SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion

- The second book of the Interdependency series is scheduled for release on October 16th, 2018. I enjoyed listening to The Collapsing Empire and look forward to the follow up novel.

Consuming Fire Blurb:

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 then 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.

I already ordered the audiobook and plan to start around the 16th. I look forward to chatting with everyone about the book.

I got my audiobook and will start this one in a day or two. =)

Is this a good book?

Artemis, this one has just come out, so we don't know! If you are looking for a new book, may I suggest either jumping into something that's already planned, (though this one is the second book in a series), so you have some company, or going to the "Lost Books and Recommendations" folder and posting what sort of book you're looking for?

ok....thanks Mrs.Hurd

lol! You're welcome

I just finished Book 1 a few days ago, and I've bought this one... and then I dropped my Kindle and broke it (again) so now I can only read it on my phone or web browser.

I'll probably start on my phone and just deal with it. :|

Sorry to hear your Kindle broke, David. I won't buy a Kindle. Though I was tempted by the Oasis but the lack of external SD card made me decide against getting one. I can't stand the limitations. I adore my tablets though. =) LG & Samsung. Yay!

I look forward to talking about the book.

I just need to finish The Sparrow, then I'll start this one. Really looking forward to it! It's a little on the short side, no? I remember feeling like the first one ended sort of suddenly without much of a conclusion. Perhaps breaking it into two books was just a cash grab on the part of the publisher?

Both books are around 300 pages. I also felt like The Collapsing Empire was short but I think it was due to a lot happening and not everything getting wrapped up well.

When someone finishes, can you please tell me if the ending is horribly cliffhangery like the first one? I'm thinking maybe I should wait until the next (final?) one is out.

Can do, Anna.

Huh! The audio is only 8 hrs, which is shorter than most. But if there's going to be a third one, then I guess it makes sense not to smush the first two together.

Chapter 6: (view spoiler)[Like all Scalzi books, it's a fast and easy read so far... but it hasn't really clicked for me yet.

He's made a deliberate effort to accommodate people who didn't read the first book, which I'm usually fine with, but in this case it's taken too much time and is not subtle. It feels like he's spent at least 10% of the book explaining the worldbuilding from the first book in a way that doesn't serve the narrative at all. Since the Flow and how it works is a hand-wavey plot device to begin with, I wish he'd spend less time talking about it.

I'm also still totally unimpressed by the political intrigue. This isn't Scalzi's strong suit.

That said, I'm confident that things will pick up. It is a Scalzi book after all. (hide spoiler)]

David - (view spoiler)[Scalzi sucks at politics! LOL
I feel like this is a general truth for his books. I think it every single time he puts a lot of politics into a story. (hide spoiler)]

I'm around Ch9 in the audio. Everything picked up pace wise.

I finished the book. Any thoughts to share? I definitely enjoyed the last half more than the first.

I got sidetracked with another buddy read. :-/

No worries. Come chat if you want to. =)

I finished it and overall I liked it. I also haven't liked earlier intrigue storyline, it seemed generic and that could be in space opera as well as in romance of historical fiction with sightliest of tweaks.

I disliked strong language where it wasn't necessary, (view spoiler)[assassination attempts sounded too silly and straightforward if you bear in mind that all those moguls are constantly on each other throats - and they have transparent not bullet proof windows? (hide spoiler)]

Oleksandr wrote: "I finished it and overall I liked it. I also haven't liked earlier intrigue storyline, it seemed generic and that could be in space opera as well as in romance of historical fiction with sightliest..."

(view spoiler)[Most of the story did feel rather tongue in cheek. Like when the ship they traveled in to the flow to that place that hasn't been visited for 800+ years was blown up. Lots of serious situations in the story line but I did not feel that any of it was taken seriously. (hide spoiler)]

So, how cliffhangery is the ending?

Anna wrote: "So, how cliffhangery is the ending?"

Moderately so, i.e. there is a resolution and sharp change just at the end but it is more or less a finished story with hints about future

OK, thanks! Sounds like I don't have to wait until the next one.

Anna, I would wait for the next one. I felt like I wished I had when I finished.

Oh? Well maybe I should then. I recently heard there's going to be "at least one more" book, so I'm wondering if it's more than one, I may have to wait for a long time. I might remember enough now that I don't need to reread the first one, but I guess I can reread it later.

I rarely feel the need to re-read before reading the latest release but I really wanted to for Consuming Fire. The intro made me feel adrift. Then the story settled.

Oleksandr is right that there is a resolution but it makes you want the next book right now to find out what comes next.

I just got this, cliffhanger be damned! I'll be joining just as soon as I finish Stories of Your Life

LoL =)

Come on aboard.

Finished it. The second half worked much better for me than the first.

(view spoiler)[I and others have said it before, but I really don't care for the Game of Thrones in Space stuff... Scalzi really just isn't pulling it off. I did start liking the book when they went to Dalasyslan, though.

For some reason lots of Scalzi books recently have endings that leave me rolling my eyes in how everything magically comes together. This book, Lock In, Fuzzy Nation and The End of All Things all had moments at their climax that I thought were sort of ridiculous.

Fortunately it doesn't bother me too much, because I've come not to take Scalzi books too seriously. The first three Old Man's War books were the only Scalzi novels that I really considered "serious". The rest are mostly just brain candy. (hide spoiler)]

I liked the first book more than this one. I also feel that Lock In series has a tighter story arc. The setting & cast is not as large so that makes sense to me. I'm with you and definitely enjoyed the last half more than the first.

Just started! Enjoying the humor of it. It's fun to be back in this world.

Soo wrote: "I also feel that Lock In series has a tighter story arc..."

Agreed

I'm only 2 chapters in (plus the prologue)

(view spoiler)[ But I'm liking it! It's sort of meandering and belaboring the point a bit, but it's a nice reminder of how the world works and who the characters are all. I didn't reread CE so I'm happy about the nudge. I really needed something light and fluffy right now and this is fitting the bill. I've chuckled 3 times so far, and after the Traitor Baru ordeal, his snide comments on economics are soothing to me. (hide spoiler)]

LoL =)

Ch. 7: (view spoiler)["gutstabbery in her soul," Hah! Very, er, evocative turn of phrase. (hide spoiler)]

(view spoiler)[Okay, I really just loved this whole exchange.

"Your pledge moves us, Countess," Grayland said. "It is a reflection of the quality of your soul, and we are glad to know it."

And then, after that absolute masterpiece of saying, Oh, I see you, bitch and making it sound like a compliment, the emperox turned her attention to Kiva.

Fun to be back in your company, Kiva and Grayland II! I might ship them a little, is that wrong?
(hide spoiler)]

I ship it, Ariana!

Ch 8/end Book 1

(view spoiler)[ I agree a bit with what others have said. The intrigue and explanations are a bit overdone. It started out well but I'm looking forward to seeing this new lost system!

And I agree, I loved the exchange with Nohamepaton! Though "eternal enemy" when it was your kid who killed the best friend you just reminded her of seems like a pretty bitch move. Like...own it, chica. Your kids were screw ups. (hide spoiler)]

=)
Agreed!

I read a sample of the first few chapters and loved it.
Now our post office has sent a message saying the book is waiting for us to pick it up (too large for our post box) and we are having such a busy week we just can't find time to get to the PO. *so frustrating!*

The worst, Esther!! I hope you find a moment to stop and retrieve it.

I've finished the book. Oleksandr, I basically agree with you on this one.

(view spoiler)[ Overall, it was a fun romp. I think I like the books where Scalzi shows us how everything falls apart more than I like him trying to figure out intrigues. He's very wry and amusing about disasters, but creating believable crises seems to be something he's not designed for. I still had a good time reading along and seeing our friends from CE, and will likely give the third one a shot, but it's now gone from "must know" to "I'll get around to it." (hide spoiler)]

I'm with everyone else. It was very fun, but there wasn't a whole lot there.

For instance, (view spoiler)[I wanted to be super into Grayland's smackdown of all the traitors at the end. But they were so easy to catch that it didn't feel as satisfying as I was hoping. (hide spoiler)]

But I still had a good enough time that I'm sure I'll read the next one.

I wanted more development on the last half of the book. That was the interesting series of events and would have been more appealing if there was more meat to the summaries.

Fun fact: the author says he wrote this book in two weeks. To meet a deadline. Because he procrastinated.

https://whatever.scalzi.com/2018/12/03/an-interesting-fact-about-the-consuming-fire/.

I’m not a big Scalzi fan. To me everything he writes seems like it might have been done in 2 weeks.

I’m not ragging on him, generally the books are enjoyable, but deep they are not. “Not that there’s anything wrong with that!”

MadProfessah wrote: "I’m not a big Scalzi fan. To me everything he writes seems like it might have been done in 2 weeks.

I’m not ragging on him, generally the books are enjoyable, but deep they are not. “Not that the..."

I don't need deep when he has such fun characters.
Personally if he could write the next one in the series in 2 weeks or even two months I would be more than happy.

Sometimes you want a full, rich meal and sometimes you want a hot fudge sundae. For the latter you turn to Scalzi. I really liked it for that reason. This book took me maybe two days to read.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I ended up discarding this one about 50% of the way in. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as book 1 and it generally felt more soap opera-ey than I typically want from my sci-fi, all sorts of backstabbing and intrigue, but not a story that really drew me in or any really interesting scientific concepts. The final straw was the scene where one character is punching another character repeatedly in the face while spewing obscenities and I just asked myself “why am I reading this?” and decided I didn’t really want to, despite it being a book I could probably finish in another day or two.

You should go back to it and finish it at some point. Most of the parts that I really liked were towards the end. So, like last 1/3 of the story. =)

Christopher wrote: "I ended up discarding this one about 50% of the way in. I wasn’t enjoying it as much as book 1 and it generally felt more soap opera-ey than I typically want from my sci-fi, all sorts of backstabbi..."

You dissing Lady Kiva, my favourite character? :0)

Alright, I finally got back to this and you were right Soo, it did get better at the end. Still have my issues with the book, but it was worth finishing and I'm curious enough to even maybe read book three.

David wrote: "Fun fact: the author says he wrote this book in two weeks. To meet a deadline....."

I saw this author admission not long after I finished the book and thought "Ah... That explains some things."

I listened to the audiobook version of this during a long day of driving and as usual enjoyed the Wil Wheaton narration. That earned it an extra star. The book itself seemed a little flat, with some sections where I was looking for more depth, given what I know of Scalzi's style, breezed over. (view spoiler)[In particular, I really expected more leading up to the ballroom scene at the end. It was amusing, but as an example of political intrigue it seemed very rushed and fragmented and so a somewhat unsatisfactory way to deal with all of Grayland's many traitorous subjects. (hide spoiler)]

Still, I enjoyed it enough to finish it in one sitting and I'm looking forward to seeing how the series ends. I did however have to consume something more solid after a full day of candy coated popcorn balls.