Really nice mixture of science/technology/fantasy. ( )

Let me start with a confession: Saberhagen is one of my guilty pleasures.

His ideas are fun and interesting, his books have the urgency of an Dan Brown novel, keeping you turning the pages, but in all fairness, if his character started today? Comic books, and not so much the big over-arching crossover narratives. Most characters are sketch lineaments of slightly realized archetypes, you hurdle from crisis to crisis, and in the end, it feels like the good guys in fact won easily.

ALL OF THAT SAID, I have a shelf of Saberhagen books in my library for a reason. His ideas are different, whether it be the healing Lake of Life that can give life to the dead and gets its healing mostly right that is used to slay an undead man, or ARDNEH itself, who rides the Oliphant and wields the lightning, a supercomputer defense system who has gained sentience after reducing the probability of nuclear fission to near zero, leading the energy that would have been released thereby to express as magic instead.

This series is very 1970s post-Apocalyptic; the standard "there was a nuclear war, then magic appears" that one saw everywhere from Thundarr the Barbarian to Sword of Shannara, but then Saberhagen starts making it his own. It is set in a medieval, post-apocalyptic North American continent, where the Empire of the East that venerates greed and self-absorption (capitalism gone wrong), ally of demons, is finally subduing the free peoples of the West (libertarians), who are aided in their struggle by the mysterious ARDNEH.

This omnibus edition takes the series into something the length of a standard fantasy book today, humorously, but it is all there and is worth looking at. This series is a background- of sorts- to Saberhagen's later Swords universe, and is populated with interesting characters. A personal favorite of mine is John Ominor, the most ordinary looking man in the world- and the most evil, Emperor of the East after he imprisoned the demonic founder Orcus, a man who enjoys his afternoon tea and biscuits in his lakeshore gardens on a summer's day, as he listens to his impaled enemies slide down their impaling poles and he casually dips his biscuits in their blood. A critic described him as evil Mr. Rogers- rather that, or for the Gen X/millenials, an evil Owens from Gargoyles. Or Charmian, a woman who is interested only in her own advancement, who is magically irresistible to all who see her- except her technical husband, Chup, who sees her for exactly the vain creature she is, but in the end, proves to love her anyway.

These are a fun read, and reflective of a different and perversely, more optimistic time, not something one would think to use to describe a post-apocalyptic setting. Although Rolf is the main character, it is Chup who steals the show- a character who could have inspired Chumbawumba. ( )

One of the things I love most about reading on a Kindle is rediscovering books and authors I haven't read in a long, long time. As I come across bargain books from my youth through ebook discount services like BookBub and Early Bird Books, I purchase them and put them on my ever-growing To-Be-Read list. That's how I ended up re-reading one of my favorite books from the past, Empire of the East by Fred Saberhagen.

Empire of the East blends science fiction and fantasy in post-apocalyptic America.The story has that medieval fantasy feel, with sword-wielding warriors and spell-casting wizards; but every so often the characters will come across flashlights, hand grenades, and even tanks left over from the Old Days.

Anyone who likes lighter heroic fantasy along the lines of David Eddings or Terry Brooks will probably feel right at home in Saberhagen's world. Though the book doesn't explore themes as profound as those in Saberhagen's Berserker series, it does have its thought-provoking moments. Fantasy fans should definitely give this one a try. ( )

One of the best epic fantasy novels! The best thing about it, perhaps, is that this edition is the entire novel all in one, and there aren't 14 more after it. Empire of the East is set in the same post-apocalyptic world as the Swords series, but farther back in time. I really enjoyed this book and have read it several times. Its a bit drier (and more PG rated) than most fantasy today, but it is still excellent. ( )

With a more engaging main character and villain this could have been 5 stars. The supporting cast and superb ending carried this book.