Scott Westerfeld now writes successful Young Adult fiction, but ten years ago he wrote a pair of dandy science fiction novels. The Risen Empire starts out with a hostage rescue. The sister of the Emperor has been captured by a commando team from the Rix Cult. The Rix believe they should plant powerful artificial intelligences everywhere. The novel alternates between a Rix commando who is hunted by the Imperial marines on the planet and the crew of the only Imperial warship orbiting the planet. The commander of the Lynx, Captain Laurent Zai, faces a battle with a much more powerful Rix spaceship. Other complications, like a mutiny, make The Risen Empire very suspenseful. The Killer of Worlds continues the story of Captain Zai and the Imperials when they encounter an alien artifact. At the same time, the Risen Empire is shattered when their Emperor’s “secret” gets revealed. If you’re in the mood for high quality story-telling and suspenseful space battles, The Risen Empire and The Killer of Worlds deliver. I hope Scott Westerfeld returns to write more galactic adventures of the Rix and the Empire!
I guess I’ll have to pick them up because I’ve liked all the Westerfeld books I’ve read (including the new one, AFTERWORLDS) and I totally missed these.
Jeff, I suspect THE RISEN EMPIRE and THE KILLER OF WORLDS were one book that TOR decided to divide into two books. I strongly recommend you read both books one after the other.
Somehow I either missed these, or your review is more compelling than any I read previously, or both. Either way, I want these, and am going to hunt them out. This sounds like just the thing for grey winter afternoon reading. Thanks!
Rick, you won’t be able to put these books down once you start them. I really like the characters. I’m especially fond of the Rix commando (who’s supposed to be a Bad Guy) but Scott Westerfeld is so skillful you end up rooting for the cyborg.
I’ve ordered the first one. There is also an omnibus hardcover of the two of them now, though I went for the paperback.
Rick, THE KILLER OF WORLDS picks right up from where THE RISEN EMPIRE leaves off. That’s what leads me to believe Scott Westerfeld wrote one long book that TOR divided in half. I haven’t seen that omnibus hardcover.
I’ll wait until we get home, unless I see a copy in Florida.
Jeff, like you I’ve enjoyed Scott Westerfeld’s other work.
Thanks for these, George. I wasn’t familiar with Scott Westerfeld or his sf and YA.
Prashant, I’ve been impressed by all of Scott Westerfeld’s novels. He’s definitely a writer on the rise!
Great to see reviews of these here. I’ve admired the covers in the past, but had never seen reviews from anyone I know online. I’ll be keeping an eye out for these.
Carl, Stephan Martinerem (an artist we both admire) did both covers.