The Last Emperox

, #3

by

eBook, 308 pages

English language

Published April 14, 2020 by Tor Books.

ASIN:
B07QPGW9FS
3 stars (3 reviews)

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 …

3 editions

reviewed The Last Emperox by John Scalzi (The Interdependency, #3)

I knew this would be awful

2 stars

I knew this would be awful. I was not wrong.

It's the same damn problem as the previous book in the series. Every character is too damn clever for their own good. Most characters are paper-thin schemers. The whole basis of the story is just predicting whether an incident will be a double cross or a triple cross or a quadruple cross. "Aha! I anticipated you would double cross so I have taken the liberty of triple crossing you!" Then there is the nature of some of the artificial intelligences that are characters. Specifically that these AI characters pepper every conversation with meta-discussion on the nature of their existence. "I, an AI, am sorry for your loss. Am I actually sorry or am I just programmed to say that? We must discuss the nature of this at every utterance of a pleasantry."

This series, particularly the second and third books, …