The Last Emperox

I'd sure like to read this same book if the author had another six months and 100 pages to finish it. There's so much rushed at the end, and for the conclusion of a grand epic trilogy it's really a shame. The afterword even notes the author was rushed to meet a deadline and it definitely shows. In particular the death of Grayland II was given very short shrift, as was the whole post-coronation Kiva storyline.

I liked the whole trilogy. Very entertaining. Not world-changing sci-fi, really sort of shallow. But well written and enjoyable and worth the time and cost of the books.

What bothered me most about this series is how.. small it all felt. This is a far-flung interstellar empire and yet the story is a soap opera of the same 10 characters from 3 noble houses and a few hangers-on. That's sort of the nature of space opera. But then the story of The Interdependency itself is supposed to be vast in scope, this giant empire. And yet all those 20 billion people there's only one family who builds all the starships and that family is only led by a few people all of whom we meet in a few short pages? This problem is repeated across all the plot lines and characters. Other space operas do more to suggest the vast scale they're operating at while still focussing on the human stories.

At least the human stories are good. All the main characters - Nadashe, Kiva, Grayland II, Mance - they're all well written. And fun. I liked the light interjection of the occasional sexytimes to keep things amusing. But I felt a little bit like I was watching a puppet show for The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire and the cast only had one set and eight puppets.

Sorry to be so critical but, well, it's a review. Overall I did really enjoy these books and will recommend them for folks looking for a fun read.