From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1)

John Scalzi

Start date: June 21, 2017

Finish date: July 12, 2017

Discussion: Book Discussions

Discussion leader: Rachel

Why we're reading this: Group contemporary novel discussion June 2017
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What Members Thought

Oct 21, 2018 Valentin Derevlean rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sf, space-opera, locus-award

Un început de serie mai mult decât plăcut. Lejer, comercial, însă toate în sensul bun al cuvântului. Povestea te prinde repede, scriitura curge, la nivel de plăcere a lecturii cartea merită 4 stele.

La nivel de construcție, romanul nu e o inovație majoră. Scalzi nu se joacă mult cu metaforele, știe să fie amuzant, concis, lasă câteva personaje să-și facă de cap, iar acțiunea principală se derulează rapid, asemeni unei curse contracronometru.

Noul univers al lui Scalzi e un univers cu stații în ca ...more

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May 04, 2018 Ash rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, science-fiction, audiobook, space-aliens, lgbtq, 2018-read, challenge-sf, 2018hugos

I went into this book with low expectations since many people were let down by this book. I still had a feeling I will like it, since I generally love Scalzi's writing style, the humor, wit and hard sci-fi elements in his books. His books are extremely entertaining and fun to read. And I wasn't disappointed at all. This is how space opera should be written. The expanse series has been overhyped for no reason and I hate that boring series. This series by John Scalzi needs to be called "Game of Th I went into this book with low expectations since many people were let down by this book. I still had a feeling I will like it, since I generally love Scalzi's writing style, the humor, wit and hard sci-fi elements in his books. His books are extremely entertaining and fun to read. And I wasn't disappointed at all. This is how space opera should be written. The expanse series has been overhyped for no reason and I hate that boring series. This series by John Scalzi needs to be called "Game of Thrones in space" and not Expanse. If you did not like The Expanse, do give this series a shot.

The world building was mind blowing. It reminded me of Foundation series sometimes. The way different worlds are interconnected by flows and how there is a hub which is where the emperor lives. Also how humanity has used flow and built civilizations using these flow streams to far flung planets. I liked how habitability of a planet was not the deciding factor and instead, flow streams decided where the humans will settle in the galaxy. Also different guilds and nobles controlling various planets along with a Duke reminded me SO much of medieval fantasy.

Then the characters. All of them were interesting and had shades of grey. Everyone was more concerned about their and their guild's well being and they were ready to cheat anyone and everyone. Natashe sounds like a kickass character and I want to see more of her political games in the next book. The book initially has 3 POVs - one of Cardenia, the new empress who doesn't want to be an empress, one of Kiva who swears a lot and the other from Marce Clairmonte who seems innocent but intelligent and then all these 3 POVs merge together since they all get thrown in the political war. And on top of that, flow streams start collapsing. The two female main characters and one female antagonist were all great characters. I also loved Huma, Kiva's mom. I hardly see male authors portraying women this well in novels. Mr. Andy Weir, take some lessons from Scalzi on how to write women characters and still make them sound "women" and not horny boy/teenager.

The plot did take some time to develop and it was slow moving. The first half of the book felt more like 4 stars but the second half was a solid 5 star read. Slow pacing was necessary since the world and the characters had to be introduced to us readers. I am sure the next book will be more fast paced since the last part of this book was action packed too. I loved the shocking twist at the end and I am waiting for the next book eagerly.

If you are looking for a solid space opera which has political intrigue and characters who are all f**ked up, you will not be disappointed. There is a lot of diversity in characters too. The other thing that I liked was that it was not gritty or too dark. It reminded me of my favorites like Star Wars which did have politics and some dark elements, but still were entertaining and not too dark. Like I mentioned, I read in order to escape and not to get depressed so Scalzi's books work well for me. Do listen to the audiobook version as it makes the experience even better. I love the fact that Wil Wheaton is the narrator for Scalzi's books.

Highly recommend it. 5 f**king stars (I heard F**k way too many times in this book). :) My vote for Hugo awards will go to this book, unless some other book on the list impresses me. Someone please make this a TV series. ...more

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Sep 10, 2017 Andrew rated it liked it

Shelves: science-fiction, reviewed

I enjoyed this book, but it was rather predictable. It is another good (but not amazing) easy to read SF book that many will like. It is easy to relate to the characters. The science and technology are mostly skimmed over.

My main question while reading was whether there would be a sense of closure at the end since it is the beginning of a series. There isn't much resolution. I would have preferred more closure.

On a side note, one of the minor characters is very similar to Avasarala in The Expans ...more

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