The Collapsing Empire

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.

This book is such a wild ride, and felt like it could have been much longer and I wouldn't have minded. It was also my first introduction to space opera (having only just discovered that this is a genre), and it was excellent. I loved the strong women in this book, the nuance and strategy that develops, and the world of the Interdependency.

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.