The Collapsing Empire
Page 29
Additionally, I’d like to thank the administrators and volunteers of the 2016 edition of HawaiiCon for having me as a guest. I got a surprising amount of this novel done while I was on the Big Island of Hawaii for their convention, and I think getting as far away as humanly possible from the mainland, and its constant news feed, made a huge difference. Not to mention, you know, being in paradise. Thanks, folks.
I’ll close these acknowledgments as I usually do, by thanking my wife and daughter, Kristine and Athena. They actually have to live with me while I write these novels, and it’s not always a happy walk through the poppies. I can be cranky and snarly, especially when (as in this particular case) I get a little behind and I’m uncomfortably reminded that novels are actual work. They love me anyway, even when I only debatably deserve love, and my appreciation for them is nonending and immense. I love them more than pie and churros combined. I think you all know how much I love pie and churros. They’re even better, trust me.
—John Scalzi
October 5, 2016
OTHER TOR BOOKS BY JOHN SCALZI
Agent to the Stars
The Android’s Dream
Fuzzy Nation
Lock In
Redshirts
Your Hate Mail Will Be Graded: A Decade of Whatever, 1998–2008
The Old Man’s War Novels
Old Man’s War
The Ghost Brigades
The Last Colony
Zoe’s Tale
The Human Division
The End of All Things
Edited by John Scalzi
Metatropolis
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
JOHN SCALZI is one of the most popular and acclaimed SF authors to emerge in the last decade. His massively successful debut, Old Man’s War, won him science fiction’s John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer. His New York Times bestsellers include The Last Colony; Fuzzy Nation; Redshirts, which won 2013’s Hugo Award for Best Novel; and Lock In. Material from his widely read blog, Whatever (whatever.scalzi.com), has also earned him two other Hugo Awards. He lives in Ohio with his wife and daughter. You can sign up for email updates here.
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Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Prologue
Part One
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part Two
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Part Three
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Epilogue
Acknowledgments
Other Tor Books by John Scalzi
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THE COLLAPSING EMPIRE
Copyright © 2017 by John Scalzi
All rights reserved.
Edited by Patrick Nielsen Hayden
Cover art by Sparth
A Tor Book
Published by Tom Doherty Associates
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New York, NY 10010
www.tor-forge.com
Tor® is a registered trademark of Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC.
The Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available upon request.
ISBN 978-0-7653-8888-9 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-0-7653-9722-5 (signed edition)
ISBN 978-0-7653-8889-6 (e-book)
e-ISBN 9780765388896
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First Edition: March 2017