The Consuming Fire by John Scalzi is the dazzling follow-up to The Collapsing Empire - a space opera in a universe on the brink of destruction.

The Interdependency, humanity's interstellar empire, is on the verge of collapse. The Flow, the extra-dimensional pathway between the stars, is disappearing, leaving planets stranded. Billions of lives will be lost - unless desperate measures can be taken.

Emperox Grayland II, the leader of the Interdependency, is ready to take those measures. But it's not that easy. There are those who believe the collapse of the Flow is a myth - or an opportunity for them to ascend to power.

While Grayland prepares for disaster, others prepare for civil war. A war that will take place in the halls of power, the markets of business and the altars of worship as much as between spaceships. Nothing about this power struggle will be simple or easy . . . and all of human civilization is at stake.