The Consuming Fire (excerpt) by John Scalzi
Available August 16, 2018

This was an exerpt of the first six chapters provided to me by Netgalley.com.  I am a long time fan of John Scalzi; I read his entire 'Old Man's War" series, two of the 'Lock In' books and the first book in this series, 'The Collapsing Empire.'  This new book, 'The Consuming Fire' is a worthy addition to the series.  I only read the six-chapter excerpt,  but this book picks up where 'The Collapsing Empire' left off.

The story starts off with the Emperox, Grayland II declaring that she has had mystical visions of the demise of the FLow, the flowing energy stream which connects the worlds of the Empire.  This is apparently a ploy, since she has this information from her scientist friend Marci, a ploy so she can prepare her people for the coming changes.  In the first six chapters of the book, we are taken through the political action of the Emperox, a speech by Marci, in which he finds out that some new streams may be forming, and the political machinations of the family Nohamapetan, who in the first book were the main opposition to the Emporox.

From what I read, this book has the pulse driving excitement and political intrigue that made the first book so enjoyable.  The Empire is beginning to collapse and this make the story exciting.  Recommended 4/5 stars. D. Lowrey