The Risen Empire
From the acclaimed #1 New York Times bestselling author of Evolution’s Darling (Philip K. Dick Award special citation and a New York Times notable book) and Uglies, Pretties, and Specials, comes a sweeping epic. The Risen Empire is the first great space opera of the twenty-first century.
The undead Emperor has ruled his mighty interstellar empire of eighty human worlds for sixteen hundred years. Because he can grant a form of eternal life-after-death, creating an elite known as the Risen, his power is absolute. He and his sister, the Child Empress, who is eternally a little girl, are worshipped as living gods.
The Rix are machine-augmented humans who worship very different gods: AI compound minds of planetary size. Cool, relentless fanatics, their only goal is to propagate such AIs. They seek to end the Emperor’s prolonged rule, and supplant it with an eternal cybernetic dynasty. They begin by taking the Child Empress hostage. Captain Laurent Zai of the Imperial Frigate Lynx is tasked with her rescue.
Separated by light years, bound by an unlikely love, Zai and pacifist Senator Nara Oxham must both face the challenge of the Rix, and both will hold the fate of the empire in their hands.
Readers also enjoyed
Scott Westerfeld
Scott Westerfeld (born 1963) is an American author of science fiction. He was born in the U.S. state of Texas and now divides his time between Sydney, Australia and New York City, USA.
The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds are parts one and two of the same book, originally titled Succession. In 2005 it was published in the UK as one book under the title The Risen Empire.
So Yesterday has been optioned to be made into a film by one of the producers of Fahrenheit 9/11 and Bowling for Columbine.
The Uglies series was optioned by Twentieth Century Fox as a possible film series in 2006.
In 2001, Westerfeld married Australian author Justine Larbalestier.
Succession
Succession consists of two books. The current recommended reading order for the series is provided below.
