Burdens of Empire-C.J.Ryan

Burdens of Empire
C.J.Ryan
Bantam, Sep 2007, $6.99
ISBN: 9780553589030

In the thirty-third century, Earth has conquered many other worlds in numerous galaxies with those planets containing sentient life forms occupied by force. However, there are not enough people to control such a giant empire and unrest is growing especially on the outer rims. The empire’s leaders try to diplomatically resolve differences.

One such planet is Denastri where the empire will soon produce a key fuel with workers mining the ore and a refinery is being built to process it so that it can transported off world. The head of the Department of Extraterrestrial Affairs (DEXTRA) orders Gloria VanDeen to Denastri because he needs her to rescue the Emperor’s Consort’s kidnapped father, a diplomat abducted by insurgents who demand the humans leave. When she arrives on site she is greeted by a bomb that injures her. Although almost killed and still hurting, Gloria begins her mission by learning about the indigent cultures. She quickly concludes that earth knows nothing as what was reported by observers proves false. If Gloria is to accomplish her mission and make a difference on Denastri, she must understand even further the “truisms” of the locals.

Gloria is the ultimate feminist, secure in her sexuality and willing to take on an emperor if need be. She does not need a man to constrain her as a sex object and she depends on her own strong moral compass to guide her when she believes official policy fails to apply. In other words she is a maverick who gets the job done, which is why she was sent to Denastri. C.J. Ryan continues his exciting deep space futuristic science fiction series that is fun to read as the story line never takes itself seriously although BURDENS OF EMPIRE is darker in tone with the Monroe Doctrine applied across multiple galaxies anyway the empire can.

Harriet Klausner