Empire Earth (The Complete Trilogy): A Space Opera Boxed Set by Chris PourteauMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Empire Earth is placed in a future where Earth and its colonies across the solar system are governed by a mega corporation slash crime syndicate and its description as a sci-fi noir thriller is absolutely spot on. Conceptually, the series is well done and the universe which serves as the backdrop for all of the books is amazingly detailed and complex. I was originally introduced to the SynCorp Saga universe through Optional Retirement Plan, which takes place after the events of Empire Earth. I don’t want to spoil the plots of either, but I will say I was overjoyed when I discovered many of the memorable characters that had cameos in Optional Retirement Plan were also staples in Empire Earth as well. If you read the Empire Earth trilogy first, do not neglect to follow up with Optional Retirement Plan afterwards.
The characters were unique and fun, the plot was deep and complex, and each book resolved a story arc while revealing a bit more of the overall narrative that was woven throughout the trilogy. I also found the shifting POV generated a really interesting tone for the books. It took me a while to realize that the language and writing style shifted between characters depending on the POV character. I’m guessing that Pourteau wrote some chapters and Bruns wrote others, which means their individual writing style made the POV characters even more unique (for example, the Stacks Fischer POV chapters were always told from his first person perspective). I think this was genius-level partnershipping (is that a word?).
There isn’t really much I could say that would be a criticism of Empire Earth. I’ll admit that a good chunk of the first book was slow, but some front loading build up was needed for the trilogy to work. The series was built around an epic narrative that requires quite a lot of setup, has a nice sized cast of POV characters, and spans the solar system from Earth to the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Just stick with it and you’ll realize the pacing is perfect and increases as each bit of the plot is revealed.
Bronson Pinchot does an awesome job with the narration. I’ll admit I was a bit disappointed when I realized that R.C. Bray didn’t narrate this (he does Optional Retirement Plan), but Pinchot hits it out of the park with his performance in the three Empire Earth books. I’ve got zero complaints with the narration, everything was spot on.
Thank you to Aethon Books who provided me this book free of charge at my request.
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