Book description
The Collapsing Empire: A Space Opera That Forgot to Pack Its Brain
John Scalzi's latest interstellar snoozefest proves that even Hugo Award winners can phone it in when they're bored with their own universe. "The Collapsing Empire" reads like Scalzi desperately needed to remind us he can still crank out space opera while his fans hold their breath waiting for the next Old Man's War installment.
The premise? Humanity discovers a magical space river called "The Flow" that lets them zip around the galaxy without pesky physics getting in the way. Brilliant! Except this cosmic highway system apparently operates on the same principle as a temperamental garden hose - it moves around randomly, occasionally spraying entire civilizations into the void of isolation.
Scalzi's Interdependency empire solves the problem of interstellar war by making every planet completely dependent on every other planet, which is either visionary political commentary or just confusing world-building. The author seems to have forgotten that "interdependency" sounds suspiciously like "insecurity" - perhaps an unintentional Freudian slip about his own narrative confidence.
When our heroes discover The Flow might be packing up and leaving forever, they embark on humanity's last desperate gamble to save their civilization. How original. I'm sure no one has ever faced an extinction-level threat in science fiction before.
The real tragedy isn't the collapsing empire - it's that Scalzi's considerable talents have collapsed into this predictable, committee-approved space opera that feels like it was focus-grouped to death. For a book about things falling apart, it holds together remarkably well as a perfect example of how not to write compelling science fiction.
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Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience