The Last Emperox is a sci-fi novel written by John Scalzi, and published by Tor in 2020. It is the third of three books in the Interdependency series, the first and second of which I have previously reviewed. I have read the book several times in physical and audiobook formats. This review is intended to be free of spoilers for the book itself, but will likely contain spoilers for the previous books in the series, The Collapsing Empire and The Consuming Fire. This review is not based on a free or review copy. There are affiliate links at the end of this review.
Blurb:
The Last Emperox is the thrilling conclusion to the award-winning, New York Times and USA Today bestselling Interdependency series, an epic space opera adventure from Hugo Award-winning author John Scalzi.
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 from 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 tool at their disposal to save themselves, and all of humanity. And yet it may not be enough.
Will Grayland become the savior of her civilization . . . or the last emperox to wear the crown?
Review:
by now, we all know that I really like political sci-fi. Regular readers may even know where this fascination started for me. As with the previous book, Scalzi has really embraced the politics of this universe that he has created, and the plots and intrigue grow ever denser and more fascinating, leading to a pretty shocking and perhaps-unexpected climax. Emperox Grayland II spent the previous book unravelling the schemings of her established enemies in the House of Nohamapetan and her (supposed) own House of Wu. In this book, they’re at it again. And that’s the point. You can put down a rebellion here, an insurrection there, but unless you can really cut out the poison, the system itself, then your job will never truly be done. Lord Marce Claremont is still here, beavering away at the science, and Lady Kiva Lagos, now in charge of the Hub system business of her rival house of Nohamapetan, seems to be – shock, horror – growing up.
The Last Emperox returns us to the interstellar empire known as the Interdependency (or, more fully, the Holy Empire of the Interdependent States and Mercantile Guilds), which is facing immininent collapse as the Flow, a series of interstellar paths that facilitate fast travel in a universe in which faster than light travel is not otherwise possible. The stakes are high right from the start of the book, largely due to the prep work that was done in the first two novels.
This book is such a fantastic conclusion to Scalzi’s trilogy because so many of the plot points of the previous book are allowed to pay off. End, the backwater arse-end of the Interdependency is now, as the only planet in the empire that can sustain life on its surface, about to become the most important place for humanity. Of course, it is in the hands of the enemy. The Emperox, Greyland II, is able to use the information-gathering powers of her memory room, as established in the previous book, to see the many plots swirling against her. In the course of this, she also finds out the truth about the true nature of the memory room and the apparitions of past rulers with whom she consults.
On the topic of our main characters, that’s Cardenia covered. Where are the other two? Kiva is in the interesting position of ruling a house that she nominally hates, but at the same time will not allow herself to not put her best efforts into her role. Marce has two major relationships in this book; with Cardenia/Greyland and with Chenovert. I really enjoy any scene with Chenovert, the holographic late king who now inhabits a sizeable ship and who acts as a friend and confidante of Marce. Chenovert was one of my favourite parts of the previous book, and that continues here. He’s also instrumental in one of the biggest reveals/twists in the book.
The poltiics of this book, like those of the series, are about resources. Aren’t most political arguments ultimately about resources? In this case, it’s about resources that are about to become scarce, an infrastructure that will soon no longer exist, and a population that is likely going to suffer and die. It’s about forcing people to look beyond short term gain in order to plan for long-term survival. God, that’s relatable, isn’t it? It’s about feeling like the lone voice making that case. It’s about inevitability and planning around inevitabilities.
Nadashe Nohamapetan continues to be an excellent villain. She’s still plotting. She knows how to draw people in with promises of survival and preferential treatment, even as civilisation collapses around them. She plays to base instincts for survival and a collective sense of entitlement on the part of the ruling elite. Again, this is incredibly relatable. I enjoy the later stages of her plotting in this book, once most of her scheming has paid off and her intentions, and the results, are laid bare.
The best thing about this series is still, three books in, the world-building. Scalzi created an interesting setting in The Collapsing Empire and has fleshed it out very well over the series. It’s actually quite sad because even as he presents us with a great setting, this book then starts to properly smash it to pieces. The end is nigh. The flow is collapsing and civilisation as our characters know it will collapse with it. We see some of the institutions we’ve seen built be put under strain. The guilds are generally found wanting. The church is shown in a pretty good light with a strong, principled leader in its Archbishop. The parliament continues to be, disappointingly, a bit irrelevant. That could have been slightly better developed, I suppose.
The social commentary that has been a huge part of this series from the start is even starker here. The parallells with short termism in political leadership and the challenges of the climate crisis are not exactly subtle. But then, nor are they overbearing. Certainly, they don’t come at the expense of quality, characterisation, or structure. This is, after all, a well-structured story that forms an appropriate ending to a well-structured series. The pacing is spot-on. The story is broken up really well and the way that the main characters are dealt with individually makes them feel important, and then it’s very satisfying when they come together for various shared scenes. The big story beats are earned, especially in the context of this book as the conclusion of a trilogy.
As with the previous books, the audiobook for The Last Emperox is read by Wil Wheaton. He does a great job. He makes each character interesting and unique, and plays them with what feel like affection. It’s a great audiobook, as are all of the Scalzi books that Wheaton narrates.
I recommend this book. I adore this book. It’s a fitting end to the series that I love, but which I resent for ending. I’d love to come back to this setting to see how the planned evacuation of humanity to End will go. I want to know who lives. I want to see what happens next. I don’t think that will happen. And, hey, that’s okay. I just love that we got to see this wonderful, complete story over three fantastic books.
Rating: 5 / 5
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