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kyur's review
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
krislm's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-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
4.75
teokajlibroj's review
4.0
I've been reading some science fiction lately and I was shocked at how entertaining this book was. Unlike so many sci-fi books, this doesn't resemble a dry textbook that spends all its time describing the setting while nothing really happens in the plot. It's such a welcome change to have a laugh with sci-fi characters. This actually has an exciting plot with entertaining characters that aren't stuffy. I considered giving it 5 stars for this, but it lost a star because it's a short book that feels mainly like a prelude to the main story.
sannosmo's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
midici's review
4.0
This is the second Scalzi book I've read, and I enjoyed it as much as the first. There's something so entertaining about this high-tech, galaxy-spanning empire being populated by - people. Smart people, dumb people, nerdy people, manipulative people - all sorts. But there isn't one character that I couldn't imagine existing today and it's appealing to have what feel like contemporary characters in this epic space drama.
Humanity has taken advantage of the Flow - a sort of inter-dimensional river that allows them to travel vast distances. As with real rivers - you can only follow where it leads. This has led to several impractical cities in all sorts of unlikely places, simply because the Flow leads to and from that location. The things about rivers of course, is that they're ever-changing. They move. and when they move, there's no way to go back to the place that has been cut off.
While most people are in blissful ignorance as to the true nature of Flow, some people have realized not only that the Flow can change, but that it is in a state of Flux and it's about to change quickly. Marce is a physicist who wants to warn people about the Flow collapse, and save as many people as possible. House Nohamapetan and House Lagos are warring merchant guilds that want to use this information to their advantage. And Cardenia is the woman who has unexpectedly become Empress of an empire that's on the brink of an unimaginable catastrophe.
I loved this first book, so I'll need to go find the second, pronto.
Humanity has taken advantage of the Flow - a sort of inter-dimensional river that allows them to travel vast distances. As with real rivers - you can only follow where it leads. This has led to several impractical cities in all sorts of unlikely places, simply because the Flow leads to and from that location. The things about rivers of course, is that they're ever-changing. They move. and when they move, there's no way to go back to the place that has been cut off.
While most people are in blissful ignorance as to the true nature of Flow, some people have realized not only that the Flow can change, but that it is in a state of Flux and it's about to change quickly. Marce is a physicist who wants to warn people about the Flow collapse, and save as many people as possible. House Nohamapetan and House Lagos are warring merchant guilds that want to use this information to their advantage. And Cardenia is the woman who has unexpectedly become Empress of an empire that's on the brink of an unimaginable catastrophe.
I loved this first book, so I'll need to go find the second, pronto.
booksandbikes17's review
Struggled with the many characters and hard to memorise names, and also virtually nothing happened in the first 20%.
lurker_stalker's review against another edition
5.0
I loved this book! Now to wait until 2018 for the sequel...
tommi's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
strategineer's review against another edition
4.0
Felt more like a soap opera than a space opera at times.
There's a lot of people thinking about, talking about and having sex. There's a lot of scheming and plotting that sometimes makes sense but often doesn't.
So I rolled with it, strapped on my suspension of disbelief pants and enjoyed the ride.
PS: I'm looking to have a good time reading a book so I try to meet the book I'm reading halfway and appreciate what it's trying to do instead of comment on what I think the author should have done.
John Scalzi is an amazing writer; every few pages I would have to stop reading and sit there, stunned, by how funny a joke was, or how well set up a scene was, etc.
He managed to immerse me in this universe with an empire on the verge of collapse that felt real(ish) and lived in by real(ish) people which kept me engaged and interested in seeing what would happen next.
The POV characters are all great in their own ways and have such different voices which made reading their chapters fun.
Kiva is the best though, she's completely absurd and definitely who I want to be when I grow up and become the rich nymphomaniac noble lady I'm meant to be.
If you're looking for a well written and fun raunchy and rompy space opera, the Collapsing Empire is definitely a good one of those.
I'm curious to see how this series continues and I'm interested to see if it can deliver on the story threads it sets up here.
There's a lot of people thinking about, talking about and having sex. There's a lot of scheming and plotting that sometimes makes sense but often doesn't.
So I rolled with it, strapped on my suspension of disbelief pants and enjoyed the ride.
PS: I'm looking to have a good time reading a book so I try to meet the book I'm reading halfway and appreciate what it's trying to do instead of comment on what I think the author should have done.
John Scalzi is an amazing writer; every few pages I would have to stop reading and sit there, stunned, by how funny a joke was, or how well set up a scene was, etc.
He managed to immerse me in this universe with an empire on the verge of collapse that felt real(ish) and lived in by real(ish) people which kept me engaged and interested in seeing what would happen next.
The POV characters are all great in their own ways and have such different voices which made reading their chapters fun.
Spoiler
All their story threads tie up neatly at the end of the book which I really appreciated.Kiva is the best though, she's completely absurd and definitely who I want to be when I grow up and become the rich nymphomaniac noble lady I'm meant to be.
If you're looking for a well written and fun raunchy and rompy space opera, the Collapsing Empire is definitely a good one of those.
I'm curious to see how this series continues and I'm interested to see if it can deliver on the story threads it sets up here.