Customer Reviews

Game of Empire -Op/114

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Game of Empire is the final installation of the Dominic Flandry series of stories. As an avid Poul Anderson, and specifically Dominic Flandry, fan, I found this novel a complete disappointment. It is evident that the author has lost interest in this series, and that the novel was written to satisfy the publisher.

The book is hardly a Dominic Flandry novel at all. Flandry is an aging admiral who makes several appearances. The protagonist is Diana, a daughter of Flandry. The character has much potential, but is never truly developed. Even worse, Anderson has already used the basic plot in the short story 'The Warriors from Nowhere', the novella 'The Rebel Worlds', and the novel A Stone in Heaven. Throw us a bone, and use some imagination! The only saving grace of the novel is Anderson's (as usual) masterful craft of language and detail which bring these fictional worlds alive.

I read this when it came out many years ago, and my opinion was the same as the first reviewer's--"the author has obviously lost interest in Flandry." Now, though, I look at the book a little differently; it feels more like Mr. Anderson was making the point that while individuals may leave the stage, the game of empire goes on, in much the same form it has since the dawn of history. Definitely worth a look, since Poul Anderson was one of the best writers in the genre.

I am an avid Dominic Flandry fan, but this one was a disappointment. It just did not work for me. It appeared to me that Poul Anderson simply did not have his heart in this one, and it showed. I was barely able to finish this novel and I have already forgotten what it was about because it did not, at any time, capture my interest.

The Flandry novels are mostly really good, but not this one.