Read the first chapters of Orson Scott Card's Empire

Over at his website, Hatrack River, Orson Scott Card has posted the first five chapters of his new novel, Empire.

Hatrack states that Empire is about an possible future where:

The American Empire has grown too fast, and the fault lines at home are stressed to the breaking point. The war of words between Right and Left has collapsed into a shooting war, though most people just want to be left alone.

The battle rages between the high-technology weapons on one side and militia foot soldiers on the other, devastating the cities and overrunning the countryside. But the vast majority, who only want the killing to stop and the nation to return to more peaceful days, have technology, weapons, and strategic geniuses of their own.

We haven't had a chance to read the section yet, but we'll post a small review as soon as we get a chance.