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Rise of the Empire #1
Olympus
-NOTE- This book has been professionally re-edited as of March 17, 2016
The year is 2081.
Earth is recovering from a devastating nuclear war.
An age of technological advancement.
A find at the bottom of the Ocean.
A man driven by a dream.
The time for humanity to reach to the stars is now.
A find provides Tomas Klein with the tools to speed up his timetable and execute his plans.
He will reach for the stars, the only question is will humanity follow?
Adrian Farkas an orphan boy, is given opportunity to change his bleak future.
To go to space, and shape the future of all mankind.
Will he rise up to the challenge?
Olympus is 73,000 word novel and the first book in the "Rise of the Empire" series, it sets the stage and introduces the characters for the books to come, and is a origin story for the main characters. The series will follow humanity as it takes its first steps into the Solar system and beyond, eventually becoming a true galaxy spanning empire.
Rise of the Empire Book 1 - Olympus
Rise of the Empire Book 2 - Sanctuary
Rise of the Empire Book 3 - Out of the Ashes
Rise of the Empire Book 4 - Warpath
The year is 2081.
Earth is recovering from a devastating nuclear war.
An age of technological advancement.
A find at the bottom of the Ocean.
A man driven by a dream.
The time for humanity to reach to the stars is now.
A find provides Tomas Klein with the tools to speed up his timetable and execute his plans.
He will reach for the stars, the only question is will humanity follow?
Adrian Farkas an orphan boy, is given opportunity to change his bleak future.
To go to space, and shape the future of all mankind.
Will he rise up to the challenge?
Olympus is 73,000 word novel and the first book in the "Rise of the Empire" series, it sets the stage and introduces the characters for the books to come, and is a origin story for the main characters. The series will follow humanity as it takes its first steps into the Solar system and beyond, eventually becoming a true galaxy spanning empire.
Rise of the Empire Book 1 - Olympus
Rise of the Empire Book 2 - Sanctuary
Rise of the Empire Book 3 - Out of the Ashes
Rise of the Empire Book 4 - Warpath
233 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 24, 2014
280 people are currently reading
412 people want to read
About the author
Ivan Kal
42 books384 followersIvan Kal writes science fiction and fantasy, and is the author of the space opera series Rise of the Empire.
For most of his life he had been studying in the fields of electronics, IT, and web design.
But because of his great love for books and his need to tell stories, he decided to start writing.
His other interests include martial arts, movies and tv, and gaming.
For most of his life he had been studying in the fields of electronics, IT, and web design.
But because of his great love for books and his need to tell stories, he decided to start writing.
His other interests include martial arts, movies and tv, and gaming.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
November 8, 2015
Grammar Nazis Beware
This book was very enjoyable in concept and content, but not in execution. It was rife with grammatical, punctuation, and word-choice mistakes. In some places, one part in particular, the density and type of mistakes seemed to be indicative of only an unpolished first draft. I'm generally lenient with self-published authors for small, infrequent mistakes, but this book goes well beyond that limit. I'm still giving the book four stars because the story was solid and enjoyable, and deviated in interesting ways from much of the military science fiction/"human empire" science fiction I have read. It is definitely a series I will continue to read. This book could be cured of most or all of its aforementioned issues with a single VoiceOver(text-to-speech)-enabled read-through and/or an attentive volunteer editor. I'm not sure if that makes the presence of these errors more or less annoying. I expect this author to produce an updated/revised version of this novel, which is possible with digital publications such as this, in case the author is unaware. People annoyed by such mistakes as I have mentioned will likely find this book unreadable without a revision. Check in or near the book description to see if one has occurred.
This book was very enjoyable in concept and content, but not in execution. It was rife with grammatical, punctuation, and word-choice mistakes. In some places, one part in particular, the density and type of mistakes seemed to be indicative of only an unpolished first draft. I'm generally lenient with self-published authors for small, infrequent mistakes, but this book goes well beyond that limit. I'm still giving the book four stars because the story was solid and enjoyable, and deviated in interesting ways from much of the military science fiction/"human empire" science fiction I have read. It is definitely a series I will continue to read. This book could be cured of most or all of its aforementioned issues with a single VoiceOver(text-to-speech)-enabled read-through and/or an attentive volunteer editor. I'm not sure if that makes the presence of these errors more or less annoying. I expect this author to produce an updated/revised version of this novel, which is possible with digital publications such as this, in case the author is unaware. People annoyed by such mistakes as I have mentioned will likely find this book unreadable without a revision. Check in or near the book description to see if one has occurred.
January 22, 2018
Not my typical book—read at my husband’s suggestion. No offense to him, but this is pretty poorly written; reads like a high schooler wrote it—a bright, creative science-nerd high schooler, but still. Author is clearly an Orson Scott Card fan—whole second half felt like an Ender’s Game homage. But the wooden dialog, continual huge leaps in time, and boring descriptions don’t do it any favors.
To be fair, this was apparently written as the set-up book, the origin story for the rest of series so maybe it gets better and he was just trying to cram too much into this one. But I have my doubts.
To be fair, this was apparently written as the set-up book, the origin story for the rest of series so maybe it gets better and he was just trying to cram too much into this one. But I have my doubts.
September 18, 2014
Great world, concept and story (if some what a stretch at times but nothing too bad for sci-fi).
That said, a little to brief in parts. could have expanded on things and built out the story at times and not impacted the pace negatively.
That said, a little to brief in parts. could have expanded on things and built out the story at times and not impacted the pace negatively.
May 16, 2016
Very nice
A great beginning to A series.. I liked the character developments and look forward to the rest. Thank you very much.
A great beginning to A series.. I liked the character developments and look forward to the rest. Thank you very much.
May 29, 2016
Great
I think this is the best science fiction novel that I have ever read. Also this book has a good plot with engaging characters.
I think this is the best science fiction novel that I have ever read. Also this book has a good plot with engaging characters.
June 27, 2018
This is really a short review of the series (books 1 to 9 published at the time of writing this).
I stumbled over the first book in this series pretty much by accident. Well I guess it was not much accident but rather part of Amazon's diabolical plan to sell more books that it showed up in my recommendations but for me it was a bit out of the blue.
However, once I read the first one I binge-read all nine books currently published in the series. I'm not going to say that the books were wow-great or that they did not have issues but the story was my kind of story and overall the books where fun to read.
The start of the story is about one mans dream of reaching the stars. One that he, to no ones surprise, achieves. What I like is that he, at the some time, gives a big fat finger to all the useless politicians, bureaucrats and such like oxygen wasters and leaves them to stew stranded on Earth. Unfortunately the author's new world building is at times overly simplistic with somewhat utopian social ideas.
Actually this is my main issue with this series. It is at times bordering on young adult with quite a lot of handwavium in it both in terms of the actual science and in terms of social matters. The author also sometimes wanders into mysterious religious ponderings and do not get me started about the awkward episode of intimate moments between two individuals of hugely different lengths. I did not need to have a description of how to solve physical issues related to this.
This is however offset by a overall story that is right up my alley. Lots of hero stuff, adventure, twists and cool story elements. I quite like the majority of the characters in the book. The ones on the good side at least. Dialogues are adequate and although the author stumbles with the writing at times it is never bad enough for me to really dislike it.
The first book starts off with humble beginnings not even leaving Earth. In the ninth one the story has transformed into real space opera spanning multiple star systems and nations.
Despite it's faults this was one book series I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end or rather when I reached the last book published so far.
I stumbled over the first book in this series pretty much by accident. Well I guess it was not much accident but rather part of Amazon's diabolical plan to sell more books that it showed up in my recommendations but for me it was a bit out of the blue.
However, once I read the first one I binge-read all nine books currently published in the series. I'm not going to say that the books were wow-great or that they did not have issues but the story was my kind of story and overall the books where fun to read.
The start of the story is about one mans dream of reaching the stars. One that he, to no ones surprise, achieves. What I like is that he, at the some time, gives a big fat finger to all the useless politicians, bureaucrats and such like oxygen wasters and leaves them to stew stranded on Earth. Unfortunately the author's new world building is at times overly simplistic with somewhat utopian social ideas.
Actually this is my main issue with this series. It is at times bordering on young adult with quite a lot of handwavium in it both in terms of the actual science and in terms of social matters. The author also sometimes wanders into mysterious religious ponderings and do not get me started about the awkward episode of intimate moments between two individuals of hugely different lengths. I did not need to have a description of how to solve physical issues related to this.
This is however offset by a overall story that is right up my alley. Lots of hero stuff, adventure, twists and cool story elements. I quite like the majority of the characters in the book. The ones on the good side at least. Dialogues are adequate and although the author stumbles with the writing at times it is never bad enough for me to really dislike it.
The first book starts off with humble beginnings not even leaving Earth. In the ninth one the story has transformed into real space opera spanning multiple star systems and nations.
Despite it's faults this was one book series I couldn't stop reading until I reached the end or rather when I reached the last book published so far.
July 6, 2021
I was very hesitant to read this book at first, because I thought, oh, great, another aliens invade, humans run away, then come back and kick out the aliens story. Well, it's sorta kinda like that, but not really. I mean, the aliens don't enter the picture until the end of the book, and the humans running away part is there, but it's not because of the invasion. I know the blurb doesn't say anything about aliens, but it's almost required for books of this caliber, so ...
But, I find that I liked this story, and I'm now interested in reading more in the series.
If you're a scifi fan, this book should appeal to you, since it starts pretty reasonably. Similar to the delphi in space series, and even a bit like the April series by Mackey Chandler. If you like either of those two, you are likely to like this one as well.
I have to say, I'm looking forward to when the humans do come back and kick out the aliens, because it sounds like it will be one heck of a dust up when it happens.
But, I find that I liked this story, and I'm now interested in reading more in the series.
If you're a scifi fan, this book should appeal to you, since it starts pretty reasonably. Similar to the delphi in space series, and even a bit like the April series by Mackey Chandler. If you like either of those two, you are likely to like this one as well.
I have to say, I'm looking forward to when the humans do come back and kick out the aliens, because it sounds like it will be one heck of a dust up when it happens.
November 24, 2019
Having read most of the series i can firmly say i have a love\hate relationship with this series on the one hand the world building is good and their technological progress is pretty well thought out if a little lacking in creativity if my dumb ass can think of forward facing gravity based deflectors so can you the bad is everything else mostly stupid people that don't learn anything despite the story having shown them learning and then making the same mistake over and over they seem to make one big mistakes every time no preparation for anything they are pretty much always caught with there pants down the writer seem to have decided that they must be the eternal under dog and so the world bends to accommodate this
January 25, 2019
Excellent beginning. Great storyline.
Olympus is a company like no other. It is run by one incredible man. Not stronger, not faster, but, a normal man who could see what consequences would come from certain actions. A man who treated everyone with the respect and courtesy they earned.
This is the story of a man who dreamed far ahead of his time, and built the path to achieve those dreams.
An excellent read. Well written, and peopled with characters of great variety, that kept the story very interesting. It is a well contained story, and a good start to an interesting series.
Olympus is a company like no other. It is run by one incredible man. Not stronger, not faster, but, a normal man who could see what consequences would come from certain actions. A man who treated everyone with the respect and courtesy they earned.
This is the story of a man who dreamed far ahead of his time, and built the path to achieve those dreams.
An excellent read. Well written, and peopled with characters of great variety, that kept the story very interesting. It is a well contained story, and a good start to an interesting series.
August 21, 2017
A reclusive entrepreneur endeavors to guide humanity to its destiny. The grammar let the book down a little but since I'm not a school ma'am that can slide. Overall, a solid military Sci-fi which sets up nicely for the next book in the series.
August 9, 2018
Olympus
An unusual tale that spreads far and wide. Hope you like technical details because this has plenty. Many characters and hard to pinpoint a true main character unless you opt for Tomas.
An unusual tale that spreads far and wide. Hope you like technical details because this has plenty. Many characters and hard to pinpoint a true main character unless you opt for Tomas.
September 17, 2018
Great book.
Great book from start to finish. Transition between book one is in a great place. Not good at writing reviews, all I will say is buy this book and read it you will love it.
Great book from start to finish. Transition between book one is in a great place. Not good at writing reviews, all I will say is buy this book and read it you will love it.
June 3, 2019
What can I save I loved it and intend to finish the whole series now. Mr. Kal is my new favorite author and love the way he has several series of books now that have relevant tie ins to a greater story. First author to really get me excited in Ages.
May 11, 2017
Excellent start for a new series
Thought this was one of the best books I have read recently. I am wondering how I missed this book previously. Well worth reading.
Thought this was one of the best books I have read recently. I am wondering how I missed this book previously. Well worth reading.
January 19, 2018
Awesome
Enjoyed very much. Book was a page turner for me. Going to move on to next book in series. Definitely recommend.
Enjoyed very much. Book was a page turner for me. Going to move on to next book in series. Definitely recommend.
December 10, 2025
The overarching story is quite enticing and there would be a lot of potential in the content of the book if there was more time spent exploring the themes of this book itself than just being the first book in a 10 book series.
Every time the book starts to get the reader used to a setting, timeframe, and conflicts within the story, it jumps ahead months or years. It feels like a rug-pull every time. Before the internal conflicts are developed. Before character growth can happen. Nothing can come to fruition because it just isn't explored long enough to be any deeper than surface level.
Then there's the science in the book. It falls quite a bit short of expectations--not every sci-fi book has to be accurate like The Martian, but it would be nice if there was a bit more commitment to how the science is framed. The story pretends like it explores topics through a scientific lens, but if the reader knows anything more than a surface level understanding of science, it's clear that science buzzwords are invoked to handwave the explanation. It's okay to not have a real explanation based in hard science since it is sci-fi, but it's frustrating for the reasoning to just be "nanotechnology," "AI," "implants," "antigravity."
Finally, there's the naive approach to the characters. Tomas is basically an all-powerful oligarch, but we're meant to believe he's incredibly altruistic. This seems like the most unbelievable part in a story with interstellar travel, implanted AIs, and Aliens. Adrian is also a very shallow character that is a stereotype of high intelligence. He needs to actually struggle to overcome an obstacle, but the only obstacle he actually overcomes is a years long conflict with another character (a conflict we are literally just told about) by having a minute long conversation with.
Overall, the root cause of this book not being good is falls into the most common storytelling trap: Show, don't tell. This book is practically all exposition. Always telling what the setting is, what the character is doing, what the character is thinking, instead of letting the action of the story lead the reader to the same knowledge without just telling them.
Every time the book starts to get the reader used to a setting, timeframe, and conflicts within the story, it jumps ahead months or years. It feels like a rug-pull every time. Before the internal conflicts are developed. Before character growth can happen. Nothing can come to fruition because it just isn't explored long enough to be any deeper than surface level.
Then there's the science in the book. It falls quite a bit short of expectations--not every sci-fi book has to be accurate like The Martian, but it would be nice if there was a bit more commitment to how the science is framed. The story pretends like it explores topics through a scientific lens, but if the reader knows anything more than a surface level understanding of science, it's clear that science buzzwords are invoked to handwave the explanation. It's okay to not have a real explanation based in hard science since it is sci-fi, but it's frustrating for the reasoning to just be "nanotechnology," "AI," "implants," "antigravity."
Finally, there's the naive approach to the characters. Tomas is basically an all-powerful oligarch, but we're meant to believe he's incredibly altruistic. This seems like the most unbelievable part in a story with interstellar travel, implanted AIs, and Aliens. Adrian is also a very shallow character that is a stereotype of high intelligence. He needs to actually struggle to overcome an obstacle, but the only obstacle he actually overcomes is a years long conflict with another character (a conflict we are literally just told about) by having a minute long conversation with.
Overall, the root cause of this book not being good is falls into the most common storytelling trap: Show, don't tell. This book is practically all exposition. Always telling what the setting is, what the character is doing, what the character is thinking, instead of letting the action of the story lead the reader to the same knowledge without just telling them.
May 16, 2022
2.5 stars. Bland book that covers 100+ years through the eyes of a disparate "group" of mundane characters involved in trivial actions designed to describe/portray/highlight the underlying plot which surrounds a super-duperly wise and visionary mega-gazillionaire leading a subset of humanity to the stars. Since I plan on reading the next book in the series, I hope this book was intended to be just setup (a better author could have provided this same setup in the first few chapters of the first real book of the series) and the subsequent books contain real/developed characters involved in meaningful things leading to consequential outcomes. If not, then I will be done.
December 31, 2019
Meh
There’s a lot of info-dumping going on in the early chapters. Some of it is irrelevant to the ongoing plot.
For instance, a thorough description of the air transport is given, including its differentiation from airplanes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be different enough or necessary to the plot.
There was also an insistence that the MC (Tomas) was pure of heart, leading a utopic ideal with maybe a demanding or intimidating demeanor, but to good cause.
Maybe it gets better; I choose not to find out.
There’s a lot of info-dumping going on in the early chapters. Some of it is irrelevant to the ongoing plot.
For instance, a thorough description of the air transport is given, including its differentiation from airplanes. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be different enough or necessary to the plot.
There was also an insistence that the MC (Tomas) was pure of heart, leading a utopic ideal with maybe a demanding or intimidating demeanor, but to good cause.
Maybe it gets better; I choose not to find out.
September 11, 2023
I rather liked the first book as it had a different frustratingly realistic approach to - by now -a rather common plot line. The technologically advanced super power consisting of Indonesia and Australia was a bit hillarious though for my taste..
In the first book i was okay with the strange love story line but in the following books it got more and more awkward.. The technological progress and pacing of conflicts throughout the series seems very contrived - most likely to keep modern time-pressed readers invested.. I would have prefered a slower pace actually with more exploration..
In the first book i was okay with the strange love story line but in the following books it got more and more awkward.. The technological progress and pacing of conflicts throughout the series seems very contrived - most likely to keep modern time-pressed readers invested.. I would have prefered a slower pace actually with more exploration..
December 17, 2019
Awesome Science in The Fiction Opera
Every time I read one of these books, I want to know why we don’t have these toys and progress...? This book kinda answer that question (government bs) people out for themselves. If a ship like this book lands, the military would just hoard the technology. Great Book
Every time I read one of these books, I want to know why we don’t have these toys and progress...? This book kinda answer that question (government bs) people out for themselves. If a ship like this book lands, the military would just hoard the technology. Great Book
July 21, 2022
Great read really enjoyed this is unique in many aspects
This was really a good science fiction. Read empire building ancient technology action character development characters that you could really connect with a really easy and fun. Read enough drama. Intermixed about to purchase the next one and crack the cover
This was really a good science fiction. Read empire building ancient technology action character development characters that you could really connect with a really easy and fun. Read enough drama. Intermixed about to purchase the next one and crack the cover
July 20, 2020
Surprising
Picked this up on the recommendation of other readers after finishing the authors Tower of Power series. It’s a different genre, and was a bit slow to start, but had an amazing finish. Can’t wait to read the rest.
Picked this up on the recommendation of other readers after finishing the authors Tower of Power series. It’s a different genre, and was a bit slow to start, but had an amazing finish. Can’t wait to read the rest.
November 3, 2021
A good start
This book set a nice foundation. It set the tone and pace that I think the story will take and it looks good. I noticed bits and pieces, or at least some of the influence from other books. But it was well placed and added we'll to the story.
This book set a nice foundation. It set the tone and pace that I think the story will take and it looks good. I noticed bits and pieces, or at least some of the influence from other books. But it was well placed and added we'll to the story.
February 23, 2024
Very enjoyable story
This well written novel was a fast read that I couldn't put down. I liked it so much that I bought the next two novels as soon as I finished the first one. I finished the book at almost 2am. I bought the books before going to sleep. I'm starting Sanctuary now.
This well written novel was a fast read that I couldn't put down. I liked it so much that I bought the next two novels as soon as I finished the first one. I finished the book at almost 2am. I bought the books before going to sleep. I'm starting Sanctuary now.
March 1, 2018
Excellent start
This was an excellent start to a series and a quick read. The characters evolved slightly as the narrative unfolded.
This was an excellent start to a series and a quick read. The characters evolved slightly as the narrative unfolded.
June 2, 2020
An interesting start
It was not the best first book in a series but it wasn’t the worst. Hopefully we get a more dynamic read on book two but who knows, I’ve read through worse.
It was not the best first book in a series but it wasn’t the worst. Hopefully we get a more dynamic read on book two but who knows, I’ve read through worse.
October 26, 2021
Logical fantasy
Great character development and fantastic tech. The characters and plot focus you on what is possible without the stain of Cain on humanity. Awsome
Great character development and fantastic tech. The characters and plot focus you on what is possible without the stain of Cain on humanity. Awsome
August 3, 2023
Great Story
Have read some great space opera but this here takes it up a notch from most others well worth the read.
Have read some great space opera but this here takes it up a notch from most others well worth the read.
August 14, 2025
Great story had me hooked from the start.
Great story had me hooked from the start. Looking forward to the next one and see where the story goes.
Great story had me hooked from the start. Looking forward to the next one and see where the story goes.
September 10, 2020
An ok start
The first 40% of the book is more of a prologue than anything else and it takes a really long time for anything that feels like plot to happen. No real sense of conflict here; just a series of events creating a utopia in space.
The first 40% of the book is more of a prologue than anything else and it takes a really long time for anything that feels like plot to happen. No real sense of conflict here; just a series of events creating a utopia in space.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews