Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
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:
No
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Lots of people, lots of politics, and lots of things imminently going to shit. And of you're less than enthusiastic about swearing, better not read this one - I did a search in the Kindle edition and there are 203 appearances of the word "fuck" and its iterations in here. As per usual with Scalzi, this is a snarky comedy on top of everything else, so it was a fun read.
Fun page turner. Easily could have tacked on the second book to this one since it ends on such an cliffhanger. Lots of set up but little plot movement. Characters aren't deep or memorable except they like to say "fuck" and fuck each other.
adventurous
reflective
tense
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:
Yes
Oh, Scalzi. Inventing universes and making them realistic and interesting. Never change.
i liked this! interesting space empire concept, fun characters, fast paced plot. will probably read the next two in short order even tho that will spoil my book club discussion of book 1 only- so i think that's an endorsement.
the concept is basically "there are [sci-fi FTL wormhole highways] connecting the human empire to itself across the universe, but in the next 5-10 years they will collapse entirely, leaving every individual, non-self-sustaining world stranded." seems to be drawing partially from cyberpunk corporate dystopia type novels, along with some fantasy royalty stuff (since the Empire does have a monarch) and political scheming type plots. i'm definitely thinking of Goblin Emperor in here a little bit, although I'd probably have to attribute 90% of that to the "outsider suddenly thrust into power" and the "royal we" parts.
as in a lot of Scalzi this book relies a lot on the plot and like, action-y twists and turns, which work for me since I think the concepts are interesting and the twists are good. ALSO like a lot of scalzi i think too many of the main characters have Scalzi Sarcastic Everyman voice which is annoying, i think, when it comes identically from 1) the 20s~30s society woman emperox of the universe, 2) 60-y.o. space-time physicist, and 3) intentionally crude trust fund company kid. i can get over this but i do would love it if scalzi could write other characters at least a little bit in his multi-POV books. also as always I have to attribute at least some of that dislike to the Wil Wheaton audiobook too. wil wheaton learn voices.
the concept is basically "there are [sci-fi FTL wormhole highways] connecting the human empire to itself across the universe, but in the next 5-10 years they will collapse entirely, leaving every individual, non-self-sustaining world stranded." seems to be drawing partially from cyberpunk corporate dystopia type novels, along with some fantasy royalty stuff (since the Empire does have a monarch) and political scheming type plots. i'm definitely thinking of Goblin Emperor in here a little bit, although I'd probably have to attribute 90% of that to the "outsider suddenly thrust into power" and the "royal we" parts.
as in a lot of Scalzi this book relies a lot on the plot and like, action-y twists and turns, which work for me since I think the concepts are interesting and the twists are good. ALSO like a lot of scalzi i think too many of the main characters have Scalzi Sarcastic Everyman voice which is annoying, i think, when it comes identically from 1) the 20s~30s society woman emperox of the universe, 2) 60-y.o. space-time physicist, and 3) intentionally crude trust fund company kid. i can get over this but i do would love it if scalzi could write other characters at least a little bit in his multi-POV books. also as always I have to attribute at least some of that dislike to the Wil Wheaton audiobook too. wil wheaton learn voices.
Reads like the first section of a much longer book; I am interested in continuing to read the series but this isn't my favourite of Scalzi's work. Very light reading.
adventurous
funny
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