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The Collapsing Empire

The Interdependency, Book 1

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The Collapsing Empire

By: John Scalzi
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton
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About this listen

2018 Locus Award, Best Science Fiction Novel

Our universe is ruled by physics, and faster-than-light travel is not possible - until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transports 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.

©2017 John Scalzi (P)2017 Audible, Inc. Adventure Fantasy Fiction Military Science Fiction Space Opera Space Interstellar War

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Critic reviews

"Fans of Game of Thrones and Dune will enjoy this bawdy, brutal, and brilliant political adventure." (Booklist)

"Scalzi has constructed a thrilling novel so in tune with the flow of politics that it would feel relevant at almost any time." (Entertainment Weekly)

"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)
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I love John Scalzi's works. Each is smart and devoid of nonessential details where the non specified time in future is just a background for drama and comedy taking place between people. Everything is an dialogue.
This particular book and the trilogy through a dialogues and accompanying action introduces us to the complexity of interdependency. That is if you want to look into deeper layers. On the surface it is a skillfully written adventure. The one I want to continue with the characters.
I can't not see Kiva to be of African descent and Emperor half Asian... I do wonder if it is only me.
And Will Wheaton's performance is just a generous layer of cherries on that amazing cake!

Sharp, thought provoking and so John Scalzi

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loved it. everything about it was perfect. great characters, great story and very good world building. it's also fairly accurate scientifically also

lovely book

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Really enjoyable science fiction with a believable political system, and brilliant narration from Wil Wheaton.

Awesome political space opera, excellent narration

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A fun not-to-serious sci-fi story. I also really enjoy Will Wheaton's narration. This is the second audible book I have listened to by him and he has been excellent in both. Would listen to more by Will Wheaton.

Fun sci-fi

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Scalzi is a wonderful storyteller. I find the journey he takes me on a real pleasure, and the characters he uses great to spend time with.

Wheaton is one of the few American narrators that don't bother me... Excellent work

Excellent start on a new saga!

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Wil Wheaton has a talent for story telling and with John Scalzi penning the story, it's a great combination.
My first Sci-fi / Space Opera and not to be my last. I'd highly recommend this one.
There's conflict, love, humour, a ton of swearing and a future universe that doesn't sound too far fetched.
I'll have to check out some of John's other novels while I wait for this one's sequel.

Well paced and highly enjoyable

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So lets get the 1st thing out the way. there is one character that swears a lot, and I mean A LOT, like every other word is F@$K. Without this character trait, the swearing would not be that noticeable. Their are a few other characters that swear on occasion. Probably not a story to listen in public blearing out of your phones/Bluetooth speaker......not that you would do. that of course.

Short Review

Will is great at bring the separate characters to life, and is enjoyable to listen to as the narrator.
The story is good enough, but really is only the opening section of the complete saga.

Long(ish) Review

Will Wheaton performance.

Will is perhaps one of my favourite narrators for books. He adds genuine personality to each character, and not just with subtle changes to his voice, but also in the distinct mannerisms he injects to dialogue as well. This makes following along with who is who and who is saying what very easy. With Will I never need to skip back 30's to remind myself who is talking ( I tend to listen while I am also doing other things so sometimes "miss" which character is talking in an audio book)

Will gets 5* for his performance and if your not sure about the story but like Will from his other narrations (IE Ready Player One) then I recommend you give The Collapsing Empire a chance, with the caveat, of the story bit bellow.

The Story

More often then not in a series of books, the 1st book is near as needs, a complete story. This is not the case with The Collapsing Empire. John Scalzi clearly knew when he started, that this was going to be a multi book series. That means that this is little more then an introduction. Ie he are the main players, here is the "world" they live in, here is the "main" issue facing them all and here is the sub plots between them all. That is pretty much it.

The characters feel real enough, their is the "good" guys who are likeable, each in their own way. There are the bad guys that you want to see fail.

The ship names aren't ironic or funny.

The action is often enough, but not drawn out to be the only selling point of the book.

The sex “scenes” are non existent (I’ve no idea what other reviewers are referencing), there pretty much “these 2 just had sex” with not detail of “how”. Its the literary equivalent of two people laying in bed with the legendary Hollywood L shaped blanket over them.

Over all its difficult to say that this is a good/great/poor/bland story, because in the 1st book, the author is really only laying the ground works for the rest of the story.

Good Start, but that's all it is, the start.

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A well crafted space comedy that doesn't require you to be a sci-fi fan. Grips your attention from the start. Very enjoyable. One gripe - why a male narrator when the main characters are all female?

Recommended

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Fab but, but the ending just seemed to tail off and was a cop out (Still well worth a listen though). Wil Wheaton continues to be one of favourite narrator's, which given how much disdain I have for him from his days in The Next Generation, probably says a lot for him.

Fab book

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Funny... interesting universe, but perhaps a little predictable. I could see the ending coming from several chapters away.

Very funny...

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