Empire largely follows Marlowe’s inconsequential meandering through several locales, engaging in activities unrelated to his infamous and allegedly interesting deeds with nominal characters largely defined by their orbit around him. The Cielcin practically crash near his locale and the plot roughly 4/5ths of the way through the book. Marlowe, the only human able to speak their language in the entire solar system, convinces them to surrender and translates the confessions tortured out of them by the Inquisition. He sets off to investigate the extracted information in the hope it will lead to peace between their peoples; the story’s foregone conclusion robs readers of the hypothetical drama and suspense surrounding his chances of success.