Review: The Collapsing Empire

The Collapsing Empire (The Interdependency #1) by John Scalzi

Great start to a series. This first book sets up the grand world of the Interdependency and I am ready for more.

Like everyone says, it certainly reminds me of elements of the DUNE SERIES by Frank Herbert and the FOUNDATION SERIES by Isaac Asimov, two of my favorites.

The book opens up with a tense scene that grabs you right away and tricks you into thinking it might be a Star Trek like space opera… Rest assured, it’s not. From here, the world is explained for you and the characters introduced. There is an easy flow to the dialogue that will keep you reading (A trademark of Scalzi’s books).

Some of the blemishes

• The book is a bit short.
• Some of the explanation about the world is too “in your face” exposition.
• The ending isn’t quite as climatic as it could be - the cliffhanger is a bit too overwhelming.
• The central flaw to the Flow is found only by 2 people in a millennium (the one of them used the other as the source…). Seems hard to believe when Flow physicists seemed to be a normal occupation.

Recommended, but why did I start another series!