Hidden Empire: The Saga of Seven Suns, Book 1

Just wanted to put in my 2 cents worth, and say that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and I think it just gets better! Kevin has quite the imagination, and most of the time it works out well, sometimes a bit far out there. Also a tad boring at times, but that's to be expected given the huge series as a whole Enjoying the structure of the book. Each chapter is short and focuses on one character. This is an immense series, so one really has to invest a lot of time in the Saga. I'm glad I'm reading it now with the whole series completed.. Many different plotlines and unanswered questions, cliffhangers. I'm hooked on Keven. I hope I have convinced you to read this fun and interesting Saga. Enjoy! Thanks Kevin!

Just got done reading this first installment of The Saga of the Seven Suns (sotss). No plot or story line is given here, just a review.If you want non-stop space battles with laser and explosions...This is not the book for you.If you don't have the time or patience to allow an in-depth story to develop...This book is not for you.If you need instant gratification...You guessed it, this book is not for you.If you are looking for a very involved story that is masterfully written and is not forced or self indulgent...You may want to give Hidden Empires a read.This book is like starting a cold engine on a Semi. It cranks and cranks before it finally sputters to life. Then after it's started you've got to wait for it to warm up and the breaks to pressurize etc. But once it gets going, there's a lot of pull to it. This book has many characters, many plots and sub-plots and they are all intricately woven into one another masterfully.With the complexity of SOTSS, it does take quite a while to set the stage. But it all flows very smoothly and adds a great depth to the story.The characters are well developed for the most part. I say that due to the numbers of actors involved in this epic. Some you'll know better than others but they all have a role in what's going on.I would not exactly call this "light" reading but more "investment" reading. Looking ahead there will be a total of seven books that make up this series. And for better or worse this first book has left me wanting more. At 600+ pages it's not exactly a two-day read hence the "investment" (unless you have plenty of time on your hands).I hope Mr. Anderson is not stretching this series to fit the mold of "7". Hopefully with the myriad of story lines already developed, and I assume more to come, this "Saga" will have enough legs to carry it through.For now I'll be delving into other books while this one sinks in. In due time how ever, I will most defiantly be picking up "A Forest of Stars"

This first book of the series is good, but as others have said here, it does start a little slow. It is still a good read though, and the series has gotten better and better, truly good writing. I have read the first 4 books, and they are excellent. The story is very original, interesting, and reflective of society as well.Each book in the series has been better than the last, and they are all good. One interesting thing is that there are many, many characters, but the author does an excellent job of not making it confusing. There are many story lines going on (this is truly a wide spread epic story), but it remains connected and is easy to follow. That is saying a lot, for the amount of story being told here. Highly recommended.

Hidden Empire is the first book in a series, but despite its length, it seems like little more than a prologue rather than a novel. Author Kevin J. Anderson spends most of this book repetitively universe building that he forgets to drive the story forward. Chapters are presented where nothing happens. For example, several chapters involve a cultural spy and by the end of the book, he's done nothing, learned nothing, and was completely irrelevant to the overall story. Because of the many useless chapters introducing peripheral characters doing nothing, the book and the plot move at a snail's pace. By the time interesting things happen, it's about 90% through the book. And then Anderson just breezes through those plot points with short prose.And that's a darn shame. There's some really good, intriguing ideas in this book. This book could easily have been 1/3 of its length, and what Anderson needed was a strong editor to tell him to cut the fat from the story, while strengthening the more interesting parts. I will finish the series because I'm invested in the story now, but it's pretty clear that the rest of the series will suffer from the same problems--slow pace, useless chapters, and nothing driving the plot forward.Worse--many of the characters seem to have names taken from other sci-fi and fantasy books and dropped in as distracting homages, particularly to Game of Thrones. Anderson may fantasize that he's creating a story as interesting and complex as George R.R. Martin, but he doesn't come close. For example an alien admiral is named Jora'h (shades of Jorah Mormont from Game of Thrones); an alien bodyguard is named Bron'n (like Bronn from Game of Thrones); a pair of Earthlings are named Colicos (like actor John Colicos from the original Battlestar Galactica), etc. It happens enough that it cannot be mere coincidence, but this really breaks up the already weak story for the well-informed science fiction fan.Barely deserving of three stars ("It's okay"), it's really worthy only as a time-waster and not as a world-changing story. The good ideas are developed too slowly and lost in completely irrevelant chapters. Good chapters are too short and too few. One of the few times that I've wished a story was actually shorter. Someday, someone will create a more compact version of the whole saga, cutting out the useless material. There's a good story here waiting to come out, but this first book makes me feel like I'm a beta tester for a crappy author.

This is a great series, I have read them multiple times

Eine sehr gute Serie, die ich jedem empfehlen kann, der auch Bücher von z.B. Isaac Asimov und Arthur C. Clarke gerne liest.Sehr gute Science Fiction/Fantasy-Reihe

Kevin J Anderson is an amazing writer. He can create a story similar to the genius involved in creating Avatar and Dune. The political, social and environmental background is very familiar to fans of those stories. I have just started this series and am willing to purchase the other books in the series, The Saga of the Seven Suns, if they are even half as good as the first. A real treat for both Scifi and fantasy fans. A must read.

Plot too weak. Not his best book in the series by far as it didn't hold my attention longer than a few minutes.

Excellent roman ! De nombreux personnages, différentes intrigues et des évènements complexes et un conflit contre des races aliens. Un auteur que j'avais déjà beaucoup apprécié en collaboration avec Brian Herbert (Dune).