The Collapsing Empire

The Interdependency, Book 1

By: John Scalzi

Narrated by: Wil Wheaton

Length: 9 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

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)

Mediocre

A few pages out of Foundation and some meh storytelling. It has potential to develop into something great with subsequent books.

Such high hopes

I’ve listened to over 300 titles and never written reviews, but this book has inspired me to do so.

And unfortunately not for the right reasons.

The narrator was just awful!
Male and female characters all sounded the same (I’ve never been so thankful for a “he said” or “she mentioned” before). Actually I thought that one character was female for most of book, until the narrator said “he thought”
One of the main characters sounded older than his father, who sounded like a teen from south beach, Florida. And that’s just the tip of the ice berg.

I am not sure I can honestly review the book because the narrator made the characters so indistinct and made it so hard to loose yourself in the story.

That said, Scalzi didn’t do much to make the characters endearing or give them much personality. I can usually be very empathetic to characters and their situations, in this 9 hour read I basically don’t feel like I know any of the major players, care about any of them or feel like they have anything truly at stake.
Simple logical thought processes and reactions seemed outside of the reach of so many characters and at other times realizations that should have taken work to come to came like a gift from God.

I know others have felt like this book just kind of ended in the middle, but I feel as though a lot of the plot was rushed at the end and neatly laid out with no intrigue or risk taken. Yes, there is sort of a cliffhanger, but if this first book is anything to go by, in the end they all live happily ever after.

A galactic empire story with a twist

Wil Wheaton is a good narrator, but I couldn't always tell the women from the men.

There are several stories going on here since the Interdependency is so far-flung. Some of the mysteries that are solved at the end you didn't even know were mysteries early on. Fascinating! Characters you thought you understood suddenly change in your perception as you understand their motivations. Brilliant!

There is science and tech for the sci-fi geek, and psychology and motivation for the literarily-minded. When the mystery of the conspiracy on End is cleared up, you are left with a ruler who never wanted to rule, governing an empire about to collapse due to the loss of communication and transport. She finds strength to be what she must, and inner resolve to do the right thing for humanity even if that ends the Wu family's dynasty.

This story ends, not on an annoying cliffhanger, but rather a titillating one. The setup is so different from other galactic empire tales that you will anxiously await the sequel!

More of the same Scalzi

What did you like best about The Collapsing Empire? What did you like least?

If you haven't read/listened to Scalzi before, then skip this one and listen to one of his earlier works instead.

If you're familiar with and like Scalzi, then realize before you buy this one that it's just more of the same. And to this listener, who has read nearly all of his previous work, Scalzi's style is getting rather repetitive. Furthermore, this novel contained an excessive and gratuitous amount of profanity and sex---enough to turn this reader off from following up with the sequels. I curse and I like sex too, but that's not why I read science fiction.

I've crossed Scalzi off my list of authors to pay attention to, as his last two or three works just haven't offered anything new or appealing to me. There are far, far better sf writers out there today.

Would you be willing to try another book from John Scalzi? Why or why not?

No. I've had it with Scalzi.

Have you listened to any of Wil Wheaton’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Par for the course.

Could you see The Collapsing Empire being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Nope.

Not as good as his others.

Scalzi is my favorite author but this book lacks the humor and depth of creativity of his other books.

Surely interesting

Looking forward to the next book. Narrator is wonderful!
I am reminded of our present day dilemma about global warming and the bureaucracy of saving ourselves or not!

Its ok.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Will Wheaton sounds like he will corner you in a bar and tell you who his favorite Green Lantern is for 3 hours.

great story! can't wait for the rest

I pretty much gobbled up all of Scalzi's books, so this was a treat. if you liked his other books, this one will fit right in. the language is colorful and very funny.

Looking forward to see where it goes

This was a great start to a series. John Scalzi has never disappointed me. “AUDIBLE 20 REVIEW SWEEPSTAKES ENTRY”

Good listen

This book was a good listen for several trips. I drive approximately 1.5 hours each way, several times per month. The story was nerdy, but engaging! Will Wheaton did an excellent job narrating.