Linus is taken prisoner from earth by a barbaric civilization rampaging through our galaxy. He is to be sold into slavery, spending his life toiling in the factories or front lines. Or he may be killed at any time for the amusement of his captors. This evil Empire is ruled by invincible tyrants with limitless abilities. They have powers to make any wish come true just by thinking of it. And the depravity of the rules filters down to every level of society. This empire has vast armies with advanced technology far beyond that of any of the conquered planets. Linus is not a superhero. He is an ordinary person with no special weapons or fighting skills. His journey through this society is a revelation about ourselves and our culture. It's a study of power, who has it and how they got it. This novel is about 157,000 words (about twice the size of the average sci-fi book). It is not intended for children or teenagers, but will be entertaining to thinking adults.
Empire of the Gods
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
About the Author
David Stag is a lifelong Science Fiction fan who has spent his entire working life in non-fiction science. With several engineering degrees, David has designed products and equipment used around the world by consumers and businesses. David is considered an expert in his field and occasionally does consulting work now, having designs that cover the range from ½ hp to 800 hp. He has twelve patents and enjoys doing mathematics and writing computer programs. But he also has dirt under his fingernails from rebuilding various cars and motorcycles, and even raced cars for a number of years. David also enjoys playing guitar, piano and video games.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
People + power = bad,
This review is from: Empire of the Gods (Kindle Edition)
Transparency: I was emailed a copy of this (very long) book to read and review so here is an unbiased report.To start out, the author's writing style is very detailed and articulate. It can get a little too wordy at times, but there is no loss for descriptive measure. As the story progresses, a lot of the writing diverges off into philosophical and moral inner-monologs of main character, Linus. This assists with making the subject-matter concepts more interesting and intelligent, but it does detract away from story progression. In all honestly, plot does not seem all that important in this book. Things happen to carry Linus to different locations and meet different people, but that's about it. A lot of the book is about what Linus is thinking and how or why he does not agree with what is going on. So a lot of it is about analysis and not about action or drama. Character development for Linus is terrific since the story revolves around him and his experiences & thoughts, but any other development that occurs with other characters becomes irrelevant as the setting of the story abruptly changes too frequently: 3 major times by my count. Each time this occurs, Linus is shoved into a new environment with a whole new group of characters and it seems a tad odd that the previous personnel are eliminated as if they were old candy wrappers. This causes a non-fluidic change in story atmosphere that seems a bit artificial. This is where improvement can be made in terms of writing an actual story. Because of the fact that most books I read are plot-driven, this one was quite a change. It was intelligently written and makes you think, but it was definitely not an "exciting page-turner", although I doubt the author meant it to be like that. I would recommend this book to those who want to experience good writing but are not looking for a particularly thrilling story. I do appreciate David Stag's efforts and encourage him to write more. He really is a good writer...much better than a lot of other authors I've read in the past. There is room for improvement though as the ending was a bit too underwhelming and "Pleasantville-ish".
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Sci-fi fans take note!,
By
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Empire of the Gods (Kindle Edition)
An absolutely great book. As a previous reviewer said, this book is wonderful for a first time author. One can tell that a great deal of passion went into crafting this story, you truly can tell Stag appreciates good sci-fi and wanted to make his mark on the genre.Upon first reading about the book I was hoping to be in for something along the lines of Heinlein, Asimov, Clarke, Peter F. Hamilton... something good that I could really get into and find myself falling for the characters. Well, this book did just that... Linus is a character that almost anyone could relate to, he's a scared young man in an overwhelming situation. I don't particularly want to go into any details as I'm not a fan of spoilers, be they unintentional or not so just take my word for it and read this if you like any of the authors I previously mentioned. I truly hope this author continues to write as I want to see far more from his mind.
1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Empire of the cruel men with colored toys,
By Mathachew (Texas) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Empire of the Gods (Kindle Edition)
About two weeks ago, I was contact by David Stag, author of Empire of the Gods, and was asked if I would be willing to read and review his book. The reviews that I have been posting on Amazon were for this very moment, so I gladly accepted and started reading when I finished my previous book. While I am very appreciative of Stag going out of his way to let me read his book, I cannot say that it is a book that I would heartily recommend.There were a number of things that bothered me as I continued reading Empire of the Gods, so I will do my best to avoid any spoilers, but I do not think I will give my review much credit without some specifics. Issues, such as the character of Linus and some head scratching plot elements make the read, for me, more difficult to enjoy. Allow me to explain. Linus can be a likable guy, but he can also be obnoxious with his constant taking the high ground approach in almost every situation, except in a few cases where it benefits himself. He is unselfish, overly considerate, naive, and to my chagrin, constantly mindful of what is wrong with society, as if it were the only thing that consumes his thoughts. Not only this, but it seems to be heavy on the thoughts of people he befriends since it largely becomes the focus on most of his discussions. Aside from the topic of discussion, Linus is able to know the right thing to say at the right time, breaking the ice even with the apparently most unsociable person. When comparing his dialog and his thoughts, Linus almost felt like two different people. In an instant, he becomes the perfect person to relate with someone when there is tension between the two, thus diffusing the situation, or at least eventually. On top of all this, he lives the next few years of his life going from imprisonment to joining space pirates to confronting the Empire's gods without so much as a scratch to show for it. Having lived a good life on Earth and suddenly thrust into imprisonment, surrounded by some of the worst people the universe has to offer, and witness gory and grisly deaths and mutilations, Linus is completely unaffected emotionally and mentally. Sure, he is shocked and stunned, but ultimately and for all intents and purposes, walks away just shaking his head. So I ask, is Linus really just an ordinary person? Linus and his interactions, while being the main character and the book's focus, were probably what I did not like most in Empire of the Gods. There were other issues that I had with the book: the slow plot progress of Linus "making it up" as he performed repairs while talking about "this" support beam or "that" joint as if he actually does know what he is doing; the utterly pointless brutality highlighted in chapter six; Linus' apparent inability to defend himself when faced with confrontation; the heavily fantasy leaning capabilities of the translators; Linus' confrontation with one of the gods and how the events played out (I would be spoiling things if I elaborated); Linus' decision in the end and cheating to see its effects on the universe. The last part kind of irked me because it does not seem to fit what we had seen of Linus' character. He repeatedly refuses offers of sex, drugs, alcohol, but he takes multiple peeks into the future. Would Linus not consider that unethical, he being such an ethical person himself? I did not intend on placing so much focus on the negative aspects of the book, but I do feel hard pressed to counter it with the good in Empire of the Gods. I can appreciate that the book wants to make the readers think, and I have no problem with that. Christian Cantrell has written several short stories, and each one leaves you thinking while entertained at the same time. I felt that Empire of the Gods placed too much emphasis on food for thought discussions and not enough on an entertaining and engaging story. I mentioned Cantrell, who I previously compared to Michael Crichton. They both have great stories, but a few chapters can get bogged down with lots of details, like DNA sequencing in Jurassic Park or how a BCI works in Containment; it was information overload and I would have been content with brevity on the subject. I believe the same applies to the topics discussed in Empire of the Gods. I did enjoy the second and eighth chapters and felt most engaged when reading them, while I simply moved along with everything else. I did appreciate space travel having a more realistic limitation; one cannot travel through the galaxy as if they were going to the grocery store because it takes considerable time and energy to travel such great distances. The translators were neat devices, but moved away from science fiction and into fantasy. I do feel somewhat disappointed with Empire of the Gods since I hoped for a good read based on the feedback of others. However, I find myself at odds with these raving reviews. Perhaps I am being too harsh on Stag, but in the end, I finished this book without feeling satisfied. I again appreciate and thank David Stag for his generosity and coming to me for my honest review. I do see some potential and will give his next work a shot despite my issues with this story. If I may make a suggestion to Stag, I would recommend more chapters or using scene breaks. Most of the chapters can take several hours to read, and no scene breaks makes it annoying to find a good place to stop.
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