enough people to control such a giant empire and unrest is growing especially on the outer rims. The empire's leaders try to diplomatically resolve differences.

One such planet is Denastri where the empire will soon produce a key fuel with workers mining the ore and a refinery is being built to process it so that it can transported off world. The head of the Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs (DEXTRA) orders Gloria VanDeen to Denastri because he needs her to rescue the Emperor's Consort's kidnapped father, a diplomat abducted by insurgents who demand the humans leave. When she arrives on site she is greeted by a bomb that injures her. Although almost killed and still hurting, Gloria begins her mission by learning about the indigent cultures. She quickly concludes that earth knows nothing as what was reported by observers proves false. If Gloria is to accomplish her mission and make a difference on Denastri, she must understand even further the "truisms" of the locals.

Gloria is the ultimate feminist, secure in her sexuality and willing to take on an emperor if need be. She does not need a man to constrain her as a sex object and she depends on her own strong moral compass to guide her when she believes official policy fails to apply. In other words she is a maverick who gets the job done, which is why she was sent to Denastri. C.J. Ryan continues his exciting deep space futuristic science fiction series that is fun to read as the story line never takes itself seriously although BURDENS OF EMPIRE is darker in tone with the Monroe Doctrine applied across multiple galaxies anyway the empire can.

Harriet Klausner