Beyond Reality discussion

Have you finished reading The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi, book 1 in the Interdependency trilogy? What did you think? Likes? Dislikes? Let us know!

Spoilers OK here!

I read this when it first came out and loved it. Read it again to refresh my memory (it's a pretty quick read) and enjoyed it just as much. The whole premise of the interdependency is really interesting ... humanity is spread across multiple star systems connected by the Flow. But most planets are extremely inhospitable, and reliant on interplanetary commerce to prosper. What happens if the means of interplanetary transport starts to disappear?

There's an interesting play here between the forces of commerce, of law, of religion, and of science (and, of course, self-interest). But our major characters (Cardenia, Marce, and Nohemi Nohamapetan) are all complex and believable, and bring the conflict to a personal level. I truly enjoyed this, and I look forward to re-reading the remaining books.

P.S. I do miss Naf. I was sorry to see her go so quickly ....

I found time to fit this in a bit early so I've finished it. I feel like Scalzi, while not great at prose, is skilled at creating strong characters and interesting world building.
I too liked the idea of the Flow and dependent populations who will be stranded because of its collapse. Also, the Nohamapetan attempts to grab power made for some good intrigue.
However, I found the frequent use of the f-word and Kiva's selfishness to be off-putting. I think it was meant to be humorous but I found it to be a bit too crass.
I do want to read the next book though, to find out what happens with the Flow

I finished this one today. It’s been a while since I read a good space opera and I enjoyed it immensely! It’s not as lighthearted as some of Scalzi’s more recent work, but still snarky. Typing on my phone is annoying so I’m going to stop there but may come back when I get back to a computer. Looking forward to the next book!

I agree, Scalzi has a sense of humor!

I agree this book was definitely less humorous/lighthearted than some things he’s written. Nonetheless, I enjoyed rediscovering Scalzi’s “voice”—kind of dry, kind of snarky, and so readable! I flew through this in basically an evening.

While most of his characters (Cardenia/Grayland, Marce &his sister & father, Naffa) are complex and believable, I do think Kiva and the Nohamapetan siblings were a bit more stereotyped. Still, the interactions among them and with the secondary characters were fascinating and lent them more credence.

The fact that End seems to be the only “Earth-like” planet/habitat is obviously significant, and maybe a bit unrealistic, given how many systems the Flow leads to/from. It doesn’t appear that the rest of the Interdependency has much time to figure out how to survive, and indications are that most of them won’t. Maybe they will find a way to stabilize the Flow? But won’t that just cement the caste system even further? It will be interesting to see where Scalzi takes the story from here.

Are reluctant rulers more or less inclined to take unexpected steps to solve problems? In Cardenia/Grayland’s case, I suspect the answer will be “more inclined”, especially since she believes she will be the last Emperox.

Regardless of what else happens, I hope Cardenia and Marce have some happy time together.

Edited to add that I love the way the space opera plot covers trade, religion, government, romance, and the politics that permeate all of them.

I read this over the last few days. I haven’t read much Scalzi (only Old Man’s War), so I don’t have much basis for comparison. Collapsing Empire was fun; hopefully that continues through the rest of the series, despite the serious scenario.

One loose thread is bothering me. Why was Ghreni so intent on preventing Marce from leaving End?

It wasn’t as leverage in his blackmail of Count Claremont, because having Marce killed wouldn’t help with that.

Since the Nohamapetans’ scheme depended on keeping the upcoming changes to the flow a secret, it could have been to control that information, but then the last scene reveals that Ghreni didn’t know about Claremont’s connection with the flow, much less Marce’s.

Ghreni was clearly interested in finding out why Marce was leaving while his father and sister were not, it seems odd that Ghreni would go to such lengths (and risk giving Kiva evidence of his criminal machinations) on that alone.

Good question! I'm not sure.
Maybe it's to tie all the characters more closely together?
I'm ahead of schedule and just started book 2 (The Consuming Fire). Not to reveal too much, I've been wondering why Kiva has a rather big role/responsibility at the beginning of the book. In the beginning, the second book explains the Flow and the Wu family again, adding a bit more detail so readers are on solid ground. But why Kiva? Maybe someone else caught detail I missed? (I'll wait to see what others say in the other thread!)

I waited until the new year to start off 2024 with a good book and was not disappointed. On top of building a unique sci-if world packed with interesting characters, Scalzi’s prose is downright hilarious! I kept turning the page just to find out what snarky, shady thing a character would say, think, or do next and was never disappointed. I especially loved Kiva and her liberal use of the F-word. Basically, after her introduction and first interactions with others, I found myself looking at this character and saying “I adore this woman! Can I be her when I grow up?”

I will say that while the plot moved fast, it felt at times like it was running in place. After all, it took almost 300 pages, or nearly the entire length of the book, for Kiva and Marce to get away from End and though Cardenia/Grayland II is nearly assassinated twice, she spends most of the book adjusting to being Emperox (how do you pronounce that word? Is the X silent?), and fending off a political marriage she doesn’t want. Also, while I get that the collapse of the Flow is an allegory for Climate Change, it feels a little too obvious. It will be interesting to see how knowledge of the collapse will play out in the next part, though I guess it won’t be much better than our own slow response to Climate Change.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to tackling part 2 next month. 4.5 stars for me!

Christopher wrote: "(how do you pronounce that word? Is the X silent?), ."

In the audiobook, the X is silent with a long O at the end. Kind of like how you would pronounce "espresso".

I've found I tend to like Scalzi's snark and sarcasm. I really think the 80s scarred my generation mentally and emotionally.