No, it’s not a political post. It’s an audiobook post. But I understand why you may be confused.
My performance of Scalzi’s newest book, The Collapsing Empire, is available today from Audible.
John and I are the same age, grew up in the same area, and have a lot of the same cultural influences. That means that we write and talk in a very similar vernacular. We’re also very good friends, so I’ve heard John talk a whole bunch, and I’ve also heard him read his own work a whole bunch. Put those things together, and what you get is a pretty great team, if I do say so myself.
I’ve been fortunate enough to perform a lot of Scalzi’s books, include Fuzzy Nation, and Redshirts. I love John’s writing, and it’s a joy to perform, so when I was asked to do The Collapsing Empire, I was thrilled. I’m super proud of the work we did on this book, and want to publicly thank my director, Gabrielle de Cuir, who has helped me do the very best audiobook work I can do, on this and other books.
But enough about me. Let’s talk about The Collapsing Empire!
Our universe is ruled by physics, and faster-than-light travel is not possible – until the discovery of The Flow, an extradimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transports us to other worlds, around other stars.
Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It’s a hedge against interstellar war – and a system of control for the rulers of the empire.
The Flow is eternal – but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it’s discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster-than-light travel forever, three individuals – a scientist, a starship captain, and the empress of the Interdependency – are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.
Here’s my non-spoiler review, from my Goodreads account:
As delightful and easy to read as Scalzi at his best (Redshirts, Old Man’s War), with characters who are going to stay with you whenever you have to put the book down … which you aren’t going to want to do.
I won’t discuss plot, at all, but I will say this much: like all great SF, and like the SF that has become accepted as classic, The Collapsing Empire works as a wonderful SF tale … but it also has important allegory, metaphor, and commentary on some things that are going on right now, for readers who are open to that sort of thing. For those who aren’t, it doesn’t beat you over the head with it, which is a pretty neat trick.
Yep. It’s a great book, and I’m grateful to be part of its life.
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One of my friends/co-workers (who is also the person who got our panel for Planet Comicon together) read an ARC of this and recommended it highly to me. I’m pretty excited about it. 🙂
I second the first paragraph of your review. I read the first ~50 pages before work and have spent the entire day jonesing to get back to it. Luckily for me, I’m on the East Coast and head home in less than an hour now!
Ordered today! I was hoping you’d get to perform this one, since I’ve consumed much of Scalzi’s work with your narration. Even if I’m reading a print version, somehow your voice and cadence slip in, which is pretty neat.
It dropped on my phone today so I’ll listen to it before I go to sleep tonight and then during my commute tomorrow. Really looking forward to this.
This is the first book I preordered in a long time. I usually read Scalzi’s books years after they come out and always really like them so I’m getting in on this one early.
My hard cover should arrive tomorrow, but I just snagged the Audible version as well. As I usually do I’ll read it first, then listen to it later. I love your voice work in general, but I especially love you reading Scalzi.
I never need more of a recommendation than seeing you as narrator. You are thoughtful in your choices and a very talented voice actor. Thanks for also reading one of my favorite authors on the reg. Consider this sold!
Cool, I was pondering buying the book. Now I think you have me convinced. Let’s see whether the Audible in Europe also has it already in their offering.
I love Scalzi. The Old Man’s War series is one of my favorites. I listened to Fuzzy Nation with my mother while we drove to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving last year, and she made a positive comment about the reading you did, Wil. I told her, “That’s Wil Wheaton.”
“Wesley from Star Trek?” We used to watch The Next Generation when I was younger.
“The same.”
“That’s neat. I always liked that character. He reminded me of you and your brothers.”
So there. I’ll take that as a compliment.
This audiobook was released on a day I had a lot of driving to do, so that worked out well. 2.5 hours each way got me barely halfway, though, and that whole “not wanting to put it down” thing kicked in, so I wound up finishing it in text form on the Kindle. Still, you were awesome at least for that first half. 🙂
Would not have predicted you pronouncing “Emperox” with a silent X, though.
Ah, the fun bumps and turns in producing an audiobook in a newly created Scalzi Universe. “Emperox” was one of my favorite words in the book. We had 8 pages of word pronunciations on this one in the studio! ;0) Love Wil. Love John.
I’ve often wondered while listening to audiobooks about how the book is laid out for the reader and how pronunciation is handled. Especially after hearing a book or two that had some pretty egregious mispronunciations.
Thank you, Wil. It’s always and entirely our pleasure to have you here at Skyboat Media. xo
Scalzi said in an interview with the Chicago Review of Books that Emperox has a silent X.
Well, sure. I figured Scalzi was in on the pronunciation; wasn’t accusing Wil of going off the rails. 🙂
I’ve listened to all of your audiobooks, and all of John’s audiobooks, and this is next in my to-listen queue as soon as I’m done with The Handmaid’s Tale, read by Claire Danes. Super looking forward to this new series by Scalzi and your reading of it!
Wil, you make this book sound like it is a thinly veiled diatribe about Scalzi’s political views. While you share his political views and so love the book, I highly doubt that I will be anything but insulted and enraged by it. People need to know that their political notions will always alienate half the audience, And will most likely turn them from fans into virulent detractors. I liked his Old Man’s War series and Fuzzy Nation, But I was sadly disappointed by Red Shirts. I just know from this article that this book isn’t for me. Thank you for warning me not to buy this book as I probably would have bought it and been extremely disappointed.
I guess you skipped over the part about how it’s just an enjoyable Sci-Fi space opera if that’s all you want it to be? Good job! You made your point and we’re all very proud of you. Go collect your cookie from the usual Deplorables.
Insulted and enraged by what?
The language? It’s not THAT fucking bad.
The politics around the science?
What was wrong with “RedShirts”?
I’ve said it elsewhere….
That book sounds like it was written specifically for you to read. Prolly not true, I just think that you’re that good at your job. This is the my first “Wil Wheaton read audio book” and I am loving the story and the narration.
I’ve been listening to this on my commute to work and I’m really impressed. I’ve read a little Scalzi before, and I’ve listened to your reading of his ‘Lock In’ and I must say I’ve been thoroughly impressed with the reading given this time. You’ve put a lot of effort into the vice characterisations and it really shows. It makes a huge difference to the listener.
Once thing I have been wondering, in the sections where there is dialogue between two very differently voiced characters how is it recorded? Do you read all the lines of one character, then al the lines of the second character and the editor stitches it together, or do you switch voices in real time and record it in one straight run? That seems like a lot of work either way!