ARC Review: The Collapsing Empire or a ton of fun and the end of the universe

Hello world! I really hope that you and your family are staying safe! Today I am here to review my first John Scalzi’s book ever! And I can say that this won’t be the last, for sure! So let’s go!

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to NetGalley and to the editor.

Title: The Collapsing Empire
Series: The Interdependency #1
Author: John Scalzi
Page Count: 336

You can buy it here: Amazon

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 and faster than light travel is not possible — until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars.
Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war — and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.
The Flow is eternal — but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals — a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency — are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.

So, as I was saying before, this was the first book by John Scalzi for me, and it was a success! This book was an amazing surprise, and I enjoyed every moment I have spent with it!

The best thing is the sense of humor. This book is humorous, funny, witty and brilliant. And I have to say that reminded me of Terry Pratchett’s writing.

Technically speaking, upon the moment of the death of Emperox Attavio IV, Cardenia became the new emperox. Realistically speaking, nothing is ever that simple.

And I have laughed a lot while reading. Even if, to be honest, the story itself is not so happy or funny. All the opposite, because we are dealing with the end of the world, or at least, the end of an Empire which was the whole world for our characters. And yes, the situation is as grim as it sounds, if not even worse, and yet, while you are there, with the characters who are called to face all of this and more (because there is a lot happening here) you would have a hell of a ride, and even when you would be so enthralled by the story that you can’t put down the book, because you need to know what would happen next, you would do it with smiles, because you just can’t help yourself.

“It was a dream that made you think. A dream that caused you to search for wisdom. A dream that made you consult me, the Prophet. Sounds like a vision to me.”
Cardenia gawked at Rachela I. “You’re unbelivable”.
“I worked in marketing” Rachela I said. “Before I was a prophet. After, too, but we didn’t call it that after that point”.

It’s not only that the author manages to not be too serious about everything, but it is also that all of this is just so wisely dosed and that the balance is perfect.
And I have to say that there are also the amazing details like the names of their ships. They are just brilliant!

But this book is not just fun and nothing else. We have an interesting set of characters, every one of them with their quirks and their own voice and personality (and yes, I am thinking especially about Lady Kiva, but she is not the only one. Maybe the one with the most distinctive voice, that’s for sure, but every character has his or her own peculiarities) and we have a good story. We have action, yes, but we have a ton of political intrigues, too. Plots behind plots and we have a couple of ah-ah moments.
The book is not too long, and is a fast reading, but it happens a lot in these pages, and for a good portion of it, I couldn’t stop the reading, because I was “no! And now?” or “OMG, really?!?”.

This first book by the author was a success, and I am looking forward to read more! And I am also quite lucky, because NetGalley approved me for the second book in this series, too… so I won’t have to wait a lot. I am really a lucky girl!

and half!

This was an enjoyable reading and I am looking forward to the sequels! And what about you? Have you read this book? Or other books by the same author? Let me know!!!

Happy reading!
S.