The Collapsing Empire

The Interdependency, Book 1

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

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.

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)

Opening foray for developing societal decay

John Scalzi's The Collapsing Empire is book 1 of the Interdependency series. John has created a future where Earth is long gone, replaced by a far flung "empire" of human settlements where few if any are self sufficient such that peace has been maintained by the survival need for "interdependency" among the numerous enclaves. This arrangement is enabled by the "flow" which represents a form of a trans-dimensional portal system between stars accessible with the right technology. Major "houses" or vertically integrated guild-like entities provide the commercial means to keep everything going, while an "emperor" functions as a type of "federal trade commission." The developing issue is that the "flow" is slowly shifting expected to result in isolation of mankind's settlements.

The sci-fi elements are mainly physics with the flow network, the central focus. Misinterpretation of flow dynamics drive much of the plot as various groups vie for positioning during the intra- and post- flow shifts. The social organization is intriguing with a dynastic monarchy and wholly family run enterprises with a resulting class structure that is pre-WWII British in flavor. Business and political savviness as well as naivete abound creating likable as well as immediately detestable individuals. Parallels to current climate change debate cannot be avoided.

The narration is well done, with a decent range of voices with varying social strata covered. As an opening salvo, this offering suggests much promise for future installments as well as lots of double crosses and unexpected plot twists..

A great first third of a space opera

In many books, the cast of characters are rushed through their introductions and the author seems to hope folks won't mind since they want to get to the meat of the story. Well in this story, the intro is not rushed. There are interesting and exciting events that happen all through the story. While the political intrigue is weak, the clever way our heroes overcome problems is fun to watch.

Also, anything that Will Wheaton reads is worth listening too. He's probably my favorite adventure book narrator.

Good concept, okay story, distracting narrator

I really enjoyed the potential here, but it really doesn't deliver. The intrigue is pretty meh and the antagonists pretty forgettable. Come to think of it all the characters are pretty bland and indistinct, although I don't know how much of that goes to Wil Weaten's piss poor performance. He's one of those narrators who doesn't bother with any real attempt at distinguishing any of the characters, minus the occasional "aristocratic" accent, giving no soul or flair to his reading. I was constantly not engaged, instead thinking about how Wesley Crusher was the worst Star Trek character ever.

All in all if you like interesting takes on hyperspace this is worth a shot. The story ends right when it feels it should be kicking off, but given it's vol. one that's forgivable. Despite my poor experience with the narrator I do look forward to the next one, although I think it's worth picking up a hard copy to save yourself 10 hours of listening to Wesley Crusher yell "fuck" repeatedly.

Wonderfully Conceived and Highly Accessible SciFi

I’m a newbie to the work of John Scalzi, and the only previous experience I have with his work was the fun audiobook edition of The Dispatcher. But, given how much those sad/rabid/pathetic puppies loathe him, while simultaneously attempting to ride on the coattails of his success (with one even going so far as to write a knock-off book of this particular title, with knock-off cover art that pretty well screamed copyright infringement, and a fake name that played off John Scalzi’s actual name in the hope of duping unaware readers to make a quick buck!), I figured he had to be worth a read, or in this case, a listen. Happily, I was not the least bit disappointed. So, thanks to all the doggie idjits bemoaning Scalzi’s work for prompting me to finally check out some more of his books!

Scalzi has a pretty large body of work behind him thanks to the Old Man’s War series and several other stand-alone titles. The Collapsing Empire is the first in a new series, and it’s the perfect starting point for new readers like myself.

Thousands of years in the future, humanity has formed the Commonwealth of the Interdependence and spread across the stars. Each of their various habitats are connected by the flow, a spatial anomaly akin to a river in space. The flow has allowed the Interdependence to grow and succeed, and without it humanity would wither and die as each star system becomes cut off from one another. Well, there wouldn’t be much room for drama if there wasn’t a massive problem, and so as it happens, the flow is beginning to collapse. Couple this with a bunch of political and trade guild drama, crosses and double-crosses, a newly crowned emperor, a fermenting rebellion, and random acts of terrorism, and you have The Collapsing Empire.

Scalzi keeps the pace rapid-fire and the tone light, despite a simmering undercurrent of darkness that could quickly turn the whole affair into pitch-black nihilism. Thankfully, there’s room for plenty of hope, and a whole lot of humor. The author also injects some wonderful heroines as the primary leads, and the foul-mouthed, sexed-up, aggressive Lady Kiva might just be one of my new favorites. She’s a total jerk, and I loved all of her expletive-laced rants as she chewed out anybody who attempted to cross her or get in her way.

Narrating all of this is Wil Wheaton, making The Collapsing Empire my first introduction to both the author and narrator. I found there to be a wonderful bit of synchronicity between the pairing of Scalzi and Wheaton, and the latter does an outstanding job narrating. Each character has a distinct voice, and there’s enough range and acting chops to give this audiobook a nice bit of oomph. The science fiction plot itself is easily digested and technobabble is kept to a minimum, while the listening experience itself is highly engaging and kept my attention the whole way through.

The bottom line is, The Collapsing Empire is just flat-out fun. The story is wonderfully conceived, it has some truly terrific character beats, and plenty of laughs. More importantly, it left me fully invested in this series going forward. As soon I reached the end of this audiobook, I immediately wanted to dive into the second installment. But since that’s not out yet, I’ll just have to content myself with some of Scalzi’s back catalog in the meantime.

Poor reader ruins another story

Sorry, but Will Wheaton is a terrible audio book reader. Everyone sounds the same. Everything shouted the same, regardless of sex or intention of the character.

I always thought he was the weakest character on ST TNG, and was glad to see him leave. He is trying to reinvent himself as an audiobook reader, but is just as bad here. I will try to avoid future books if I notice he is the reader. (I goofed this time, not noticing he was the reader, but he was no better than prior books).

strong mystery set in a space opera

John Scalzi once again delivers with a complex and highly enjoyable mystery that spans galaxies. This will be a great pick up for any fan of space opera, as The Collapsing Empire introduces us to an empire on the verge of losing its faster than light travel system. We have a new Empero, a likable young woman who'll have to uncover a murderous plot rooted in a coup for control of the universe. She was the most likable of the characters, but there weren't many others that really struck an emotional resonance. This book is mostly a whodunit with some pretty funny parts, a bit of sexual humor that might offend some, and an interesting race against time mystery to see what will happen to the travel system. I enjoyed it, and will get the next book, but I hope to find more characters to care about in the next installment. The mystery and world building was top notch.

I listened to the audiobook produced by Audible Studios and narrated by Wil Wheaton. Standard excellence from one of my favorites. No complaints there. Far from it. He and Scalzi are a perfect tandem, so it was with great excitement that I could enjoy this book with Wheaton's vocals.

need more pls

This was great but seriously, I need to know what happens next. But hoo boy was it good and Interesting!

Netflix has ruined me

This is an amazing start to a fun story! I want more I want it now and I want it all! Will is amazing and John has hit another one out of the park.

Thoroughly worth it !

When a production team and author are in sync and the content is superb you cannot but thoroughly enjoy the experience !

Meh

I like John Scalzi, I like Wil Wheaton. I just didn't connect with this book. It's a political story about noble families struggling for power with little in the way of science fiction. Ok I like political interplay... but only it's not believable. I liked the empero character. But really she did nothing in the story. She seemed more like filler.