The Collapsing EmpireThe Collapsing Empire
Score Modern
What it's about
Faster-than-light travel is impossible, except through the Flow, an extradimensional field that connects human settlements across space into an interdependent empire. Now the Flow is changing, and could cut every world off from the others. A new emperor, a scientist and a ship captain race to save humanity before the empire collapses.
Why it's worth reading
It was a Hugo Award finalist. John Scalzi writes smart, funny, fast-moving space opera.
You'll love it if you liked
Old Man's War
Red Rising
A Memory Called EmpireGood to know
It's the first of the Interdependency trilogy. It's full of profanity and wit.
By the numbers
- Readers70 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics25 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Bestseller33 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Buzz7 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
- #107 of the 313 science fiction books we rank
- #162 of the 459 fantasy books we rank
- #581 of the 1,573 modern books we rank
- #1104 of the 2,816 books we rank
Why it made the list
Reads as
Epic, Adventurous, Thought-provoking
More by John Scalzi
Old Man's War
Starter Villain
The Kaiju Preservation Society
RedshirtsIf you like this, read next
A Game of Thrones
The Fifth Season
Dungeon Crawler Carl
Gideon the Ninth
Outlander
All Systems RedExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is The Collapsing Empire worth reading?
Yes. It was a Hugo Award finalist. It ranks #1,104 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 71.9 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is The Collapsing Empire about?
Faster-than-light travel is impossible, except through the Flow, an extradimensional field that connects human settlements across space into an interdependent empire. Now the Flow is changing, and could cut every world off from the others. A new emperor, a scientist and a ship captain race to save humanity before the empire collapses.
How long does it take to read The Collapsing Empire?
About 8 hours (336 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after The Collapsing Empire?
If you liked it, try Old Man's War by John Scalzi, Red Rising by Pierce Brown or A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine.