In working through my thoughts after reading this trashfire of a novel, I wrote five first drafts of a review. They’re incomplete but I’m posting them here mostly un-edited (just some typo fixes) for posterity. They’re either too incomplete, too snarky, too snooty or too mean-spirited to post on Goodreads.

A Memory Called Empire has big “Hugo award winner” energy: an interesting premise, consistent and intriguing world building, a promising start and a propulsive ending.

I loved my time with it and very excited to dig into the next book in the series although I suspect that it won’t be as good.

Not my favorite John Scalzi novel but it was fun. I prefer when he doubles down on the absurd and comic modes.

This series is not that, although it does have its funny moments, but it’s an enjoyable romp.

Felt more like a soap opera than a space opera at times.

There’s a lot of people thinking about, talking about and having sex. There’s a lot of scheming and plotting that sometimes makes sense but often doesn’t.

So I rolled with it, strapped on my suspension of disbelief pants and enjoyed the ride.