The Collapsing Luna Review
May. 4th, 2017 02:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bluegargantuaHey,
For whatever reason my April reading has been dismal (of books anyway). But here's what I've read lately:
First up: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Oddly, I've probably read more of Scalzi's blog than I have his fiction. No particular reason, just how it fell out.
Anyway, this book kicks off a new series and...it's really the opening book in a series. You've got an interstellar empire connected via a web of space-time anomalies called The Flow. It's nine month's travel time from Hub (the center of the empire) and End (the furthest planet away from Hub in both time and distance).
The Flow is fairly stable but Earth and one other planet have been lost when the Flow moved. Still, the Flow has been unchanged for several centuries so no one gives it much thought. Certainly not Cardinea who, thanks to an untimely accident, is about to be crowned Empress. A message from her father points her at a research station on End where a local scientist is mapping out the disturbances in the Flow. The numbers aren't good. The Flow will be going away slowly but steadily over the next few years. Humanity needs to get settled before the Flow (and vital interplanetary trade) cuts out. End happens to be one of the only planets in the Empire that easily supports life and will be one of the last to drop off the network so End really needs to ramp up for refugees...too bad End is the Empire's dumping ground and the political situation there is...fraught.
Anyway, that's little more than the back cover blurb and the book basically re-iterates all that, gets the characters introduced and shuttled to where they need to be and then the book is done. The writing was fine and it read well, but not much actually happens. I'm not in any particular hurry to pick up the next book in the series.
Next up is a sequel, Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald. This is a follow up to his book Luna: New Moon about a near future moon ruled by five familial corporations...well, four by the end of that first book, but enough family members survive that they can work on their various plans for survival or revenge.
One of the problems following a series (even a really good one) is that you never remember who half the characters are over a year later when you get the next book (oh Malazan Empire I can't quit you). It doesn't help that the families have a lot of arranged "marriages" (often more legal designation than anything else) so the guy with the Scottish last name is actually from the family originating from China or vice versa.
On the other hand, there's a wonderful kaleidoscope of human cultures on display in the book and mostly from countries that are fairly marginal now. Tons of details from various cultures jammed together in delightful juxtaposition. McDonald does a great job imagining thriving human cultures in a very hostile environment. In general the "moon-building" is wonderful.
This is a bit of a "bridge" novel. The Cortas have to get their act together to rebuild their business, other families have to react to newly formed power vacuums. Stuff happens but some of the most important action happens...not exactly off-screen, but you only see the results not what drove them. At any rate, the book feels like it's sorting things out for the big (and hopefully) final push in the next book.
Anyway, I did really like the book and I will probably pick up the next one in the series.
later
Tom
p.s. If you're reading this on LJ, I am probably going to turn off cross-posting at the end of the month. I may be deleting the LJ account entirely. You can find me on Dreamwidth at this username.
For whatever reason my April reading has been dismal (of books anyway). But here's what I've read lately:
First up: The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. Oddly, I've probably read more of Scalzi's blog than I have his fiction. No particular reason, just how it fell out.
Anyway, this book kicks off a new series and...it's really the opening book in a series. You've got an interstellar empire connected via a web of space-time anomalies called The Flow. It's nine month's travel time from Hub (the center of the empire) and End (the furthest planet away from Hub in both time and distance).
The Flow is fairly stable but Earth and one other planet have been lost when the Flow moved. Still, the Flow has been unchanged for several centuries so no one gives it much thought. Certainly not Cardinea who, thanks to an untimely accident, is about to be crowned Empress. A message from her father points her at a research station on End where a local scientist is mapping out the disturbances in the Flow. The numbers aren't good. The Flow will be going away slowly but steadily over the next few years. Humanity needs to get settled before the Flow (and vital interplanetary trade) cuts out. End happens to be one of the only planets in the Empire that easily supports life and will be one of the last to drop off the network so End really needs to ramp up for refugees...too bad End is the Empire's dumping ground and the political situation there is...fraught.
Anyway, that's little more than the back cover blurb and the book basically re-iterates all that, gets the characters introduced and shuttled to where they need to be and then the book is done. The writing was fine and it read well, but not much actually happens. I'm not in any particular hurry to pick up the next book in the series.
Next up is a sequel, Luna: Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald. This is a follow up to his book Luna: New Moon about a near future moon ruled by five familial corporations...well, four by the end of that first book, but enough family members survive that they can work on their various plans for survival or revenge.
One of the problems following a series (even a really good one) is that you never remember who half the characters are over a year later when you get the next book (oh Malazan Empire I can't quit you). It doesn't help that the families have a lot of arranged "marriages" (often more legal designation than anything else) so the guy with the Scottish last name is actually from the family originating from China or vice versa.
On the other hand, there's a wonderful kaleidoscope of human cultures on display in the book and mostly from countries that are fairly marginal now. Tons of details from various cultures jammed together in delightful juxtaposition. McDonald does a great job imagining thriving human cultures in a very hostile environment. In general the "moon-building" is wonderful.
This is a bit of a "bridge" novel. The Cortas have to get their act together to rebuild their business, other families have to react to newly formed power vacuums. Stuff happens but some of the most important action happens...not exactly off-screen, but you only see the results not what drove them. At any rate, the book feels like it's sorting things out for the big (and hopefully) final push in the next book.
Anyway, I did really like the book and I will probably pick up the next one in the series.
later
Tom
p.s. If you're reading this on LJ, I am probably going to turn off cross-posting at the end of the month. I may be deleting the LJ account entirely. You can find me on Dreamwidth at this username.
