I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi Series: The Collapsing Empire #1
Published by Tor Books on March 21 2017
Genres: Adult, Science fiction
Pages: 336
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
Buy on Amazon
Goodreads
The nitty-gritty: Biting humor and politics collide in Scalzi’s latest, a fast-paced trip through space.
Within two days, Kiva was within five million marks of going into the black for the trip. “I’m a fucking financial genius,” she said, to Captain Blinnikka, back on the Yes, Sir.
“Or you’re war profiteering,” Blinnikka said.
“I’m not selling anything to the combatants,” Kiva said, taken aback, but then trying to shrug it off with some light snark. “I’m offering a service to those who wish to leave the theater of combat. That makes me a humanitarian, actually. I’m saving people.”
I have lots of backlist Scalzi to catch up with (most notably his Old Man’s War series), and so I was excited to read The Collapsing Empire, the first in a new space opera series. Scalzi’s trademark political acumen is hard at work in this story, where an empire of star systems, connected by a mysterious conduit called the Flow, is threatened by eventual extinction as the Flow appears to be breaking down. What this means for the citizens of the Interdependency is that once the pathways between these systems are gone, whoever is left on a particular planet will be stuck there forever, or at least until the planet runs out of resources. With no means to trade or buy those resources—the Flow enabled commerce on a large scale—the millions of people who live in the Interdependency will eventually die out.
Scalzi sets the stage for his trilogy by introducing us to the idea of the Flow, a means of getting from one planet to another—planets that are light years apart from one another—in a relatively short period of time, by entering the Flow, which speeds up the travel time. Hub is the literal center of the system, the home of the emperox, and the place where most of the Flow streams begin and end. Thus Hub is exactly what its name implies: a hub of activity, as people come and go from other star systems. At the far end of this galaxy is End, another well-chosen name. End is nine months’ travel through the Flow to Hub, and although that sounds like a long time, in fact it’s a fairly quick trip for space travel. When the story begins, a physicist named Jamies Claremont has just discovered that the Flow has begun to collapse, and that the streams are disappearing one by one. He decides to send his son Marce to Hub to warn the emperox about the impending collapse, and Marce, who is also an expert in the Flow, realizes that he may never return to End again.
Meanwhile on Hub, the emperox is dying, and his daughter Cardenia is set to take over as the new emperox upon his death. On the space ship Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby, Kiva Lagos and her crew are about to discover that their cargo of haverfruit has been infected with a virus and their trade agreement on End sabotaged by the Duke of End and his advisor, a greedy man named Ghreni Nohamapetan. All three storylines converge as the political implications of the Flow collapse, the coronation of a new emperox, and the cunning maneuvering of the Nohamapetan family bring the Interdependency closer and closer to danger.
If you’re familiar with Scalzi’s blog Whatever, then you know that he’s no slouch when it comes to the ins and outs of politics. The Collapsing Empire is full of intricately plotted plans and schemes, most of them underhanded. The culprits of the story, the Nohamapetans, are deliciously evil in a bumbling sort of way. There’s a whole back story about how Ghreni’s sister Nadashe was supposed to marry Cardenia’s brother Rennered, positioning the Nohamapetan clan to ascend to royalty when Rennered became emperox. But after he’s killed in an accident, the focus is now on Cardenia, who is being pressured into marrying the other Nohamapetan brother, Amit. It’s all very convoluted and I enjoyed the political aspects of the story immensely.
But even more than that, I loved Scalzi’s female characters. Kiva Lagos was my favorite, despite her use of the word “fuck” in just about every sentence she utters. She’s brash and bold and doesn’t really give a shit about anything except money and sex. I usually like my characters well-rounded, not only strong but emotionally approachable. Kiva doesn’t have much emotional depth—at least in this installment—but I sure had a hell of a lot of fun with her.
Cardenia was another favorite character. After she reluctantly takes on the mantle of emperox, she discovers a secret place in the palace called the Memory Room, where she can digitally call up all the previous emperoxes and ask them questions. I loved this idea, especially when she’s able to “talk” to her recently deceased father.
The only thing I really had issues with was the way Scalzi named things. The character names are a little strange, and my brain continued to stumble over some of them as the story went along. They seemed more suited for a fantasy tale, in my opinion. And as for the names of the ships? Hmmm, I’m curious to see what other readers think. Yes, Sir, That’s My Baby and No Sir, I Don’t Mean Maybe. Or Tell Me Another One. Race horse names, maybe, but ships? Not so much. It almost felt like parody at times, but I don’t think that was the author’s intention.
The Collapsing Empire is fairly short, and I almost wish it had been longer. There was a moment when we seem to leap ahead in time, when Marce finally arrives on Hub after a supposedly nine month journey. The time shift was a little jarring, since everything else seems to take place within a matter of weeks.
But this is a great start to the series, and I’m really looking forward to the next installment. Scalzi drops some interesting hints at the end of what’s to come, and with no firm release date in sight for the next book, it’s going to be at least a year before my questions are answered.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I was fascinated to read your review as I’m also going to be reviewing this one during the week for the release. Like you, I loved the characters and the story. A really great, detailed review, Tammy – thank you!
sjhigbee recently posted…While the Morning Stars Sing
I look forward to your review, Sarah!
I don’t know if I have read that much that falls into Space Opera. Rendezvous with Rama, does that count? Because that is old school awesome.
Nathan (@reviewbarn) recently posted…Fantasy Review: ‘The Holver Alley Crew’ by Marshall Ryan Maresca
I have not (unfortunately) read Rendezvous with Rama, but it sounds space opera-y to me, just from the title:-)
My favorite space opera is probably Ancillary Justice. Although The Stars Are Legion may be giving it a run for its money…
My favorite space opera? Hmm, Lully’s “Persee,” definitely!
Also check out the DVD of Purcell’s “King Arthur” directed by Harnoncourt. It is crazy-good!
YES! I so want this book! I’ve been wanting it since I first read the teaser blurb ages ago – it feels like ages ago. I’ve been waiting for this one.
My favorite space opera is the trilogy by Ann Leckie that begins with Ancillary Justice. But I also like Aliette deBodard’s Xuya stories, especially On a Red Station, Drifting. I’m still reading Kameron Hurley’s Stars are Legion, but I’m guessing it will end up on my favorite Space Operas list too. I’d love to read Scalzi’s newest as well!
Ah, Kiva! What a funny, irreverent character she is! 🙂
Only Scalzi could make her so foul-mouthed and at the same time amusing but not uncouth. Hopefully she will gain more depth with the next book(s)…
As for the ships’ names I kept thinking that the author wanted to pay homage to Iain Banks’ Culture series, where super-evolved A.I. Minds dwell on huge ships graced with preposterous names. With that in mind, I found this book’s ships’ names quite funny…
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…Movie Review: THE GIRL WITH ALL THE GIFTS
I thought the ship names were funny, while also thinking no one would name ships that way in real life. Until I found that SpaceX has named the two drone ships which recover their rockets “Just Read The Instructions” and “Of Course I Still Love You” respectively.
I do love the Old Man’s War series. Before that, I’d probably go back to The Mote in God’s Eye, although I now realize I don’t really know the definition of space opera.
I am really looking forward to reading this one! Not sure what my favorite space opera would be (really haven’t read that many). But I’ll mention Long Way to a Small Angry Planet.
Lisa @TenaciousReader recently posted…Hot off the Press! New SFF Releases for March 21, 2017
I think the first space opera I read was Foundation, the first three books, as part of a readalong. And, as part of a readalong they were great because the questions and answers probably helped me to understand a heck of a lot more that was going on – this is space opera that, for me, as less of a sci fi reader, feels much more accessible – or just plain understandable. I’ve just finished and will be reviewing shortly. I really enjoyed it and look forward to the next even though it’s a bit of a wait.
Lynn 😀
I had to skip the more detailed parts of your review because I’m about to read this myself, but I am excited to see you enjoyed the book! Scalzi has never disappointed, especially his space opera, so I’m pretty sure I’ll like this one as well. I have read all the OMW books and I love the series, so I am curious how this one will compare!
Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum recently posted…Top Ten Tuesday: Top Ten Favorite Novellas
Is Star Wars a Space Opera? If so that’s my favorite. I did also enjoy Rendezvous with Rama years ago.
*dances* I’m so excited to get my copy of this! Thanks again 😀
Everyone loves a good space opera, so throw in that trademark Scalzi humour and you’ve got an irresistible read! I’m not sure if it’s technically in the sub-genre, but The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet is my favourite space opera!
Danya @ Fine Print recently posted…Graphic Novel Review: Jonesy Vol. 1 by Sam Humphries & Caitlin Rose Boyle
I honestly don’t know what keeps me from reading anything of Scalzi’s but I just recently read something on tor.com regarding where to start with his works? Was very helpful and it placed this one as one of the best to start with! (Although Old Man’s War is on my TBR too now.) Great to see you loved it!
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (168)
Forgot to include my favorite space opera! I’m not sure it counts but Fortune’s Pawn is one of my absolute favorite sci-fi’s. 🙂
Bonnie @ For the Love of Words recently posted…Stacking the Shelves (168)
I liked Old Man’s War quite a lot so I’m looking forward to a new series. Thanks for whetting my appetite–I’ve rediscovered my love of space opera lately. Cheers.