eBook, 318 pages
English language
Published April 14, 2020 by Tor Books.
The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction . . . and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.
Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every …
The collapse of The Flow, the interstellar pathway between the planets of the Interdependency, has accelerated. Entire star systems—and billions of people—are becoming cut off from the rest of human civilization. This collapse was foretold through scientific prediction . . . and yet, even as the evidence is obvious and insurmountable, many still try to rationalize, delay and profit from, these final days of one of the greatest empires humanity has ever known.
Emperox Grayland II has finally wrested control of her empire from those who oppose her and who deny the reality of this collapse. But “control” is a slippery thing, and even as Grayland strives to save as many of her people form impoverished isolation, the forces opposing her rule will make a final, desperate push to topple her from her throne and power, by any means necessary. Grayland and her thinning list of allies must use every tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.
Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization . . . or the last emperox to wear the crown?
Great plot, great world, amazing characters, so fun and funny
The weakest of the trilogy. Packed full of wonderful ideas and no time spent in any of them. It felt very rushed.
I’m glad I read it. I’m the trilogy was good, but fizzled out a bit.
Might try some other Scalzi books and see how they go.
make sure to read "the collapsing empire" and "the consuming fire" first
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending, in which the solution was, in part, what I'd been thinking was the obvious since the first book. And doing this, and more, via a near-literal deus ex machina (as well as a more conventional "new tech saves the day") felt cheap.
But this is a minor point, and while this book was not as good as the two that preceeded it, the final third of the story continued to be thoroughly enjoyable.
