The Last Emperox by John ScalziMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Jacket Blurb: 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 from 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?
Read as an audio book for November 2020 book group.
Book three in the Interdependency Series - this can not be read as a stand alone.
This is a light space opera (series) that is meant to amuse and entertain. If you're looking for hard scifi, look elsewhere. And yes, I was amused and entertained. Heck, Will Wheaton is narrating. He could read off the back of a cereal box and make it sound great. And that was the strong point of The Last Emperox - Wheaton was narrating.
Because ultimately, the overall plot stumbled, the characters spent oh so much time in their heads re-hashing the previous book, the crisis ended up being political when the real problem was left unresolved (the fading flow streams), and somewhere in all of this, the science and data were just kinda lost in everything else. There was political grandstanding, conspiracy theories galore, noble causes, true love, righteous vengeance, and so many loose ends left dangling they could have formed their own flow stream.
But I was happily entertained during my daily commute. Though I did find myself zoning out and then having to backtrack to listen to what I missed. Which was never much. While not what I would consider Scalzi's best work, if you're a fan and you've read the first two, then you'll find some enjoyment from this.
Recommended with some small reservations.
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