Corrosion (The Corroding Empire Book 1)

Actually, 4.5 stars. I read "Foundation" and it's sequel 50+ years ago and remember them as about a 4 star duo. Enjoyed the Main character, a robot who goes through many changes. The idea of "corrosion" due to basic algorithms over centuries is good. The science ideas are fascinating,, so I enjoyed the book.

Yet, Hard-core science SF is an adjustment for me at this point it's been a long time. ,

An entertaining and thought provoking read.

The book is inspired by Foundation, where an advanced interstellar civilization is brought low and the story of re-civilization is told by viewpoint characters scattered over the centuries. That is where the similarities end, as author Kalsi brings his own take on the concept.

I remember Foundation as having a general optimistic tone, where the viewpoint characters overcome the challenges of their day guided by the all-knowing ghost of Hari Seldon. There was a sense of inevitability that was only punctured in later books.

Corrosion takes an almost opposite track, illustrating a decaying galaxy where chaos reigns and even the far-sighted seer dedicated to restoration is stymied by events and very human reactions. Without going into spoilers, the world of the Corroding Empire is a darker place than the world of Foundation. Yet this darker world also makes the bright spots of the story all the more hopeful and rewarding.

For the science and world-building side of things, I enjoyed the hints of the technological wonders possible in an advanced algorithmic universe, and the exploration of how such tech would break down.

On a final note, the 0s and 1s in the Epilogue are a binary encoded ASCII message and can be translated using a "binary to ASCII" tool found through the search engine of your choice. It will whet your appetite for the next book in this series and what Kalsi will bring next.

The book is supposed to be reminiscent of Asimov. In some ways, I'm sure it is. But I never cared about the characters in any Asimov story.

In every way, this is more enjoyable than what it states it is. The story is on a large scale, but the focus is always on small aspects of it, and the reader is drawn to care about them, even if only for a short chapter. The prose is not mechanical, but rather, the mark of empathy flows through. The story underscores a distrust of the powerful, mostly in a good light, as these rarely have our best interests at heart.

At any rate, I've done a more complete review at injusticegamer. blogspot. com

A less than average effort. Predictable plotting, shallow characters, and unimaginative future history. The basic idea, an interstellar civilization facing the end of the physical phenomenon that makes interstellar travel feasible, is solid but not developed particularly well. This book has an element of allegory. A civilization facing a major challenge to its nature with powerful forces refusing to admit the possibility of disaster.

What a lucky accident. I thought I was buying Scalzi's new The Collapsing Empire but saved big bucks on this great pastiche of The Foundation Trilogy by Asimov, instead. It might be time to go back and re-read a few of those now that I've been reminded of it. I used to like Scalzi until he decided that meeting multicultural social justice warrior demands was more important than realistic plots and characters. Does anyone remember how great Old Man's War was? I sure wish we could turn back time and get him to write like that again. Oh, well. In the meantime, we have Johan Kalsi to give us some good old fashioned galactic empire SF!

Never since Zarathustra spake _What have ye done to surpass man?_ has there been anyone who could answer as definitively as can Johan Kalsi. In fact, never has there been such a Triumph of the Word as is this missive from the Realm of Imagination since the Very First Day whence was spake LET THERE BE LIGHT; a feat nonpareil until CORROSION was released to us to attend agape upon. One night in Bangkok, nay an eternity in Bangkok, makes one never so humble as does one's awe of the master wordsmith's talent radiating in tsunami abound from the every turn of phrase on the every turn of the page of the tour de force which is CORROSION. Truly, every day from now shalt upon waking a proskynesis be performed to the Altar of Kek upon which the Kindle of Kalsi shall repose in grandeur, never to be sullied by the touch of a lesser work -- of which all by merely human authors are, Collapsing into insignificance before this literary landmark to stand in testament of the glory of the Castalia Age Of Publishing throughout all generations of posterity. Buy it now to elevate your soul to flights Icarian in appreciation of the sublime mastery of Johan Kalsi, the veritable apotheosis of literary triumph in this the best of all possible worlds that has Castalia and its authors in it.

I became interested in the book because of rivalry Vox had with a certain writer. I did not know what to expect. This is my first Castelia House book too. I read a lot and have to say this is some of the best writing. The court scene is my favorite.

[Full disclosure: I received a review copy of this book]

The book tells the story of a galactic empire entirely (perhaps overly) dependent on technology (or "algorithms" as the book calls it) for running machines, markets, space travel, climate, even the genome itself of plants, animals and man.

This empire is slowly collapsing ("corroding" in the language of the book) as the algorithm at the base of it all are beginning not to work. It is not revealed (at least in this book) whether this is a bug or an attack, but everything is devolving and the people are ill-equipped to fix what had been working for centuries - interstellar travel becomes spotty, planets get abandoned, and the genetically engineered crops become poison. A non-engineered weed that starts the book as a symbol of horrible un-engineered nature becomes a staple crop by the end of the book.

Throughout all the story a lone robot serves as an old testament style prophet warning of the doom to come, but then finds his calling in attempting to repair this AlgoDecay.

The book can be seen as a technophobic cautionary tale for our society that is becoming more mechanized and more dependent on algorithms and GMO. But I prefer to see it as an optimistic story leading to the eventual triumph of the free human spirit over technological slavery. Even if that human spirit has to be dragged kicking and screaming by a robot.

So why flawed? The world building in the book throws a lot of names around without explaining whether these are regions, countries or planets. The human characters span the gamut from one-dimensional to complex, but Servo the robot (arguably the most important character) is a mystery to me. We are never told or shows what his motivations are.

Johan Kalsi's new book Corrosion (The Corroding Empire Book 1) is old-fashioned Science Fiction. The story of decaying algorithms (AlgoDecay) is told over a 500 year period effecting everything that runs on algorithms including systems, robots, transportation, even biologically created entities such as humans and food plants. The history is situated more than a thousand years into the future where human-kind has prospered and conquered many planets and systems in the galaxy. The fun part of the story telling is the recurring character, a sentient robot, who is trying to save human-kind from the worse affects of AlgoDecay. This book does have an Asimov flair. I recommend this book for lovers of old style SciFi. You won't be disappointed.

I also received an advance copy for review from the publisher. The Corroding Empire is an Asimovian story of the systemic collapse of Man's galactic empire due to an unknown corruption of the algorithms in the code that run everything. A slow moving electronic ebola. Was it an intentional attack or a fluke? The accidental AI forces the top technocrat to acknowledge the error in the data, who saw it 25 years earlier but refused to believe it. Then it becomes a race across the centuries to fix the algodecay in a series of short stories where an new iteration of that same AI shows up to help man and robot alike.

This story is much better than Scalzi's weak attempt to mimic Asimov by cutting and pasting with name changes and some very unlikely sex scenes. Johan Kalsi does a better job of it.

A truly thought provoking book of where man's hubris may take us. A new type of apocalypse book.

Mr. Kalsi takes us through a detailed tale of how the arrogance of man specifically in the religion of science, the infallibility of man and how the system can control and predict everything leads to disaster.

Of course, the story includes all of the human follies that we see everyday in the world around us. A true comedy of arrogance about humanity.

The fact that humans are still subject to all of their faults even as the universe around them is corroding adds a bit of realism to a novel of dark humor.

I especially enjoyed the irony of how the only savior who has a chance help us is the same entity who gave the initial warning that the algorithms were failing was ignored by the experts, some of whom are forced to turn to him for help.

I highly recommend this tale of what can happen when we believe we can know it all.

Shameful of the store to force a title/author change on the bogus grounds that "it could confuse people!" ಠ_ಠ

I knew exactly what this was when I pre-ordered it, and it was everything I expected and so much more. It easily stands on its own as a very good science fiction novel complete with a riveting plot, compelling characters, and well-crafted prose. I truly hope that Kalsi/Seldon will write more stories; I'm hooked!

Bought it on the strength of the One-Star reviews! Judging by he caliber of their shrieking I knew an intelligent person could only love it! I haven't read it either, but unlike the books' detractors I actually will. Updates will follow!

Despite being put forth as a lightning-quick-stiff-thumb-in-the-eye of Tor Publishing, this book was a good read and stands on its own.

The narrative-driving algorithmic decay referenced in the other reviews an apt metaphor for the rot that seems to inevitably infect all empires. The authors wisely leave the reader to his own interpretation as to what that mechanism might be in contemporary empires. Instead they are treated to the various struggles that man and AI must overcome because of it, sometimes succeeding, sometimes not – but always striving, and that is what makes the stories.

There are several loose ends that beg to be tied up. This this reader was left wanting for an eventual triumph over the pernicious and seemingly unstoppable algodecay. With luck that will happen in subsequent installments.

The Corroding Empire marks the English-language debut of accomplished geneticist and 6'-3" ex-Finnish Marine, Johan Kalsi.

I've been following this work since March 6, 2017 with anticipation since news broke from the great new indie publisher Castalia House that preorders were available. With each of the three excerpts that were released by Castalia House, that anticipation grew.

Due to some clearly fake reasons, the store blocked the Corroding Empire before I could finally get my hands on a copy to read. But now that it's available for good, we can now say the Corroding Empire is the book some feel is too dangerous to kek.

And kek it does. At $4.99, it is a really good value for this level of entertainment. The book itself is first a satirical troll of Tor Books' multi-million dollar ten-year contract with author John Scalzi. It is next more specifically a satirical troll of John Scalzi's latest novel, The Collapsing Empire (which has a cover price five times more expensive).

But, more importantly and even more interestingly, Kalsi's freshman effort - The Corroding Empire - stands on its own as an entertaining scifi novel.

There is a lot to like. Servo is a great fully fleshed-out (well alloy-steeled-out) character, and sure to be fan favorite.

The novel's advertisement notes "Kalsi is more Asimovian than Asimov" and this role suits the ex-Finnish marine.

This story is a nice reminder of old school sci fi, evoking - of course - Foundation. It also reminded me in the way the latter part of the story jumps forward through time to explore a series of nearly disjointed realities of Haldeman's The Forever War.

For me, the journey through the corroding Empire was well worth the price of admission. Rarely does a novel get to entertain on the meta-scale as The Corroding Empire. For added entertainment which enhances the overall kek level of the story, readers are encouraged to continue reading the the store description page, Vox Popoli, File770, and the various scifi and book entertainment aligned internet. The Corroding Empire and 6'3 ex-Finnish marine author Johan Kalsi have in three days already made their mark -- and point -- within the sci fi publishing world. These two have made kek great again!

Ex-Hyppytyynytyydytys (Finnish for "Bouncy cushion satisfaction") and Semper fi! Kalsi's nailed it.

I once considered myself au fait to remarkable storytelling. I was wrong. There is perhaps no comparable work of literature that will at the same time humble and invigorate the imagination as this impeccable work by Mr. Kalsi. Empires may indeed rise and corrode, but this work of inspiration will endure for eons. And I'm perfectly willing to conclude that both genders will find much to love here. It is a must read.

I read (aloud) the first 2 paragraphs, stopping at the word "armpit". Since no one is paying me to read (or review) this garbage, I'll read no more. Presumably it's cranked out by a computer program of some sort, on behalf of VoxDay's tragic vendetta against the (truly great, if vertically-challenged) author John Scalzi. Pathetic. Just pathetic.

To all future Puppies with a persecution complex: Please do take care to read up to the final edit before you make your stunningly predictable complaints about fake reviews. Far be it from me to accuse the Vile Faceless Minions of looking silly, but come on...

Much like with my review for "SJWs Always Lie" - inexplicably not subtitled "My Inability To Somehow Not Notice Two Chapter 5s During My Awesome Editing Skills" - I am delighted to admit I did not read "The Corroding Empire". I did not need to. It was not the cover itself that convinced me of giving it a 1 star review, but rather the attitude and motivations the publisher had in creating the cover that provides all the justification I need.

Consider an alternate scenario: Castalia House releases this book, with the real name of the author (whoever that may be) on the cover, as well as not having the identical artwork, fonts, and positioning of the words as an other considerably higher selling book. In other words, the book by (insert actual author name here) would be allowed to stand on its own two feet and attract judgment purely for its literary merits, or lack thereof, and then attract those who want to read it into buying and scoring the publisher some bucks. It stands to reason that if the book was of high quality, then people would buy it, and the book would not need to rely on any cheap publicity stunts based on trying to score political points.

And yet it is precisely this desperation on the part of Vox Day - a guy who seriously holds the hilariously stupid view of "White Genocide" that mixed race babies will totally cause the destruction of Earth - that leaves a permanent black mark on this book and completely strips it of whatever credibility it might have as a literary work. Because no matter what Mr Beale may insist about how totally awesome he thinks this book is, it's quite evident that he was clearly not confident in the ability of this literary work to sell without saddling it with a spectacularly lame gimmick as part of a great big amount of bitterness he has in relation to the success of John Scalzi.

It's truly amazing how much sour grapes old Theodore is full of that Mr Scalzi has a highly lucrative book deal worth millions of dollars, something which Beale is nowhere close to ever achieving. Other "highlights" of Beale's obsession with Scalzi include the Hugo Awards of 2015 and 2016, wherein Beale thought-policed his mindless drones, uh, I mean, followers into voting specific works dictated by a slate onto the ballots, with the "success" of seeing nearly all of their nominations fall far behind "No Award" in the final voting. This was all motivated by the self-entitled purpose of winning awards they somehow feel should automatically be theirs by some Divine Right, and to stick it to the so-called "SJWs" and "CHORFs" who are totally working behind the scenes to steal the whole science fiction genre from "TrueFans(tm)" like Voxy and his Dread Milk minions. I mean, they never exactly elaborate how this conspiracy actually works, but still...

This is the mindset behind the "Corroding Empire's" publication. Not one motivated purely by a desire to please fans and for the love of writing, but by petty squabbles fuelled by inferiority and insecurity complexes on Theodore Beale's part, as well as a ridiculous obsession with needing vindication from awards. Perhaps Beale should research some of the most highly regarded movies of all time, many of which did not ever win or even get nominated for Oscars, and do the same for music albums and TV shows and video games etc and their equivalent awards which they never won, and then he could maybe reach a much-needed epiphany about whatever "vindication" he so desperately craves.

In closing, I present a contrast of an author who used and still uses a pseudonym for her writing with far more dignity and grace, even if her real name ended up getting leaked. I talk of course of the highly successful J.K. Rowling, currently writing as Robert Galbraith for the Cormoron Strike series of crime novels, all of them highly rated and highly selling. And of course, one can't forget that according to TheRabidPuppiesDotCom, Hugo Award Nominee and perhaps the world's greatest author Chuck Tingle has a counter going for how each book is doing: Scalzi's "Collapsing Empire" has an the store Best-seller's Rank of #235, where as "Corroding Empire" by (insert real author name here) is ranked #1671. Add another notch of failure to Castalia House's marketing strategy.

Now comes the part where I get an outraged phone call from Castalia House decrying me for my "WrongThink". I could definitely use a laugh.

EDIT: My bad on the "Harry Seldon" thing. An honest mistake. I've never read any Asimov novels, the closest exposure I've had being the "I, Robot" movie released in the mid-2000s, which I remember liking. Nothing a trip to my local library can't fix. Duly changed those references in my review anyway.

Also changed the "its" parts. Unlike the perpetually outraged Miserable Doggies over on old Theo's blog, I can actually take constructive criticism. I do love how Voxie desperately ignores during his rant how he clearly wasn't confident enough in the ability of this book to sell without attaching a desperate plea for attention aimed at someone considerably more successful than him. And his attempt to spin how his book ranks several thousand places below Mr Scalzi's on the Paid In Kindle Store rankings (#8,722 to #337 to date in fact) is funny too. Oh Theodore, don't ever change.

EDIT 2: Oh, this popcorn tastes even sweeter. Getting accused of being obsessed by a bunch of bootlickers crawling all over the store looking for 1 star reviews to get outraged over. Vox says "Charge" and you mindlessly obey. But hey, I'm glad of anyone who decided to read this book because of my review - I'll have achieved what Day's Twitter accounts, blog, and desperate book cover all failed to do: sell you a book. I'm sure the Dark Lord would be delighted if it wasn't such a sad indictment of his marketing skills. I do still find it hilarious how low the bar you set for "publicity" of a book is though. A 1 star review laughing at the sheer ineptitude of Vox Day apparently counts as high class marketing. Meanwhile, certain real successful authors who don't rely on dated No True Scotsman beliefs about literary genres set considerably higher bars for publicity. Oh, and to the guy who wants to report the review for mentioning "white genocide"? Yeah... good luck with that. I made it pretty clear that that stupid belief is Theodore's stupid belief. Nice try Dread Milk minions.

ONE FINAL EDIT: If your sole takeaway from this was "OMG FAKE REVIEW!", I don't particularly regret to inform you that my review honestly admits I never read the book, I then provide justification for not reading the book (namely the publisher's marketing of the book), and provide specific examples to support my point (namely how the cover of the book was created and the reasons that even the publisher himself has admitted to) and therefore reach an easy to follow conclusion that if the publisher clearly didn't have enough faith in the book based on whatever literary "quality" it does or does not have without using a hilariously inept gimmick, there's no reason for me to regard this book in anything but the lowest regard either. Thus, real reasons given for a 1 star review, and perfectly within the rules of the store's Terms of Service. I realise that literacy is not the strong point of the Dread Milk, but they could at least take a break from considering any criticism of their Dear Leader as blasphemy and actually try to absorb and discuss constructive criticism like adults.

This "book" is nothing but a lame attempt to cash in on the work of better (MUCH better) authors. This author wants SOOOOO badly to be John Scalzi's nemesis. See Beth Elderkin's article at i09.com, "the store Pulls Castalia House Book for Ripping Off John Scalzi Cover" for the full story.

See Also: Ripoff artist from "conservative publishing house" engages in wholesale plagiarism.

They even ripped off the cover art, and the fake pseudonym-author name is designed directly to attack REAL author John Scalzi, who white supremacist garbageman "Vox Day", the publisher, has decided to feud with.

the store should have kept this pulled, but they don't, so be warned. If you paid money for this trash you supported a white supremacist and got ripped off.

Wow, really? Please don't mistake this book for the absolutely fantastic writings of John Scalzi.
Theodore Beale (the actual author) should have spent more time on character development, and the editing leaves something to be desired. I borrowed a friend's copy and in hindsight, I'm glad it's not a book I spent money on myself.

Disturbingly, this book's title, cover, and author name are a direct ripoff of John Scalzi's Collapsing Empire. Please—don't be fooled.

The Collapsing Empire