I saw a Tweet a day or so ago in which John Scalzi revealed that his Publisher Tor had sent him a burrito blanket as a gift to mark The Last Emperox (volume three) achieving bestseller status. Scalzi then put up a poll that required his fans to vote on whether or not he should post a picture of himself as a human burrito. You can guess what the answer was. I will attempt to describe the picture.

Scalzi is a hilarious and irreverent presence in the Twitterverse, adding a measure of sanity and wit to what is so often a digital cesspool. It is obvious therefore that his joie de vivre should spill over to his fiction. And if there is a singular phrase to describe The Consuming Fire, none is better than ‘great fun’.

If that sounds disparaging, it is not meant to be. We are living in tumultuous times, and more than ever I am turning to books to take me away from it all. Yes, this has always been a fundamental driver of the writer-and-reader ecosystem, but I think that now it is even more important than ever before.

Writers must also be grappling with the weird situation in which the world finds itself. Apocalypses and dystopias are dime a dozen in both horror and SF, but few could have predicted what is happening now.
Yes, Scalzi noted in The Collapsing Empire that any resemblance to reality was purely coincidental, as that opening volume had been written quite a while before the Covid-19 pandemic. But I also believe that writers act like lightning rods that tap into the zeitgeist.

I must admit to being a bit non-plussed by The Collapsing Empire when I read it. It is basically an old-fashioned space opera bootstrapped to a medieval political thriller. Who would have thought that once it conquered the stars, humanity would resort to a system of hegemonic rule?

Here a number of select families not only control all trade and commerce, but vie among themselves for the most influential positions, the chief being the Supreme Leader, or Emperox (which Scalzi reveals in The Consuming Fire is a gender-neutral term for emperor).

Key to this geopolitical context is the Flow, which is kind of like a Star Trek version of the Silk Road, a network of wormholes stitching known space together. Importantly, this has resulted in humanity expanding to areas it normally would never have reached, in a range of diverse environments and habitats. In fact, the only habitable planet other than Earth is fittingly called End, as it is located at the furthest extreme of the trade network.

The Collapsing Empire introduces us to Cardenia, the newly-minted Emperox whom the ruling families regard as both a lame and sitting duck, ripe to be replaced with someone (anyone) eminently more suitable to the position and its status.

Poor Cardenia, who goes by the official moniker of Grayland II, finds herself in the unenviable position of having to preside over a realm that is falling apart. Here is perhaps where Scalzi saw fit to post his disclaimer about this being fiction…

Known only to a couple of esoteric mathematicians, the Flow network itself is on the verge of imminent collapse. This will leave countless human habitats stranded, and effectively cut the ties that hold commerce and community together.

Much of The Collapsing Empire sets the scene for The Consuming Fire, which I was really curious to read. In what direction could Scalzi possibly take his story? The answer to that is as unexpected as it is immensely entertaining and satisfying.

And for those readers who were offended by the fact some of the characters swear more profusely and colourfully than sailors on shore leave, I was gratified that Gonre Onrill’s first phrase, on line 4 of the Prologue, is a laconic: “Well, fuck.”

This second book in thre Interdependency series picks up right where thre first book leaves off. The flow from End has collapsed and the Emperox had listened to Marce Claremont (scientist) so is using his information to decide how to move forward. (Always good to see someone use the best science to make decisions. Nadashe Nohamapetan had been arrested for the attempted assassination of the Emperox and Grayland is working to convince everyone that they did to prepare for the collapse.
Scalzi gives a master's course in how to write the second book of a space opera trilogy. There is no feeling of this being merely a bridge between two good books, but a great book that happens to come between two others.
There are characters whose personalities are consistent (they stay in character... which shouldn't need to be mentioned as a big thing but does). The women and men are distinct and interesting.
This series is a must for scifi fans in general and Scalzi fans in particular.

So this was an amazing sequel! I had low expectations to be honest best I loved the first book so much, and I was scared this was going to have the Second book curse, but I was wrong! I can’t go into too much detail due to spoilers but I will say that I loved the characters even more in this installment!

John Scalzi wins again with "The Consuming Fire", the second in his latest trilogy. Scalzi is always a solid author, one I've come to expect at least 4 star reads every time. I thought TCF was going to be a bit of a sequel slump kind of deal until about 100 pages in, where a big discovery made me read the rest of the novel in a day. Suffice it to say, Scalzi knows what he's doing.

Consuming Fire is the second book in Scalzi's Interdependancy Trilogy. With the first book mainly setting the scene and characters, Consuming Fire begins to delve into the heart of the plot. And boy, is there a lot that happens!

The Flow, which is the mysterious method by which ships travel and worlds are connected within the Empire, is disappearing, and fast. Dissention is growing, and civil war is brewing.

It should go without saying that Book One, The Collapsing Empire, should be read first. You'll miss a lot of worldbuilding and character development. Book Two doesn't have time to explain a lot of things over again, which I appreciate. I am glad it jumps in the middle of the action, more or less where Book One left off.

This book definitely took completely different directions than I expected, so I was surprised at every turn. As usual, the worldbuilding that Scalzi does is absolutely fascinating and careful as he crafts the story.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this book as an eARC in exchange for an honest review!

The second in Scalzi's space faring adventure lives up to its predecessor. The slight cliffhanger of the previous book is put to good use and the pace carries you along from there. This is such a great series - funny, thought provoking and action packed. Highly recommend.

This is probably the most fun I had with any sci-fi series ever. I love Scalzi's humor, I love the plot and I ADORE the characters. I loved this second book even more than the first, which was my top book of 2017. I only have praise for this series and I already started the third book which seems even better, if that is even possible.

The second in John Scalzi's Interdependency series finds people coming to terms with revelations that their entire way of life is about to be upended. Some, of course, don't believe. Others believe and are trying to prepare their best. There is a lot of political intrigue and maneuvering here, but luckily the people you want to get their comeuppance receive their due.

The Consuming Fire is the second and middle installment of the Interdependency trilogy, by American writer John Scalzi. In it, we continue watching the catastrophic impending collapse of life as humanity knows it, and the warring factions trying to save as much of humanity as possible versus saving just the parts that consider themselves important. All of the things that made book one good continue unabated here.

Reviewing later books in a series is always at least a little awkward, not the least because at the time of writing, I’ve also already finished the third book The Last Emperox and trying to figure out what to say here versus save for the third review is a task on its own. All of the elements of the first review here regarding characterization, plot, pacing, and so on continue basically unchanged here. No elements particularly got worse or better. If you enjoyed book 1, you’ll enjoy book 2. If you didn’t, you won’t.

So I suppose what’s left is to discuss the themes of the book and how they read in the times in which we find ourselves now. This book came out in 2018 and also needed to be written, edited, published etc, so it’s not as though it were possible for the story to be referring to our present circumstances, and indeed, with book 3 coming out shortly, even it needed too much lead time to be related to COVID-19, but there are some extremely obvious parallels that bear discussing.

We have one or two particular characters that are the antagonists in the sense that they work in opposition to the protagonists, but really, everybody is struggling in different ways against the -actual- antagonist: The collapse of the Flow network and the impending isolation of each human colony from the others. There’s a disaster coming, there’s no stopping it, there’s only choosing how to react to it.

Grayland and co are set upon the course of trying to save the maximal number of people: a combination of trying to move as many people as possible to the one human colony that actually has a planet capable of supporting life, and also to equip the people who will become isolated with as many tools as possible to survive after that happens. Meanwhile, the other side, embodied in Nadashe Nohamapetan, has taken the stance that there’s no way to save everybody, and their destination couldn’t support everybody anyway, so their course is to try and save the “right” people, namely the nobility and guilds, leaving the common people to twist.

It’s an interesting examination of the underlying conflict occurring in the world today, between trying to save as many people as possible, and minimize the death toll, versus protecting economic profits of corporations even at the expense of huge numbers of people. And the fact that we’re in an imaginary science-fiction world where the more ruthless people are willing to be more overt about it than on Earth lets us see what would really be happening if the people in power really thought they could get away with it: Blatant assassination and coup attempts, suborning the military, kidnapping major political figures, you name it, it’s on the table here.

Which is all a roundabout way to say that there has never been a better time than now to be reading these books. Sci-fi has always done a great job of highlighting real issues in the real world, through the lens of the fantastic, letting us strip things down to their essence. But in general, this approach is typically either much broader (Dealing with the general concepts of things like colonialism, industrialization, racism, and so on) or only appears timely to a specific set of events in retrospect, as something imagined by a writer in the past becomes relevant to the present day only much later.

Without (one hopes) any foreknowledge of how things were going to turn out, Scalzi has basically generated a series of books about how the interdependence that comes from globalization can end badly when an unexpected and unavoidable catastrophe occurs that operates on a long enough time span that everybody has the chance to see it, panic, get over it, and then decide what to actually do about it. And then managed to have the climax of that story published literally in the middle of the catastrophe that it thematically mirrors. Heck of a trick if you can pull it off, but in the end what it means is this: If any element of this story sounds appealing, there has never been a better time to go out and read them.

Marce, Kiva and Cardenia/Graylord attempt to figure out how to save humanity from the collapse of the flow in spite of collapse deniers, hoarders and profiteers.

Remember the plan is not the goal.


This definitely didn't suffer from middle-book syndrome. While it wasn't as fucking-incredible as The Collapsing Empire, nor as heart-wrenchingly emotional as The Last Emperox, it still had a fast-pace, lots of action, much politics and a surprising f/f relationship.

I really loved the main characters, although I wanted to learn a little more about them.

"Any assassination attempt against you yet?"
"A couple."
"Aw, you're just a baby at this."

Cardenia/Grayland is the character whose head we got into most deeply, and I really liked how this underestimated bastard child of an emperox and an academic managed to make waves and come into her role as leader of a nation—even though she was outgunned, outmatched and without many allies.

And I loved how the Memory Room played into much of the plot, particularly with how Cardenia's outsider status gave her more access precisely because she didn't know what she didn't know and therefore had to ask everything.

I wanted more of Marce, who was pretty much a pawn and kinda went with everything that happened to him. He was brilliant and sweet as anything, but was just kinda...there? Despite being the scientist who could figure out how to save everyone and the lynchpin to everyone's plans he...existed.

Kiva considered that she might be developing a thing for Fundapellonan, which on one hand would be a very not-Kiva thing to do, but on the other hand who gave a fuck if it was "not-Kiva," because she wasn't some fucking fictional character destined to do whatever some goddamn hack wanted her to do.


Kiva, however, was fucking hilarious because I never knew if I could take her seriously or not, and she definitely used her power as an unreliable narrator as a strength. Basically, Kiva was going to be Kiva, no matter what.

Back to that first quote, though. Holy shit. Reading the plan is not the goal was a huge reminder that you need a vision in order to accomplish just about anything, and a plan is merely a vehicle to the goal but not the goal itself. So in essence, don't get discouraged if you experience setbacks or your plan doesn't work. Lift yourself up, assess what went wrong, and attack in another direction.

Anywho, Scalzi once again manages to take an incredible grim subject (the imminent collapse of a long-standing way of living and eventual slow, agonizing death of humanity) and turns it into a fast-paced plot with villainous villains with their own motives (fuck you x1000 Nadashe), unsurmountable politics, and last-minute twists that kinda but not really save the day.

I learned that survival is possible for longer than anyone would ever expect, when you have no other choice but to survive.


I received this book from NetGalley for an honest review

This was a really entertaining follow up to The Collapsing Empire that expanded the world and the narrative in some really interesting ways.

The Positives: I was really glad to see that the tone of the narrative remained very sardonic and witty, which is one of the things that I enjoyed most about book one. I think that the plot here was developed and crafted really well, because this book has introduced some very intriguing elements. I also thought that the political machinations were particularly delicious in this instalment, and loved the way in which the different characters were moving pieces on the board - fantastic!

The Negatives: There are a few occasions when the tone has an negative impact on certain scenes - there are things that happen in the plot that should pack an emotional punch, but because we are held at somewhat of a distance from the characters, the impact was lessened for me.

Overall, I really enjoy this series - the books are great to just inhale in one or two sittings and I can't wait for the next instalment.

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

I stand by my opinion that an original idea is generally only good for one book in a row without added interests or supporting ideas. Scalzi continues a great story here but it lacked all the originality of the first in the trilogy. The characters were developed a lot more but I also noticed they tended to have the same sarcasm and eerily similar ways of responding to almost every situation.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the book a ton, it just would have been nice to see some ideas that continued the drastic nature of the issue. Scalzi adding in ancient and decrepit space ships near the end were a nice touch, but the book was closing by that point anyways.

I'm gonna finish the series because everything Scalzi touches I enjoy. It's a fun story and one that kept me coming back for more. It also read amazingly fast!

Discussed on the Maine Beacon podcast: https://mainebeacon.com/maines-pandemic-recession-will-be-fastest-deepest-in-modern-history/

Book two in Scalzi’s recent trilogy, The Consuming Fire continues to exemplify his writing style - vivid, authentic characters, witty yet poignant plot development, and world building that keeps slowly expanding, drawing in the reader with hints and clues. He builds on the foundation expertly set in book one, leaving just the roof to be laid in book three. His protagonists might be my favorite of his; their motivations and growth during the story develop and unfold as their situations shift. I highly recommend reading book one before jumping in to two.

An epic gem of a space opera brimming with interstellar travel, social and political intrigue and machinations that would rival those of Machiavelli. As customary with any Scalzi book, it features excellent world building and florid development in his characterizations. His snarky humor shines through while he's dishing out a dollop of unobtrusive romance and non gratuitous sex. The fate of humanity is in jeopardy! The multiple star systems composing the Interdependency empire are in danger of extinction. The Flow "streams" that allow faster-than-light travel between the planets is collapsing, and threatening their separation. Only one planet called End is compatible with sustaining life on it's surface - all the other systems live in habitats under ground or floating in space while orbiting the planet. The individual systems are unable to provide the raw materials or manufacture the goods necessary for survival, and once isolated, humanity would be vulnerable to extinction. Megacorporations are run by century-old families that have controlled the mercantile economy and have become incredibly wealthy due to favorable government sanctions. One of the oldest and deemed the Royal Family is the Wu family. A scion of this family has always been the Emperox .... the supreme leader .... the head of both Church and State. It was decided that a gender neutral title would be more palatable to the masses . The present Emperox Grayland II is indeed a woman and the 88th in succession .... with the first being Rachela The Prophet, noted for her visions and subsequent prophecies, leading to the establishment of the Interdependency.
This second volume of a trilogy is unusual in that it can be thoroughly enjoyed as a standalone as Scalzi seamlessly weaves into the narrative the appropriate amount of backstory , while providing all the other elements of a great story .... conflict, complications, crisis and finally an unsuspected glorious conclusion. This tour de force is chock full of palace intrigue and conspiracies. Escalating tensions abound as warring families attempt to murder their way into power and complete the coup ... oblivious of the impending disaster with the collapse of the Flow streams.
Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor / Forge for providing an electronic Uncorrected Proof in exchange for an honest review. ( at readersremains.com )

Readers who enjoyed John Scalzi's previous entry in his latest series, The Interdependency, should find The Consuming Fire a fun romp. That said, being a second book in a trilogy, it does have a fair bit of middle-child syndrome, even if it is, overall, an engaging and fast-paced listen.

The Collapsing Empire, 2017's most appropriately named book release, set the stage for this series with its central premise of interstellar travel by way of the Flow (think rivers in space) and what will happen to these intergalactic civilizations when those streams begin to collapse. As The Consuming Fire picks up, more Flow streams are collapsing, setting off a political shitstorm between Emperox Grayland II and the ruling houses either hellbent on denying the science behind the Flow's collapse or usurping the throne in order to further their own power.

There's a dark vein running through the core of The Consuming Fire, what with its promise of civil war, attempted assassinations, and ENTIRE FUCKING PLANETS FULL OF PEOPLE being cut off from civilization and the resources required to keep them alive as the Flow disappears to condemn everybody to certain death. And yet, somehow, Scalzi avoids miring this series in prolonged, protracted portrayals of misery. The political shenanigans involving various houses competing for control of the empire recall a certain Game of Thrones In Space! element, but The Consuming Fire never devolves into violently brutal bloodbaths and Scalzi is hardly the sadist George R.R. Martin is, even though his plot promises the untimely deaths of waaaaaaay more people than Martin ever conjured to kill. No, somehow Scalzi manages to keep it all fairly light and, somehow, comical, even when bodies are hitting the floor.

Operating as an allegory to climate change and how the rich and powerful attempt to profit from science denialism in order to become even more rich and powerful, right up until the moment of complete and utter collapse, really shouldn't be this entertaining. Yet I found myself laughing frequently, thanks to Scalzi's wordsmithing, particularly at one point late in the book when a formerly human-now artificial intelligence jokes about dying in the flow.

“We have to talk about your sense of humor,” the formerly human-now AI is told.
“It was like this before. How do you think I died?”


Yeah, I couldn't help but laugh out loud at that one. A lot of this is due to Wil Wheaton's narration. The Collapsing Empire was my first introduction to both Scalzi as an author and Wheaton as a narrator, and I immediately fell in love with the both of them. It was apparent right from the start that Wheaton is a perfect match for Scalzi's work and sensibilities, and Wil just flat-out gets it. The Consuming Fire isn't just funny, it's goddamned snarky, and Wheaton does a fine job delivering snarkiness. Having been an actor since his childhood, he brings along that element of role-play to his audiobook narrations, injecting the reading with emotion and verve that really keeps things hopping along nicely.

The Consuming Fire is a worthy follow-up to the prior book, and while it doesn't advance the story of The Interdependency in huge leaps and bounds Scalzi does inject a few interesting wrinkles and side adventures for his cast of spacebound lords and ladies. Being the middle-child, its primary mission is to move certain pieces into place for the grand finale next book, and Scalzi does this really well, presuming that the next book, ominously (or at least tentatively, per Scalzi's February 2018 blog update) titled The Last Emperox, is indeed the last. Throughout this necessary bit of set-up, though, Scalzi at least injects enough new stuff, and even a few new mysteries, to make it a highly worthwhile listen. Plus, it's just damn good fun, and that's always welcome and necessary considering the time and reality we currently live in.

3/5 STARS

This one is going to be short, and pretty much to the point.

You know all of those times when you highly anticipate a sequel and then are immediately let down? Yeah, this is one of those.

First things first: I LOVE Will Wheaton’s narration. He makes each and every novel even better with his spoken word, but it wasn’t enough to force my hand into giving more love.

Beginning on the heels of The Collapsing Empire, The Consuming Fire takes us on a journey that, well, reminds us of what happened in Book 1 and adds some ooohs and aaahs along the way. The Flow [for recapping purposes: since the universe is still bound by the laws of physics (no faster than light travel), Scalzi has introduced a network between connected systems to create quick travel pathways. All pathways go through the Interdependency, aptly named because all settlements connected via The Flow need one another for survival] is dissipating and the systems connected are starting to feel the effects.

While Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, attempts to help the billions that will surely be wiped off the board, others who believe that all of this talk is for political gain ensure that their own agendas are met. Everything becomes a power struggle and it is up to key players to root out a way to win and save humanity.

I can’t quite tell if the letdown was how friggin short this book was or the fact that there just wasn’t much “wow” factor to it. The political machinations, sciency tidbits, and love of how The Flow was created/operates keep The Consuming Fire an interesting and intriguing read, but it suffers hugely from 2nd book syndrome. Not enough truly happens and a lot of what Scalzi is forcing into the book (very progressive ideals) come across like he is trying too hard.

I’m hoping Book 3 isn’t a letdown, but I’ll give it a go when it releases; if only for another Wheaton performance and to see how the series ends (if it does).

Hello, Tor! It feels slightly weird to send this to you here when...I've technically already sent it to you. AS ALWAYS, SCALZI IS GREAT, FEEL FREE TO GIVE HIM ANOTHER 13 BOOK CONTRACT THX.