I just finished reading Empire by Orson Scott Card, a novel about a possible future for America.  Most a thriller type of novel, though a bit scifi as well.  It was....different.  Very well written (as I expected).  Very fast-paced, though the characters could have used a *bit* more depth here and there.  It actually felt a lot like a movie novelization.  Which makes sense because in the afterward, the author notes that it's based on a notes for a video game.

It takes a lot to surprise me in either books or movies or tv most days since I typically figure out the "big reveals" way before they're shown/told.  I surmise that it's too much reading (as if there could be such a thing!) and too much tendency to expect such things after years of television series writing from Joss Whedon (Buffy, Angel, Firefly/Serenity), JMS (Babylon 5), and probably the Farscape writers as well.  (Not so much the Stargate writers, alas, since they pretty much never surprise me.  Or if they try, SciFi promos ruin it.  Such as the promo for SGA: "The Kindred", part 1.  ~rolls eyes~)  Of course at the same time, being used to that caliber of writing makes me compare everything I watch to be at that level.  Sadly, most times I'm greatly disappointed.

In any case..."big reveals" and being surprised.... 

It could be because I'm not into politics nor do I understand them, but I really can't see the plot of this novel happening in America like the author can.  Perhaps I'm just naive.  Or hopeful.