The Collapsing Empire
by John Scalzi · first published 2017
83% recommend6% neutral11% critical
Why HN recommends it
Well-paced, entertaining space opera about an interstellar empire coming apart as the faster-than-light currents dry up; colorful characters and political intrigue make it an easy page-turner for SF fans.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
372 pages ; 20 cm
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Mentions per year
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I enjoy easy page-turner sci/fi or fantasy because it helps me unwind after a stressful day at work. Some of my favorites this year: - Vengeful and Vicious by VE Schwab - Collapsing Empire by Scalazi (late 2017, but close enough to 2018) Not released in 2018, but still fun and new to me this year. - The Red Rising series by Pierce Brown
on “Ask HN: Favorite fiction books of 2018?” ↗Three Body Problem (this one's probably going to get mentioned a lot, and it absolutely deserves it). The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Red Rising (series) by Pierce Brown. I almost gave up on Three Body Problem because it starts off a little slowly and it's difficult to see where the book is going. Absolutely worth it…
on “Ask HN: Favorite fiction books of 2018?” ↗1) The Stories of Ibis by Hiroshi Yamamoto (my almost-annual re-reading) 2) The Collapsing Empire - John Scalzi 3) The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood I have a feeling the book I am reading now - Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith might have been on this list if I had finished it (and might still be tomorrow).
on “Ask HN: Best books you read in 2017?” ↗"Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch is an excellent read that has a lot of twists and turns. It's quite dark in places. "We Are Legion" by Dennis Taylor is a very light hearted and easy to read. "The Collapsing Empire" by John Scalzi is a space opera that I quite enjoyed.
on “Ask HN: Best scifi of 2017? (Vernor Vinge/Larry Niven style)” ↗I didn't think a question like this would get any attention on HN let alone hit the front page! :) Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi was one of my favourites last year
on “Ask HN: Best scifi of 2017? (Vernor Vinge/Larry Niven style)” ↗The Stars are Legion by Kameron Hurley had some crazy ideas, but lacked some depth I was hoping for. Nine Fox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee was also pretty good—had a rough start but ended well. Collapsing Empire by Scalzi was quite solid and well paced. Of books not released in 2017, I read The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi—it probably had the most 'new' sci-fi ideas out of the books I read this year, which…
on “Ask HN: Best scifi of 2017? (Vernor Vinge/Larry Niven style)” ↗…quite annoyed when the books veered away from the excellent political stuff into the silly alien monster stuff. If anyone is looking for a book series that doesn't veer away, I'd recommend John Scalzi's Collapsing Empire. If anyone knows any others please suggest!
on “Jeff Bezos announces Amazon is picking up 'The Expanse'” ↗You might enjoy John Scalzi's latest, The Collapsing Empire. Not quite the same, but it does feature fast "currents" in spacetime that are in the process of "drying up," leaving distant systems stranded by uncrossable gulfs.
on “Alcubierre drive” ↗…just some time later. The audiobook is also narrated by Wil Wheaton. And it is great as always. Offtopic. I would blindly recommend all books in the combination Wheaton narrating Scalzi. But esp. "The Collapsing Empire" (I can't wait for the next part to be released in October).
on “Ask HN: Recommendations of good cybercrime novels?” ↗The Collapsing Empire, by John Scalzi, is an entertaining space opera with colorful characters. Second book in the series just came out last month!
on “Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations” ↗I would recommend Collapsing Empire by Scalzi. Here is the blurb: Our universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible -- until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points…
on “Ask HN: What things do you wish you discovered earlier?” ↗the collapsing empire books are excellent, and I would recommend them to most SF fans. but even other than that I've found scalzi consistently entertaining - not "omg this was a brilliant book" but fun books that I was happy…
on “Humble Book Bundle: The John Scalzi Collection” ↗…Trek equivalents, but because the protagonist is disconnected it doesn't matter nearly as much as you would expect. If you're interested in a big space opera about an empire falling apart I found the Collapsing Empire series by John Scalzi to be much more engaging.
on “Murderbot, she wrote” ↗…back into the hive mind at a somewhat subconscious level, and had quite a bit of impact on the overall personality. > If you're interested in a big space opera about an empire falling apart I found the Collapsing Empire series by John Scalzi to be much more engaging. Yeah, the Imperial Radch series is not about the empire falling apart. That's just something happening in the background, which sometimes drives the plot…
on “Murderbot, she wrote” ↗Yes -- agree with you on Ancillary Justice (could not finish it) and Scalzi's Collapsing Empire is fantastic. Eric Thomson's Ashes of Empire series is sort of in a similar vein, although IMO not as good.
on “Murderbot, she wrote” ↗