A Forest of Stars

Anderson's story line and plot seem well laid out. I'm a fan of military science fiction so I'm glad there are some components of space battles here. However, I'm not a huge fan of his writing style. Too many times he over-states things and you'll often find numerous cliches. Really has the potential to be something great if the writing was better. I can only imagine how good it would be if Zahn or even Clark wrote this.

It has been many years since I have been this excited and emotionally attached to a science fiction series. In A Forest of Stars: The Saga of Seven Suns Book 2, Kevin J. Anderson not only builds upon the galactic epic begun in Hidden Empire, he makes the incredible drama detailed in the first book seem like a warm-up act to the real performance. You have to commit yourself to the story; there is just too much happening to too many characters for you to read this novel in dribs and drabs and expect to keep up, but that should not be a problem because A Forest of Stars is all but impossible to ever put down in the first place.Five years have passed since the Earth-based Terran Hanseatic League used ancient alien technology to turn a gas giant into a brand new star, thereby incurring the wrath of the unknown and seemingly unstoppable race of hydrogues who call the gas giants home. Almost every race and planet in the Spiral Arm has suffered both mentally and physically at the hands of the hydrogues, while the deadly enemy's refusal to allow ekti (the source of stardrive fuel) mining in the atmospheres of their home planets has crippled the galactic economy. Even the impressive Solar Navy of the might Ilderan Empire has been proved embarrassingly inferior to the destructive hydrogues. The ominous events detailed in Hidden Empire barely hint at the things to come in the pages of this second entry in the series. A Forest of Stars will take your breath away again and again.I could never begin to describe all of the momentous and oftentimes shocking things that take place in this novel. The improved military might of the Hansa's Emergency Defense Force remains ineffective against the hydrogues, and the growing scarcity of stardrive fuel has resulted in the breakdown of Hansa control over a number of its colonies. The Roamers, descendants of earth-based pioneers, continue to maintain their independence and nomadic lifestyle among the stars, but the Roamer economy struggles as its very foundation, the mining and selling of ekti for stardrive fuel, collapses. On Theroc, home of the sentient worldforest, life goes on much as normal for some time, but even the Therons will not emerge from this book unscathed. On Earth, young King Peter, a king in name only, matures and begins to assert himself, all but openly rebelling against the true source of Hansa power - Chairman Basil Wenceslas. Across the Spiral Arm, the true intentions and plans of the Mage-Imperator of the Ilderan Empire are made known, invoking great emotional pain among several important characters as well as the reader. Power changes hands on almost every central civilization involved before A Forest of Stars ends. Beloved characters die, incredible new plot elements (as well as unexpected, mysterious forces) are thrown into the mix, the destructive hydrogues still seem unstoppable, and romance in all its forms tears at the heart-strings of the reader. Kevin J. Anderson holds nothing

Kevin, Kevin, Kevin....You are truly the MAN! As much as I enjoyed Hidden Empire, you really topped yourself with this Book 2. Absolutely loved this book. I've already recommended it to tons of people. You have aboslutely achieved the impossible Kevin, you have caused me to start the whole Dune series just so I can then read your prequels. I note that I've attempted many times to start Dune and have just never really gotten into it. I know I'm an idiot (HOW CAN ANYONE NOT ENJOY DUNE?). Well I'm anxiously awaiting Book 3, I just don't know if I can wait until next summer. Keep them coming.....

A Forest of Stars is the second novel in The Saga of Seven Suns series, following The Hidden Empire. In the previous volume, the Terran Hanseatic League has used technology discovered in ancient ruins of the extinct Klikiss aliens to ignite a giant gas planet, turning it into a sun. Unknown to the Hansa, however, millions of aliens living within the atmosphere of the planet were vaporized by this Klikiss Torch. Other Hydrogue aliens then declared war on all surface dwelling sentients, including the Ildirans as well as the Humans, and began destroying their gas mining operations, drastically reducing the production of ekti, the only known fuel for FTL starships.One of the casualties of this war is King Frederick, nominal head of state of the Hanseatic League. However, the Hansa produces an heir to the deceased monarch and the crown passes to King Peter. The new King was formerly Raymond Aguerra, an orphan from poor circumstances, who was kidnapped by Hansa operatives and brainwashed to perform as the chief of state. However, King Peter has discovered that the death of his family was not an accident, but ordered by Basil Wencelas, Chairman of the Hansa, and the new king resists his conditioning.In this novel, five years have past since the Klikiss Torch ignited the Hydrogue war. King Peter has been subtly maneuvering for a degree of autonomy from Wencelas. The Chairman is trying to finesse more Green Priests from Theroc, for these priests can communicate instantaneously with each other through worldforest saplings. The current Father and Mother of Theroc are about to abdicate in favor of their eldest child and he suggests an alliance through marriage to Cesca Peroni, the newly appointed Speaker for the Roamers. While Cesca loves Jess Tamblyn, they decide that her marriage must promote the best interests of the Roamers. Meanwhile, Jess' sister Tasia has been promoted within the EDF to command of a Thunderhead Weapons Platform.On Ildira, the plans of the Mage-Imperator are beginning to bear fruit, but he is deadly ill and will soon die. The Prime Designate, Jora'h, feels humble and unready to succeed his father, but he becomes angry when he is told that Nira, a Green Priest and his lover, has been incorporated into the Human contingent of an ongoing breeding program and that Nira has borne his previously unknown daughter. Adar Kori'nh, commander of the Ildiran naval forces, is continually irritating the Mage-Imperator with his compassion and interest in the Humans.This novel includes massive destruction of sentients and machines. Some of the main characters are killed and others are missing in action. For the most part, the Hydrogues are unstoppable, although the Humans and Ildirans are beginning to inflict some losses on the enemy, but at tremendous cost. New species of aliens are beginning to appear and the worldforest is beginning to yield additional information on a previous war with the Hydrogues.This novel introduces the concept

This book was flat out brilliant. The plot moved rapidly (eat your heart out Robert Jordan), and readers will be left guessing as to what happens next. The plot was plausible (humans unwittingly entering an eons-old conflict) and the book does not get bogged down in mindless technical detail. The book views the plot from multiple perspectives in the same manner as book 1, but I would have liked to see something from the hydrogue perspective. I'd be happy if that included in later books. I don't particularly like the idea of waiting an entire year for Book 3, though.