Raymond Khoury's Empire of Lies is a gripping alternate-history thriller. The novel cleverly weaves together two timelines from 1683 to 2017. The book explores power, control, and the importance of remembering the past. The concept of an Ottoman victory at the Siege of Vienna is a fresh take on alternate history, and the story seamlessly blends elements of thriller, historical fiction, and science fiction.
Kamal is a relatable protagonist caught in dangerous situations. He is believable and reliable for such an action-packed whirlwind. Given the vast timeline shifts, some details about the alternate history could be fleshed out further, and multiverse logistics are also thin. Nevertheless, I appreciated that the author was willing to show all sides of his characters and did not revert to multiple coincidences to bring this world-building story to fruition. The ending is predictable but is plenty satisfying.

There is nothing I love more than a high stakes thriller, and Empire of Lies delivered! The connection between history and present day, the mystery, the race against time, all wrapped up in great characters that you are rooting to succeed!

This was a strange, but interesting, book. It is about a person who figures out how to time travel so that he can change history and then does it. But, Kamal, an investigator in the sultan’s police of Paris (see-history was changed!) is beginning to suspect something is not as it seems. He starts to watch and investigate and eventually takes some action.

Lots of wild adventures and some reasonably good history. The accounts led me to look up some of the things that had been altered just to see what really happened. That was interesting.

This probably isn’t for everyone, but it definitely kept my interest.

Starting with a side note, I’m noticing a trend in historical fiction/sci-fi towards obliquely pointing a finger at our current political scene. This book combines time travel with the morality involved with freedom versus dictatorship. I very much enjoyed this book but felt that in the last couple of chapters, things could’ve been wrapped up more quickly with less lecturing.

My thanks to Netgalley for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Oh my. This is not my usual genre of book, but the description was so compelling that I decided to give it a try. I am glad I did, although I found it a hard book to get into in the beginning. In this “what if” scenario, a time traveler has gone back to 1683 and changed the outcome of the Battle of Vienna, the turning point of the Ottoman Wars against the Holy Roman Empire. The main story line takes place in 2017 Paris, which has been under Ottoman rule for 300 years. Turkish influence has changed the look of beautiful Paris; the present sultan is a tyrant who has repressed the citizens and instituted a police state throughout Europe.
In present day Paris, a couple has contact with the time traveler and learned the secret to his abilities. Their lives are so endangered that they feel they must try to rectify the damages done in the 17th century. This compelling book examines the very essence of our society today, with Christians and Muslims both proclaiming that their beliefs are the only way.
This book examines the historical background of our world’s religious problems in a compelling way. I was amazed by the author’s abilities and knowledge.

I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased opinion.

When a man discovers the ability to time travel, he goes back to 1683 and helps the Ottoman Empire take over Europe. In 2017 Paris, the Ottoman Empire has been in power for hundreds of years. Kamal Arslan Agha is an officer in the sultan's secret police, working to catch terrorists and those who want to destroy the empire. Kamal's brother is an anesthesiologist at one of Paris's hospitals. When one of his patients arrives covered in tattoos, he is reluctant to go to the police about the man because he thinks they are taking things too far. When the man claims to be the governor of France from 300 years ago, he starts looking into the man's tattoos, and his wife, Nisreen, gets involved too. Kamal and Nisreen end up in a race across time after learning the secret of time travelling, too.

This was a very fascinating book with a look at what could have been if the Ottoman's hadn't been defeated. The author obviously did a lot of historical research prior to writing this book. It was an enjoyable read. My only complaint comes near the end of the book: <spoiler>I don't feel that Kamal and Nisreen going back in time and stopping the original time traveller's plan would have taken us back completely to the original timeline. Their going back in time would have had some impact on what happened in the future.</spoiler>

What attracted me to this book was the description “ if you like. An in the high castle you will like this” and that is 100% spot on. This is the story of what the world would look like if the Ottoman Empire wasn’t pushed back in 1683. And if you like time travel books - you will like this one too as it has that element as well.

Fans of time travel and alternate history books will know, sometimes the ending can ruin the entire story. Again, not true with this book. The ending isn’t rushed or sugar coated or an unbelievable tieing up of all loose ends.

Great book. I definitely recommend it to others.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this. I will be posting a full review to Goodreads, Amazon, and Instagram.

Raymond Khoury manages to make time travel believable in Empire of Lies. I so appreciated the way he interwove history and story with action and enwrapped the story with the magic of time travel. The pacing is fast and the story very entertaining.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

This was a thought provoking tale. It may have been more interesting if I knew more about Middle Eastern history but assuming that the author was accurate and knowing that this is a work of fiction it was interesting to think about what could have happened if the world was the way the author portrayed it in this book.

"Empire of Lies" imagines an alternate history where, with the help of a time-traveler, Ayman Rasheed, the Ottoman siege of Vienna in 1683 succeeds and the Ottoman Empire ends up taking over the European continent. This world never experienced the World Wars, the Holocaust, ISIS, and numerous other horrors. However, it was no panacea. While there had been good and benevolent Sultans, there had also been repressive and tyrannical Sultans, as was the case in 2017. The empire was facing unrest, including terrorism, and it was becoming more of a police state, harshly repressing anyone deemed a threat. Into this world, specifically Paris 2017, came Ayman Rasheed, seriously ill and needing medical treatment he could not receive back in the late 17th century, where he was immensely powerful and influential, the Sultan's philosopher-royal. However, Ramazan, the anesthesiologist who assists with his surgery, curious about this strange man and the strange tattoos covering his body, manages to get Rasheed, still under the influence of the anesthesia, to tell his story in bits and pieces without realizing what he is doing. Nisreen, Ramazan's wife and a crusading lawyer fighting against the repressive society of the day, discovers Ramazan's secret and pressures him to arrange for her to see and hear Rasheed, where they learn the incantation that allows for time traveling. However, the Commander of the Hafiye, the police/security force, gets wind of what Nisreen and Ramazan are up to and realizes the threat their knowledge poses.to the empire. Things quickly go south for Ramazan, Nisreen, and their family, as well as Kamal Agha, Ramazan's brother and an officer in the Hafiye. The secret of time traveling becomes critical as individuals go back in time to try to rewrite history again.

While there were times I was unsure of the book, not liking some of the choices the author made, ultimately those choices ended up working out well for the storyline and I found the book quite good overall. The author has created an interesting alternative world and has created an interest cast of characters. He also delves into the dirty underbelly of various types of government, including democracies, exploring the various ways that governments and the governed fail each other. "Democracy is an aberration in history....It doesn't work. Democracies always commit suicide...You know why? They die when they become too democratic. Because if you let ordinary people choose their rulers, they're ultimately going to choose badly. They'll make a terrible, terrible choice for the simple reason that they'll choose someone like them, someone who's a reflection of who they really are. And, let's face it, we're not exactly the most noble of species. We're actually pretty awful. We're selfish, greedy, cruel, and racist. Did I forget something? Oh, yes, ignorant...."

However, he also addresses the power of living in a free society, even if that society is flawed. "I'm not saying it's going to be easy. You'll have to work hard. And some of it will be a struggle. But it's there if you want it. And at all times, you'll have one thing you didn't have back home. Respect. Your dignity and your rights as a human being will be respected. And believe me, once you taste that, you won't be able to believe you ever lived without it."

I received a copy of the e-book via NetGalley in exchange for a review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for sending me an ARC of Empire of Lies in exchange for an honest review. I did not know what to expect from this book, as I had not read anything previously by Raymond Khoury. The premise is a classic alternative history “what if,” though about a time and a war I knew little about: the Ottoman Empire’s attempt to conquer Vienna in the late 17th century. An ISIS fighter finds a way to time travel back, and with his knowledge of the battle, helps turn the tide and then helps the Ottoman Empire conquer the rest of Europe.

The majority of the story takes place in 2017, but in an alternative Islamist Paris that works both as a critique of current Middle Eastern theocracies and the dangers of the slide towards fascism in many Western countries today. It is an impressive balancing act, even if a bit too on the nose at times: “They elected a con man instead, an ignorant crook who craved adoration and did and said whatever it took to win. That tore them apart even more.... People love tyrants. They were voting them in back where I came from.”

The characterization is probably the weakest part of the book. Most are pretty simple, though a fair attempt is made to provide some humanity to the time-traveling villain. But the plot and the world-building are the stars of this story, and it’s clear that a great deal of thought went into both. Any book with time travel requires some suspension of disbelief, but the time travel in this story is more than just the excuse for the alternate history. It provides numerous plot twists throughout the back half of the book.

Empire of Lies is a thoroughly entertaining, thought-provoking story. It’s a solid 4.5 stars, rounded up to 5. Highly recommended.

Empire of Lies is the latest novel from the mind of Raymond Khoury, and it is a time-traveling mystery of epic proportions. It’s one of those novels that is utterly thought-provoking, while leaving you uncertain of what is to happen next.
Raymond Khoury has written a novel here that requires the reader to suspend their disbelief and dive right into the debate and wonder he’s presented to us. This is an alternative version of Europe and its history, thanks to the meddling of one determined time traveler.

“Rasheed’s first trip to this new world had been the most dangerous. He’d been curious to see the result of his work, but he’d be traveling light.”

Wow. Empire of Lies is one of those books that will just make you sit back and think. And then think some more. I’ve never read anything quite like this – and I mean that in all of the best ways possible.
What would happen to the politics of a country – or the world – if time travel became a thing? What if one agent found the way to head back in time and change their country’s future for the better? How would the people stuck in one timeline fight back?
Those questions, and more, are raised during the course of Empire of Lies. It’s an intricately written novel, full of time jumps, plotting, reactions, and dramatic scenes. And all of it is designed to make the reader think and wonder.
I’m both fascinated and put off by the way Raymond Khoury established and wrote this novel. It was compelling – but it was also designed to throw us off balance, and that can be more than a little bit jarring at time. I have to respect what was done here though. I’ve never imagined anything quite like this before. It’s fascinating.
I’ll be honest and tell you that this is the first novel I’ve ever read by Raymond Khoury. Perhaps that is the reason I’m so blown away by Empire of Lies; I simply didn’t know what to expect. I am more than a little bit curious about the rest of his works. I’m going to have to make a point of checking out his backlog sooner rather than later.

I actually really enjoyed this story, perhaps because it is very different from anything else I have read anytime in recent memory. In the same vein as stories like Man the High Castle, author Raymond Khoury gives us the thought provoking question, what if history were changed? What would the future be like? In this story, medieval Europe is conquered by the Ottoman Turks, and present day France is now part of an enormous Turkish empire. Islam has become the dominant religion, and the inhabitants now adhere the the strict rules of Shar’ia. No one is the wiser to history being written another way. When a mysterious man covered in strange tattoos shows up needing heart surgery at the main hospital, red flags start cropping up. While in a drug induced haze, the mysterious man spins an improbable tale of being a time traveler, who claims to have rewritten the past. Events quickly spin out of control when Nisreen, a human rights lawyer, and her brother in law Kamal Agha learn of the secret through Nisreen’s husband, who is serving as chief anesthesiologist to the mystery, tattooed man. Living under an oppressive regime, where government sponsored public executions are commonplace, Nisreen wonders if the alternative, unaltered future is better for everyone than the one they are living in. Armored with the secret incantation, Kamal and Nisreen embark on an epic journey into the past to rewrite the future. Filled with epic adventure, hope and tragedy, there is perhaps no journey more epic than changing the past to rewrite the future we know. A unique story that should have widespread appeal. Look forward to hearing more from this author in the future. Thank you Netgalley for the advanced copy.

This book was so incredibly thought provoking. What if you could travel back in time and change history? What if the second Ottoman siege of Vienna was won by the Ottomans? Imagine a world where the Ottoman empire is alive and thriving and they control all of Europe. Would this be better than the current state of the world? It probably depends on your perspective. I definitely recommend this book. In fact, I have already recommended it to at least one of my friends.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for a fair review.

I must confess I did not know that much about the Ottoman Empire when I started reading this book. After I read up on it I sat down to read this fast paced book. After I finished this book I had to wonder what if? This is a fast paced book that will keep you thinking long after reading it.

I love reading stories set in an alternate history. Life as we know it does not exist. The struggles of daily life are for freedoms and rights that we take for granted now. Raymond Khoury has built a world from scratch, from victory of the Ottoman Empire to the Ottoman's rule of the current world. Each twist of current events is so perfect, you can feel how life could be. The cast of characters is so well developed, it's as if you are seeing them on the nightly news. A perfect change from what I usually read, Empire of Lies will haunt me for awhile.

I've read a lot of science fiction even though it's not my favorite genre. This novel included enough twists and turns as the plot moves forward to make it easy to accept time travel. Granted, you need to forget about basic physics, but it is interesting. Mr. Khoury is a gifted storyteller and an excellent writer. For SciFi fans, it's a must-read. For those who like historical fiction with some fantasy thrown in, your time devoted to this novel will not be wasted.

Empire of Lies by Raymond Khoury is not one of my usual favorite fiction genres but it captivated from the first sentence. This is a thriller dealing with alternate history and time-travel. In 1683, the Ottoman Empire is fighting for the capture of Vienna and, in time, the rest of Europe. The novel also begins in Paris 2017 where the Empire has been ruling for three-hundred years. Kamal works for the special police force and his function is to uncover dissidents and traitors. His sister-in-law, Nisreen, a civil rights lawyer, works for the families of people taken prisoner for unproven crimes. Together, the two will attempt to make a difference in their society. This is a must-read book if you like fast-paced thrillers.. It spans four hundred years of history. It will astound you and invite you to ask “what if”. Thank you to Macmillan-Tor/Forge Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Khoury has written a vast, detailed and very imaginative history of the world based on the expansion of the Ottoman Empire across all of Europe. It is complex and well-thought out. The characters are believable and behave in ways that further the story. It took me a while to get completely involved but I was glad by the end to have stuck with it. Thanks to #netgalley for the chance to read #empireoflies ahead of publication.