Empire (In Her Name: Redemption, Book 1) [Kindle Edition]

Michael R. Hicks (Author)

Book Description

EMPIRE is the coming-of-age story of Reza Gard, a young boy of the Human Confederation who is swept up in the century-long war with the alien Kreelan Empire. Nightmarish female warriors with blue skin, fangs, and razor sharp talons, the Kreelans have technology that is millennia beyond that of the Confederation, yet they seek out close combat with sword and claw, fighting and dying to honor their god-like Empress.

Captured and enslaved, Reza must live like his enemies in a grand experiment to see if humans have souls, and if one may be the key to unlocking an ages old curse upon the Kreelan race. Enduring the brutal conditions of Kreelan life, Reza and a young warrior named Esah-Zhurah find themselves bound together by fate and a prophecy foretold millennia before they were born.


The IN HER NAME Series:

THE LAST WAR Trilogy
- First Contact (Book 1)
- Legend Of The Sword (Book 2)
- Dead Soul (Book 3)

REDEMPTION Trilogy
- Empire (Book 1)
- Confederation (Book 2)
- Final Battle (Book 3)

THE FIRST EMPRESS Trilogy
- From Chaos Born (Book 1)
- Forged In Flame (2013)
- Mistress Of The Ages (2013)

Techno-Thrillers:

HARVEST Trilogy
- Season Of The Harvest (Book 1)
- Bitter Harvest (Book 2, June 2012)
- Reaping The Harvest (2013)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The transfiguration of Reza Gard - kidnapped as a young teen by implacable aliens, Reza discovers an affinity for the Kreelans' harsh militaristic life-style, but will his blood be recognized by the aliens' Gods? A unique combination of science fiction and fantasy,  In Her Name: Empire will get your attention from the first page to the riveting end." - Fantasy Book Critic

"This is a wonderful journey of a novel, hitting all the emotional buttons as well as packing in multi-layered plot lines, compelling characters, and awe-inspiring world building..." - The Book Smugglers

"Michael Hick's engrossing tale of the coming-of-age of Reza Gard is unforgettable. Be prepared to lose the better part of your weekend when you pick up this wonderful story!" - Reviewer Elizabeth Schulenburg

About the Author

Born in 1963, Michael Hicks grew up in the age of the Apollo program and spent his youth glued to the television watching the original Star Trek series and other science fiction movies, which continues to be a source of entertainment and inspiration. Having spent the majority of his life as a voracious reader, he has been heavily influenced by writers ranging from Robert Heinlein to Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, and David Weber to S.M. Stirling. Living in Maryland with his beautiful wife, two wonderful stepsons and two mischievous Siberian cats, he continues to work full-time while dreaming and writing.

Product Details

• File Size: 667 KB
• Print Length: 310 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Imperial Guard Publishing, LLC (April 17, 2009)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0026RI9TO
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,985 Free in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Free in Kindle Store)
  • #5 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > War
  • #10 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Romance > Science Fiction

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

142 of 147 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Beginning to this Series October 29, 2009

By Lynn ODell

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

Plot/Storyline: 5 Stars

This is one of the hardest types of reviews for me to write. It's much easier to write a review of a "good, mediocre, or bad" book. It's not that I enjoy being so critical, just that it's easier to explain flaws than it is to explain why a book has achieved `greatness'. I can sit here and type all of the words: compelling, interesting, wonderful, intriguing, etc., but none of them do it justice. They don't really explain how a book speaks to the reader, how it draws the reader in and echoes in the mind long after it is finished.

This book grabs the reader with the opening scene and rarely relaxes its grip. With a wonderful mix of science fiction and fantasy, the plot is vastly different from most science fiction books I have read. Sure, you have your hero, your war, your deadly aliens. However, this story takes you in a different direction.

In the beginning, our hero is only seven years old and nobody special. He manages to meet the enemy up close and live to tell the tale. When we next see our hero, he is twelve and living the hard-knock life of an orphan that makes Little Orphan Annie look wealthy and happy. This section is intense and fraught with realistic danger.

Later, Reza must learn to live among the aliens who are attempting to obliterate his entire race. The reader is taken into the minds of the aliens, discovering that there is some humanity there. Reza's exploration of the Kreelan's society is fascinating. The reader is introduced to a marvel of the imagination with an intricately woven description of an alien lifestyle.

While this book is the first in a series, it is still a terrific stand-alone. Yes, it will make you want to read the next book, but you can be satisfied with this one....

Character Development: 5 Stars

Reza's character is not only believable, but fascinating. Even in his most outrageous moments, never do you feel that he has done something outside the scope of reality. His thoughts and feelings are so well related that you feel as if you are going through his life with him.

The other characters are also well developed. You feel his parents' grief and sense of hopelessness. You begin to somehow comprehend the aliens' mindset, even if unable to feel the same things.

Writing Style: 5 Stars

Mr. Hicks' writing is exquisite. It is fortunate that he has chosen this genre, for his imagination truly shines here. The sentence flow is excellent, building tension without ever letting the reader down. There is just enough foreshadowing to maintain interest without the reader feeling `dragged along'.

The dialogue is realistic and `easy on the ears'. No, I don't ever use audio books or text-to-speech; I am referring to the voices created in my mind by good dialogue. The descriptions are vivid and concise where needed.

Editing/Formatting: 5 Stars

Both were of professional quality.

Rating: R for Violence, Attempted Rape, and a couple of detailed (but tactful) Sex Scenes Read more ›

22 of 25 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Written by a master! April 27, 2010

By D. Řkland

Format:Paperback

I had never thought I would read any science fiction book. It's just too far outside my comfort zone. ..or so I thought.

I got this series recommended by people at Kindleboards. Everyone spoke so wonderful of them that I figured out I had to try. I actually bought the whole Omnibus! 'Boy I'm glad I did!

This is truly a little wonder of a book! You just have to take a chance sometimes and this is one time that you get your reward for doing so. It's a page turner that holds its grip on you and don't let go - even when you are finished. But can I find words that do it justice? No, there is no words...

24 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Wow July 2, 2010

By allen murphy

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I was amazed at how much I liked the first book in this series. The story is absolutely stunning and the way the Author describes things actually put me in the world he created. I just ordered the rest of the series and can't wait to read them. Kudos to the Author for sucking me into a universe like no other book has ever been able to do before. Do yourself a favor, if you like to read, and are looking for a great story, give these books a chance.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Gripping Story, Jarring Writing March 26, 2012

By Jessica M.

Format:Kindle Edition

This book actually gave me the adventure I was looking for. More than that, it held my attention. A pleasant and timely surprise after a recent run of bad science fiction reads. However, it does have downsides.

It starts out slow. There's plenty of action first thing but none of it fits together in a way that pulls the reader into a greater story. Combined with unnerving switchbacks in point of view and no real sense of a main character, it's no surprise that I almost stopped reading without finishing the first chapter.

Fortunately, the appearance of the main character caught me. I was curious enough to continue reading. Even then, however, the pull of his character doesn't really set in until about the third chapter - a long time to hold on if you're an impatient reader.

The entire book is filled with jarring POV changes, unnecessary info dumps, and long scenes of narration instead of the action the reader so desperately wants. (I was also disappointed by the ending but that may be more a matter of taste than anything else.)

These are pet peeves of mine, enough to sink other books. But here, the author surprised me. The story itself is gripping. It makes you want to find out more.

If you plan to check it out yourself, I have two cautions: anyone with a strong inner editor may not be able to enjoy themselves and there are explicit, mature themes about halfway through the book that some readers may not feel are appropriate.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An exciting trans-genre adventure September 5, 2011

By Doug Bittinger

Format:Paperback

This is a review of the eBook version of "In Her Name: Empire", the first book of the In Her Name series written by Michael R. Hicks.

On a five-star scale, I'm giving this one four stars. It probably deserves five stars, but I'm snatching one back simply because there were parts of it that made me, personally, uncomfortable. If this were a literary review I would not do that, but this is me telling you how *I* felt about this book.

***No Spoilers***

This is an exciting, well-crafted read. It embraces a number of genres as the story goes along, but I'd classify it primarily as Sci-Fi. The initial chapters are definitely Sci-fi as remnants of a defeated human population try desperately to fend off an alien invasion of their planet. Our protagonist is a boy caught in the devastation. The second scene is an orphanage planet established for youths like our protagonist who lost their families in the war. It is a harsh environment, an alien place run by petty bureaucrats that think nothing of exploiting the children in their care.

The next section steps out of standard Sci-Fi and into Fantasy as our protagonist is taken to live on a different planet, one where a warrior race trains to be warriors, and where everyone lives a medieval lifestyle even though they are a space faring race. There is even a scene where the heroes must outwit a dragon. I am not a big fan of fantasy and my enthusiasm cooled some as I got into this section, but the story is so well told and the characterization so strong that I kept on....

There is an element of the erotic/romance genre mixed in here that generated the uncomfortable feelings in my rather prudish conscience, but - again - though the scene was decidedly sexual, it was handled with enough tact I never reached the decision to lay the book aside. By today's "romance" standards it's probably pretty tame (I would not know for sure I don't read that stuff) but it was racier than I normally encounter in my reading.

I found nothing that impeded the flow of the story, no spelling or grammatical errors (I'm picky about these) no distracting word choices, no stilted language. It was a smooth, pleasant read and an exciting tale. There was one point in the story where the voice being used changed some, it became more literary or flowery and that did cause me to wonder what had happened, but it was not so discernible as to impede the story.

The story ended with a satisfactory conclusion that also leads the reader to want to buy the next book in the series, "Confederation" - which I have done and I look forward to getting started on it. If you're looking for a well-crafted story that will hold your interest as it steps neatly over standard genre boundaries and melds them into a single cohesive body of work, In Her Name: Empire is an excellent choice. Read more ›

More About the Author

Born in 1963, Michael Hicks grew up in the age of the Apollo program and spent his youth glued to the television watching the original Star Trek series and other science fiction movies, which continue to be a source of entertainment and inspiration. Having spent the majority of his life as a voracious reader, he has been heavily influenced by writers ranging from Robert Heinlein to Jerry Pournelle and Larry Niven, and David Weber to S.M. Stirling. Now living in Florida with his beautiful wife, two wonderful stepsons and two mischievous Siberian cats, he lives his dream of writing full-time and spends as much time on the road in the family RV as possible...when he's not at the beach!

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#53 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#71 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction

#53 in Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Science Fiction

#71 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction