Review: Collapsing Empire

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

Back on reading John Scalzi, I started one of his older (ish) series, The Interdependency, starting with the first book, The Collapsing Empire. I picked up this book a month or two ago during a sale at a second-hand bookstore because I have been primarily reading fantasy and wanted to get back into science fiction, and Scalzi is an author I know I will (mostly) enjoy. 

Set in a widespread empire in space, the book follows three main characters, an emerging empress, a scholar from a backwater planet, and a wealthy ship captain as they slowly find out their way of travel and living is erasing itself. The Flow is their version of space travel, a tunnel of fast-moving space? time? stuff? that nobody can explain, only that they know how to use it. Slowly, the Flow is disappearing, shutting off access to other planets in the empire, and everybody is either 1) ignorant, 2) ignoring it, 3) hiding it, or 4) actively trying to find a solution and inform people. Our main characters are on #4 during this book. 

This book didn't instantly draw me in, but as I read it, I slowly got more and more invested in the characters, and I caught myself thinking about them when I was not reading. Each individual story that is happening is interesting on its own, but as everything develops, we start to see how their stories are connected into the overall plot and future of this empire. One thing that I will always say about Scalzi is that he does a great job making the science behind everything juuuuust believable enough that I don't question it too hard, but also doesn't overload you with science and technology and facts to the point you get overwhelmed or can't understand anything. I would like a bit more on some of the science, like the Flow, because wtf is that? It's also a major story point, and I would like to understand it a bit more, though I see how he makes it feel normal that we don't know because nobody else knows, that is literally the whole plot. 

Kiva, Grayland, and Marce all have unique and important viewpoints and standing in this story that drive their characters' goals and ambitions. While it does get a bit dicey when he explains the houses, merchants, guilds, planets, etc., it is very much the first book in a series, and you can tell there is a whole lot more that is missing from this story. It's giving Dune, honestly, especially with the political intrigue, but on a slightly lesser scale. I also think it's interesting to see some main characters that really do not want to be in the positions of power that they are forced into, like Grayland. Marce is a favorite, but Kiva is a badass, and Grayland needs more friends, so I am interested to see more of their interactions together since we focus more individually in this first book. 

I may? or may not? continue this series, I am intrigued and interested to see where this goes, but I have other reads that I want to start, so this may sit on the back burner for a bit.