Empires

With his latest novel, Nick Earls again proves his talent for compelling and convincing storytelling. A novel in five parts, Empires tracks backwards through history from 2018 to 1809 before returning to the present. It explores the tenuous but tenacious connections between the lives that people live and the objects they acquire throughout those lives. One of the pleasures of Empires is the subtle treasure hunt that Earls sets before his audience, seeding each section with certain recurring objects, elaborating on these objects’ own histories. The astute reader might identify all of these objects on first reading, but there is also pleasure for those who reread this book to trace these objects’ paths through the lives of Empire’s protagonists.

Adam Ford, Bookseller + Publisher

I hadn’t been convinced by all the talk of connection and coincidence, and I couldn’t help comparing Empires with Anthony Powell and the synchronicities of happenstance that flow through his work. But I had been standing too far back, because in their modest, almost school-boyish way, it turns out that Simon and Mike do indeed dance to the music of time.

Peter Kenneally, The Sydney Morning Herald

The pace of the novel may seem frenetic. Actually it is quite domestic and it is beautifully written. Surprisingly, readers will care for the characters, perhaps none more so than the delightfully drawn, generous and engaging London theatrical impresario, George. Nick Earls is particularly good at giving readers precise settings for his characters to operate in. No more so than his depiction of Vienna in the crisis of war and invasion. Readers may feel they are actually in the scene. Yet there is a point in the book when some may be inclined to sigh, yes it is thoroughly interesting and engaging, but what is the point? Keep reading, for the last pages reveal all that we need to know. I did not see coming what I would soon know. Other readers may bring greater insight to their reading. But readers will always know in this book there is something there to be explained. Empires certainly repays the effort.

Michael McKernan, Illawarra Mercury

Earls pulls off its interconnected storylines with a deft hand.

Frances Whiting, Q Weekend

The novel explores the themes of the passage of time, the past reaching forward into the future, and the relative impermanence and transience of human lives when compared with historical objects or indeed the story of history itself. The themes of families, connection, grief and loss, ambition and fervour are also examined. As the title suggests, empires are at the heart of this book – the smaller empires of families, the larger empires of countries and the all-encompassing empires of eras and epochs. By writing these five small samples of completely different lives and times, Earls has managed to create a much bigger picture of the interconnectedness of all things in the world. The reader is left with the impression that although there is nothing ever truly new in this life, it is nevertheless endlessly full of surprising coincidences.

Cass Moriarty