My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Empire is a coming-of-age story told in the backdrop of alien strangeness, war and ultimately love.
I am a total sucker of science fiction come-of-age books. Awesome.
There are a few point-of-view switches that are awkward, but one must read this book to understand just how refreshingly creative it is.
Hicks is a master storyteller, and Reza, the main character, is about as sympathetic and ideal as they come, all in the backdrop of classic science fiction action-focused goodness.
Highly recommend. If you have a Kindle, be sure to snag the omnibus version of all three books.
As an aside, try to spot the underlying gender relations thematic in the series. Brilliant.