I really enjoyed this book and I think that was because my last couple of books have been just sort of eh. At least the last one in particular (Children of Huirn by Tolkien). I was craving a true scifi book (read space opera, space ships, aliens, and galaxies far, far, away) and The Risen Empire was exactly what I wanted.
Premise of the book is the Risen Empire is ruled by the Emperor, who is 1500 years old (give or take a bit). He discovered how to defeat death and the reason was his younger sister, known as the Empress of the Risen Empire or, The Reason. She is held in a hostage situation by the Rix, an human-alien race who infect planets with the compound minds they worship. The rescue goes very badly for Laurent Zai, and he is obligated to commit suicide, but decides not to - an action tantamount to being a traitor to the Emperor.
The book isn't divided into neat and tidy chapters per see, but each "chapter" is a characters POV. The book didn't feel choppy - with the exception of a couple-three flashbacks - but rather I felt compelled to keep reading. The author touches on nanotechnology, alien races, AI's (I particularly liked one Senator's "House Mind") and the division of humanity. The Empire is divided between the Greys, who accept eternal life as the living dead; and the Pinks, who feel the dead should stay dead because it's preventing the living from getting on with things. I'm simplifying a bit...no, quite a bit actually. Anyway, it's a very quick read and I polished it off in a couple of days.
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on book II.
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