In the afterword to this book, Scalzi says that this is the first intentional trilogy he has written. That was an interesting fact to learn. This book follows the thread, picking up right where book two ended. There were a few surprises, not the least of which (SPOILER ALERT) was the death of the (seriously spoiler alert. I will pause and put it in the next paragraph… it will be safe to read after the next paragraph).
If you are reading this paragraph you accept a major spoiler Ok. So the main character of the series, the Emperox herself, dies about 3/4 of the way through the book. It wasn’t completely unexpected but it did sort of come out of nowhere.
Ok, it is safe to read now.
I couldn’t find out an easy way to do spoiler tags like on discord so you get pink on pink. Sorry.
Anyway, I was a little disappointed in this book. I enjoyed the read and the world and the characters for sure, but after books 1 and 2, this one felt like more of the same. And while the series ends, I guess it doesn’t feel like the book is over. There is still a lot more that needs to happen, though what happens next is just boring details over tens or hundreds of years. It is set up and the choices that the emperox makes are reasonable and considered. I am not actually sure I would want to read the next book in the series, but I do feel a little let down by it in the end.
But, like most Scalzi books, I enjoyed the read. It was fast paced, it was a lot of fun, and the science is just described enough to make it seem “reasonable” if not possible. And his strong female characters continue to not disappoint. So, I guess I’m going with 4 stars on this one just because of the more of the same and the lack of real conclusion to the story.