What do you think?
Rate this book
Agent of the Imperium: A Story of the Traveller Universe
Jonathan Bland is a Decider, empowered by the Emperor himself to deal with the inevitable crises of empire. In the service of the Empire, he has killed more people than anyone in the history of Humanity, to save a hundred times as many. He died centuries ago, but they re-activate his recorded personality whenever a new threat appears. When the crisis is over, they expect he will meekly return to oblivion.
He has other ideas.
The chronicle of Bland reveals secrets of the history of the star-spanning Third Imperium and spans 400 years from early Imperium (about year 300) through the mid-post Civil War period (about year 700) touching known and unknown events you may have encountered in your own reading of the Imperium: everyday events, political intrigue, deadly dangers, Arbellatra, Capital, Encyclopediopolis, the Karand's Palace, and a Tigress-class Dreadnought.
If you know the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game, then some of this is already familiar; if not, no matter; this story introduces the vast human-dominated interstellar empire of the far future in ways only the designer and chronicler of this particular universe can.
He has other ideas.
The chronicle of Bland reveals secrets of the history of the star-spanning Third Imperium and spans 400 years from early Imperium (about year 300) through the mid-post Civil War period (about year 700) touching known and unknown events you may have encountered in your own reading of the Imperium: everyday events, political intrigue, deadly dangers, Arbellatra, Capital, Encyclopediopolis, the Karand's Palace, and a Tigress-class Dreadnought.
If you know the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game, then some of this is already familiar; if not, no matter; this story introduces the vast human-dominated interstellar empire of the far future in ways only the designer and chronicler of this particular universe can.
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 28, 2015
40 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Marc W. Miller
77 books10 followersMarc W. Miller is an American game designer.
Miller was one of the founding partners of the Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), and the original creator of the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game. After GDW folded, the Traveller rights reverted to him, resulting in three more editions of the game, administered by his company Far Future Enterprises:
Miller was one of the founding partners of the Game Designers' Workshop (GDW), and the original creator of the Traveller science-fiction role-playing game. After GDW folded, the Traveller rights reverted to him, resulting in three more editions of the game, administered by his company Far Future Enterprises:
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews
April 18, 2025
I make no bones about it: The Traveller RPG and it's primary setting, The Third Imperium, is one of my favorite places to take my imagination and has been since the early '80s. As a young child, I always wondered who the creator of the game, Marc Miller, was. As an adult, I've had a chance to meet him, game at this table, and really get to know him in a different way than just being a star-struck 12 year old fanboy. Marc is not just a creative genius, he is a gentleman and a kind, benevolent person, politically active in calling out racism and prejudice, just a general all-around good human being.
Back in 2023, after a very long conversation about politics and gaming (I'll spare you all the details), I bought this book from him at the gamehole convention. Of course, I asked him to sign it. He was very excited about the premise, wherein the main narrator has his consciousness loaded into a "wafer" that allows his personality and experiences to be plugged into a host body. He acts as a spokesperson who speaks as if the Emperor or the Empress (depending on when the narrator has been activated) and makes the most difficult decisions, often sacrificing thousands or even millions to save millions or billions. He is the one who makes the difficult decisions, acting, in ways, as a sort of god with the fate of the (known) universe in his hands. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. And these are not decisions that are made lightly. There is a pathos to the power, with some degree of regret and the haunting of the ghosts of the past that one might expect in such a situation.
But the central conceit of the book allows a broad view of a large universe. It is a rather brilliant mechanism, and one that requires a delicate balance between the vast and the personal.
In what could be a sanitized, clinical exposition on the setting of the Traveller RPG, Marc Miller takes a different tack, posing questions about what one would do if one had uninhibited authority, including the ongoing questions about the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. The humanity here is never lost, with all the attendant good, evil, and indifference that this infers.
I don't have time to go into details of Miller's Traveller universe. Suffice it to say, it's complex, but does not bury itself under details. There are nuances in the book that I had not expected from the source materials of the original game. For instance, there is the "problem" of the Zhodani, a human race that has embraced the use of psionics to the point where honesty is the only policy that makes sense in their culture. It is often compared to a pure communist system (Marc confirmed this to me directly in a conversation we had once). But here, there is a textured cultural take on a small sliver of Zhodani society showing both the diversity that is possible in a society where there are no lies and all thoughts are transparent, while simultaneously showing the impossibility of such a society understanding a culture that dissembles, deceives, and lies (i.e., the rest of Humaniti).
I'm glad I'm familiar with the Traveller universe. Yes, I could read this without it and still understand what's happening, but having been steeped in the lore for over 40 years now, I have a much clearer understanding of the impact of the events being portrayed here. But this should not stop the reader who has never played the game. The novel stands on its own feet. But if you'd like to know more, to engage in the actual ongoing creation of the setting, there's always the roleplaying game. Such is the creative magic of RPGs!
Back in 2023, after a very long conversation about politics and gaming (I'll spare you all the details), I bought this book from him at the gamehole convention. Of course, I asked him to sign it. He was very excited about the premise, wherein the main narrator has his consciousness loaded into a "wafer" that allows his personality and experiences to be plugged into a host body. He acts as a spokesperson who speaks as if the Emperor or the Empress (depending on when the narrator has been activated) and makes the most difficult decisions, often sacrificing thousands or even millions to save millions or billions. He is the one who makes the difficult decisions, acting, in ways, as a sort of god with the fate of the (known) universe in his hands. It's a tough job, but someone's got to do it. And these are not decisions that are made lightly. There is a pathos to the power, with some degree of regret and the haunting of the ghosts of the past that one might expect in such a situation.
But the central conceit of the book allows a broad view of a large universe. It is a rather brilliant mechanism, and one that requires a delicate balance between the vast and the personal.
In what could be a sanitized, clinical exposition on the setting of the Traveller RPG, Marc Miller takes a different tack, posing questions about what one would do if one had uninhibited authority, including the ongoing questions about the needs of the many versus the needs of the few. The humanity here is never lost, with all the attendant good, evil, and indifference that this infers.
I don't have time to go into details of Miller's Traveller universe. Suffice it to say, it's complex, but does not bury itself under details. There are nuances in the book that I had not expected from the source materials of the original game. For instance, there is the "problem" of the Zhodani, a human race that has embraced the use of psionics to the point where honesty is the only policy that makes sense in their culture. It is often compared to a pure communist system (Marc confirmed this to me directly in a conversation we had once). But here, there is a textured cultural take on a small sliver of Zhodani society showing both the diversity that is possible in a society where there are no lies and all thoughts are transparent, while simultaneously showing the impossibility of such a society understanding a culture that dissembles, deceives, and lies (i.e., the rest of Humaniti).
I'm glad I'm familiar with the Traveller universe. Yes, I could read this without it and still understand what's happening, but having been steeped in the lore for over 40 years now, I have a much clearer understanding of the impact of the events being portrayed here. But this should not stop the reader who has never played the game. The novel stands on its own feet. But if you'd like to know more, to engage in the actual ongoing creation of the setting, there's always the roleplaying game. Such is the creative magic of RPGs!
July 31, 2016
As a longtime RPG player, I'm always on the lookout for fiction set in milieux in which I've played. IMHO, there is a serious lack of this, for some reason - more information about a setting makes it much easier to play in it. Traveller suffers more than most, so when I heard that its inventor Marc Miller was writing a novel set in Charted Space, I immediately found and backed the Kickstarter campaign.
The resulting novel doesn't really have much in common with a regular Traveller campaign, at least not the low-powered variety I was usually involved in, but it provides a good amount of environmental and atmospheric background. Space is a vast and unpredictable place with multifarious agents, visible and invisible, all looking out for themselves. Running an interstellar empire is a brutal business, and many difficult choices have to be made, often with a significant cost in lives.
The reservations I have are not significant, so I gave this novel the full five stars. Read it even if you're not a Traveller fan.
The resulting novel doesn't really have much in common with a regular Traveller campaign, at least not the low-powered variety I was usually involved in, but it provides a good amount of environmental and atmospheric background. Space is a vast and unpredictable place with multifarious agents, visible and invisible, all looking out for themselves. Running an interstellar empire is a brutal business, and many difficult choices have to be made, often with a significant cost in lives.
The reservations I have are not significant, so I gave this novel the full five stars. Read it even if you're not a Traveller fan.
June 6, 2016
Surprisingly good book by a first time novelist. An innovative premise lets us travel to a number of iconic places and events in the history of the Traveller Universe in a way that makes sense. Episodic at first, some plot threads develop to tie things together as the story goes on.
There are some major threads dangling at the end of the book, including what is arguably the main plot thread, so hopefully there will be a follow on volume at some point.
Highly recommended for any fan of the setting, and I think it could be an interesting read even for someone new to the Traveller Universe (extensive appendices should help with most questions that might come up, although they could be problematic to reference in e-book format).
There are some major threads dangling at the end of the book, including what is arguably the main plot thread, so hopefully there will be a follow on volume at some point.
Highly recommended for any fan of the setting, and I think it could be an interesting read even for someone new to the Traveller Universe (extensive appendices should help with most questions that might come up, although they could be problematic to reference in e-book format).
October 15, 2021
Miller creates a compelling narrative. Jonathan Bland exists intermittently as a recorded personality overlaid upon a human host only during emergencies, and these powerful, focused vignettes somehow weave together into a larger story as circumstance and accident allow him a slight wiggle room that the reader can follow across the larger Imperium. It is written concisely and without flourish, as befits the first person narration of a singularly focused individual.
Some threads appear to trail into oblivion--potential sequel material--and the whole eventually crashes into an unexpected and poignant conclusion.
Some threads appear to trail into oblivion--potential sequel material--and the whole eventually crashes into an unexpected and poignant conclusion.
August 3, 2020
Marc Miller's Agent of the Imperium is a decent sci-fi novel, and given that it is (by design) tightly tied to a TTRPG universe created by the same author, the book is considerably better than it needs to be. By that, I mean that since Miller has a built-in audience of Traveller players, he could easily have gotten away with a slapdash effort, but to his credit he has not gone down that easy route.
That said, there is a certain amount of repetition in the narrative, as the titular Agent is invoked multiple times to handle roughly similar challenges. Given that each challenge plays out in a very similar sequence of events, the second half of the book is a bit of a slog, made worse by the fact that none of the characters save Enna Plant Lagash are really developed in any way.
But for Traveller geeks, there's still a lot to love here, and simply having the chance to follow a story through the universe of the Third Imperium has undeniable rewards for the initiated.
That said, there is a certain amount of repetition in the narrative, as the titular Agent is invoked multiple times to handle roughly similar challenges. Given that each challenge plays out in a very similar sequence of events, the second half of the book is a bit of a slog, made worse by the fact that none of the characters save Enna Plant Lagash are really developed in any way.
But for Traveller geeks, there's still a lot to love here, and simply having the chance to follow a story through the universe of the Third Imperium has undeniable rewards for the initiated.
April 5, 2017
Given that this is a book based on a table-top game, written by a first-time author, it really exceeded expectations. The premise was very cool, and ended up letting the book do some of the fun, "oh they're referencing something I already read about" stuff that usually only works in a long series. Definitely worth a read.
October 15, 2017
A neat look at the various worlds and cultures of the Traveler RPG universe. The Agent storyline was interesting but ultimately didn't go anywhere. The end of the book was very disappointing, almost like the author ran out of steam, but the rest of the book was good.
August 27, 2022
Painfully dry, hard to follow and boring.
May 8, 2023
There is no problem so big that you can’t blow up the planet it’s on.
Agent of the Imperium by Marc Miller is a large paperback science fiction book published by Baen. My copy is the Expanded Edition though I am not able to tell what the means.
This is hard science fiction taking place in the Traveller role-playing game universe by one of the creators of that universe and the creator of the Traveller role-playing game.
The universe is a sprawling area of the galaxy that is filled with human and alien life. Not quite as full as Star Wars but definitely full.
A map of the galaxy is given along with an explanation of the world codes used to quantify a planet (straight out of the rule book) and how the calendar is used in the Imperium.
Before the book begins it tells of the Agent of the Imperium who is given unlimited Imperial powers and to be given all available assistance unquestioningly.
The book will be about the ‘adventures’ (?) of this Agent.
The agent is awakened in a new body (his original being dead) anytime there is an emergency of the level…needed to awaken him. We’re never really told the criteria for that, but they seem to be Really Bad Situations. He has to ask his own name each time so I presume he inhabits someone else’s body. What happens to them? Are their personalities completely suppressed? Do they survive the process? Hell if I know.
He wakes up, asks who is here to brief him. And then starts shoving his weight around while he analyzes the situation. Shooting anyone who questions his authority.
He can ‘make the hard calls’ and wipes out planets with impunity. When the crisis is over he is… I don’t know, put to sleep again? It’s pretty fuzzy on that as well.
At one time be gets revenge by ruining the family of the man who didn’t fulfill his all his wishes with regards to his tombstone. (They still bury people?).
I think he even gets an assistant to get killed and go through the dying and waking up process with him because likes him as an assistant…but I’m not really sure about that either.
I’m a huge Traveller fan from the beginning and have nearly everything ever published for the game. I also have an almost complete collection of Traveller-based fiction, so this book was a must to try out.
I am finding it painful to read. For many reasons. Here are a few.
The main character (I don’t think he has a name - if he has I’ve missed it) is virtually a blank slate. No real personality. Just a very efficient bureaucrat who the Empire figured they could use after his death. He’s efficient and ruthless, but only in that officer worker kind of way. And since that’s what he’s brought around for, it’s not really an impressive character trait.
Also the problems that he finds are often vaguely described. Maybe we’re supposed to infer what the problem is, but half the time I don’t understand. And really, story wise the problem is more or less investigated before he is called on. So when awakened they just tell him what it is, he does a little more research (or rather makes someone else do a little more research) and makes a decision.
To me, the type of problems he encounters should be the most interesting part. But we come in at the tail end and it’s quickly resolved. So not interesting.
This is a terrible book. And not even a terrible “gamers-writing-fiction-where-you-can-hear-the-dice-roll” way.
But in a “I don’t care about this character and nothing interesting happens to him way.” I wonder if the author is trying to imitate old school military science fiction? Niven? Heinlein? Pournelle? I’ve read lots of these guys and I don’t recognize the style at all.
An essential theme of the book is that someone (the Agent) must make terrible decisions for the sake of the galaxy. Usually along the lines of That Planet has a Plague so we Must Destroy it to the bedrock or the plaque will destroy the Galaxy.
But the setup hurts the book a lot. The Agent comes in at the last minute and makes these drastic decisions. What was the criteria for deciding to wake him up? If all the facts are known, why wake him up at all, surely someone else can make the decision without him.
Also, how does he know they’re right. He goes through a fact-checking process in a couple of days after he is woken but….
Even if he is absolutely correct. It’s not very interesting for him to just pop in, blow up a planet, and then go back to sleep. No even remotely looking for other solutions. No real thought that what if he makes the final solution and it’s already too late? The plague has already gotten out? Is he infallible?
Certainly the plague could do some damage, but it doesn’t mean that everyone on the planet would have gotten it right??
81 page is, nothing like that is considered.
But so the people he orders to destroy the planet will also taste the pain of what they have done they will all have a finger cut off. “… the loss will stay with you forever as your cost in achieving this mission of great value.”
WTF??? Maybe Heinlein could get away with something like this, but this book doesn’t.
And of course, if you question the Agents wisdom he just orders someone to shoot you dead. Which they do. Cause military.
The next mission he goes to a planet whose star is going to go nova in six months. Wait? That’s undetectable until 6 months away? Oh kay.
This time he’ll try to save as many lives as possible. He will choose who to save at random. Unless they interfere, or try to jump the line, or ask too many questions, or fart in pubic. Then he’ll kill them.
Around page 95 though, the book has an interesting twist. I’m still not positive how the personality/wafer think works exactly (the writing is unclear), but I know that the Agent gets activated to inhabit someone else in an emergency, but in a new chapter when the point of view suddenly and without notice changes again, something goes wrong.
Now our hero finds himself in a romantic relationship he did not expect. It took about five pages for the author to explain what the sex of one of the participant’s is. The Agent continues to leave her (and the reader) in the dark about what’s going on.
The Agent and his new partner go traipsing across the galaxy like he owns the place. He does. They give him a ship and they bop from planet to plant. Here’s a quote: “Strangely, our time at Vland was short and unremarkable. We remained in orbit, docked at the highport while Rens and Truul ventured to the surface. They returned the next day and we left immediately. Our new destination was Othsekuu in Lishun the tropiods’ homeworld. It would take us perhaps half a year.”
Somehow he partner doesn’t find this prospect interminably dull. I don’t understand why not. I certainly do.
Later the Agent gives her a gun and then gives some Republican BS about how a gun is an “evolutionary advantage”!
In page 117 the Agent (whom his partner automagically falls in love with - he’s in her lover’s body after all!) gives another speech that amounts to “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one..” after his partner goes through his diaries and reads about all the people he’s killed.
He goes on to say that only in escapist fiction must there have been a “better way.” Fair enough and not an invalid point. And not a complaint that this story is not more ‘escapist’.
But simply that this story makes that decision far more black-and-white than it really would be in a universe where the laws of physics have been repeatedly broken. In other words, if the author had sold that there was no other way, it would be a point.
But since the Agent is a jerk and his decision comes after about a day of examining the problem - it doesn’t seem at all plausible. More like a ‘final solution’.
Later the Agent becomes a Baron while in the body of a nobody geek who was only promoted so that it wouldn’t look stupid that he was made a Baron.
While meeting some of his fellow royalty this happens: “We spoke about the economy, trade, politics, trends in society. We sparred with each other, gently feeling out what the other believed, revealing some but not too much.” THANK GOD THERE WAS FINALLY AN INTERESTING CONVERSION IN THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR SPARED US FROM HAVING TO READ IT!!!?!?!
Kind of weird how the Agent wakes up in the body of a guy whose dead and the partner of the dead guy spends a few months with him and totally falls in love with him! When everyone else should be able to see that he’s a total ahole.
Finally, around p. 148 a ship the Agent is on jumps into Zhodani space accidentally. This could be interesting. The Zhodani are rather psychic Klingons in the Traveller universe.
Page 163 appears to start a new mission where the Agent pops up (next year?, next month?, next millennia?) because they found a dead planet where robots are building a spaceship. Easy he decides—Destroy them! Cause that’s what he ALWAYS decides! I much more interesting book could have been written on why and how these robots are building a spaceship. But it’s not this one!
He congratulates himself for wiping out the robot before their threat because they could destroy entire worlds. But of course, he never bothers to find out anything about them, like who built them and why?!
Now I’m certainly not one of those bleeding heart robot lovers, but doesn’t simple curiosity compel you to investigate more? Are we really certain that this lame brain scheme of rebooting this guy whenever someone decides something is seriously a threat works for EVERY threat? Couldn’t there be dozens of other planets with robot builders that he’s missing?
There’s a certain amount of willing suspension of disbelieve that ALL science fiction requires. But this is not passing the smell test.
Coincidentally I just read Shannon Applegate’s review of “Agent of the Imperium” (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/produc...) and he loves the book. So it’s quite possible that I just didn’t ‘get’ this book.
I gave up trying to describe the events that happen in this book. In addition to being stuffed with technobabble that is never defined — and I’m a 40+ year fan of Traveller - the events are so disconnected from anything that came before and uninteresting in and of itself that they just aren’t worth describing.
SPOILER - Page 95 a duchess assassinates the Emperor, which may have been the plant that the Agent has been counting down to and preparing for, but that’s been pretty vague and f’all knows why. Doesn’t matter anyway because without any particular feeling about either the Agent or the Emperor, it’s not liking I’m rooting for either side.
Around p. 208 we are told that the Agent is depressed because his goals are going to take a long time to achieve. I thought his goal was helping to assassinate the current emperor. Guess not.
Increasingly often during the book, the Agent mentions “Rules”. As in Rule 1. Rule 3. Rule 4. Rule 5. Here’s a quote:“I depended on her, and thus felt a need to be thoughtful. Rule 3. Rule 4. I also paid her enough to carry her forward until our next meeting. Rule 5.”
Now as far as I can tell these rules are never defined. It reminds me of the Space Jews in Star Trek. But at least they told you what the rules are. This is only one of the annoying things about the book.
The Agent’s sex changes constantly, but the first person narrative never does. Or maybe it’s not the agent but the girlfriend of the guy who’s body he took over. Who knows.
So the Agent is immortal, infinitely wealthy, and has all the powers of the Emperor of the Universe? Yeah, sounds like a typical Traveller campaign.
Well there was a big space fight because there was a body snatching parasite causing people to change sides. This should have been exciting but wasn’t. And of course, once the Agent found out that people were being infected by aliens, he had a solution! Scrub the planet! The same solution he has for every problem!
Around page 275 he finally decides (after 400 years) there might be another method of fixing a problem than sterilizing a planet. It still involves murder of course.
An amazing amount of this novel depends on anyone being told, ‘Yeah, this guy, who works for the Emperor, do anything he says!’ And not a single person every says, ‘Screw you!’.
If this had not been a fairly expensive gift and worse yet a gift that I had suggested I don’t think I would have finished it.
I can’t for the life of me figure out who this novel was for (besides Traveller fanatics such as myself) and what if anything it was trying to say.
After the story ends there is a good 69 pages of Traveller material that will be entirely familiar to any long time Traveller fan.
As to how the story ends. Lets just say that the Agent makes a major change in history for no discernible reason and then… I think… has a law or doctrine or suggestion to the ruling Elite so that it will never happen again. Maybe that’s what happened.
I’m just going to have to concede that I do not get this novel. Yet I did read it and I know there was no one interesting in it, nothing interesting happened, and what was there was told by a variety of nondescript narrators that were completely featureless robots.
The first person narrative that didn’t vary no matter who the narrator was certainly didn’t help.
But read other reviews if you think I might be off. I’m certainly going to! I give this one star and will would donate it to a local library if it weren’t for those last 69 pages. They’ll at least be good for my Traveller collection.
Agent of the Imperium by Marc Miller is a large paperback science fiction book published by Baen. My copy is the Expanded Edition though I am not able to tell what the means.
This is hard science fiction taking place in the Traveller role-playing game universe by one of the creators of that universe and the creator of the Traveller role-playing game.
The universe is a sprawling area of the galaxy that is filled with human and alien life. Not quite as full as Star Wars but definitely full.
A map of the galaxy is given along with an explanation of the world codes used to quantify a planet (straight out of the rule book) and how the calendar is used in the Imperium.
Before the book begins it tells of the Agent of the Imperium who is given unlimited Imperial powers and to be given all available assistance unquestioningly.
The book will be about the ‘adventures’ (?) of this Agent.
The agent is awakened in a new body (his original being dead) anytime there is an emergency of the level…needed to awaken him. We’re never really told the criteria for that, but they seem to be Really Bad Situations. He has to ask his own name each time so I presume he inhabits someone else’s body. What happens to them? Are their personalities completely suppressed? Do they survive the process? Hell if I know.
He wakes up, asks who is here to brief him. And then starts shoving his weight around while he analyzes the situation. Shooting anyone who questions his authority.
He can ‘make the hard calls’ and wipes out planets with impunity. When the crisis is over he is… I don’t know, put to sleep again? It’s pretty fuzzy on that as well.
At one time be gets revenge by ruining the family of the man who didn’t fulfill his all his wishes with regards to his tombstone. (They still bury people?).
I think he even gets an assistant to get killed and go through the dying and waking up process with him because likes him as an assistant…but I’m not really sure about that either.
I’m a huge Traveller fan from the beginning and have nearly everything ever published for the game. I also have an almost complete collection of Traveller-based fiction, so this book was a must to try out.
I am finding it painful to read. For many reasons. Here are a few.
The main character (I don’t think he has a name - if he has I’ve missed it) is virtually a blank slate. No real personality. Just a very efficient bureaucrat who the Empire figured they could use after his death. He’s efficient and ruthless, but only in that officer worker kind of way. And since that’s what he’s brought around for, it’s not really an impressive character trait.
Also the problems that he finds are often vaguely described. Maybe we’re supposed to infer what the problem is, but half the time I don’t understand. And really, story wise the problem is more or less investigated before he is called on. So when awakened they just tell him what it is, he does a little more research (or rather makes someone else do a little more research) and makes a decision.
To me, the type of problems he encounters should be the most interesting part. But we come in at the tail end and it’s quickly resolved. So not interesting.
This is a terrible book. And not even a terrible “gamers-writing-fiction-where-you-can-hear-the-dice-roll” way.
But in a “I don’t care about this character and nothing interesting happens to him way.” I wonder if the author is trying to imitate old school military science fiction? Niven? Heinlein? Pournelle? I’ve read lots of these guys and I don’t recognize the style at all.
An essential theme of the book is that someone (the Agent) must make terrible decisions for the sake of the galaxy. Usually along the lines of That Planet has a Plague so we Must Destroy it to the bedrock or the plaque will destroy the Galaxy.
But the setup hurts the book a lot. The Agent comes in at the last minute and makes these drastic decisions. What was the criteria for deciding to wake him up? If all the facts are known, why wake him up at all, surely someone else can make the decision without him.
Also, how does he know they’re right. He goes through a fact-checking process in a couple of days after he is woken but….
Even if he is absolutely correct. It’s not very interesting for him to just pop in, blow up a planet, and then go back to sleep. No even remotely looking for other solutions. No real thought that what if he makes the final solution and it’s already too late? The plague has already gotten out? Is he infallible?
Certainly the plague could do some damage, but it doesn’t mean that everyone on the planet would have gotten it right??
81 page is, nothing like that is considered.
But so the people he orders to destroy the planet will also taste the pain of what they have done they will all have a finger cut off. “… the loss will stay with you forever as your cost in achieving this mission of great value.”
WTF??? Maybe Heinlein could get away with something like this, but this book doesn’t.
And of course, if you question the Agents wisdom he just orders someone to shoot you dead. Which they do. Cause military.
The next mission he goes to a planet whose star is going to go nova in six months. Wait? That’s undetectable until 6 months away? Oh kay.
This time he’ll try to save as many lives as possible. He will choose who to save at random. Unless they interfere, or try to jump the line, or ask too many questions, or fart in pubic. Then he’ll kill them.
Around page 95 though, the book has an interesting twist. I’m still not positive how the personality/wafer think works exactly (the writing is unclear), but I know that the Agent gets activated to inhabit someone else in an emergency, but in a new chapter when the point of view suddenly and without notice changes again, something goes wrong.
Now our hero finds himself in a romantic relationship he did not expect. It took about five pages for the author to explain what the sex of one of the participant’s is. The Agent continues to leave her (and the reader) in the dark about what’s going on.
The Agent and his new partner go traipsing across the galaxy like he owns the place. He does. They give him a ship and they bop from planet to plant. Here’s a quote: “Strangely, our time at Vland was short and unremarkable. We remained in orbit, docked at the highport while Rens and Truul ventured to the surface. They returned the next day and we left immediately. Our new destination was Othsekuu in Lishun the tropiods’ homeworld. It would take us perhaps half a year.”
Somehow he partner doesn’t find this prospect interminably dull. I don’t understand why not. I certainly do.
Later the Agent gives her a gun and then gives some Republican BS about how a gun is an “evolutionary advantage”!
In page 117 the Agent (whom his partner automagically falls in love with - he’s in her lover’s body after all!) gives another speech that amounts to “The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one..” after his partner goes through his diaries and reads about all the people he’s killed.
He goes on to say that only in escapist fiction must there have been a “better way.” Fair enough and not an invalid point. And not a complaint that this story is not more ‘escapist’.
But simply that this story makes that decision far more black-and-white than it really would be in a universe where the laws of physics have been repeatedly broken. In other words, if the author had sold that there was no other way, it would be a point.
But since the Agent is a jerk and his decision comes after about a day of examining the problem - it doesn’t seem at all plausible. More like a ‘final solution’.
Later the Agent becomes a Baron while in the body of a nobody geek who was only promoted so that it wouldn’t look stupid that he was made a Baron.
While meeting some of his fellow royalty this happens: “We spoke about the economy, trade, politics, trends in society. We sparred with each other, gently feeling out what the other believed, revealing some but not too much.” THANK GOD THERE WAS FINALLY AN INTERESTING CONVERSION IN THE BOOK AND THE AUTHOR SPARED US FROM HAVING TO READ IT!!!?!?!
Kind of weird how the Agent wakes up in the body of a guy whose dead and the partner of the dead guy spends a few months with him and totally falls in love with him! When everyone else should be able to see that he’s a total ahole.
Finally, around p. 148 a ship the Agent is on jumps into Zhodani space accidentally. This could be interesting. The Zhodani are rather psychic Klingons in the Traveller universe.
Page 163 appears to start a new mission where the Agent pops up (next year?, next month?, next millennia?) because they found a dead planet where robots are building a spaceship. Easy he decides—Destroy them! Cause that’s what he ALWAYS decides! I much more interesting book could have been written on why and how these robots are building a spaceship. But it’s not this one!
He congratulates himself for wiping out the robot before their threat because they could destroy entire worlds. But of course, he never bothers to find out anything about them, like who built them and why?!
Now I’m certainly not one of those bleeding heart robot lovers, but doesn’t simple curiosity compel you to investigate more? Are we really certain that this lame brain scheme of rebooting this guy whenever someone decides something is seriously a threat works for EVERY threat? Couldn’t there be dozens of other planets with robot builders that he’s missing?
There’s a certain amount of willing suspension of disbelieve that ALL science fiction requires. But this is not passing the smell test.
Coincidentally I just read Shannon Applegate’s review of “Agent of the Imperium” (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/produc...) and he loves the book. So it’s quite possible that I just didn’t ‘get’ this book.
I gave up trying to describe the events that happen in this book. In addition to being stuffed with technobabble that is never defined — and I’m a 40+ year fan of Traveller - the events are so disconnected from anything that came before and uninteresting in and of itself that they just aren’t worth describing.
SPOILER - Page 95 a duchess assassinates the Emperor, which may have been the plant that the Agent has been counting down to and preparing for, but that’s been pretty vague and f’all knows why. Doesn’t matter anyway because without any particular feeling about either the Agent or the Emperor, it’s not liking I’m rooting for either side.
Around p. 208 we are told that the Agent is depressed because his goals are going to take a long time to achieve. I thought his goal was helping to assassinate the current emperor. Guess not.
Increasingly often during the book, the Agent mentions “Rules”. As in Rule 1. Rule 3. Rule 4. Rule 5. Here’s a quote:“I depended on her, and thus felt a need to be thoughtful. Rule 3. Rule 4. I also paid her enough to carry her forward until our next meeting. Rule 5.”
Now as far as I can tell these rules are never defined. It reminds me of the Space Jews in Star Trek. But at least they told you what the rules are. This is only one of the annoying things about the book.
The Agent’s sex changes constantly, but the first person narrative never does. Or maybe it’s not the agent but the girlfriend of the guy who’s body he took over. Who knows.
So the Agent is immortal, infinitely wealthy, and has all the powers of the Emperor of the Universe? Yeah, sounds like a typical Traveller campaign.
Well there was a big space fight because there was a body snatching parasite causing people to change sides. This should have been exciting but wasn’t. And of course, once the Agent found out that people were being infected by aliens, he had a solution! Scrub the planet! The same solution he has for every problem!
Around page 275 he finally decides (after 400 years) there might be another method of fixing a problem than sterilizing a planet. It still involves murder of course.
An amazing amount of this novel depends on anyone being told, ‘Yeah, this guy, who works for the Emperor, do anything he says!’ And not a single person every says, ‘Screw you!’.
If this had not been a fairly expensive gift and worse yet a gift that I had suggested I don’t think I would have finished it.
I can’t for the life of me figure out who this novel was for (besides Traveller fanatics such as myself) and what if anything it was trying to say.
After the story ends there is a good 69 pages of Traveller material that will be entirely familiar to any long time Traveller fan.
As to how the story ends. Lets just say that the Agent makes a major change in history for no discernible reason and then… I think… has a law or doctrine or suggestion to the ruling Elite so that it will never happen again. Maybe that’s what happened.
I’m just going to have to concede that I do not get this novel. Yet I did read it and I know there was no one interesting in it, nothing interesting happened, and what was there was told by a variety of nondescript narrators that were completely featureless robots.
The first person narrative that didn’t vary no matter who the narrator was certainly didn’t help.
But read other reviews if you think I might be off. I’m certainly going to! I give this one star and will would donate it to a local library if it weren’t for those last 69 pages. They’ll at least be good for my Traveller collection.
January 25, 2016
It was an interesting book, but I feel it suffered with too many problems for me to really enjoy it.
I have been a fan of the SF Role Playing Game "Traveller" since the late 1970s. The idea of a novel from the game's creator interested me as I hoped there would be insights into the universe of Traveller. Unfortunately, if there were they were insights that seemed to fly in the face of Traveller as I grew to know it over the last 30+ years. Not that all the insights were that way - the author's explanations of the idea of the need for a organization to control outbreaks through quarantine, the expansion and contraction of empires and how control of fusion plus technology was a major part of the rise of the Third Imperium were enlightening - but others were much less so.
Traveller, as practiced by the vast majority of gamers, is a game of ordinary people often working at the margins of society. The late, lamented TV show "Firefly" is a good approximation of your average Traveller group: ordinary folks making a living and feeding their wanderlust. This book almost ever touches that world. This is a epic SF of the mighty - Admirals, nobles and Emperors on a timescale more like Asimov's "Foundation" than "Serenity." Not a deal killer, but unhelpful from a game standpoint.
Taken on it's own, AotI does not stand up well. While there are several good bits, the growth of one character into her new life on the spaceways is good work, many of the characters remain two dimensional at best. Part of that is intensional - the protagonist is a being seeing the world in month long experiences of usually high crisis, which would lead to a bit of tunnel vision - but it makes the book suffer. The protagonist's trips to "Dreamland," which is never named or adequately
explained, provide backstory but leave more questions than answers. While I was interested in the story, I rarely felt truly engaged by it.
In the interest of full disclosure, one personal bugbear of mine is the "X Files secret cabal" interpretation of history. This is where the "Great Man" theory runs amuck and puts forth the idea that there is someone(s) behind all the major happenings in civilization. Being a student of history, I realize how many things impact history and how little any person, even the mighty, have on current events. In this book it is revealed the protagonist becomes the "ghost within the imperial machine" that creates at least two major events in history. If this type of plot is not a problem, you may find it a better work.
Finally, it suffers too much from trying to link it with the Traveller game, mostly in a non-useful way. The back contains pages of game universe history, most of it lifted from the game books. Some of it is new and interesting, such as the "lectures" on imperial history, but most of it is not useful unless you play the game, and if you do, you already have most of this data.
To sum up: this is a book that will appeal mostly to die hard fans of the game universe. Unfortunately, it does not really work as either a stand alone novel or as a introduction to the game as it is usually played.
I have been a fan of the SF Role Playing Game "Traveller" since the late 1970s. The idea of a novel from the game's creator interested me as I hoped there would be insights into the universe of Traveller. Unfortunately, if there were they were insights that seemed to fly in the face of Traveller as I grew to know it over the last 30+ years. Not that all the insights were that way - the author's explanations of the idea of the need for a organization to control outbreaks through quarantine, the expansion and contraction of empires and how control of fusion plus technology was a major part of the rise of the Third Imperium were enlightening - but others were much less so.
Traveller, as practiced by the vast majority of gamers, is a game of ordinary people often working at the margins of society. The late, lamented TV show "Firefly" is a good approximation of your average Traveller group: ordinary folks making a living and feeding their wanderlust. This book almost ever touches that world. This is a epic SF of the mighty - Admirals, nobles and Emperors on a timescale more like Asimov's "Foundation" than "Serenity." Not a deal killer, but unhelpful from a game standpoint.
Taken on it's own, AotI does not stand up well. While there are several good bits, the growth of one character into her new life on the spaceways is good work, many of the characters remain two dimensional at best. Part of that is intensional - the protagonist is a being seeing the world in month long experiences of usually high crisis, which would lead to a bit of tunnel vision - but it makes the book suffer. The protagonist's trips to "Dreamland," which is never named or adequately
explained, provide backstory but leave more questions than answers. While I was interested in the story, I rarely felt truly engaged by it.
In the interest of full disclosure, one personal bugbear of mine is the "X Files secret cabal" interpretation of history. This is where the "Great Man" theory runs amuck and puts forth the idea that there is someone(s) behind all the major happenings in civilization. Being a student of history, I realize how many things impact history and how little any person, even the mighty, have on current events. In this book it is revealed the protagonist becomes the "ghost within the imperial machine" that creates at least two major events in history. If this type of plot is not a problem, you may find it a better work.
Finally, it suffers too much from trying to link it with the Traveller game, mostly in a non-useful way. The back contains pages of game universe history, most of it lifted from the game books. Some of it is new and interesting, such as the "lectures" on imperial history, but most of it is not useful unless you play the game, and if you do, you already have most of this data.
To sum up: this is a book that will appeal mostly to die hard fans of the game universe. Unfortunately, it does not really work as either a stand alone novel or as a introduction to the game as it is usually played.
November 22, 2020
As a lifelong fan of Traveller, the roleplaying game of adventure in the far future, I was thrilled when Marc Miller, the original designer of the game decided to write a novel about the setting that he, Loren Wiseman, Frank Chadwick, John Harshman, Dave Nilsen, and so many others developed over the course of the last 40+ years.
Traveller was originally invented to be a generic game in which a narrator—called a referee—might collaborate on a shared story in which players take the roles of the characters of a science fiction adventure novel. The original inspirations for the game were many: Asimov, Tubb, Niven, Clarke, Harrison, and many more. Miller purportedly had no idea that fans would clamor for a setting to go with the elegant set of generic rules that he and the crew at Game Designers Workshop created. The setting that they invented morphed over time into one of the most complex and beloved bodies of lore in the history of table-top gaming. That lore, the lore of the Third Imperium, is featured in this novel.
Miller has woven a wonderful tale, an epic featuring the most unlikely of protagonists: the personality of a long-dead bureaucrat, preserved on an "Angin wafer," an electronic device that may be inserted into the base of the skull on any Imperial functionary equipped with an appropriate receptacle. The story reveals how this persona, that of Chonadin Bilanidin or "Jonathan Bland," has been a key figure in the survival of the greatest human empire ever established. How the decisions he has made, with the aid of various historical figures from Traveller lore, have saved the empire and allowed it to prosper for centuries.
In many ways, this book is a tribute to the science fiction that inspired the game, but with modern sensibilities drawn into it. It is reminiscent of Asimov's Foundation series in some ways but draws in elements of more modern science fiction tropes as well, most notably the concepts of artificial intelligence and the preservation of consciousness using computer technology. The book excels as a standalone work of fiction but Miller unabashedly incorporates elements of the Traveller game as well, including the ubiquitous Universal World Profile statistics and the Imperial Calendar.
As such a long-time fan of the game, the novel felt like a tribute to all of us who have "kept the flame" alive for so many decades but I am also pleased to say that it measures up nicely against the immense body of science fiction stories that inspired it in the first place. Here's hoping for a sequel!
Traveller was originally invented to be a generic game in which a narrator—called a referee—might collaborate on a shared story in which players take the roles of the characters of a science fiction adventure novel. The original inspirations for the game were many: Asimov, Tubb, Niven, Clarke, Harrison, and many more. Miller purportedly had no idea that fans would clamor for a setting to go with the elegant set of generic rules that he and the crew at Game Designers Workshop created. The setting that they invented morphed over time into one of the most complex and beloved bodies of lore in the history of table-top gaming. That lore, the lore of the Third Imperium, is featured in this novel.
Miller has woven a wonderful tale, an epic featuring the most unlikely of protagonists: the personality of a long-dead bureaucrat, preserved on an "Angin wafer," an electronic device that may be inserted into the base of the skull on any Imperial functionary equipped with an appropriate receptacle. The story reveals how this persona, that of Chonadin Bilanidin or "Jonathan Bland," has been a key figure in the survival of the greatest human empire ever established. How the decisions he has made, with the aid of various historical figures from Traveller lore, have saved the empire and allowed it to prosper for centuries.
In many ways, this book is a tribute to the science fiction that inspired the game, but with modern sensibilities drawn into it. It is reminiscent of Asimov's Foundation series in some ways but draws in elements of more modern science fiction tropes as well, most notably the concepts of artificial intelligence and the preservation of consciousness using computer technology. The book excels as a standalone work of fiction but Miller unabashedly incorporates elements of the Traveller game as well, including the ubiquitous Universal World Profile statistics and the Imperial Calendar.
As such a long-time fan of the game, the novel felt like a tribute to all of us who have "kept the flame" alive for so many decades but I am also pleased to say that it measures up nicely against the immense body of science fiction stories that inspired it in the first place. Here's hoping for a sequel!
June 7, 2022
First off - it is not necessary to have played the game Traveller to appreciate this book.
Secondly - this book is NOTHING at all what I had anticipated. But it was a really good read even still!
As it is, I did used to play Traveller back in the early 80's during the height of the Dungeons & Dragons days. Traveller is the most popular science-fiction roll playing game and was created by Marc Miller. For me and my friends, we always used the rules to make our own universe and generally ignored the back story of the Imperium. The Imperium backstory was boring and sometimes annoying to me - I had no interest in it and it was just never a part of our games. We played a range of style from Space Opera/StarWars to a Logan's Run scenario, all the way to hard Sci-Fi like Ringworld.
So hearing positive things about the book and not finding a lot of recent Sci-Fi that could keep my interest, I finally got hold of a copy. And it was COMPLETELY about the Imperium backstory that was used in the game - and I loved it! Not what I expected.
The book's lead character is the disembodied personality of a "decider" who could be called on in a crisis to act in the best interests of known civilization of the galaxy, the Imperium. Because he's only called on during existential crisis, the time span of the book is over hundreds of years. I got a feel of it being akin to the scope of Asimov's "Foundation" but you were able to follow the individual through key points in the history of the Imperium. Marc Miller's story line is every bit as innovative as his game and really made it difficult to put down. You were able to empathize with the lead character even though he had to make difficult choices that killed hundreds of millions (billions?) of people. I've not encountered a book written in such a style before and I really wish Miller would write another one. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in future speculative fiction at the epic level.
Secondly - this book is NOTHING at all what I had anticipated. But it was a really good read even still!
As it is, I did used to play Traveller back in the early 80's during the height of the Dungeons & Dragons days. Traveller is the most popular science-fiction roll playing game and was created by Marc Miller. For me and my friends, we always used the rules to make our own universe and generally ignored the back story of the Imperium. The Imperium backstory was boring and sometimes annoying to me - I had no interest in it and it was just never a part of our games. We played a range of style from Space Opera/StarWars to a Logan's Run scenario, all the way to hard Sci-Fi like Ringworld.
So hearing positive things about the book and not finding a lot of recent Sci-Fi that could keep my interest, I finally got hold of a copy. And it was COMPLETELY about the Imperium backstory that was used in the game - and I loved it! Not what I expected.
The book's lead character is the disembodied personality of a "decider" who could be called on in a crisis to act in the best interests of known civilization of the galaxy, the Imperium. Because he's only called on during existential crisis, the time span of the book is over hundreds of years. I got a feel of it being akin to the scope of Asimov's "Foundation" but you were able to follow the individual through key points in the history of the Imperium. Marc Miller's story line is every bit as innovative as his game and really made it difficult to put down. You were able to empathize with the lead character even though he had to make difficult choices that killed hundreds of millions (billions?) of people. I've not encountered a book written in such a style before and I really wish Miller would write another one. Highly recommended if you're at all interested in future speculative fiction at the epic level.
July 10, 2019
In general, I quite enjoyed this book. However, a lot of that could be because of being an old time Traveller player and referee. The book provides a great overview of different parts of the Imperium, from close to Milieu:0 all the way to the Shattered Imperium and beyond. Very nice look at different parts of the world of Traveller. The novel is effectively a collection of vignettes - intriguingly I recall that Traveller used to have a series of vignettes that were intended for the referee to use to kick start player games.
The novel itself has some problems; the biggest being that the ending is just not there. It effectively terminates in the middle of a story. The writing can feel a little cold and emotionless - and yet this is also one of the strong points; the main character is cold and emotionless (mostly) and that comes through in the writing. The story itself is not strong - there's no great narrative pull, but the central character does have some enigmatic aspects that I do want to see resolved.
For me, it also felt a little "old fashioned" in the writing style - which I enjoyed. Much more in the vein of an Asimov or Clarke rather than a Banks or Hamilton - with a slower pace (a nice break from a lot of the frenetic action packed sci-fi that's out there). For example, there's a section where the Agent arrives on a Zhodani outpost - this felt very much like a section from later Asimov (e.g. Foundation and Earth). I'm not sure if Miller was trying for that, but if so, he succeeded.
On balance, the novel was enjoyable - but the ending completely spoiled it for me I'm afraid.
If there is a follow up, I will read it though - I'm intrigued to find out what's going on.
The novel itself has some problems; the biggest being that the ending is just not there. It effectively terminates in the middle of a story. The writing can feel a little cold and emotionless - and yet this is also one of the strong points; the main character is cold and emotionless (mostly) and that comes through in the writing. The story itself is not strong - there's no great narrative pull, but the central character does have some enigmatic aspects that I do want to see resolved.
For me, it also felt a little "old fashioned" in the writing style - which I enjoyed. Much more in the vein of an Asimov or Clarke rather than a Banks or Hamilton - with a slower pace (a nice break from a lot of the frenetic action packed sci-fi that's out there). For example, there's a section where the Agent arrives on a Zhodani outpost - this felt very much like a section from later Asimov (e.g. Foundation and Earth). I'm not sure if Miller was trying for that, but if so, he succeeded.
On balance, the novel was enjoyable - but the ending completely spoiled it for me I'm afraid.
If there is a follow up, I will read it though - I'm intrigued to find out what's going on.
January 3, 2018
I greatly enjoyed reading this book. Granted, the fact that I love the Traveller RPG and have been a fan of Marc Miller's work with the game for decades colors my rating.
The story is believable and lays out some interesting situations and particular decisions that were made. The way the main character is shown, summoned due to the use of a specific "Decider" Wafer inserted into a wafer-jack makes for an interesting way to have a 250 page novel span centuries. The writing is decent, though I wouldn't describe it as high literary craft, it was easy to read and the two or three main characters (I'm thinking of Bland and Enna here) had distinct voices, the situations were interesting, and it kept me turning the page.
A couple of things that I wasn't thrilled about, that I feel weren't explained as well as I would have liked...
First: The dreamlands/stadium sequences were a bit jarring in tone because I couldn't figure out if they actually serve a purpose or not. Perhaps this will pay off in a sequel? These don't detract from the book, but I think they are trying to humanize the protagonist and I am not sure they succeeded - I'm still ruminating on this.
Second: The ending felt very abrupt - I felt like I was in the middle of an arc, not at the end. There was no warning that was the END in terms of the story. The narration never gives a clue as to the extent of Jonathan's story and where it will end - there is no set up that tells the reader when to expect an end. It also doesn't help that the softcover has roughly 25 pages after the "end" of the story, so I expected another 25 pages of story only to be hit with what amount to several appendices for those unfamiliar with the Traveller Universe.
Despite those two flaws, I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to a sequel if Marc chooses to write one.
The story is believable and lays out some interesting situations and particular decisions that were made. The way the main character is shown, summoned due to the use of a specific "Decider" Wafer inserted into a wafer-jack makes for an interesting way to have a 250 page novel span centuries. The writing is decent, though I wouldn't describe it as high literary craft, it was easy to read and the two or three main characters (I'm thinking of Bland and Enna here) had distinct voices, the situations were interesting, and it kept me turning the page.
A couple of things that I wasn't thrilled about, that I feel weren't explained as well as I would have liked...
First: The dreamlands/stadium sequences were a bit jarring in tone because I couldn't figure out if they actually serve a purpose or not. Perhaps this will pay off in a sequel? These don't detract from the book, but I think they are trying to humanize the protagonist and I am not sure they succeeded - I'm still ruminating on this.
Second: The ending felt very abrupt - I felt like I was in the middle of an arc, not at the end. There was no warning that was the END in terms of the story. The narration never gives a clue as to the extent of Jonathan's story and where it will end - there is no set up that tells the reader when to expect an end. It also doesn't help that the softcover has roughly 25 pages after the "end" of the story, so I expected another 25 pages of story only to be hit with what amount to several appendices for those unfamiliar with the Traveller Universe.
Despite those two flaws, I enjoyed the book and am looking forward to a sequel if Marc chooses to write one.
November 10, 2021
This revised and expanded edition still holds up. Although I can't really tell you exactly what was revised and expanded, there's a couple extra reports from Enna Plant Lagash, which was nice, and an additional paragraph at the end that adds a nice stylistic touch. Unfortunately, I preferred the graphic design and layout of the first edition. The Imperial Sunburst chapter headers have been replaced with generic sunbursts, and the generic spacesuited figure on the front cover is not an improvement over the iconic Tigress of the original.
I did notice one problem with both this and the original that I was less sensitive to the first time I read it. The idea that the Agent's personality chip only works in males seems completely unnecessary to the plot, and potentially problematic in a setting that is generally known for its gender equality.
Review of original edition:
Surprisingly good book by a first time novelist. An innovative premise lets us travel to a number of iconic places and events in the history of the Traveller Universe in a way that makes sense. Episodic at first, some plot threads develop to tie things together as the story goes on.
There are some major threads dangling at the end of the book, including what is arguably the main plot thread, so hopefully there will be a follow on volume at some point.
Highly recommended for any fan of the setting, and I think it could be an interesting read even for someone new to the Traveller Universe (extensive appendices should help with most questions that might come up, although they could be problematic to reference in e-book format).
I did notice one problem with both this and the original that I was less sensitive to the first time I read it. The idea that the Agent's personality chip only works in males seems completely unnecessary to the plot, and potentially problematic in a setting that is generally known for its gender equality.
Review of original edition:
Surprisingly good book by a first time novelist. An innovative premise lets us travel to a number of iconic places and events in the history of the Traveller Universe in a way that makes sense. Episodic at first, some plot threads develop to tie things together as the story goes on.
There are some major threads dangling at the end of the book, including what is arguably the main plot thread, so hopefully there will be a follow on volume at some point.
Highly recommended for any fan of the setting, and I think it could be an interesting read even for someone new to the Traveller Universe (extensive appendices should help with most questions that might come up, although they could be problematic to reference in e-book format).
November 7, 2019
I loved Traveller as a kid. The two GMs I had both made the game fun and when you messed up, you messed up. When Mark released Traveller 5 updated I immediately backed it on Kickstarter and received this book as part of my package.
First, I loved the book. It goes through the history of the empire and details an agent who is tased with the impossible, unless you are a Vulcan. The lives of the few for the lives of the many. How the agent is summoned, was in my mind, unique. So I found the story original and am happy I read it.
There are some flaws. The Third Imperium is several hundreds of years old and uses the same technology to summon the agent over the course of 400 years. Thats a long time to be using the same tech. The book mirror the traveller universe in terms of speed of space travel. Again 400 years is a long time to be constrained by Jump Drives. But that is the Traveller rules so you have to suspend that disbelief and understand your in the Traveller RPG universe.
The biggest flaw of the book, was the outside cover. "He has other ideas". This part your left hanging on whether Marc wants to write another book. Even the review comment on the back says "I can't wait for the next installment". There has to be as the book just ends with many plot stories unfulfilled. I got to the last page that started appendixes on the Traveller Universe and went HUH?
First, I loved the book. It goes through the history of the empire and details an agent who is tased with the impossible, unless you are a Vulcan. The lives of the few for the lives of the many. How the agent is summoned, was in my mind, unique. So I found the story original and am happy I read it.
There are some flaws. The Third Imperium is several hundreds of years old and uses the same technology to summon the agent over the course of 400 years. Thats a long time to be using the same tech. The book mirror the traveller universe in terms of speed of space travel. Again 400 years is a long time to be constrained by Jump Drives. But that is the Traveller rules so you have to suspend that disbelief and understand your in the Traveller RPG universe.
The biggest flaw of the book, was the outside cover. "He has other ideas". This part your left hanging on whether Marc wants to write another book. Even the review comment on the back says "I can't wait for the next installment". There has to be as the book just ends with many plot stories unfulfilled. I got to the last page that started appendixes on the Traveller Universe and went HUH?
July 1, 2021
Traveler novel does not disappoint
This novel was fun to read and hard to put down. The wafer stack personality allowed the author to present a series of short stories to quickly immerse you in action, and avoids the typical 1st third of the book being world building. As a traveler book, Mr. Miller had 40 years of background material to work in, and this story occupies an era that is generally not well covered in the traveler game. The development of protagonist Agent Bland from a minor bureaucrat to an impersonal agent, to a hero willing to serve the empire and not just the emperor is well thought out and deals with issues of cultural adjustments. The bureaucratic rules that give bland his power, Aldo work to frustrate his goal of finding the hidden knowledge. The book comes to a rousing conclusion, but leaves the door open to continue to solve puzzles in the background of the third imperium.
This novel was fun to read and hard to put down. The wafer stack personality allowed the author to present a series of short stories to quickly immerse you in action, and avoids the typical 1st third of the book being world building. As a traveler book, Mr. Miller had 40 years of background material to work in, and this story occupies an era that is generally not well covered in the traveler game. The development of protagonist Agent Bland from a minor bureaucrat to an impersonal agent, to a hero willing to serve the empire and not just the emperor is well thought out and deals with issues of cultural adjustments. The bureaucratic rules that give bland his power, Aldo work to frustrate his goal of finding the hidden knowledge. The book comes to a rousing conclusion, but leaves the door open to continue to solve puzzles in the background of the third imperium.
December 26, 2021
Great world building, but…
This was a great look into the Traveller universe, especially seen from the Empire’s side. World building was quiet good.
The biggest problem is that the novel just stops while leaving too many plot lines hanging. I guess it does resolve the main one, but even that feels a little hollow because… well the story just ends.
I hope there is a follow up someday because there are too many question left open. Also, even if the book was not based on a RPG as a work of speculative fiction it’s central premise is strong enough to stand on its own among the greats of science fiction. The problem is that is all it is, just an amazing premise.
There are signs that Johnathon is heading towards a personal crisis of self discovery, but as it stand we will not know the result. And it just feels like we missed a chance at something really insightful about the human condition.
This was a great look into the Traveller universe, especially seen from the Empire’s side. World building was quiet good.
The biggest problem is that the novel just stops while leaving too many plot lines hanging. I guess it does resolve the main one, but even that feels a little hollow because… well the story just ends.
I hope there is a follow up someday because there are too many question left open. Also, even if the book was not based on a RPG as a work of speculative fiction it’s central premise is strong enough to stand on its own among the greats of science fiction. The problem is that is all it is, just an amazing premise.
There are signs that Johnathon is heading towards a personal crisis of self discovery, but as it stand we will not know the result. And it just feels like we missed a chance at something really insightful about the human condition.
April 6, 2025
This book is amazing both as a piece of Traveller fiction and just a generally solid bit of scifi.
Jonathan goes through the centuries as an agent of Quarantine. He's stored on a data wafer and slotted into anyone with a wafer jack. Once slotted, he takes over and that person becomes Jonathan.
He then has about 31 days to solve whatever existential crisis is threatening Charted Space.
The story bouncing around a lot, obviously, but gives us an amazing view into life in the Traveller universe as well as some interesting context to some of the larger events of that universe.
Yes, the book has about a million loose threads, plot hooks and unfinished storylines that might frustrate some people but it's all part of the overall hook that Jonathan doesn't even know what happens once he puts his plans into place. Does it succeed? Or fail horribly? We only know what he knows.
Highly recommend this.
Jonathan goes through the centuries as an agent of Quarantine. He's stored on a data wafer and slotted into anyone with a wafer jack. Once slotted, he takes over and that person becomes Jonathan.
He then has about 31 days to solve whatever existential crisis is threatening Charted Space.
The story bouncing around a lot, obviously, but gives us an amazing view into life in the Traveller universe as well as some interesting context to some of the larger events of that universe.
Yes, the book has about a million loose threads, plot hooks and unfinished storylines that might frustrate some people but it's all part of the overall hook that Jonathan doesn't even know what happens once he puts his plans into place. Does it succeed? Or fail horribly? We only know what he knows.
Highly recommend this.
February 10, 2021
During the second Galactic empire, bureaucrat Jonathon Bland volunteered to be an Agent of the Imperium (trade from Baen). Using the same technology that allows transfer of skills, Jonathon’s wafer can take over the wearer’s body up to thirty days. He is the decider agent called up in an emergency. In the four centuries that Marc Miller’s fun tale covers, he wipes out an infected world, and helps plan an Imperial assassination. One of his ex-carriers suffered mental collapse, leaving Jonathon in control for twenty years. Apparently there is a game based on the tale, but that didn’t matter. This is a fascinating read and very enjoyable.
May 30, 2017
Much better than I expected - usually game universe fiction isn't my preference, but this was a much better story than I thought it would be. I am someone who is pre-disposed to like this, though, due to an interest in the "future history" setting - that said, I thought the characters and plot were interesting and well written.
I'm glad I read it - you're milage will likely depend on your interest in the setting (or generally in space empire settings - this is one of the better fleshed out ones in existence, due to being used for tabletop RPGing).
I'm glad I read it - you're milage will likely depend on your interest in the setting (or generally in space empire settings - this is one of the better fleshed out ones in existence, due to being used for tabletop RPGing).
August 15, 2023
I finished Marc Miller’s Agent of the Imperium. More a series of vignettes that spanned several hundred years, it was not the window into Traveller that I had hoped it would be. Still, it was very interesting and entertaining and did offer a macro look at the Third Imperium. I appreciated that it was not just another instance of military fiction that most Traveller fiction is. Recommend for fans of the Traveller setting.
November 4, 2024
I bought Traveller as a kid back in the late 70s but never played it. (We all played D&D back then.) I was surprised to find that Traveller still exists all these years later (2024 now) and that there's even a novel by one of the creators.
I'm not a great fan of reading transcripts of other peoples RPG sessions - there needs to be some extra hook. But this book has one - a good one too. The agent here isn't a person in the normal sense. More like a piece of software, derived from an initial human, that can be stored and duplicated and temporarily inserted into other host humans. The story is largely told from the agent's perspective, the agent being a decision maker for the difficult task of quarantining (and worse) entire worlds that pose a risk to the rest of the Imperium.
Strangely reminiscent of my day job - if copies of the agent do things parsecs apart it can take a long time before their memories can be synchronised. This all adds up to make for a highly disjointed read, both in space and time so it may require a second read to make sense of it all.
One interesting aspect is the interaction with the lives of the agent's temporary hosts. In many cases a permanent mark is left on their lives, and in at least one case the story of that effect is moving.
And, of course, we're told the UPP for every planet visited. But don't worry, UPPs are explained.
I'm not a great fan of reading transcripts of other peoples RPG sessions - there needs to be some extra hook. But this book has one - a good one too. The agent here isn't a person in the normal sense. More like a piece of software, derived from an initial human, that can be stored and duplicated and temporarily inserted into other host humans. The story is largely told from the agent's perspective, the agent being a decision maker for the difficult task of quarantining (and worse) entire worlds that pose a risk to the rest of the Imperium.
Strangely reminiscent of my day job - if copies of the agent do things parsecs apart it can take a long time before their memories can be synchronised. This all adds up to make for a highly disjointed read, both in space and time so it may require a second read to make sense of it all.
One interesting aspect is the interaction with the lives of the agent's temporary hosts. In many cases a permanent mark is left on their lives, and in at least one case the story of that effect is moving.
And, of course, we're told the UPP for every planet visited. But don't worry, UPPs are explained.
January 2, 2025
As someone unfamiliar with the TTRPG it was based on, the book was a fantastic sci fi... until the very weak, very sudden ending. It seemed like after a huge buildup, it's vaguely implied that the plan didn't work, the planet was scrubbed anyways (with no details), and the book ends on that. The suddenness is partly because the last few dozen pages are reference material, none of which seemed to clarify anything. But maybe I'm missing something. Like a sequel. (I'm still hooked damn it!)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2024
If I was familar with the traveler universe, this story would have made more sense. As it was it was not that bad of a book. It's about a talented person called an agent who, in time of crisis get called upon to solve problems with disease outbreaks or political crisis. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger, which wasn't that great.
August 14, 2017
Second time reading this in about a year. It's a good book that makes novel use of some interesting concepts.
I hope Mr. Miller writes more fiction. I would love to see more of the Agent or other, new personalities in the universe he has created.
I hope Mr. Miller writes more fiction. I would love to see more of the Agent or other, new personalities in the universe he has created.
January 2, 2018
Understanding the Imperium
For any gamer/player of Traveller, this is a vital read. This provides the reader with a good "feel" of the inner workings of the Third Imperium and how one can be interacting with its citizens. Well done.
For any gamer/player of Traveller, this is a vital read. This provides the reader with a good "feel" of the inner workings of the Third Imperium and how one can be interacting with its citizens. Well done.
May 6, 2018
Tour of the Imperium
Marc takes you on a tour of the Imperium in both time and regions of space. All viewed through the eyes of an emissary of the iridium throne. The culture, intrigue and life spans street thugs to the empires nobles. All woven together with a complex story
Marc takes you on a tour of the Imperium in both time and regions of space. All viewed through the eyes of an emissary of the iridium throne. The culture, intrigue and life spans street thugs to the empires nobles. All woven together with a complex story
October 26, 2021
Definitely a must read for fans of the tabletop RPG Traveller. Not sure I'd recommend it for non-Traveller fans. Incredibly dense story, where almost every chapter has enough to digest for an entire stand-alone short story. It does end somewhat abruptly (maybe with a sequel in mind?).
November 20, 2021
Marc has built a compelling, complex and exciting world in the Traveller RPG. This is an entertaining glimpse into part of that rich world.
Great sci-fi of the ‘old school’ variety.
I want more of these stories!
Great sci-fi of the ‘old school’ variety.
I want more of these stories!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 48 reviews