Yesterday, Tor Books along with Chair Entertainment Group announced that they would be publishing Hidden Empire. Hidden Empire is the continuation of Orson Scott Card’s bestselling Empire literary series, and is slated to be released this December.

The original novel, Empire, was released in 2006 and was well received, even inspiring the video game Shadow Complex. The plot of Shadow Complex runs parallel to that of Empire and sets up the events that will take place in Hidden Empire.

“Empire introduced a thrilling new world of political action and became Orson Scott Card’s best-selling, non-Ender’s Game novel,” said Tom Doherty, president and publisher of Tor Books. “The Empire universe will continue to expand through more books and Chair’s ground-breaking video game, further fueling excitement for the series.”

Hidden Empire will pick up three years after a second civil war in America as the president tries to bring the country together again. The power struggle turns global when a cataclysmic plague threatens to decimate the population of the planet and America has to step in to help contain the situation. This leads to speculation whether or not this plague is a coincidence or part of a larger agenda to seize power.

Keep your eyes on Gaming Angels and Tor’s website for more updates and release dates!