1. Study Maximus's effort to make himself emperor of the Roman Empire. How are his real-life efforts paralleled in The Game of Empire?

2. Compare Dominic Flandry's characterization in The Game of Empire to his characterization in other of Anderson's novels. Is his characterization in The Game of Empire consistent with the earlier ones? Is anything new about him revealed in The Game of Empire?

3. In The Game of Empire, Christianity seems to be thriving. What would be the effect on the world's religions (focus on one or discuss several) of the discovery of sentient extraterrestrial life?

4. Science fiction was for a long time stereotyped as literature for boys but not girls. Have female protagonists like Diana changed this image? Did writers of science fiction ever agree with the stereotype? What has Anderson done to defy or reinforce the stereotype?

5. Diana and...