The Consuming Fire | daves0 library | TinyCat |

2024-06-16 4:46 am

The Consuming Fire

by John Scalzi

Hardcover, 2018

Series

The Interdependency (2)

Genres

Science Fiction

Science Fiction

Publication

New York, NY : A Tom Doherty Associates Book, 2018.

Description

"The second, thrilling novel in the bestselling Interdependency series, from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi. The Interdependency, humanity's interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional conduit that makes travel between the stars possible, is disappearing, leaving entire star systems stranded. When it goes, human civilization may go with it--unless desperate measures can be taken. Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures to help ensure the survival of billions. But nothing is ever that easy. Arrayed before her are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth--or at the very least, an opportunity that can allow them to ascend to power. While Grayland prepares for disaster, others are preparing for a civil war, a war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business, and the altars of worship as much as it will take place between spaceships and battlefields. The Emperox and her allies are smart and resourceful, but so are her enemies. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy... and all of humanity will be caught in its widening gyre" --… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member wyvernfriend

The Emperox Grayland II is trying to cope with her loss and how to cope with the collapse of a society and how to ensure that humanity will survive. It's interesting to read a leader who cares and is trying to do her best for as many people as possible.
Looking forward to reading the rest of this

series and to see what's going to happen next.

LibraryThing member fred_mouse

Given that this was book two of a trilogy, I didn't expect as much as it gave. The story, plot and pacing are as good as the first, the characterisation and dialogue better. The story continues to be a complex political drama, which is not what I read space opera for. But at least I'm warming to

some of the characters, even the self-acknowledge arseholes.

I don't have much to say about the plot, except that the payoff in the later scenes is absolutely worth it. There were certainly a couple of lines of dialogue that made me reflect that writing is one way to use those fabulous comments that you wish you had thought of in the moment. Not an appealing enough temptation to actually get me to write fiction though.

My other overarching thought is that Scalzi's very cynical take on the future of current capitalist monopolies continues to be terrifying

LibraryThing member BillieBook

Okay, we have a society ruled by a family much like the Borgias in that they have both political and spiritual authority and shit-tons of money, besides. And there's a scheming woman who is much more like a Borgia in temperament and who really wants to depose the current Space Pope so that she can

marry her daughter to the next Space Pope. There is a looming disaster of astrophysics that will cause the various outposts of this civilization to be cut off from one another. There's lots of scheming and plotting and murdering and politicking and intriguing and fucking (Borgias!) and even some sciencing. It is a society just as messy and complicated and fascinating as one would expect when it has been created and ruled by Space Borgias for generations. But, apparently, it wasn't complicated enough because now a science expedition has stumbled across a small band of humans who have been scrabbling for survival completely cut off from contact with anyone else. Oh, and a sentient ship (a literal "ghost in the machine") that breaks the news that the collapse of the paths through the Flow (the anomaly that allows travel through vast expanses of space in a tiny fraction of the time it would take even at light speed) is man-made. (Because of course it is. Even thousands of years in the future we can't have nice things without someone fucking them up because of greed or hubris or just because they can.)

Other authors: Here's a rich, complicated world full of interesting characters and politics and science. Let's see how this chess game I've set up plays out.

Scalzi: Fuck that. The pieces are now kittens and your opponent is a caffeinated monkey. See how much more fun it is now?

I, for one, much prefer playing by Scalzi rules.

LibraryThing member rivkat

As the links between the planets of the Interdependency continue to collapse. Much palace intrigue ensues, mostly driven by strong, snarky women, so it’s my bag. (Also long-dead links reopen, leading the scientists investigating to find something other than what they expected, which is also quite

interesting.) A very good second-entry-in-the-series offering.

LibraryThing member santhony

This is book two, of what I would assume is a trilogy. It is classical hard science fiction, with all that entails; faster than light travel between the stars, colonized planets in economic and political rivalry with one another, a galactic Empire with revolutionary elements in play. If you have

not read book one, do not begin here. Though there are frequent information dumps, making it theoretically possible to read this book without having read book one, why would you?

There is really nothing that separates this work from hundreds just like it; in fact, it was so similar to the framework of Dune as to be almost derivative. It is not a bad story, but is in no way original. If you are looking for perfectly acceptable, run of the mill science fiction, you could do worse. There are lots of strong, female characters (in fact, almost exclusively strong, female characters) and an abundance of sex and profanity.

LibraryThing member Shrike58

When I read the first book in what was supposed to be a two-part effort, my main thought was that "The Collapsing Empire" read like the middle book of a trilogy. Now that it is at least a trilogy the middle book goes a long way towards dealing with the structural problems of the first book and I

don't feel the need to think nice thoughts about it just because of Scalzi's previous track record. That said Scalzi does deploy a pantheon of dei ex machina in the course of this novel but it's generally so gleefully done that I really can't hold it very much against him; particularly since it greatly widens the scope of this universe. Keeping in mind that this work started out as something of Scalzi's effort to make an answer to Frank Herbert's "Dune" I do kind of wonder if he decided that the best answer was something of a send-up in his inimitably snarky manner. Now to see if Scalzi sticks the landing.

LibraryThing member majackson

A logical continuation of "The Collapsing Empire" with more of the same verbal infighting but with some very entertaining plot twists in that the "flow" is not quite what they thought it was. But yes, the enemies are even viler than you thought they were. The result is that the plot opens up toward

the end and we see that the end of the Interdependency is (and isn't) as final as one would think.

LibraryThing member grizzly.anderson

The continuing saga continues, and isn't done yet. A week or so after reading The Consuming Fire I have difficulty remembering much more than a general impression. It was a quick read, it was reasonably enjoyable (more so that the first book), and it works a little better as a novel that tells a

story. None the less it is still part 2 of I don't know how many. Possibly you could start reading here but I would recommend against it. And because the story isn't especially memorable and doesn't reach any real conclusion here I recommend waiting for the entire series to be done and then read them straight through. Otherwise you'll be frustrated with a succession of unfinished parts where you can't really remember what came before either.

LibraryThing member Guide2

The first half dragged on a bit, but the second half was quite a bit more interesting, although it almost seemed a bit rushed given all that happened at the end. Again overall a bit short.

LibraryThing member nmele

Scalzi had me from the first page, where he casually mentions to places named Kumasi and Yogyakarta: I lived and worked in both (terrestrial) cities; the place names are incidental, part of his universe-building, but the plot and characters of this sequel to The Collapsing Empire broaden the view

of the Interdependency and of the universe beyond it. This is a thoroughly enjoyable read whether or not you care about the easter eggs for fans scattered throughout the text, which include references to other authors, bands and, obviously, place names that may or may not be familiar to all readers.

LibraryThing member nicolewbrown

"The Interdependency with it's religious and social ethos of interconnectedness combined with a guild-centered, monopolistic economy, they'd created possibly the most ridiculously complex method of ensuring the formal caste system of nobles intertwined with a merchant class, and common workers

underneath, complicated proceeding even further. And yet it worked. It worked because on a social level, apparently enough people wanted it to, and because at the heart of it, billions of humans living in fragile habitats prone to mechanical and environmental breakdowns and degradation, and with limited natural resources, were better off relying on each other than trying to go it alone. Even without the Interdependency being interdependent was the best way for humanity to survive." (The Collapsing Empire p 276) At the head of the whole thing is the emperox who had the largest guild, was the head of the church, and had a seat on parliament.

River-like things called Flows are located between habitats with one Flow going in and one going out to a particular habitat. The Hub is the only one that has Flows going to nearly all habitats. The End is the only habitat that you can grow things on in the ground. The Flow leading from the End to the Hub has collapsed. It is the first but it won't be the last to do so. The emperox's scientist from the End Lord Marce is studying this problem and what can be done while the Emperox Grayland II is dealing with the church, the parliament, and the guilds by saying she has had visions just like the first Emperox Rachela I did. She is trying to get her kingdom to accept the collapse of the Flow system that will leave the habitats isolated and the Interdependency no more.

Meanwhile, her two Wu cousins are both working to overthrow her and put themselves on the throne. One wants to work with the House of Nohamapetan through the Countess and her daughter Nadashe who is in prison for treason and trying to murder the emperox and for murdering her own brother the man who was in contention to be the emperox's consort. Jasin Wu tries to have her murdered in prison while Deran saves her life.

Countess Nohamapetan does not have control of her House finances, Lady Kiva of Legos does. I love Lady Kiva. She's such a cool bitch and a half. She knows what she wants and goes after it, but it you cross her you better think about moving to another planetary code before she can find you and mess you up. She becomes a close ally to the emperox and helps her with the work she needs to get done, especially against the Nohampetan.

Lord Marce who first figured out there were problems with the Flow and is the scientist trying to figure out the problems of the Flow and Emperox Grayland II become closer emotionally and she wants them to become closer physically but how to go about it? It's pretty funny how she does. This book is quirky and funny in its own way. The characters are great. Nadashe is cunning and ruthless and out to win the crown for herself in the way she wants to as soon as she can get out of this prison situation which she sees as a temporary setback. Scalzi in this series writes very strong female characters. I applaud him for this. Not that there aren't strong male characters in this novel. Lord Marce is one as is Lord Assan a member of the executive committee of the Interdependency that consisted of members of the guild, parliament, and the head of the church. Lord Assan plotted cross-purposes with the Wus trying to decide which one to back. He is a real asshole, which he would tell you himself. This is a stellar book and I would give it more than five stars if I could, but since my meter only goes to five I'll have to settle for giving it a strong five stars out of five.

Quotes

The now-dead-and-somewhat-smeary Amit Nohamapetan’s office was room was befitted the head of his family’s operations in the Hub system, tastefully appointed in the manner that strongly implied it was furnished entirely through the preferences of a hired interior decorator rather than Amit’s own inclinations, if he had any, which he probably hadn’t, and landed with all the modern technological assistants and innovations that any modern executive could want or need. “All except for a ‘Hey your fucking sister is planning to shove a shuttle up your ass’ alert,” Kiva thought to herself. Which to be fair was admittedly a specialized item.

-John Scalzi (The Consuming Fire p 70)

Kiva considered that she might be developing a thing for Fundapeldo, which on the one hand was a very not-Kiva thing to do, but on the other hand who gave a fuck if it was “not-Kiva”, because she wasn’t some fucking fictional character destined to do whatever some goddamn hack wanted her to do.

-John Scalzi (The Consuming Fire p 296)

LibraryThing member quondame

Compact and amusing, the new emperox finds her feet among traitorous murdering schemers. This has the feel of a story setting the actors firmly in place before launching the main action. I love the names of the space ships.

LibraryThing member LisCarey

The Empire of the Interdependency is going to collapse, because the Flow network that allows travel among its 47 star systems is collapsing. Emperox Grayland II, a.k.a. Cardenia Wu-Patrick, is determined to save as much of humanity as possible--though it seems that might be a very tiny percentage.

In all the 47 systems of the Interdependency, only one planet, End, can support human life living unprotected on its surface.

Unfortunately, of the leadership, both political and commercial, of the Interdependency doesn't believe that the Flow network is collapsing. Even with the Flow from End having already closed, no one wants to believe it. End, after all, is just a minor backwater...

Grayland is working with the allies she does have, including Flow physicist Lord Marce Claremont, some of her staff, the computer-stored avatars of her predecessors, some leaders of the Church of the Interdependency, of which she is the nominal head, and even some among the Interdependency military and more foresighted or open-minded members of the Great Houses.

In this second volume, Grayland and her allies are encountering unexpected changes, developments they did not anticipate, and even some startling discoveries about the history of pre-Interdependency humanity. This fictional universe grows more complex, detailed, and lived-in.

I like these characters. The pace moves, and the plot is involving and draws me in. Wil Wheaton is once again the narrator of the audiobook, and as always does an excellent job.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook.

LibraryThing member terriks

Book Two of Scalzi's Inter dependency series. More character development, more plot twists.

I do appreciate that Scalzi makes it a point of having strong women characters. The male leads are clear and heroic, but they aren't treated with any more consideration by the author than the women, who are

also clear and heroic. I like it.

LibraryThing member Pepperwings

An excellent sequel to the series, we learn more about the political structure, and where the interdependence is headed.

LibraryThing member theWallflower

So, like all second books in a series, I’m not sure why you’re reading this. If you haven’t read the first one, what’s this going to do. If you have read the first one, you already know if you want to read the second. Nonetheless, here are my thoughts.

There is plenty here to sing praises

about. The new world-building is fun and classic at the same time. It evokes the more sophisticated “low concept” stories of Heinlein and Asimov, using thick allegory and hard science to tell a story. One that’s not necessarily a happily ever after. It’s hard to tell he wrote this in two weeks.

Some criticize the book for a lack of depth, but I don’t see that. I see more depth than other Scalzi novels. The characters are as interesting as before… but not more interesting. The revelations are as gasp-creating as before… but not more gasp-creating. Nothing like as big as a Darth Vader/Luke Skywalker thing.

Which brings me to my biggest gripe–I never get the sense that anyone’s in real danger. Pages and pages of bad guy schemes, plans, and set-ups, enough to put Game of Thrones to shame. But then, right before they execute, someone calls them out, revealing they were one step ahead the whole time. And while it’s satisfying to see the bullies get their ass handed to them, it doesn’t give a sense of risk. All the good guys have more power than the bad. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?

I’m still looking forward to the next. I don’t feel the second book made the storyline better, but it certainly didn’t make it worse.

LibraryThing member Schneider

I was quite excited to dive into Scalzi's 2nd book in The Interdependency series 'The Consuming Fire'. I was in The Flow, so to speak with the storyline and thought book one 'The Collapsing Empire' was a great first book of a series. Something top keep the readers reading... Book two did not quite

live up to the loftiness that book one set it up for. I thought that 'The Consuming Fire', while reading fast, was a slow paced book that could have benefitted from more depth from its characters and story.

The characters just seemed to be not quite there, missing something. While most were introduced in the first book, those that were introduced in book two seemed pretty lifeless with maybe the exception of the most lifeless new character of the book! The author just needed to spend a bit more time giving some life to these people. Emotions don't stick when there is no investment in the characters by the reader. We need a reason to believe that someone is sad because of a death instead of reading the words that indicate he feels sadness. When written thoroughly those emotions will be understood by the reader inherently without having to explain why a character hung his head and sat quietly.

The storyline is similar. While technically sound, I felt like the author, whom I have never had a poor thing to say about before, gave us a meal of burgers and fries when we could have had steak and potatoes. The story felt thin. It is as though he fleshed out the story enough to give it shape and direction, but not enough to give it detail and depth. There seem to be hundred additional lines within this story that could be added for depth, but were not. More about the church, the Archbishop, the Wu's, Kiva's digging and discovering, etc. His sharp humor and wit, which are elements of his writing that sets him apart from his peers, while evident on most pages cannot make up for the lack that seems to trend throughout this work. I'll say this, at least the ending has kept me interested in the reading the next installment in the series.

The worst that I can say about John Scalzi's latest is that it is OK, unfortunately it is also the best that I can say about it too. He is a man with a bright future in the Sci-Fi genre, I don't think that this blip should be held against him just yet...

LibraryThing member reading_fox

Slightly poor continuation of Scalzi's new series the Interdependancy. Wheras the first was quite a clever look at the politics of a collapsing empire, this isn't so good. there's far too much jumping around between characters for little reason, a lack of depth int he plot and far too much

superficial telling of what's gong on than actual story showing us the characters. I'm not sure why it feels so thin, but it really didn't work very well.

The story picks up almost immediately after the end of The Collapsing Empire with Emprox Cardenia still trying to master the politics of a population having to face immediate action, whilst all the existing powers that be would wish business to continue as normal, and hence attempting to undermine and subvert her message. It's an obvious analogy to Climate Change, but still doesn't make the writing any better. Our science experts decide it would too climatic to have all the Flow streams collapse altogether and invent a reason for new ones to appear. This enables them to go on a mission away from the main politics and discover that the Interdependency may be able to survive as isolated habitats longer than they originally expected. I suspect book 3 will further explore the possibilities arising from this. Cardenia only features briefly (well all of the characters only feature briefly) so we're not much enlightened by the steps she's making to control her wayward Family houses.

I'll probably read the next because Scalzi can be very good, but somehow if this had been the first of the series I wouldn't have done so.

LibraryThing member drmaf

Worthy successor to the impressive first book in the series. Starting straight after the conclusion of the previous book, the Emperox Grayland II starts having visions, which upsets the church no end, but its all part of her plan to help the Interdependency adjust to the collapse of the Flow, which

will leave the various member habitats completely isolated from each other. Meanwhile her arch enemies the Nahomapetan clan haven't taken well to their plot to assassinate Grayland failing and are scheming to take back their business empire from the capable hands of the forthright Kiva Lagos and in the process present the throne to a suitable puppet. Meanwhile Marce Clement, having successfully entered the Emperox's bed, goes off to explore a long-lost colony which has suddenly gained temporary Flow access again in the hopes of discovering a way in which the colonies could survive the loss of the Flow and uncovers both the plot to unseat his Emperox-lover and a calling card from Earth and the other colonies with whom the Interdependency had severed contact millennia ago. There are slow parts in the book, perhaps a little too much talk, but the moments of action are well-presented and the re-discovery of the lost brethren of humanity presents exciting possibilities for subsequent books.

LibraryThing member purpledog

Another score with me. I can always count on John Scalzi to an entertaining story. I read this in two sitting despite a slow start because of a data dump at the beginning.

There is lots of political intrigue and something at the end I was not expecting. No spoilers so you will have to read for

yourself.

LibraryThing member tldegray

The first book felt very immediate with the crisis of the Flow upon us, but this book--after the first of the flows collapsing, and other long-dormant flows opening--had the time to reveal some new information and uncover a very old secret. The characters are still a highlight of this series and I

was particularly happy to see Kiva back and doing what she does best.

LibraryThing member rretzler

The Consuming Fire is the second book in John Scalzi’s Interdependency series. I listened to the audiobook read by Wil Wheaton. Following closely on the heels of [The Collapsing Empire], Emperox Grayland II (Cardenia Wu Patrick) and Lord Marce Claremont are still dealing with the impending

collapse of the Flow, the only means of transportation between the worlds of the Interdependency. Marce learns more about the mechanics of the Flow, while Cardenia, with the help of Lady Kiva Lagos, unmasks traitors to the Interdependency.

I enjoyed the sequel almost as much as the first in the series - perhaps its my great appreciation of Scalzi as an author and of Wheaton as a narrator. The two, IMO, are a perfect pairing for audiobooks. Aside from Scalzi’s intriguing world-building and absorbing characters (mainly strong female types in this series), he has a sense of humor that I really appreciate. And Wil Wheaton completely understands and communicates Scalzi’s humor perfectly.

I highly recommend this series for lovers of space opera.

LibraryThing member JJbooklvr

This picks up right after The Collapsing Empire which came out last year and is just as fun! A thrill ride all the way through as Scalzi expands upon the Universe he created and then gives us a blockbuster ending to set up the next book in the series. Great characters, snappy dialog, and plenty of

twists to the plot keeps things moving along at a fast pace. Another solid read for scifi fans or to give to someone who things they do not like scifi.

LibraryThing member breic

Some of the writing is truly awful, and the characters are paper-thin. Scalzi tries to make up for that with a light, winking tone, but that doesn't suffice. Finally, the whole story seems like bulked-up filler between book 1 and book 3 in the series. None of the plot is meaningful on its own, and

all the major events are just to set up the sequel.

LibraryThing member vladmihaisima

Space opera, second in a series (would not make sense to read on its own), about a human civilization spread across multiple artificial habitats connected by worm holes. Characters seem a bit stereotypical and do not evolve much during the book. Action has some surprises, but overall does not seem

very well explained/put into context. Some characters seem to be prepared only to have a role in later books, while others are quickly introduced and then later removed. Not enough description on the science parts - how things should suppose to work given the world constraints.

Subjects

Interplanetary Voyages Fiction

Life on other Planets Fiction

Space and time Fiction

Awards

Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire (Shortlist — 2022)

Language

Original publication date

2018-10-16

Physical description

316 p.; 22 cm

ISBN

9780765388971

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