A few years ago, I took a bus across town to attend a party at ex-IGN editor David Clayman's apartment. I brought along a paperback copy of Empire that I had recently bought, the Orson Scott Card novel that inspired the excellent Xbox Live-exclusive title Shadow Complex. As a fan of both alternate and future history settings, Empire was a fun read for me, but it was missing that special something, that certain je ne sais quoi. Truth be told, I was growing bored with it...