The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi

 

The Interdependency had endured for thousands of years.  All the far flung countries that composed it were connected by the Flow, the mechanism that allowed travel between places so far apart that without the Flow there would be no way to reach them in a man's lifetime.  The Interdependency was ruled by the Emperoux who resided at the capital, the Hub.  Another place of note was The End, a small world which had been originally populated by criminals exiled from other worlds.  

But things are changing.  There is a new Emperoux, a young girl who never thought she would be in charge and thrust into the role when her brother, the heir, died in an accident followed by the death of their father.  The merchant families, which hold much of the power in all worlds and control the traffic between them, seem to be embroiled in a power struggle.  End is engaged in a native rebellion that seems likely to topple its ruler.  Most importantly, something seems to be happening with The Flow.  Some of the entry points seem to be collapsing, which means no one can enter or exit there. 

On the End, a friend of the Emperoux continues his work.  A brilliant physicist, he had come to the Emperoux decades ago showing him the prediction his math equations showed; the entire collapse of the Flow.  Since that time, he appeared to have been exiled to End but in reality he is there continuing his work.  Now his son must reach the Emperoux and weeks into her reign, inform her that everything on which the world has been built, will change in the near future.  How will humanity survive?  Will the Emperoux prove up to the challenge?

This is the first in a planned trilogy about this world and the challenges facing it in the collapse of everything on which their reality is based.  There are many interesting characters and the struggles between trading families trying to secure power and wealth is fascinating.  But what drives the novel is the idea that humanity could be faced with a challenge of the entire system collapsing and the survival of life at stake.  Readers will want to continue the series to see what happens next.  This book is recommended for readers of science fiction.