(no subject)

[seekingferret]

The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

This book made me angry for how bad it was. I've found you can rely on Scalzi's books to be passably fun every time- not mindblowing, not spectacular, but enjoyable. You can rely on Scalzi to dial in a tone and consistently stay in that register. The Collapsible Empire, though, is advertised as an 'interstellar epic' that can't manage anything like an appropriate tone or storytelling mode, and is boring besides.

Its plot seems to have been constructed on the principle that The Phantom Menace's flaw was that it didn't delve deeply enough into the mechanics of the taxation dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation. There is almost no actual action, there is little character detail that goes beyond the depth Kevin J. Anderson developed in his execrable The Dark Between the Stars, and Scalzi's info-dumps are toxic. And they're not just toxic at the beginning of the book. Even at the end of the book, he's still throwing massive info-dumps at you, only now they're to explain characters' secret plots to you.

But what most boggled me was the lack of relationships. There is not a single character in the book in a romantic relationship. Nobody's married, nobody's dating. There are a couple of father-daughter,father-son, mother-daughter relationships. There's one significant deep platonic friendship, and one of the friends dies a third of the way into the book. That's not necessarily a strike against a story in general, but I feel like it's a strike against a book trying to be an 'interstellar epic'. Interstellar epic isn't inherently an interesting genre if it's just about large impersonal political bodies entering into conflict against each other. Interstellar epic is interesting because of the small, personal stories you can tell against the backdrop of the large impersonal political struggle.

How the hell did this get nominated for a Hugo, against things like Provenance and The Stone Sky?


All Systems Red by Martha Wells

I guess I can see why people liked it, but I just found it okay. The murderbot not being all that murderous is the book's core joke, but I think I was expecting a little more murder/murderousness. The story being novella sized was probably the right choice, but it meant that all of the characters besides the murderbot were necessarily not so well characterized. All in all, the story felt slight.

Comments

[ambyr]

That was pretty much my take on All Systems Red. I might still read the sequels but I'm not rushing out to look for them.

[bironic]

It's funny - everyone online seemed crazy about All Systems Red, but I and everyone I've talked about it with in person (IIRC) agree with you.

That said, I did try the sequel last week and liked it a lot more. Most likely because there was a mystery that needed solving, two more AI characters, and slightly less self-deception about the main character's loyalty to its human clients.

[seekingferret]

I guess I'll check out the sequel, then.

[bironic]

Having a low bar probably helps.

[melannen]

I think the key to being in love with All Systems Red is that you have to empathize hard with the main character.

Which greatly reduces the chance of meeting someone in RL. :P

[cahn]

Haha, yeah, I am totally owning that the reason I really like All Systems Red is that I empathize hard with the main character. Leave me alone, world, so I can consume my media! :) ...and now you mention it, I haven't talked to anyone in RL about it (except my spouse, which doesn't really count)

[melannen]

Online I have seen basically two reactions to it:

1. Let! Murderbot! Watch! Its! Shows!

and

2. It was okay, I guess?

So, yeah, pretty much. :)

[jack]

I really really loved the basic premise and main character of Murderbot, but I didn't love the actually novella as much as I hoped to.

And oh dear. In fact, I do love fiction that actually tackles economic topics well, but it sounds like the Scalzi is just not very interesting :(

[seekingferret]

I think the economic premise of The Collapsing Empire is actually pretty interesting. The idea is that the galaxy spanning Interdependency is an empire so named because it's been engineered so that no system can survive without trade and interchange with other systems, all held together by a hyperspace mechanism called the Flow that connects the systems together. But scientists learn that the Flow is changing in ways that will affect future trade routes, and then economic and political interests start jockeying to see who will be best positioned to take advantage of the changes in the Flow.

There's just not a lot in the actual storytelling I found interesting.

[jack]

The idea is that the galaxy spanning Interdependency is an empire so named because it's been engineered so that no system can survive without trade and interchange with other systems, all held together by a hyperspace mechanism called the Flow that connects the systems together. But scientists learn that the Flow is changing in ways that will affect future trade routes, and then economic and political interests start jockeying to see who will be best positioned to take advantage of the changes in the Flow

Alas, that sounds like "exactly like the real world right now, except with 'changes in the flow' instead of 'nationalistic movements'" :(

[seekingferret]

... yeah

[sophia_sol]

Your know, the thing is I agree with you about most of the things The Collapsing Empire did wrong, and yet I still found it a fun, enjoyable way to pass the time. I'm sorry its flaws were too great for you to read past! (I definitely agree it's not Hugo-worthy though)

[seekingferret]

That's fair, I'm glad you liked it! (We never agree on books anyway)

[sophia_sol]

I was pleasantly surprised recently to see that you also liked the Han Solo movie, since I assumed you wouldn't given that I'd enjoyed it!

[scintilla72]

> Its plot seems to have been constructed on the principle that The Phantom Menace's flaw was that it didn't delve deeply enough into the mechanics of the taxation dispute between Naboo and the Trade Federation.

Despite never having heard of the books you're reviewing here, this line did make me LOL.

[seekingferret]

They're both scifi books from last year, each of which has been nominated for a Hugo Award this year.