The consuming fire

This is the second volume of John Scalzi's Interdependency sequence, set in a future where humanity rules a network of star systems. The Flow, an unseen channel running beyond ordinary space that lets ships cross between stars, is fading, and worlds are being cut off one by one. If it disappears completely, the civilization that depends on it may not survive unless someone acts boldly.

Emperox Grayland II leads the Interdependency and is prepared to take drastic steps to protect billions of lives. Her opponents are not so willing to accept the danger. Some insist the Flow's decline is a fabrication, while others see it as a chance to seize power. As she plans for disaster, her rivals are readying a civil war fought in governing chambers, boardrooms and places of worship, as well as in space and on battlefields.

Both the Emperox and her enemies are clever and capable, so the struggle for control will be anything but straightforward. Everyone in human space is caught up in its widening consequences.