I absolutely adore this series. A long time fan of Scalzi, this series is by far my favorite. The characters were fun, the story line is familiar but fresh, and his writing continues to be both flawless and hilarious. I usually recommend this author to anyone on the fence about Sci Fi.

The ending of the series was deeply disappointing. All the grand and unique ideas are thrown to the side so that politics and "charmful" characters take the spotlight instead. I'm sick of all the characters in this series and had a really hard time hiking through this story that is more of a string of conversations than it is a story.

The Last Emperox follows The Collapsing Empire and The Consuming Fire as the third in John Scalzi's far future Machiavellian space opera, based on The Interdependency, a space empire enabled by the Flow. Its extradimensional field facilitated trade between distant planets, leading to specialization of powerful trading Houses, and dependencies on trade for survival.

Scalzi presents fans with a fitting conclusion to this spectacular trilogy. Don't miss anything that this author writes, especially not his Acknowledgements here. He strongly encourages Americans to vote in November 2020 and to 'Try not to vote for anyone who is a whirling amoral vortex of chaos.' Hear, hear!!

Truly, I can't imagine a better or more satisfying ending for this trilogy. Kudos to Mr. Scalzi for pulling this off, and thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for providing this advance copy!

And so this great series, "The Interdependency" come to an end.

In this 3rd book of the series, John Scalzi gives us more of what we expect. Set in the same world as the previous two books in the series, it is full of great fast paced space opera, lots of fun, politics, believable characters, good plot, and the same degree of snark that we have become used to from this author. I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys science fiction.

A great read and a very satisfying end to the series.

Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for sending me this ARC. These opinions are my own.

Very enjoyable capstone to the trilogy. Mr. Scalzi writes characters both heroic an villainous who are great to read.

Just as entertaining as expected. As always, the story twists into unexpected directions. I did not anticipate the ending. If you liked the previous two entries in this series, you will enjoy this one. It delivers everything it is supposed to.

I still enjoy Scalzi's acerbic and tangential prose, but it started to wear on me by the end, perhaps because I had recently read The Consuming Fire recently.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

In this conclusion to The Interdependency trilogy, author John Scalzi heats up the action and ties up the nicely, albeit unexpectedly.

'The Flow' is a slipstream in space that connects distant worlds/communities known as 'The Interdependency.' The Interdependency has one ruler, referred to as the Emperox (a non-gender version of emperor). . The current emperox was not expecting to gain the title. Her father died and her brother was killed, thrusting her to rule over the entire Interdependency. She took the name of Grayland II as her emperox name (she was Cardenia Wu-Patrick before becoming the emperox). Fortunately for her, she can seek guidance from every other emperox before her. A special room (the Memory Room) allows for her to call upong any past emperox and a computer generated image appears, complete with mannerisms and all the knowledge of what that emperox thought or did. Recordings are made of Grayland II every moment so that once she passes on she will also be able to impart knowledge to the next emperox.

And she may just 'pass on' sooner rather than later. One of the biggest drawbacks to becoming emperox is that assassination attempts are pretty common. Even more so when you were not the expected emperox and the leader of another house, Nadashe Nohamapetan, who has tremendous political clout and power, thinks that she should be the emperox.

Working alongside Grayland is Lady Kiva Lagos - a no-nonsense, full of action woman who may have just a touch of coprolalia or Tourettes - and Marce Claremont. The latter, a brilliant flow scientist, is Cardenia's lover. He is also the person who has brought awareness to Grayland II and the Interdependency, that the flow streams are collapsing and that soon each planet or station will be cut off from all the others. This bodes doom for a collective that relies on the trade between worlds.

Grayland's council of house leaders don't seem to want to believe in Marce's science, while at the same time they begin planning for the safety of themselves and their families with little concern for the people they govern, which is why Grayland II sees it as her duty to find a way to save the entire Interdependency ... while fending off assassination attempts, of course.

Scalzi's one of the best when it comes to adventurous space opera and this book definitely thrills, while wrapping up the story quite nicely. There is a surprise or two along the way, and a few things that are not at all surprises but that you really wanted to see happen.

It's hard to say too much without giving anything away, and making the discovery is definitely part of the fun here. Though there is a major plot that happens and I haven't decided yet if I'm a little ticked off that we didn't get any clues about the possibility of it happening until this third book, or if there was a clue about this right under our noses from the very beginning and we just didn't see it coming.

If you happen to follow Scalzi at all, on any of his social media platforms, you'll know he tends to get political, and the political parallels in this book aren't particularly subtle. If he was looking for a theme for this series, he found it with American politics of the last four years (though Scalzi's leader is antithetical to the U.S. leader).

I've already personally recommended the first two books in the series to a few people, and I would recommend this one as well. But you really will want to have read the whole series, so don't start here ... end here.

Looking for a good book? <em>The Last Emperox</em> by John Scalzi is a thrilling space opera adventure that nicely finishes of The Interdependency series. Read all three books.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I don't know how he keeps doing it. John Scalzi just keeps turning out one great work after another. Obviously I like it, I've like it from the start, and he keeps hitting them right into that wheelhouse, even though the themes and subjects vary. I keep expecting my enjoyment level to drop, not through any fault of the author, just from diminishing returns.

But he keeps bowling me over every time. Scalzi just knows a) how to tell a good ripping yarn, b) create memorable characters, even those who aren't necessarily likable, c) build memorable worlds, d) weave in subtext subtle enough that you can gloss over or dive into it, as you like (I prefer the latter), and e) do it all with his trademark sardonic sense of humor.

In this series, which concludes with this third entry, Scalzi builds a universe where humans travel via The Flow, a galactic network of superhighways. They have built an interplanetary system of government, the Interdependency, that centers on the Emperox (pronounced emper-oh), houses of nobility, and merchant guilds. The political intrigue that ensues when it is discovered that the Flow is slowly collapsing is just so well executed, and has something to say about our own world.

The main characters are three cool young people: the new Emperox, a reluctant young woman who doesn't really want the job but learns it quickly, and then becomes very good at it; a flow scientist from the hinterlands who has to convince everyone that the flow is collapsing, and then find a way to save everyone from the collapse; and the arrogant ambitious scion of one of the houses who has quite the mouth on her (quite humorously, unless such language offends you) and ultimately develops a conscience.

In this entry, as the Flow begins to collapse in earnest, the extra-dimensional currents of space travel close down one by one, disrupting the politics and economics of the Interdependency. The characters must consequently decide how they're going to deal with the apocalyptic disruption -- capitalize on it for their own personal gain, or help solve the crisis for the benefit of everyone. Some of their actions are predictable, and predictably resolved, some are completely out of left field.

John Scalzi does so many things unfailingly right in his era-defining science fiction writing. His pacing is impeccable, both in terms of plot and dialogue (driven by his ever-snarky tone). His characters, whether fully realized or by turns cutouts, are fun to follow -- especially, in this series, the foul-mouthed, sexually liberated, vengeful manic pixie on sterioids Lady Kiva. And as always, there is that thinly-veiled subtext that you can easily embrace if it suits you, or just as easily ignore if you just want to read a good space opera.

All that said, I do have one or two bones to pick. There is a lot of repetition and exposition, and they go hand in hand as each character in turn repeats some of the same expository details. I would say it feels like padding, but I think it has more to do with the writing having been rushed. And for the first time, I have to say that this book cannot stand on its own, you have to read the prior two entries. I know John likes his series entries to work as standalone stories, but this one is truly the conclusion to the series as a whole and needs to be part of the whole.

But it's practically useless to pick these bones, because there is always the snarky humor that makes it all worth it, and (for someone like me, though maybe not you) the pitch-perfect parallels to our contemporary situation, even more pointedly in this particular year which Scalzi cannot have foreseen in specific, but which still rings so prescient in the general sense of dealing with catastrophe.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC of this title, although I received it too late to post a pre-publication review. Also a note that this is the first entry of the series that I read in print -- I love Scalzi in audio, especially when Wil Wheaton is narrating (because his voice is so much funnier than the voice in my head), and I plan to listen to the audio edition first chance I get. Still, it was a good fun read, and I get to enjoy it twice!

Emperox Grayland II has a serious problem. The Flow is collapsing. This is the stream that moves spaceships through the far-flung universe known as The Interdependency. Soon, every planet and habitat will be stuck and their fate will be a slow, miserable death. Meanwhile, Cardenia Wu-Patrick is in love with her boyfriend, Lord Marce Claremont, who is working to try and solve the mathematics of The Flow in order to fix it. However, Cardenia was smarter than her successor and she had figured out how to manipulate the Room of Memories in the palace which housed all the memories of every previous emperox since Rachela I and the beginning of the Interdependency. Grayland II may be dead, but she can manifest herself as a type of hologram and, subsequently, can continue to work to solve the problems of the Flow and the Interdependency. A very smart ending for Scalzi's first trilogy.

A riveting conclusion to the Interdependency Saga. Tongue-in-cheek, with break-neck pacing and a delightful number of unexpected twists and turns, if you've enjoyed the last two books in this series, or Scalzi's other works, you'll be right at home here. I hadn't read the last two books since their respective releases but after about a chapter I was able to dive right back into where we were in the story, as Scalzi gives you just enough hints to jog your memory and not leave you hanging. I really appreciated that, as I'm often left wishing that publishers or authors would do a little series recap at the beginning for those of us who didn't re-read for whatever reason.
It took three books, but I finally like Greyland! Which was nice, because we spend a decent amount of time in her head this time. Actually, I feel like all the characters had a bit more depth this time, which is good because I tend to find Scalzi's characters a bit shallow. But this was fun, this was a lightning-quick read, this is the popcorn space opera I needed.

Thanks Netgalley & Tor Books for the ARC in exchange for a review.

I couldn't put The Last Emperox down. Its the end of the Interdependency and I feel fine.

The whole series, but this last installment especially, feels so urgent. In The Last Emperox, Emperox Grayland II / Cardenia Wu-Patrick is trying to hold onto the Interdependency as it crumbles apart so that it crumbles in such a way that as few people die as possible. Marce is trying to figure out the science and Kiva is trying to navigate political machinations. Our good guys are trying their best, giving their all even if everything bad feels inevitable. In this way, The Interdependency series centers earnest hope.

On the flip side, we've got Nadashe Nohmapaten single-mindedly scheming to make sure she is in the strong position of power and prestige when the dust settles. Nadashe isn't interested in securing the safety of billions of people; she merely wants everything for herself and for the Nohmapaten family. She is a fantastic and unabashed villain, but also poses a real danger to our good guys such that there is a real sense of tension.

Obviously, Scalzi's cast of character is the strongest element of the series. I've got two quibbles though. First, throughout the series a considerable portion of the narrative style involves the characters/narrators essentially explaining their experiences, positions, aims, etc. via extended monologues. (Imagine if I started writing here about how Cole thinks about reading, when she first started reading, why she is reading this book, how she felt about that book, why she uses GoodReads, etc. etc.) I don't mind this narrative style, but Scalzi definitely over-relies on it in this series. Second, except for a brief section, there is no perspective of the normal people of the Interdependency. I like the world enough that I want to see more of many characters (such as Nadashe and her childhood, Kiva Lagos' mother, and Marce's sister Yrenna), but I missed the chance to know the world of the Interdependency beyond the primary and most powerful actors.

Those points aside, I strongly recommend the series and would like a TV show based on it yesterday.

It's rare these days that I read one series/trilogy book after another, but this is my third 'Interdependency' book in a row, so you can take it for granted that I've been enjoying them immensely. The Flow, a naturally occurring highway between star systems is collapsing and Emperox Grayland II and her lover, Marce, a Flow scientist are trying to find a way to save all the far flung habitats of humanity, while the merchant families are treating the end of civilisation as a business opportunity. Kiva Lagos has been appointed by the Emperox to manage the business of the treasonous (and treacherous) Nohamapetan family. But the Nohamapetans are not yet tamed, and the Emperox is threatened once more and must make a difficult decision in order to save humanity. Though this is the final book in a trilogy I wonder if there could be something else set in this universe, since there are a couple of loose-ish ends.

While I adored the first two books I only liked this last instalment. This was an amazing sci-fi trilogy with such characters that everyone will fall in love with (especially Kiva of course), a plot that is just amazing and the thing I most love about Scalzi's books are the humour. He is such a funny guy and it comes through his books too. I could only recommend his books, this trilogy especially as it is my favorite from him.

Usually, I am not a binge reader, and I wait for ages before finishing a series. Even when I love it, it is not something that depends on my enjoyment of it. Not at all. But I usually start billions of series, and then I take my time to go through them. Sometimes I wait too much and I need to re-read some of the previous volumes, sometimes I am luckier and I don’t need to re-read, but usually, I let years pass between the first volume and the last, and I do so with series, with trilogies and even with duologies. I am just bad this way.
But this didn’t happen with this one. In three months, given or taken, I have read the entire series, and this is quite a unique feat for me! And it tells you something about this series, too. Because if it is true that I wait years to finish series that I love, for sure I won’t pull a thing like this (finishing a series in three months) if the series was just meh, right??

And this series was good! You can read my reviews for the previous volumes, The Collapsing Empire and The Consuming Fire, so I’ll try to not be too repetitive. And I’ll try to not spoiler anything, even if it is quite difficult to review the third books of a series without at least minor spoilers on the previous books, but I would try!

I think that this third book is the most scientific of the series. This is a sci-fi, but it wasn’t really heavy on the science part. On my part there are no complaints here, because I really am not a science person, sorry not sorry, so I was quite happy to see not so much of it around, but in this one, we get to see a tad more of it, while we follow Marce and his studies, in his desperate tentative to save the universe as they know it.
But science aside, we have pretty much what we have in the other two books: action, intrigues, twists (!!!), and amazing characters. With the peculiar sense of humor of the author to keep us company while reading.

In this book Cardenia and Kiva live up to the expectations. While in the first book we are introduced in this new world, and to the characters, the plot is set in motion and we learn of the pending end of the universe, along with all the characters and all the people who, in this collapsing empire, are living, in the second one we get to know more about our characters, they realize the potential that we saw in the first book, and get to shine. And they go on shining in this last volume, too.
Cardenia, our Emperox Grayland II, is true to herself until the end of the book, and I have a couple of things to say about the end in just a moment, she is a good person, who tries her best to do good for all the people who are her people, because the emperox is, between a ton of things, “mother of all” and she takes seriously to her role. She is an amazing emperox, and an amazing person, who tries her best and manage to be true to herself even when the world is conspiring against her at every damn turn!
And then we have Kiva. She is just amazing. She is loud, rude, I think she has some record with all the cussing that leave her mouth every time she opens it, but she is, simply put, amazing. She is quite self.centered, that’s true, but her heart is in the right place, and she manages to remain true to herself, too.

“Well, since you asked”, she said, “I care because the emperox told me to care. I care because aside from the fucking Nohamapetans, this house employs hundreds of thousands of people who now have to rely on me to look out for their best interest. I care because although you will never know this, running a whole fucking house is an immense responsibility, and maybe, I don’t know, I would like to be seen as good at my fucking job. I care because despite the name on the door, this is my fucking house now. I care because when you come into my house, into my office, and tell me what is going to happen, you insult me and you insult my house. And since I can tell you’re not the sort to show any actual gooddamned initiative on your own part, you fucking cognitive mudfart, I care that your shitty little house is insulting me and my house – both of my houses, since I am still of House fucking Lagos. I care because I fucking care.“

And this is Kiva in a nutshell for you all. She has an attitude, a ton of it. And she is simply amazing.
But alongside these two amazing characters, who capitalize all the spotlights, we have some secondary characters that are just so good, in a more soft, secondary, way. We have Marce, who fell a tin flat beside the emperox, but who is just so cute and sweet, in his nerdy ways. And the archbishop. She is another great support character, and I really enjoyed her, too. And then we have Monsieur Chenevert, and Fundapellonan. She is the feminine version of Marce. Both of them are secondary to their love interest, because it is almost impossible to shine as much, but they are sweet, supportive and they make a great half of the couple. They are perfect for their partner. And this is just so cute!
And, last but not least, let’s not forget about Nadashe. She is quite the classic villain that you can find around. And yet, even if she is a cliche, and I didn’t sympathize with her so much, she is great in her own ways. And she is tireless and obstinate. She is a woman on a mission, and she won’t be stopped!

I was almost forgetting about a couple of characters, and that would be unforgivable! In this book, we have some important mothers. And it is quite unusual. But they have a lot of relevance to the story and are well-developed characters in themselves, so I have to just nominate them! Nadashe’s mother is not really present in this book, but she is in the first two and she is a prominent figure. Her plotting and scheming are everywhere! And Kiva’s mother. She is fantastic.

And now let’s talk a bit about the ending. I can’t say much about the story, because spoiler, and I can’t say a lot about the ending, obviously, but I have something to say nonetheless.

I was expecting something similar from Cardenia since the first book. I am not saying that I foresaw this event, but it was just so typically Cardenia that, sooner or later, I was waiting for something like this. And hoping to be wrong all the way. It is not that is a bad solution, not at all. But I was hoping for something different, to be wrong, and to be rewarded with another kind of ending. (I know, cryptic and confused but hey! I cannot do spoiler!)
Kiva… wow! I can’t say more, but this twist was quite unexpected, and it was just wow!!!!!
And finally, a couple of things more about the book. In this one, Scalzi shares the love for bullet lists, and it was fun! And the part about the acknowledgment deserves to be read. I usually read them, but if you are one of those readers who skip them, in this case maybe you should do an exception!

This was an excellent follow-up to book 2 ... and it had a fair dose of all things kool IMHO. The pace was exciting and the intrigue reminicient of what I enjoyed from other sci-fi favorites, such a Dune. I thought the characters were well developed ... to the point I was really pissed when the author went all Game of Thrones on me; but I got over that and soldiered on to a rather satisfactory ending. Kiva is the f@*#!^& hero of the day in this story.

I was given this free review copy ebook at my request and have voluntarily left this review which has also been posted to my Goodreads; please note that I don't give out that many 4* reviews ... so that should be a clue as to how good I really thought this book was.

Good solid story; well written. Good ending to a good series. However, I expected more from the author of Old Man's War.

I had high expectations for the final book in Scalzi's Interdependency series, and this volume did not disappoint. Various plot threads that had been laid in place from the first volume all came to a head -- sometimes in unexpected ways. Kiva Lagos is an incredibly satisfying character to read: she has no hesitation about calling bullshit for what it is. Likewise, I always enjoy being able to watch Cardenia/Grayland II carefully figure things out. And never let it be said that Scalzi doesn't think carefully about how the technology that he inserts into his novels will play out.

It seems like the trilogy is complete, but I would happily read more in this universe.

The Last Emperox by John Scalzi, a great author. I normally enjoy this author's work very much but really had a hard time connecting with this series.

I got a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I’m not sure they’ll ever give me another one. Oh well.

I read this book a few days ago, and dashed off a first draft of this review, and came back a few days later, because I have been pondering how to write a “fair” review. How much were my expectations affecting my view of this book?

The “fairest” I can be, is to think through How I would view this if I had just received the 3 texts from netgalley, so That all I knew was it was a published trilogy, with no knowledge of the author or The publisher or The price; in other words, a completely cold read.

The upshot is as follows: it was a kind of okay Facile yarn. I’d assume it’s a freebie or a cheapie from an inexperienced author who self published them. There are some good ideas and the voice is beguiling. To be fair it was an improvement on the second book which was clearly a first draft which was released by mistake. This clearly talented author really really really needs to work with a good editor to think through his world building, his writing and his characters. He is a very fluent tale teller, but my goodness, everything else needed work. This has got to be one of the “toldest” books I have ever read - as to a 10 year old maybe? Reading it is to experience the author outlining the book and the story. Most disappointing is that the political/history/world building elements essential to such a story are absent...in a series about a collapsing interstellar empire.

So if you need something superficial and undemanding to listen to while in hospital, and you can get it for free, maybe give it a go.

As I am in fact well aware of the author and the publisher, I just hope that down the track Scalzi returns to these books and fleshes them out properly. This really feels like a missed opportunity.