The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency, #1)

by John Scalzi

And even that was a crap way of describing it, because human languages are crap at describing things more complex than assembling a tree house.

Batrin Wu, Cardenia’s father, was formally Attavio VI, Emperox of the Holy Empire of the Interdependent States and Mercantile Guilds, King of Hub and Associated Nations, Head of the Interdependent Church, Successor to Earth and Father of All, Eighty-seventh Emperox of the House of Wu, which claimed its lineage to the Prophet-Emperox Rachela I, founder of the Interdependency and Savior of Humanity.

“They want to preserve an existing potential alliance.” “An alliance with terrible people.” “Really nice people don’t usually accrue power.” “You’re saying I’m kind of an outlier,” Cardenia said. “I don’t recall saying you were nice,” Naffa replied.

You’ll be emperox soon enough.” “And then no one can tell me what to do.” “Oh, no,” Batrin said. “Everyone will tell you what to do. But you won’t always have to listen.”

“Of course. Take your time as long as your time is under a minute.”

“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 was nice when you could look up to your parent, even as an adult, and think, This is who I fucking want to be when I grow up.

“I don’t think she’s going to keep it to herself.” “It’s not whether she tells everyone,” Huma said. “It’s whether they believe her.” “It’s the truth.” “Oh, my daughter,” Huma said, and smiled. “Don’t tell me you don’t know how little that actually means.”