#the interdependency

[quotent-potables]

"We're not immortal." Rachela reminded her. "But we get to live as long as we're useful. And that is a rare privilege."

— The Last Emperox, book 3 of the Interdependency trilogy, by John Scalzi

[roseunspindle]

What I Read March 2022

Tricked into Becoming the Heroine’s Stepmother chapters 34-38 (still enjoying)

His Majesty’s Proposal chapters 44-49 (still enjoying)

The Remarried Empress chapters 98-102  (still enjoying)

Finished! Only took most of February... ^_^’ This book focuses it seems a lot on getting a lot of people to the Shattered Plains, letting more characters come through. I quite enjoyed it.

Re-read all the Death Note volumes I own, and I do still really enjoy this manga, and it’s been fun catching little things that maybe a missed the first time through.

Quite enjoyed this little book, it put down of paper thoughts I’ve had. (now to make everyone I know read it)

A good book 2, not as intense feeling as book one, but I did enjoy it.

Was fun meeting even more new characters and Tanjiro continuing to be his gentle friendly self was heartwarming.

Re-read this as I was feeling sad, and this is one of my comfort reads. ^_^

Started this and Sullivan has continued drinking his respect women juice, very interesting considering what happened on the last few pages where this is going and how it results in the world of the Ryiria Revelations. ^_^

I keep wanting to shake this woman and tell her to make better choices. XD

Ended up reading this in one sitting, very enjoyable. 

You go Doctor Strange! (aww Zelma!)

[accidentalspaceexplorer]

The Interdependency Trilogy by John Scalzi

When the Prophet Rachela created the Interdependency, humanity was falling apart and desperately needed the series of specializations and monopolies that tied each habitat together. Now, as the shadow of a disaster unlike any the Interdependency has weathered falls over the empire, an untrained emperox, an unimportant scion of a noble house, and a mathematician will be thrown together in an attempt to save everyone.

---

All in all, I really enjoyed this trilogy. The worldbuilding was thorough, complex, and unique, the writing was witty and engaging, and the characters were memorable and easy to be invested in. I particularly enjoyed Cardenia, the Emperox who is absolutely in over her head. This is also definitely a space opera - there’s a lot going on in these books, with political machinations, extremely large threats to the empire, and internal strife. I was sucked in very rapidly, and finished this trilogy much faster than I’ve finished a series in a long time.

However, I was kind of disappointed by the final volume in the series. It has a lot to juggle by then, but the ending just wasn’t what I expected. There was a particular line that seemed to suggest one thing, only for that not to be true; it felt like it ended fairly abruptly; and it left quite a lot unanswered. It makes sense in one sense, since this is really clearly a trilogy about the collapse of an empire, which is a fairly messy process. But at the same time, I wanted more from it.

Overall, though, it was a really interesting trilogy with good characters, unique worldbuilding, and an engaging plot, and I’m very glad I read it.

Series Rating: 4.5/5

The Collapsing Empire: 5/5

The Consuming Fire: 4.5/5

The Last Emperox: 4/5

[treehousereads]

[phatburd]

As far as Kiva could tell, whenever selfish humans encountered a wrenching, life-altering crisis, they embarked on a journey of five distinct stages: Denial. Denial. Denial. Fucking Denial. Oh shit everything is terrible grab what you can and run.

— The Last Emperox (The Interdependency Book 3) by John Scalzi

[laserswordsanddragons]

*kicks door in* HEY LOOK AT THE COVER FOR THE LAST EMPEROX!

[orionlakehastodie]

Dear Feminists: Look To Kiva Lagos and Cardenia Wu-Patrick.

I have to appreciate John Scalzi, though male, wrote the strongest female characters in literature this year. 

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE SERIES!

SPOLER ALETER FOR THE SERIES!

We start off with my favorite anti-hero ever - Lady Kiva of the House of Lagos. Now Kiva is not your average sci-fi heroine. She’s smart - her mother’s right hand woman, who runs the Lagos business, recovers millions of what would have been counted as business losses by smuggling immigrants on her ship, and is proudly pansexual. Oh - her mouth is foul. Fouler than a toilet in a train station. 

The beauty of Kiva Lagos is the normalization that a woman can have sexuality and not be defined by it. Scalzi gets rid of slut shaming, and making a smart, powerful and confident woman be interested in sex. He gets rid of the pedestal upon which most powerful women are placed - they’re untouchable, almost asexual, singlehandedly focused on their goals. 

Kiva Lagos is all woman, but she’s not one you would want to trifle with. 

Enter Cardenia Wu-Patrick. I must admit I thought her bland as pudding in the first book The Collapsing Empire, but in the Consuming Fire? I had to eat my words. Emperox Grayland II, is perfectly gray. She never wanted to be emperox, and yet she’s killing at it. I thought she would be easily fooled into alliances she would need the rescue of others to get out of, but our Cardenia, is no wall flower. She’s cunning. She is able to play the council and me - into thinking she is weak, and she can be overthrown. In the end she proves us all wrong. 

All while having the cutest crush on Marce Claremont. Again Scalzi manages to make her a strong, powerful woman, who can fall in love. 

They’re so wonderfully organic, multi-dimensional characters that I think we finally redefine feminism - it doesn’t mean being a robot, unfeeling and asexual. It does not mean being a paragon of morals and values. It simply means being a woman, who can control space ships, and uncover years long of embezzlement, and run an entire empire because they’re strong, capable people who can. And in no way did their womanly qualities in anyway hinder that capacity. 

So yes, John Scalzi is officially my new favorite author. Sorry Pat Rothfuss.

[quotent-potables]

"Are you sure? That you want to marry me?" "Yes." "Why?" "Because you're a good person," Cardenia said. "Because you're fighting a fight you know you're going to lose, but you're fighting it with your full strength anyway. Because your awkward matches my awkward. Because if you're not at my station then no one is. Because these days the times when I'm happy are the times I get to be with you. Because I should get to have something for myself, and that something is you. Because you don't mind when I eat pie in bed. Because if the end is coming, I want you to know you mattered to me. And because I love you. I really do. Should I go on?" "No," Marce said. He smiled. "No, I get it. I love you too." "So will you marry me?" "Yes," Marce said. "Yes, Cardenia Wu-Patrick, I will marry you." "Thank you for that," Cardenia said. "For saying I would marry you?" "No—well, yes, that. Thank you very much for that. But thank you for saying 'Cardenia Wu-Patrick,' and not 'Grayland.' " "I know who I'm marrying," Marce said.

Lord Marce Claremont and Cardenia Wu-Patrick aka Emperox Grayland II, The Last Emperox, book 3 of the Interdependency trilogy, by John Scalzi