Series
Publication
New York : TOR, a Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2020.
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: The Last Emperox is the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling Interdependency series, an epic space opera adventure from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi. The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems�??and billions of people�??are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction . . . and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known. Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But "control" is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough. Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization . . . or the last emperox to wear the crown? The Interdependency Series 1. The Collapsing Empire 2. The Consuming Fire 3. The Last Emperox At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied… (more)
Media reviews
Punchy, plausible, and bittersweet; studded with zingers until the very last line.
Hugo Award–winner Scalzi knocks it out of the park with the tightly plotted, deeply satisfying conclusion to his Interdependency Sequence space opera trilogy (after The Consuming Fire).
User reviews
LibraryThing member SpaceandSorcery
I received this novel from Tor Books, through NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review: my thanks to both of them for this opportunity.
A series’ ending might probably be one of the most difficult tasks an author faces: readers’ expectations, narrative twists and resolutions, characters’
So, the Interdependency is a galaxy-spanning civilization whose settlements are connected by the Flow, a system of wormhole-like paths that allow ships to cover vast distances in a relatively short time. The Flow has been in operation for centuries, but recently scientists have discovered that the whole system is going to collapse, therefore isolating these far-flung settlements and very likely dooming the inhabitants to death, since only one planet in the whole confederation is able to sustain life in an Earth-like environment and all the others are artificial habitats depending heavily on Flow-driven commerce. Such catastrophic news brings out the best and worst in humanity, as it’s wont to do: some of the great merchant Houses try to speculate by amassing even more riches and power, others try to help in maintaining a level of civilization and the newly elected Emperox, Grayland II, finds herself dealing with a difficult situation, several attempts on her life and the conflicting agendas of various Houses.
Despite the light, playful tone, this series deals with several quite serious subjects, like the way people react when confronted with an imminent catastrophe - considering the moment in which I read this book, with humanity facing a worldwide crisis, I thought it was very spot-on and I was glad for the author’s trademark lightness because observing the various fictional players it was impossible not to make disheartening comparisons with actual events. The series, and The Last Emperox in particular, shows how personal advantage is paramount for power-hungry individuals and how sowing distrust and misinformation helps drive their agendas, while the general population is divided between the few who plan in advance against a worst-case scenario and those lulled into the complacent belief that those in power will find a solution before the inevitable becomes a reality.
Where I found the second book in this series, The Consuming Fire, somewhat uneven in pacing due to the shift between the quicker-flowing sections and the long chunks of exposition dialogue, this final installment turned into a swift, riveting read as the antagonists’ plots battled against the Emperox’s and her allies’ countermeasures, generating a constant race against time, fueled by shrewdness and political expediency that kept the story lively and the tension high. Most of this narrative tension rests on the three main characters: Grayland II, whose desire to be a good and just ruler needs to be balanced against the challenging decisions she must take in the face of the forthcoming Flow collapse; Nadashe Nohamapetan, the very embodiment of the evil lady, the dastardly plotter whose ambitions are surpassed only by her ruthlessness; and Kiva Lagos, the foul-mouthed, crafty ally of the Emperox who remains my favorite character and one of the best sources of humor in the whole series.
It’s worth noting how these three women are not only at the very center of things, but also the most striking figures among the various personalities peopling this series: for example, if Nadashe is a vile adversary who stops at nothing to fulfill her goals, she ultimately does not come across as totally bad, if that makes any sense. As I saw her labyrinthine plans taking shape, I was torn between wanting them to fail and at the same time feeling sorry if they didn’t: in a way I ended up envisioning her as poor Wile E. Coyote, who concocted equally convoluted and far-reaching plans to win over Road Runner, only to be always spectacularly defeated in the end - and that never failed to elicit some form of sympathy from me. On the other hand, there was no ambiguity in my cheering for Kiva’s success, and although at some point she managed to set in motion a series of events whose serendipity might appear totally unbelievable, it all worked within the over-the-top setup of her character, making it easy to suspend my disbelief and equally easy to observe her antics with an amused smile. Grayland looks less intense in comparison with these two formidable figures, her apparent candor masking instead a firm determination and a core of integrity that seems to be sorely lacking in the Interdependency, and that’s the main reason I was surprised - or rather stunned - at her unexpected choice for solving the quandary and giving her subjects a new direction and a hope for the future. I must say I did not expect the direction the story took and that in this instance the author managed to drop a very unpredictable twist on me here.
Where The Last Emperox draws all the narrative threads of the series to a good close, I find myself sorry to have to leave this universe, and I hope that John Scalzi might decide in the future to return here, maybe to show us how the former Interdependency fares in a post-collapse of the Flow future.
A series’ ending might probably be one of the most difficult tasks an author faces: readers’ expectations, narrative twists and resolutions, characters’
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paths - it all must come together at the end, and I also imagine it might not be easy to let go of a world that one has so carefully built over time. Well, The Last Emperox turned out to be a very satisfactory ending to the Interdependency series, and did so by also being a compelling and fun read from the very start, where it offered a sort of recap of what went before by observing a character’s thoughts as his ship comes under attack. Not only did this choice avoid any dangers of info-dumping, it also managed to turn into entertaining recollections what could very well have been the last, terrified considerations of an endangered individual. After all, this is a work from John Scalzi, and one must expect some playful rule-breaking…So, the Interdependency is a galaxy-spanning civilization whose settlements are connected by the Flow, a system of wormhole-like paths that allow ships to cover vast distances in a relatively short time. The Flow has been in operation for centuries, but recently scientists have discovered that the whole system is going to collapse, therefore isolating these far-flung settlements and very likely dooming the inhabitants to death, since only one planet in the whole confederation is able to sustain life in an Earth-like environment and all the others are artificial habitats depending heavily on Flow-driven commerce. Such catastrophic news brings out the best and worst in humanity, as it’s wont to do: some of the great merchant Houses try to speculate by amassing even more riches and power, others try to help in maintaining a level of civilization and the newly elected Emperox, Grayland II, finds herself dealing with a difficult situation, several attempts on her life and the conflicting agendas of various Houses.
Despite the light, playful tone, this series deals with several quite serious subjects, like the way people react when confronted with an imminent catastrophe - considering the moment in which I read this book, with humanity facing a worldwide crisis, I thought it was very spot-on and I was glad for the author’s trademark lightness because observing the various fictional players it was impossible not to make disheartening comparisons with actual events. The series, and The Last Emperox in particular, shows how personal advantage is paramount for power-hungry individuals and how sowing distrust and misinformation helps drive their agendas, while the general population is divided between the few who plan in advance against a worst-case scenario and those lulled into the complacent belief that those in power will find a solution before the inevitable becomes a reality.
Where I found the second book in this series, The Consuming Fire, somewhat uneven in pacing due to the shift between the quicker-flowing sections and the long chunks of exposition dialogue, this final installment turned into a swift, riveting read as the antagonists’ plots battled against the Emperox’s and her allies’ countermeasures, generating a constant race against time, fueled by shrewdness and political expediency that kept the story lively and the tension high. Most of this narrative tension rests on the three main characters: Grayland II, whose desire to be a good and just ruler needs to be balanced against the challenging decisions she must take in the face of the forthcoming Flow collapse; Nadashe Nohamapetan, the very embodiment of the evil lady, the dastardly plotter whose ambitions are surpassed only by her ruthlessness; and Kiva Lagos, the foul-mouthed, crafty ally of the Emperox who remains my favorite character and one of the best sources of humor in the whole series.
It’s worth noting how these three women are not only at the very center of things, but also the most striking figures among the various personalities peopling this series: for example, if Nadashe is a vile adversary who stops at nothing to fulfill her goals, she ultimately does not come across as totally bad, if that makes any sense. As I saw her labyrinthine plans taking shape, I was torn between wanting them to fail and at the same time feeling sorry if they didn’t: in a way I ended up envisioning her as poor Wile E. Coyote, who concocted equally convoluted and far-reaching plans to win over Road Runner, only to be always spectacularly defeated in the end - and that never failed to elicit some form of sympathy from me. On the other hand, there was no ambiguity in my cheering for Kiva’s success, and although at some point she managed to set in motion a series of events whose serendipity might appear totally unbelievable, it all worked within the over-the-top setup of her character, making it easy to suspend my disbelief and equally easy to observe her antics with an amused smile. Grayland looks less intense in comparison with these two formidable figures, her apparent candor masking instead a firm determination and a core of integrity that seems to be sorely lacking in the Interdependency, and that’s the main reason I was surprised - or rather stunned - at her unexpected choice for solving the quandary and giving her subjects a new direction and a hope for the future. I must say I did not expect the direction the story took and that in this instance the author managed to drop a very unpredictable twist on me here.
Where The Last Emperox draws all the narrative threads of the series to a good close, I find myself sorry to have to leave this universe, and I hope that John Scalzi might decide in the future to return here, maybe to show us how the former Interdependency fares in a post-collapse of the Flow future.
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LibraryThing member TadAD
For 2.8 volumes of this trilogy, it was a fun series that didn't take itself too seriously. You don't get deep character dives. You don't look too closely at the science-fictiony science. You don't think too much about the deus ex machina of an AI that can ferret out anything. You laugh at
Unfortunately, the ending doesn't jibe with those previous 2.8 volumes. It's not a bad ending, per se. It's simply completely inconsistent with the tone and characterizations that went before. And that spoiled it for me. So, rather than this being a series I'd recommend to fans of lighthearted science fiction, I doubt I'll remember this much after some time has passed.
The ending fails on two different levels. At the 30,000-foot level, this series set itself up as a fun, happy adventure where the good guys win after a few travails, and the bad guys lose big time. The bad guys do lose. But it's a Pyrrhic victory for the good guys. And that doesn't work. Expectations weren't set that way, and this series isn't deep enough to carry off that kind of twist.
On a more detailed level, it was inconsistent with Cardenia's character as presented to us. Yes, it's entirely believable that she would sacrifice her life to save the Interdependency. But it is NOT entirely believable that she would commit suicide to do so when there were other, perfectly viable alternatives. One of the main thrusts of the books was how much people had misjudged her ability to come out ahead and triumph over the obstacles they put in her way.
She knew the murder attempt was coming, including the details of time, place, and method. She knew she had the technology to fake a death right down to DNA samples—I mean, come on, that scenario was done more than once in the story. She knew she had a ship that was impervious to spying and could take her off on an adventure in a direction that no one would suspect. It's obvious: let the Countess blow herself up, fake your own death, let your AI clone do what it did. Go live the rest of your life as Cardenia instead of Grayland (which is what you wanted anyway), marry the love of your life, and visit Earth content in the knowledge that you've accomplished exactly what the ending as written accomplished while still staying true to character and tone.
Artificially injecting pathos into a story doesn't make it deeper.
Oh, and while we're at it: does anyone really think Marce would jet off to find Earth, no matter how heartbroken he is, when he's the best hope for saving civilization? I don't. That's not his character.
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co-conspirators who'll trust the villain despite her 100% track record of screwing them over. You just enjoy the romp ... sort of a summer reading type of thing. Unfortunately, the ending doesn't jibe with those previous 2.8 volumes. It's not a bad ending, per se. It's simply completely inconsistent with the tone and characterizations that went before. And that spoiled it for me. So, rather than this being a series I'd recommend to fans of lighthearted science fiction, I doubt I'll remember this much after some time has passed.
The ending fails on two different levels. At the 30,000-foot level, this series set itself up as a fun, happy adventure where the good guys win after a few travails, and the bad guys lose big time. The bad guys do lose. But it's a Pyrrhic victory for the good guys. And that doesn't work. Expectations weren't set that way, and this series isn't deep enough to carry off that kind of twist.
On a more detailed level, it was inconsistent with Cardenia's character as presented to us. Yes, it's entirely believable that she would sacrifice her life to save the Interdependency. But it is NOT entirely believable that she would commit suicide to do so when there were other, perfectly viable alternatives. One of the main thrusts of the books was how much people had misjudged her ability to come out ahead and triumph over the obstacles they put in her way.
She knew the murder attempt was coming, including the details of time, place, and method. She knew she had the technology to fake a death right down to DNA samples—I mean, come on, that scenario was done more than once in the story. She knew she had a ship that was impervious to spying and could take her off on an adventure in a direction that no one would suspect. It's obvious: let the Countess blow herself up, fake your own death, let your AI clone do what it did. Go live the rest of your life as Cardenia instead of Grayland (which is what you wanted anyway), marry the love of your life, and visit Earth content in the knowledge that you've accomplished exactly what the ending as written accomplished while still staying true to character and tone.
Artificially injecting pathos into a story doesn't make it deeper.
Oh, and while we're at it: does anyone really think Marce would jet off to find Earth, no matter how heartbroken he is, when he's the best hope for saving civilization? I don't. That's not his character.
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LibraryThing member mhartford
"The Last Emperox" wraps up the Interdependency series rather neatly, but with a few fun and interesting twists along the way. It has interesting ideas, and a lot of fun characters.
LibraryThing member andreas.wpv
My least favorite Scalzi, nearly dis not finish. Slow, boring, unimaginative, and one or two great characters dont save it.
LibraryThing member LisCarey
The Flow is continuing to break down, and the Interdependency is coming apart. Emperox Grayland II, a.k.a. Cardenia Patrick-Wu, has managed to take full control of her empire--for the moment. Unfortunately, she still has enemies--lots of them, and powerful ones. Some are resisting the reality of
Grayland's allies are more varied, and while some of them are by no means opposed to self-interest, they're a bit disturbed by the idea of pursuing that self-interest even to the point of being indifferent to the deaths of most of humanity. There are members of some of the noble houses, some scientists, the AI that stores the memories of all the previous Emperoroxs, the Archbishop of the Church of the Interdependency, and another AI, that originated outside the Interdependency and which has brought some useful information with it.
This is fast-paced, snarky, thoughtful, and a lot of fun. I like these characters better the more time I spend with them, which may be unfortunate, since I believe this is the last Interdependency book. Wil Wheaton is as always an excellent reader, matching the tone of the book and making the characters sharp and individual.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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what is happening. Others, the more dangerous ones, recognize what's happening, but don't share the Emperox's goal of saving the entire population of the Interdependency. They think--not completely irrationally--that that is impossible. And that being the case, they think the important thing is to save the culture, achievements, and values of the Interdependency. Which is to say, the aristocracy. I.e., themselves.Grayland's allies are more varied, and while some of them are by no means opposed to self-interest, they're a bit disturbed by the idea of pursuing that self-interest even to the point of being indifferent to the deaths of most of humanity. There are members of some of the noble houses, some scientists, the AI that stores the memories of all the previous Emperoroxs, the Archbishop of the Church of the Interdependency, and another AI, that originated outside the Interdependency and which has brought some useful information with it.
This is fast-paced, snarky, thoughtful, and a lot of fun. I like these characters better the more time I spend with them, which may be unfortunate, since I believe this is the last Interdependency book. Wil Wheaton is as always an excellent reader, matching the tone of the book and making the characters sharp and individual.
Highly recommended.
I bought this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member Guide2
Very good conclusion to the series. I could not see how Scalzi could finish the story meaningfully in such a so few pages, but he actually manages to do it very well with pretty much all plot threads resolved satisfactorily. Impressive in such a short book.
LibraryThing member rivkat
Conclusion to his trilogy about a collapsing space empire. Bad people mostly get their comeuppance and good people mostly prosper, and it’s reasonably satisfying, though the solution such as it is ends up relatively abrupt (or really: now there’s fifty years of science to do!) on a plot level.
LibraryThing member quondame
A great fun romp, and not a bit more serious than it needs to be, well considering the body count, rather less serious than could be expected. Still, another something light should be appreciated.
LibraryThing member Pepperwings
While not a "happily ever after" kind of ending, it brought a lot of key players together, and had some nice surprising twists.
This is the third and final book, so I would assume you have read the first two before looking at reviews here--but I still won't spoil anything.
I got to the end and had to
This is the third and final book, so I would assume you have read the first two before looking at reviews here--but I still won't spoil anything.
I got to the end and had to
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re-read the epilogue, I think there was an implication of what happened, rather than explanation, but that's ok. Overall, it was a satisfying ending, I was amused, and glad for some characters, saddened for others, and life didn't end for *everyone* so that's good news, considering the beginning of the series was news of essentially a death sentence for everyone. Show Less
LibraryThing member antao
“To begin, there was Shit fuck fuck shit fuck shit fucking fuck shit fucking shit fuck hell […]”
In “The Last Emperox” by John Scalzi
Ah, the misery of expression…
Scalzi fucking doesn’t have a fucking point, though. It’s all well and good having a fucking go at some fucker not
In “The Old Man’s War”series there were spots where people didn't react realistically. Like when they get their new bodies. Not even a single question as to whether they were just copies of the original or not. I mean, that's a pretty huge thing if they are. That means their original self actually got killed. Something I would think they would at least think about for a bit. Yet, it never even comes up. Like no one ever even considered the possibility. The entire concept of fighting for inhabitable planets was kind of silly also. Like they point out in the book even, colonists were quickly becoming non-human anyway. So, it wouldn't be long before your own colonists would be just as alien to your home planet as other planets are. Using the logic in the book this would lead to never ending war... first with aliens and then with your own colonists who are now basically aliens. Another aspect that either didn't make any sense or possibly went way over my head, was how they travelled. It was a mix of multiverse theory and some kind of improbability drive from “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (LINK). However, all that was explained in the book was that they were basically hopping to alternate universes. Okay, but how that make you move from one does point to another. The best I could guess is that the universe isn't stationary. Thus, you jump into an alternate universe where your current location is where your destination is. However, everything else in that alternate universe is the same pretty much. Just a little more explanation would have been nice.
This time around, we have to deal with The Flow Streams. We never have a single tiny glimpse of the physics rational supporting the theoretical framework. I think Scalzi needs to start channeling Greg Egan on another multiverse to be able to start writing “science fiction” rather than “Situational-SF-with-Loads-of-Bullshit"... An all engulfing vortex of stupidity that grows to encompass everything in the Interdependency. There was a time in my life when my most cherished dream was to be a SF writer. All I can think now is that I dodged a huge fucking bullet when that didn't work out...
SF = Speculative Fiction.
In “The Last Emperox” by John Scalzi
Ah, the misery of expression…
Scalzi fucking doesn’t have a fucking point, though. It’s all well and good having a fucking go at some fucker not
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fucking agreeing with your fucking point of view, but it is fucking lazy, and fucking adolescent, and just simply fucking tiresome to have to fucking put up with casually- fucking inserted swearing. Also, would you enjoy it less if the writing circumvented the swearing? Probably not (if well done), so it’s not a case of the product being improved for some, but being degraded for others for the sake of getting kudos from 14yr-olds. I mean, I love potty mouths, but Lady Kiva sounds like a foul mouthed jackass!In “The Old Man’s War”series there were spots where people didn't react realistically. Like when they get their new bodies. Not even a single question as to whether they were just copies of the original or not. I mean, that's a pretty huge thing if they are. That means their original self actually got killed. Something I would think they would at least think about for a bit. Yet, it never even comes up. Like no one ever even considered the possibility. The entire concept of fighting for inhabitable planets was kind of silly also. Like they point out in the book even, colonists were quickly becoming non-human anyway. So, it wouldn't be long before your own colonists would be just as alien to your home planet as other planets are. Using the logic in the book this would lead to never ending war... first with aliens and then with your own colonists who are now basically aliens. Another aspect that either didn't make any sense or possibly went way over my head, was how they travelled. It was a mix of multiverse theory and some kind of improbability drive from “Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy” (LINK). However, all that was explained in the book was that they were basically hopping to alternate universes. Okay, but how that make you move from one does point to another. The best I could guess is that the universe isn't stationary. Thus, you jump into an alternate universe where your current location is where your destination is. However, everything else in that alternate universe is the same pretty much. Just a little more explanation would have been nice.
This time around, we have to deal with The Flow Streams. We never have a single tiny glimpse of the physics rational supporting the theoretical framework. I think Scalzi needs to start channeling Greg Egan on another multiverse to be able to start writing “science fiction” rather than “Situational-SF-with-Loads-of-Bullshit"... An all engulfing vortex of stupidity that grows to encompass everything in the Interdependency. There was a time in my life when my most cherished dream was to be a SF writer. All I can think now is that I dodged a huge fucking bullet when that didn't work out...
SF = Speculative Fiction.
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
This trilogy does not represent Scalzi's best work but from the hash that he started with in "The Collapsing Empire" he managed quite a turnaround to get to a resolution that's satisfactory. Whatever else you want to say about the scenario, and the deck making up this trilogy had to be seriously
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stacked, the man still has the ability to create sympathetic characters with a few deft touches. I will say that the change-up that Scalzi pulls in the last third of the book I did not see coming. Show Less
LibraryThing member theWallflower
I feel like this might be Scalzi’s least Scalziest book yet. Something about the writing style of the Interdependency series leaves me cold. Colder than his other books, at least. In terms of tone, it feels like one of those big deal epics that Isaac Asimov or Larry Niven wrote. Not like Lock In
First, a lot of the book is setup. Basically, the empress is dealing with the paradigm-shifting changes made to the status quo last time, and not everyone in government likes it. In fact, half of the battle is stopping those derogators than moving forward with fixing the mess. Every chapter is “oh, this might happen”, “oh, this might happen”, “oh, this might happen”, and it’s exhausting waiting for a shoe to drop. He’s basically saving it all for the end. Reminds me of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, which I didn’t like.
The scope of the narration feels so high it’s like you’re watching Sims go about their business. Getting emotionally close to characters is eschewed for snarky narrative and plot twists. It loses characterization to be a book about global machinations, like the saga of the Spanish Armada. A “big deal” political epic like Dune or Foundation, condensed and modernized. But it’s a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I’m just eager to read something a little more personal and intimate.
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or Old Man’s War.First, a lot of the book is setup. Basically, the empress is dealing with the paradigm-shifting changes made to the status quo last time, and not everyone in government likes it. In fact, half of the battle is stopping those derogators than moving forward with fixing the mess. Every chapter is “oh, this might happen”, “oh, this might happen”, “oh, this might happen”, and it’s exhausting waiting for a shoe to drop. He’s basically saving it all for the end. Reminds me of “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”, which I didn’t like.
The scope of the narration feels so high it’s like you’re watching Sims go about their business. Getting emotionally close to characters is eschewed for snarky narrative and plot twists. It loses characterization to be a book about global machinations, like the saga of the Spanish Armada. A “big deal” political epic like Dune or Foundation, condensed and modernized. But it’s a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. I’m just eager to read something a little more personal and intimate.
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LibraryThing member travelster
Great story well read. Just couldn't get enough of it!
LibraryThing member lavaturtle
This book does a good job bringing the trilogy to a close: The major plots are resolved, and the characters left standing at the end all get fitting endings. I really liked what the story did with Kiva Lagos, and with the relationship between Marce and the emperox. The scenes on the smuggling ship
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were great, as was the detail about the cathedral's code updates. Show Less
LibraryThing member miken32
Not a bad end to the series. Trying a little too hard to be funny sometimes. I always feel a bit icky reading female characters (written by men) who are horny, whip smart, foul-mouthed, promiscuous, with a heart of gold. Nothing wrong with these characteristics but it always feels a bit of wish
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fulfillment/fantasy. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kardaen
I’ve read a lot of Scalzi’s books, but of the one’s I’ve read this is by far the best. I absolutely loved this book. The characters are amazingly well defined and well portrayed, and straight up fun. I love old guy that is now a ship, Chenevert, a long-dead king from another Flow system,
The story twists and turns and the action hardly slows down. When it does the snappy dialogue is a joy to behold. Scalzi’s sense of humor is on full display here. Better than his Hugo winning Red Shirts by a mile.
I listened to the first two on Audible and this one as well. Wil Wheaton does a spectacular job reading all three, this one especially. He knocks it out of the park with this one.
This is the last book in a trilogy set in the far future where mankind travels through space using flow streams. But the Streams are collapsing and without them the Interdependency is in great jeopardy. The society was set up 1500 years before to save humanity from civil war that was destroying everything, an now, because of the way it was set up with all the major houses dependent on each other, society will fall into revolt.
Scalzi weaves everything together perfectly but doesn’t betray the ending, leaving us with an unexpected by ultimately satisfying ending. It’s also an ending the leaves open the possibility of another series to follow this one, if Claremont takes the path that has been laid out for him. I sure hope Scalzi writes that series.
The only thing that disappoints in this trilogy is the length. It’s short by most novel standards, with the third book being shortest of all. That is not to say that it feels incomplete, because it doesn’t and ties all the threads together remarkably well. I’m just sad I finished it so quickly. I was torn because I knew it was going to end but I couldn’t stop listening to it. The entire trilogy gets my highest recommendation. If you like space opera it should be right in your wheelhouse.
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the foul mouthed Kiva Lagos, who is a contemporary of both the Emperox and the brilliant but evil Nadashe Nohamapeton, constantly scheming to kill the Emperox. I love the leader of this advanced society, Cardenia Wu Patrick also known as Emperox Grayland II, and her boyfriend and flow physicist Marce Claremont. I love the concept and even the names he uses for the characters. It is a showcase of his growing talent as a writer.The story twists and turns and the action hardly slows down. When it does the snappy dialogue is a joy to behold. Scalzi’s sense of humor is on full display here. Better than his Hugo winning Red Shirts by a mile.
I listened to the first two on Audible and this one as well. Wil Wheaton does a spectacular job reading all three, this one especially. He knocks it out of the park with this one.
This is the last book in a trilogy set in the far future where mankind travels through space using flow streams. But the Streams are collapsing and without them the Interdependency is in great jeopardy. The society was set up 1500 years before to save humanity from civil war that was destroying everything, an now, because of the way it was set up with all the major houses dependent on each other, society will fall into revolt.
Scalzi weaves everything together perfectly but doesn’t betray the ending, leaving us with an unexpected by ultimately satisfying ending. It’s also an ending the leaves open the possibility of another series to follow this one, if Claremont takes the path that has been laid out for him. I sure hope Scalzi writes that series.
The only thing that disappoints in this trilogy is the length. It’s short by most novel standards, with the third book being shortest of all. That is not to say that it feels incomplete, because it doesn’t and ties all the threads together remarkably well. I’m just sad I finished it so quickly. I was torn because I knew it was going to end but I couldn’t stop listening to it. The entire trilogy gets my highest recommendation. If you like space opera it should be right in your wheelhouse.
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LibraryThing member haloedrain
I enjoyed this, but I'm not sure about the ending. About 2 thirds of the way through the book I was wondering how the author was going to manage to wrap it all up without another book, and I guess that was probably the only way, but I have my doubts that Emperox Grayland's death would accomplish
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what she said it would, and it seems like she could have done all the same things while still alive since she had access to all the same information either way. Show Less
LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
A very satisfying ending to this series. Plus a twist at the end I did not see coming! SciFi done right!
LibraryThing member EmScape
Definitely one of the best series I read this year. (Review is of the whole series because I read them so quickly I can't remember what parts happened in which volume)
In the far future, humanity is set up on a series of planets and systems that are connected by some pretty neat worm holes. They
Another main character is Lady Kiva Lagos who is probably the most delightfully profane person I've ever come across and I love her deeply. She will (and frequently does) sleep with anybody and doesn't give a F*** about anything but her family and getting laid, until she's in the middle of this whole cluster and seems to just enjoy f-ing up the lives of people who are a-holes.
Lastly, we have Marce Claremont, who grew up on the farthest planet out because his father was exiled there to try to figure out the whole tunnel disappearance thing (one had disappeared a some years prior), and his dad wants him to get back to inform the Emperox what he found out. He's a sweet, nerdy dude with a big brain and an even bigger heart. I love him, too.
In fact, I loved all these characters and also hated everyone trying to get in their way, and if you're a reader of Science Fiction, you know that usually they're more about ideas and plot (or blasting up space aliens) than characters. The great thing about Scalzi is that he writes amazing characters *in addition* to great plots and his stories engage both your mind and your heart. Well done. Highly recommend.
In the far future, humanity is set up on a series of planets and systems that are connected by some pretty neat worm holes. They
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don't really know where they came from or how they work, which is a problem because it appears that they're closing. The new Emperox is concerned with trying to hold civilization together and rescue folks from worlds that aren't sustainable without the Interdependency because she's a benevolent ruler, but the power- and money-hungry factions of her quasi-government don't really care about that and so they're engaged in all kinds of machinations to thwart her in the pursuit of the aforementioned power and money. Another main character is Lady Kiva Lagos who is probably the most delightfully profane person I've ever come across and I love her deeply. She will (and frequently does) sleep with anybody and doesn't give a F*** about anything but her family and getting laid, until she's in the middle of this whole cluster and seems to just enjoy f-ing up the lives of people who are a-holes.
Lastly, we have Marce Claremont, who grew up on the farthest planet out because his father was exiled there to try to figure out the whole tunnel disappearance thing (one had disappeared a some years prior), and his dad wants him to get back to inform the Emperox what he found out. He's a sweet, nerdy dude with a big brain and an even bigger heart. I love him, too.
In fact, I loved all these characters and also hated everyone trying to get in their way, and if you're a reader of Science Fiction, you know that usually they're more about ideas and plot (or blasting up space aliens) than characters. The great thing about Scalzi is that he writes amazing characters *in addition* to great plots and his stories engage both your mind and your heart. Well done. Highly recommend.
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LibraryThing member Cataloger623
Science fiction is at its best when it examines issues in the context of future events. In this case, Scalzi uses the question of who do you save when you have limited resources? Do you try to keep everyone alive? Do you try to keep a select few? The problem examined in the context of the
I loved this book, and it was a third great act to a three-act series. I found myself caring for the characters. The politics that lay at the heart of the story are understandable. The clarity is unusual for most novels that are focused more on politics than action. There is a clear villain in this novel. Yet her motives from her perspective are rational, given the known limits of the technology—the impending doom facing the society.
The elements of the resolution of the problem Scalzi proposes are scattered through the series. Scalzi presents science with a lack of technobabble. Yet and still, I found the ending of the series somewhat rushed. Scalzi admits he wrote the conclusion in the shadow of a deadline. I wish the finish had been longer.
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technologically advanced semi-feudal system of government. You know from the outset which answers Scalzi favors, yet he gives the other side a rational voice.I loved this book, and it was a third great act to a three-act series. I found myself caring for the characters. The politics that lay at the heart of the story are understandable. The clarity is unusual for most novels that are focused more on politics than action. There is a clear villain in this novel. Yet her motives from her perspective are rational, given the known limits of the technology—the impending doom facing the society.
The elements of the resolution of the problem Scalzi proposes are scattered through the series. Scalzi presents science with a lack of technobabble. Yet and still, I found the ending of the series somewhat rushed. Scalzi admits he wrote the conclusion in the shadow of a deadline. I wish the finish had been longer.
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LibraryThing member threadnsong
I bought it because of the interview earlier this year that John Scalzi did on NPR, in part because of the political intrigue and in part because most of the main characters are women. And the snark is just the right amount without being cynical.
This third novel in the series was a little harder
A great, complex book about the intrigues that happen when a society grows so lopsided that all food and trade goods are controlled by a few monopolies belonging to highly-placed families. Space travel is possible, but the Flow is collapsing and it doesn't seem like humanity is going to survive in their isolated space colonies. All this as our Emperox is learning how her life has changed since becoming the inter-galactic ruler of a vast, sprawling empire with great technology but a limited time for its humans.
This third novel in the series was a little harder
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for me to get into, either out of sheer exhaustion or because I had not entered this world through the first two books. That said, it was still an easy book to pick up and read and not feel completely lost. The POV shifts from character to character, and again, I am amazed that any writer is able to write such complex female characters. Even the TV series "Lost" killed off three complex women characters when the writers couldn't pigeon-hole them into traditional TV roles. But I digress.A great, complex book about the intrigues that happen when a society grows so lopsided that all food and trade goods are controlled by a few monopolies belonging to highly-placed families. Space travel is possible, but the Flow is collapsing and it doesn't seem like humanity is going to survive in their isolated space colonies. All this as our Emperox is learning how her life has changed since becoming the inter-galactic ruler of a vast, sprawling empire with great technology but a limited time for its humans.
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LibraryThing member malcrf
Great fun, a real page-turning roller-coaster of a space opera. Great characters, sparse, but vivid prose, intriguing plot.
LibraryThing member tuusannuuska
This has been my favorite of The Interdependency series, so far. I enjoy the characters more and more in each installment, and even the villains are so entertaining that you can't really hate them, hate them.
LibraryThing member jmchshannon
There is nothing quite as satisfying as a series, whether it be on television or written, that never loses its intensity throughout its span and ends with a spectacular finish, as Mr. Scalzi does with this one.
LibraryThing member wyvernfriend
There were things I didn't expect that would happen in this but they were perfect for the story. Our heroes are trying to make the best out of a bad lot and hoping that they can minimise the damage that is going to ensue. There are also the complicated politics involved in the wealthy who are
It's a good end to the series and well worth reading.
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determined to survive beyond all possible costs.It's a good end to the series and well worth reading.
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Subjects
Awards
Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Shortlist — 2022)
Dragon Award (Winner — Science Fiction Novel — 2020)
NPR: Books We Love (2020)
Language
Original publication date
2020-04-14
Physical description
318 p.; 22 cm
ISBN
9780765389169