The Collapsing Empire

John Scalzi

2017 • 336 pages

Ratings240

Average rating4.1

*2018 LOCUS AWARD WINNER OF BEST SCIENCE FICTION NOVEL* *2018 HUGO AWARD FINALIST FOR BEST NOVEL* “John Scalzi is the most entertaining, accessible writer working in SF today.” —Joe Hill, author of The Fireman The first novel of a new space-opera sequence set in an all-new universe by the Hugo Award-winning, New York Times-bestselling author of Redshirts and Old Man's War Our universe is ruled by physics. Faster than light travel is impossible—until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field available at certain points in space-time, which can take us to other planets around other stars. Riding The Flow, humanity spreads to innumerable other worlds. Earth is forgotten. A new empire arises, the Interdependency, based on the doctrine that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war—and, for the empire’s rulers, a system of control. The Flow is eternal—but it’s not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well. In rare cases, entire worlds have been cut off from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that the entire Flow is moving, possibly separating all human worlds from one another forever, three individuals—a scientist, a starship captain, and the emperox of the Interdependency—must race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse. "Fans of Game of Thrones and Dune will enjoy this bawdy, brutal, and brilliant political adventure" —Booklist on The Collapsing Empire "Political plotting, plenty of snark, puzzle-solving, and a healthy dose of action...Scalzi continues to be almost insufferably good at his brand of fun but think-y sci-fi adventure." —Kirkus Reviews on The Collapsing Empire “Scalzi is one of the slickest writers that SF has ever produced.” —The Wall Street Journal on The Human Division The Interdependency Series 1. The Collapsing Empire 2. The Consuming Fire At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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Featured Series

3 primary books4 released books

The Interdependency

The Interdependency is a 4-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2017 with contributions by John Scalzi.

The Origin of the Flow

Popular Reviews

Reviews with the most likes.

Christine

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.

October 24, 2020

Jess

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.

June 28, 2017

Ariadne

I love a space opera, especially when it's character-driven. Lots of snarky dialogues, great characters and worldbuilding that is not boring. I was pleasantly surprised by all the strong female characters. Kiva Lagos is awesome if you don't mind all the swearing. I could see lots of parallels from the Interdependency world with ours. It's that same old story: one family or group of people creates some myth/prophecy about the world in which skewed power relations are defined to justify the maintenance of the said world/society. This book is rich with political intrigue, commercial embargoes, power succession and environmental changes. I enjoyed the ride and I want to spend more time with the characters, so I'll read the next one.

April 30, 2021