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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The first half was a bit dodgy, and the ending felt rushed. Great story overall with a satisfying conclusion.
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Maybe it's because a solid ending is key to how much I enjoy a story (which might just be a personal preference thing), but I found this to be the strongest of the Interdependency trilogy, and a really entertaining read. Scalzi delivers on the expected space-opera intrigue and colorful characters and dialogue that he is known for, and has the benefit of having two other books' worth of familiarity with the characters and story to build on. The book has several really significant twists and gut-punches, in comparison to the preceding entries; indeed, the whole trilogy had been building to some of the climactic moments here, and they were presented in a satisfying and entertaining way. As with the other two, the world-building is a unique twist on space-opera tropes, with a lot of the details left to the imagination but just enough info given to make the story a compelling one. Some of the drawbacks of the first two appear here as well, namely the blazing-fast pacing that almost feels like scenes were skipped for the sake of making the book leaner, which might have enriched the narrative or filled in gaps if left in; I think at this point, this is just a feature of Scalzi's style, for better or worse, and admittedly it was less of an issue here than in the earlier books in the series. Overall, I'm definitely satisfied with the conclusion found here, and I do hope that Scalzi decides to revisit this universe in the future.
adventurous
emotional
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
This book wraps up The Interdependency series & it does so with excellence. Scalzi is one of my favorite writers, and this book highlights why. Story lines that can surprise, plots that are fast paced & hard to stop reading, a wide variety of hilarious & interesting characters....what's not to like?
Set in the future, a segment of humanity has shut themselves off from Earth but is spread widely throughout space, thanks to wormholes referred to as "The Flow". In order to bring civilization from the chaos, the founders of the Interdependency made sure that no segment of humanity was self-sufficient. Unfortunately, scientists have predicted that the wormholes are going to collapse, causing the death of billions, unless a solution can be found. The rich & petty squabble for pennies & positions of power, while dooming their peons to death from starvation, hypothermia, and suffocation.
The book is a bit of an allegory for the situation we find ourselves in today....we are potentially facing our eventual doom & the deaths of millions if global warming continues unchecked. We, too, must get everyone....especially those who are rich, selfish, and who control the resources of the planet...to start acting in a more benevolent & self-sacrificing way.
Or you can just enjoy it for the nice piece of sci-fi that it is, too.
Either way, I highly recommend the whole series. Book 2 wobbled just a bit (I have high expectations for Scalzi), but the final book in the trilogy hit it out of the park.
And now that all have been published, you can read them all back-to-back, you lucky bastards.
Set in the future, a segment of humanity has shut themselves off from Earth but is spread widely throughout space, thanks to wormholes referred to as "The Flow". In order to bring civilization from the chaos, the founders of the Interdependency made sure that no segment of humanity was self-sufficient. Unfortunately, scientists have predicted that the wormholes are going to collapse, causing the death of billions, unless a solution can be found. The rich & petty squabble for pennies & positions of power, while dooming their peons to death from starvation, hypothermia, and suffocation.
The book is a bit of an allegory for the situation we find ourselves in today....we are potentially facing our eventual doom & the deaths of millions if global warming continues unchecked. We, too, must get everyone....especially those who are rich, selfish, and who control the resources of the planet...to start acting in a more benevolent & self-sacrificing way.
Or you can just enjoy it for the nice piece of sci-fi that it is, too.
Either way, I highly recommend the whole series. Book 2 wobbled just a bit (I have high expectations for Scalzi), but the final book in the trilogy hit it out of the park.
And now that all have been published, you can read them all back-to-back, you lucky bastards.
Darn it, Sclazi, why'd you have to go and make me cry? I never expected that from a book by you. You're supposed to be funny and snarky, not all sorts of serious. Things did not go as expected in this book, and it didn't end anything like I thought, but it was good nonetheless.
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s the Mad magazine version of Asimov’s Foundation.
I liked that one of his spaceship names this go-round was inspired by The Clash: This Indecision’s Bugging Me
I liked that one of his spaceship names this go-round was inspired by The Clash: This Indecision’s Bugging Me
This one is packed with well-organized action and clips right along, but I couldn’t reconcile the narrator’s chipper tone and characters’ lack of resonant emotion with all the killings and threatened and historical genocides, so it was an unsatisfying ride for me. Might just my pandemic-mood, ymmv.