The Collapsing Empire

This book was so, so very good.

My only complaint is the pacing- this is a short book. The author took nearly 100 pages to introduce the characters which was a bit boring. Fortunately, the characters themselves were interesting. Unfortunately, this took up nearly 1/3 of the entire book. I felt like this could have been a bit faster than it was.

Overall, this book is wonderful. The premise is extremely intriguing and I definitely intend the read the subsequent novels. In my opinion, this book really just established and set up the conflict that is to come in the next novels, so I think that they will be much more fast-paced and enjoyable. I was a little nervous going into this that it would be heavy on space physics, on which I know little about. This was not the case. This novel was easy to comprehend for a 17 year old high school student such as myself, which made me extremely happy.

I also adored the characters. They were all extremely unique and the author did a brilliant job of giving them each their own voice. If the names of the characters were removed from their chapters, I believe that I still would have easily known which chapter belonged to each character- that's how diverse their voices were.

The setting seems very fascinating and I believe it will only get even more fascinating as the books go on. I do wish there was a bit more character descriptions, as I felt like I had no idea what the characters looked like. They were merely described as attractive, moderately appealing, and ugly. It was a little bizarre.

The last 2/3 of this book make it very compelling. They make me extremely interested to read the next book in this trilogy (series?). I would definitely recommend this book to sci-if fans, and even people who are just looking to get into the genre- it's not super heavy on science stuff and doesn't give off the alien vibe that may deter some from the genre.

I like Scalzi's style and characters in general, and this book was no exception. My issues were with the villains, specifically that they seemed both incompetent and yet managed to get their way almost despite themselves. Does Deus Ex Machina apply to villains? It appeared to in this story, and it pulled me out of the plot.

I'm still on board for the next book, tho. Hopefully the villains' actions make a little more sense.

Quite good. I don't even mind the swearing, but the liberal application of sex kind of bothers me, although I am not averse to reading it when it furthers the plot. The world-building is great, and there are lots of unique elements to this story which make it fresh. Scalzi's writing style is engaging and does not bear around the bush, making this a fast-paced story that does not assume the reader is an idiot.

This was an excellent book. Amazing from the first page to the last, great characters, amazing story and even Scalzis writing, which I am normally not a big fan of, works absolute perfect here.

Bon premier tome, avec des personnages que j'aime bien. Ça me fait sourire que des trois principaux (deux femmes, un homme), le plus soumis et passif est l'homme. Mais c'est Scalzi, il aime bien la diversité et mélanger les caractéristiques dites féminines et masculines. Du moins, de ce que j'ai lu de lui jusqu'à maintenant et de ce que j'ai lu sur lui aussi.

Tiene un inicio bastante entretenido, pero luego se vuelve aburrido, con diálogos acartonados y una trama poco interesante. Pero lo peor de todo es la ridícula decisión de Scalzi de usar un sistema de títulos y nombres medievales para una sociedad futurista.

I haven't read Scalzi in sometime, and it was good to come back to his style. He's one of my favorite witty dialogue writers, and this was no exception. The concept was exciting, the characters were interesting (even if I hope that far future societies don't go back to a religiously-based, hereditary monarchy... please tell me that's not our timeline), and the pacing is as quick and easy to read through.

I very nearly took away a star for using “squicked” in a non-ironic sense, though. Only previous enjoyment of Scalzi and his works stopped me. No way that word survives a thousand years. Right? We have too many dark timelines.

Like Asimov's Foundation, the premise of the novel (or rather, series of novels) is that a vast, galaxy-spanning empire is on the verge of collapse. In this case, the collapse is largely due to the imminent disappearance of an astrophysical phenomenon which allows travel between star systems. Since settlements in individual systems are overly dependent on each other to survive, the fate of humanity is not looking great. This interdependence is codified as a moral and religious virtue in the empire, which, by the way, is literally called “The Interdependency.” In this sense, the real danger to humanity seems to stem from imperial arrogance and mismanagement a la Gibbon's “The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire,” so the genetic link to Foundation seems real.

Unlike Foundation, however, the characters can say “fuck” as often as they want. So there's that.

While “collapsing galactic empire” is a well-trodden sci-fi trope at this point, Scalzi's telling of the story feels fresh and fun to read. The characters bounce off each other in satisfying ways, and the plot is in the regular habit of thickening as various personal agendas and political machinations unfold. If you like space operas, John Scalzi, and a good old fashioned galactic imperial implosion, this is definitely one to pick up.

The plot is pretty weak and the world building is quite limited, much much inferior to old's man war. There's some humor here and there to lighten up the scene, but in the end is a very forgettable book.

Solid opening

Fun start to a space opera.

This was a lot of fun, in a bubblegum movie kind of way. I look forward to the next book.

Verdju.

Ik heb mij weer laten vangen, en mijn te-lezen-lijst-zonder-context heeft mij weer bij mijn pietje.

Ik zet er een titel op, die titel staat dan op mijn Kindle, en naar gelang ik andere boeken tegenkom, verschuift een titel naar boven of naar beneden. En zo kwam ik gisterenavond uit op The Collapsing Empire, waar ik absoluut niet meer van wist wat het precies was.

Het blijkt een boek van John Scalzi te zijn, waar ik onlangs – nee, scratch that – waar ik vijf jaar geleden Redshirts van las dat ik toen niet helemaal mis vond. Sympathieke kerel met veel respect voor andere sciencefiction, zo staat hij in mijn hoofd.

Blijkt het klassieke space opera te zijn. Niets verrassends, wel zeer onderhoudend. Fate of the universe stuff en personages die zó goed zijn in wat ze doen dat het griezelig wordt, en een beetje bijeengeraapte concepten van allerlei andere universa.

Niet dat ik daar iets tegen heb, het leest vlot en aangenaam. Maar wél lastig dat dit nog maar boek één is en dat boek twee nog meer dan een jaar op zich zal laten wachten. Grr.

Verhaal in het kort: we zijn tweeduizend of zo jaar later, mensen zijn verspreid over het universum, er is een complexe balans tussen de keizer, de verschillende grote huizen die elk hun monopolies hebben (van wapens over wijn tot citrusvruchten), het parlement en de Kerk. Er is maar één bewoonde planeet in The Interdependency, al de rest zijn habitats en ondergrondse basissen en (soms enorme) ruimtestations.

Er is geen sneller-dan-licht-reizen, maar de werelden zijn verbonden via een soort supersnelweg, de Flow. De Aarde zelf is niet verbonden met de Interdependency, de Flow die tot daar ging is er duizend of meer jaar geleden weggetrokken. De ene planeet die er wel is, is The End, een verloren gat negen maand via Flow verwijderd van de hoofdstad.

Op The End is er een rebellie, de oude keizer in de hoofdstad sterft en wordt onverwacht vervangen door zijn dochter, en een oude vriend van de keizer op The End heeft net bevestiging gekregen dat het Flow-netwerk helemaal aan het verdwijnen is.

Shenanigans, intriges, actie, humor en romantie. Leutig.

What if a catastrophe threatened all humanity, but a truly good, smart, decent leader happened to come to power and listened to the most knowledgeable scientists to try to deal with it? Sounds almost cozy, doesn't it?

Don't worry, there are plenty of logistical challenges, as well as scheming power brokers who have to officially kowtow to the Emperox, but who hold enough power to require careful diplomacy. Intrigue and backstabbing and mysteries abound.

I'd call this 3.5 stars, rounded up. I really liked the opening vignette, the characters are great, and the mysteries and challenges are diverting enough. But honestly, I'm mostly going to read the next one to watch Kiva Lagos fuck with people who try to put one over on her.

That really highlights the one drawback to the story - the heroes are nice and good - and kind of bland. Kiva is indisputably amoral and reprehensible, and so, so fun to read about. I want to see more of her, more space mutineers and pirates, more of Marce's so-much-more-capable sister, and a little less navel-gazing and unsureness from Cardenia.

You can always count on John Scalzi to write a fantastic science fiction story. Interesting and fully-fleshed out characters, unique story, great world building, fun plot. And if you like audiobooks, this one is narrated by Wil Wheaton, so yay!

Overall: A good setup but very predictable with a couple of really annoying characters.

Pros:
• The setting is very interesting with some unusual twists.
• The author can write action very well.
• There are some funny one liners.
• Two of the main characters are interesting and sympathetic.

Cons:
• Two main characters are just really annoying. One is essentially a cartoon villain, the other is “Bossy and swears a lot”. The latter is, I guess, supposed to be funny, but I just found it boring after the first few pages in which every adverb and adjective was the four letter F word.
• Every single “surprise” was discussed in detail just before it happened. So these two characters are going to talk about “X”? What's the betting “X” is going to be the surprise twist in the next chapter? I knew the entire plot arc after the first few chapters, I kept reading because I was sure it was all a read herring and there was going to be a twist. I was wrong.

Did I like it well yes... two of the characters (Cardenia and Marce) who are so blatantly intended to fall for each other (predictable!) were enjoyable to read - so I guess this book just about gets three stars.

I kind of want to see that plot play out so I will read book 2, even though I really don't want to put up with the “I'll tie you to the train tracks” Nohamapetans or Ms “F-ing F- F- F-“ Lagos.

I rather enjoyed this one. Makes me want to go right into the next one. Love the intrigue and science fiction concepts it covers.

Scalzi does dialogue excellently! I'm not sure I'll grab the next, this one was good but I didn't finish it super in love with any of the characters, so we'll see.

If you love hard to pronounce names and the word, ‘fuck', you'll love this book.

“La insólita estabilidad de las corrientes del Flujo que ha permitido el desarrollo de la Interdependencia está llegando a su fin. Una a una, las corrientes irán desapareciendo. Y uno a uno, los sistemas de la Interdependencia se encontrarán solos y aislados del universo. Y así permanecerán una larga temporada. Quizá para siempre.”

El primer libro de la nueva saga de Scalzi. Intriga política que a muchos les sonará a una mezcla entre “Dune” y “Canción de hielo y fuego”. Con esto quiero decir que Scalzi no ha creado nada nuevo pero que con su prosa directa, amena y divertida, te hace pasar un buen rato y te deja con ganas de poner en tus manos el siguiente libro.

This is my second time reading this book, in anticipation of reading the final book of the trilogy.

I've read countless times that John Scalzi's Sci Fi writing is accessible sci fi. It is very true of this story as well and is among the first new space opera stories I've enjoyed over multiple books in quite some time. The characters of these stories have stuck with me since the first time reading it and already feel like I'll end up missing stories from this series once I'm done.

This is literally half a book so 4 stars on that basis is pretty good. But John Scalzi & your publisher; fuck you for releasing half a book. Breaking a 672 page book in the exact middle & selling them as 2 separate books should be some sort of publishing crime.

Sorry to say i didnt like this at all. Way to much dialog to move the story forward. That is not my favourite way.

I absolutely loved this book, once you're up to speed with the world building it shoots off like a rocket and keeps the pace up for the whole book. The characters are especially well written, showing charm and wit and sometimes one hell of a potty mouth lol, meaning that you're invested in their arc from the start. I cannot wait for the next one to be out.

Excellent character driven space opera. Oh and snarky as f**k.

This was a fun read; not particularly deep, but enjoyable. The bad guys are wonderfully villainous, and the good guys are steadfast and resourceful. Multiple times throughout the book characters did not act/react as I expected while still staying firmly in character (good storytelling). Of the minor characters, I was particularly taken by the very profane and totally focused Kiva Lagos.
This being Scalzi, there is plenty of snarkiness. I think he had way too much fun writing this story.
Slight drawbacks: The economic system Scalzi posits seems very unstable to me. I cannot imagine it lasting a millennium. Also, the story obviously isn't finished (though it does end on a good breakpoint).
I listened to the audio version. Wil Wheaton's narration was very good.
Pretty good space opera.