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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
4.5* re-read to finish the trilogy :O)
Scalzi being one of my favourite scifi authors, I couldn't resist getting this new novel of his.
From the prologue, the narration was full of humour and snark, something the author does very well. Mix to that interesting characters - from Cardenia, the new reluctant Emperor of this Interdependency society, Marce, scientist on a mission, to the the foul-mouthed but oddly likeable Kiva - and action scenes, and you have a pretty entertaining read. The setting itself is intriguing with a society spanning several star systems and connected by The Flow, only means of travelling in this universe where TFL doesn’t exist. And guess what, The Flow is breaking up… threatening to strand all these pockets of humanity and ultimately doom most of them.
All the fun put aside, Scalzi does portray a story focused on power and its abuse. Expect cut-throat personalities, manipulations of every kind, crazy politics, deception, and of course a good dose of humour to make it more palatable.
This is indeed a Space Opera, or rather the first instalment of one. And this is where I had my main problem. This novel is really ‘just’ an introduction to all the main players. It sets the scene beautifully but I would have preferred to have a little more...
My thanks to NetGalley for a copy. I also purchased the audio version, excellently read by Will Wheaton, as always.
Scalzi being one of my favourite scifi authors, I couldn't resist getting this new novel of his.
From the prologue, the narration was full of humour and snark, something the author does very well. Mix to that interesting characters - from Cardenia, the new reluctant Emperor of this Interdependency society, Marce, scientist on a mission, to the the foul-mouthed but oddly likeable Kiva - and action scenes, and you have a pretty entertaining read. The setting itself is intriguing with a society spanning several star systems and connected by The Flow, only means of travelling in this universe where TFL doesn’t exist. And guess what, The Flow is breaking up… threatening to strand all these pockets of humanity and ultimately doom most of them.
All the fun put aside, Scalzi does portray a story focused on power and its abuse. Expect cut-throat personalities, manipulations of every kind, crazy politics, deception, and of course a good dose of humour to make it more palatable.
This is indeed a Space Opera, or rather the first instalment of one. And this is where I had my main problem. This novel is really ‘just’ an introduction to all the main players. It sets the scene beautifully but I would have preferred to have a little more...
My thanks to NetGalley for a copy. I also purchased the audio version, excellently read by Will Wheaton, as always.
The premise of an interstellar civilization built around currents along which faster than travel is possible is interesting. Trade ships ply these currents, creating the imperial system called Intedependency. But guilds hold monopolies so that each system is dependent on all of the guilds, and a scientist working in secret of the emperor has discovered that the flows that allow interstellar travel are disappearing...
The plot is fast paced, the characters are memorable, and the book offers some insight into the nature of humans' relationship to exploitive systems.
The plot is fast paced, the characters are memorable, and the book offers some insight into the nature of humans' relationship to exploitive systems.
adventurous
fast-paced
Overall I enjoyed the feminist slant and their were some fun politics, but I don't think I need to read more in this universe
adventurous
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
DNF @ 73%
TL;DR
The straw that broke the camel's back came when one of the antagonists lands on the council of our ruling heroine by randomly replacing a (previously) unnamed character all in one sentence. In one word I would describe this book as lazy.
WTF. Let me start by saying that I don't usually write many reviews, especially bad ones. People put too much effort into their books to be criticized heartlessly, so my criticizing hopefully is taken in to help the next book become better.
Second, I've read three John Scalzi novels before, the first three of the Old Man's War saga and I especially enjoyed the first and third so it's quite hard for me to believe this was written by the same person. I also don't have a habit of not finishing books ever, but the pain was unbearable.
Now, for some of the problems. There are too many names in this novel. Too many names that have no business being in the book. Why do I need to know the name of a random pilot that literally has one sentence in the whole book. This is just confusing. Just say the pilot instead. I mean, Mr Scalzi wrote Red Shirts, so of all people, he should know that they're there for that reason only. Call them the pilot, the guard, whatever, and move on.
The infodumps are aggressive. Highly aggressive. I may be spoiled because I just read a Joe Abercrombie novel before this one and boy, does Mr Abercrombie put this book to shame. He's a master and this novel seems to have been written by a high school student searching for his voice.
Actually, let me rephrase that. This novel seems like it was written by a high school student that was writing a manuscript for class and made a list of beats to hit and later expand on but ran out of time because of too much partying and decided to deliver it as is. No editing whatsoever.
If you want a lesson in "show, don't tell" use this book as an example of what not to do. This novel is literally all "tell" and no "show" (at least the 73% I managed to read).
This brings me to my last criticism of this novel. It won awards. It was praised in the mainstream media. And yet I've read countless indie authors that deliver so many better-written works than this.
So I have to ask. Did the editor force Mr Scalzi to a deadline? Was the publisher screaming at the author demanding a book because of a contract before the year ran out? How many people were involved in bringing this book to market? Disasters don't happen on their own, usually.
Mr Scalzi has written and can write much better than this. If this is your only experience with his work, give him another chance because he deserves it.
TL;DR
The straw that broke the camel's back came when one of the antagonists lands on the council of our ruling heroine by randomly replacing a (previously) unnamed character all in one sentence. In one word I would describe this book as lazy.
WTF. Let me start by saying that I don't usually write many reviews, especially bad ones. People put too much effort into their books to be criticized heartlessly, so my criticizing hopefully is taken in to help the next book become better.
Second, I've read three John Scalzi novels before, the first three of the Old Man's War saga and I especially enjoyed the first and third so it's quite hard for me to believe this was written by the same person. I also don't have a habit of not finishing books ever, but the pain was unbearable.
Now, for some of the problems. There are too many names in this novel. Too many names that have no business being in the book. Why do I need to know the name of a random pilot that literally has one sentence in the whole book. This is just confusing. Just say the pilot instead. I mean, Mr Scalzi wrote Red Shirts, so of all people, he should know that they're there for that reason only. Call them the pilot, the guard, whatever, and move on.
The infodumps are aggressive. Highly aggressive. I may be spoiled because I just read a Joe Abercrombie novel before this one and boy, does Mr Abercrombie put this book to shame. He's a master and this novel seems to have been written by a high school student searching for his voice.
Actually, let me rephrase that. This novel seems like it was written by a high school student that was writing a manuscript for class and made a list of beats to hit and later expand on but ran out of time because of too much partying and decided to deliver it as is. No editing whatsoever.
If you want a lesson in "show, don't tell" use this book as an example of what not to do. This novel is literally all "tell" and no "show" (at least the 73% I managed to read).
This brings me to my last criticism of this novel. It won awards. It was praised in the mainstream media. And yet I've read countless indie authors that deliver so many better-written works than this.
So I have to ask. Did the editor force Mr Scalzi to a deadline? Was the publisher screaming at the author demanding a book because of a contract before the year ran out? How many people were involved in bringing this book to market? Disasters don't happen on their own, usually.
Mr Scalzi has written and can write much better than this. If this is your only experience with his work, give him another chance because he deserves it.
I'm always confused when I read Very Popular Books and find it completely "meh." I don't get it. The only thing I remember about this book at this point is something about the price of foodstuffs from some planet or another.
Oh, found my original review, which was accidentally on the wrong book:
I'm a fan of Scalzi on the strength of Old Man's War, but nothing else I've read by him I really liked. "The Collapsing Empire" felt bland and uninspired to me. For something that's supposed to be on an epic, galactic scale, it felt small and trivial. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Oh, found my original review, which was accidentally on the wrong book:
I'm a fan of Scalzi on the strength of Old Man's War, but nothing else I've read by him I really liked. "The Collapsing Empire" felt bland and uninspired to me. For something that's supposed to be on an epic, galactic scale, it felt small and trivial. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯