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)

THE STUPIDITIES OF COURT

YOUR ALWAYS ALONE INT HE MEMORY ROOM AND NEVER ALONE IN THE MEMORY ROOM
This is filled with lots of LOL moments and some great funny characters. SCALZI humor includes giving funny names to ships, such as the following: TELL ME ANOTHER ONE, I THINK WE'RE ALONE NOW, IF YOU WANT TO SING OUT, SING OUT, YES SIR, THAT'S MY BABY and it's sister ship NO SIR, DON'T MEAN MAYBE. The humor is fairly steady throughout the book without being overwhelming.

SORRY, I GOT DISTRACTED THINKING ABOUT SEX
The book is a tiny bit Dune, Game of Thrones, Foundation and The Last Empress. I listened to the whole book and will be buying the sequel, but had it been a different author, I might have given up within the first three to four hours. That is because it is mostly a political book, with Guilds, Courts, Emperors, and Great Houses. The book builds and because the characters are well developed, gets better the longer it goes on. It does not have a lot of science and their are no aliens. It is mostly politics and back stabbing of nobles. STOP WHINING ABOUT IT FOR F SAKE. One of the main characters is a female who cusses like a sailor and has a high sex drive. I found her hilarious.

Wil Wheaton is the best for this. He not only does sarcasm better than anyone else, if you listen during what would normally be considered filler, you can hear him putting everything into to make it sound interesting.

Very very slow, poorly explained premise, not much happens

The precarious state humans are in was never reasonably explained in this book. Neither was the sci Fi premise behind it. So in the end it was just a political sorry with flat characters.

Just "ok"

I'm a huge fan of sci-fi and have listened to nearly every sci-fi series on Audible... So when I saw this one was a NY best seller I thought for sure it would be great, but it wasn't. It was just "ok". There are a lot of better sci-fi series on Audible. This book had very little action and was mostly political. Also the narrator doesn't come close to R.C Bray's narrations! And the author of this book over used the word f*ck. I have no problem with a well placed curse word for effect but this author over used it so much I had to turn the book off at times because it was too much, and I'm not conservative or anything. He leaned on the swearing way too much to evoke emotion. But I still gave it 3 stars because it did slowly getting better though out the book and by the end I was interested to find out what happens. So overall it's an "ok" sci-fi book if you can't find anything better. If you can find something narrated by R.C Bray! All his sci-fi projects turn out amazing!!

disappointed that I have to wait for part 2

Another fine Scalzi story. Wheaton did a bang up job narrating. looking forward to the next installment already.

Yawn

Is there anything you would change about this book?

More originality. Characters that move outside stereotypes.

Any additional comments?

This is pretty unimaginative sci-fi. Scalzi is not a bad writer, but this storyline is a yawnfest. Importing 15th-century social constructs into the future is hardly original, the characters are predictable stereotypes, and logical social implications of technology are ignored.

master storyteller delivers once again

John Scalzi builds a multiple system structure where humanity lives in a highly connected way. A new ruler must face a fundamental change in how the society functions. No spoilers so no more description. I can not wait for the next book in this series.

Wil Wheaton is a powerhouse, paired with Scalzi!

A fantastic story, extraordinary writing and vocal delivery make this a excellent book series. Highly recommended for anyone who is looking for a great read.

I need my credit back

will wheaton's monotone voice just ruined the whole story for me. let's try another narrator

Another Series Begins

A great start to a new Sci-Fi series by John Scalzi. My only complaint is that now I have to wait for book 2.

Fun and well constructed

Very engaging and well constructed story. Left me wanting more. Narrator did a fantastic job.