Burdens of Empire

by C. J. Ryan

Bantam Spectra Books, $6.99, 356 pp

In the 34^th century, humanity has taken to the stars. The Earth empire spans more than 2600 worlds and has over 3 trillion citizens under its Imperial umbrella of authority. Long ago, notions of a democratic republic leading mankind to an era of benevolent interstellar expansion were surrendered to a more realistic view of aggressive conquest.

Centuries of growth has placed the Empire in danger of collapse with half of the ruling caste pushing for further expansion to stave off the political rot that is taking place, while the rest argue for supporting the existing member worlds. Introduce the kidnapping of Earth’s most skilled negotiator by the inhabitants of a small and unimportant world and you have the Burdens of Empire.

Our protagonist is Gloria Van Deen. She is the beautiful and heroic ex-wife of the Emperor. Earlier in her life, she underwent treatments that augmented her sexual traits and has rendered her no mere beauty, but absolutely gorgeous; a point that is mentioned many times in the book, by just about every male character that dialogues with her. In addition to being dead hot sexy, her skill set includes the ability to get things done and being the ex-wife of the Emperor. Basically, she is a socialite with a good work ethic and a reasonable amount of common sense.

Gloria is sent to the planet to assess the situation and with the not-so-secret mission of getting Earth’s most valued diplomat safely returned. However, within hours of landing on the planet a rebel bomb kills the Planetary Governor and leaves her in charge of the planet until a replacement can be sent. The story deals with her handling the problems inherent in an empire ruling over a conquered people, unraveling the mystery that is the strange alien culture of the indigenous life forms, and the finding of Lord Kenarbin the diplomat.

Burdens of Empire starts slowly. The kidnapping of Lord Kenarbin takes place in chapter one and provides a hook that grabs your attention, but it is surrounded by a mountain of backstory designed to bring the reader up to speed with what has happened to the Empire over the last two thousand years. If you are the type of reader that enjoys long stretches of exposition, then you will probably enjoy the history lesson.

I was disappointed that the protagonist didn’t show up until chapter three and then in the middle of a philosophical debate about imperial treatment of alien species. Frankly, I would have liked to see a hero with more to offer than being gorgeous and the willingness to flash plenty of shapely flesh to the marines in order to keep their spirits up. Although, others might like a protagonist with a more realistic level of abilities. This is not the first book in the series so I am assuming that her exploits have been enjoyed by many. - Randy Lindsay