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In Her Name: Empire

by Michael R. Hicks
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Publish Date: September 03, 2009
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Overview

In the first book of an epic sci-fi/Fantasy series, 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. 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.

Author Information

Michael R. Hicks

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.

Customer Reviews

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Showing 1-1 of the 1 most recent reviews

1.Well-written and engaging

Posted May 09, 2012 by J Landa, New Jersey

The book starts right into the heart of action, but it took me a little while to get into the novel in general. That was more of my own issues though. Reza's early history is so depressing that I just didn't want any more misery for the poor guy. I think I really started to enjoy this when Reza begins training and we are let into the world of the Kreela. I also enjoyed exploring his relationships with the other characters.

The characters and scenes are vividly described without getting too overbearing. A little heavy on description in the beginning, but it smooths out later in the novel. I never had a problem seeing the picture in my mind's eye. At times the dialogue didn't seem as smooth as it could have been, meaning that at times I wondered if a boy Reza's age would talk as he does, but that could have been a perspective thing. Once he learns the Kreelan language, perhaps he would talk rather formally as I imagine most humans would learning a second language.

I guess my greatest gauge of how I enjoyed the book is whether or not I want to read the rest in the series. To answer that question, I spent the past two days feeling like I was being gnawed at until I finally desperately purchased the next two in the trilogy.

I honestly wasn't sure I was going to like this book at first, but it really grew on me and by the end I felt as if I knew the characters personally. The emotional connection was made, and now I'm off to find the answers to the questions left lingering!