The novel “The Collapsing Empire” by John Scalzi was published for the first time in 2017. It’s the first book in the Interdependency series. It won the Locus Award as the best novel of the year.

The Interdependency exists thanks to the Flow, outside the normal space-time, which allows relatively quickly interstellar trips by accessing “shoals” that exist only in some places. On End, a scientist has been working for decades on the study of the Flow and according to his predictions the connections between the various planets and habitats will start collapsing in the near future. He decides to send his son Marce Claremont to the capital to show the situation to the Emperor (Emperox).

When Emperox Attavius ​​VI dies, his daughter Cardenia is his heir because in the meantime her brother died in an accident. The succession is far from peaceful due to some terrorist attacks against Cardenia, who ascended to the throne as Grayland II. The intrigues of the Nohamapetan family, interested in expanding their economic power, make the situation even more complex.