Please see Hidden Empire before you read this title.

It’s been five years since hydrogue warships destroyed the first gas giant skymines. The major governments in the Spiral Arm are desperate for ekti, the only known fuel for stardrive engines. With skymines out of operation and few other ways to obtain ekti, trade has ground to a near halt and distant colonies are starving.

The Ildiran Empire has suffered, as well. Hydrogues don’t distinguish between the humans who accidentally annihilated billions of their people, and the alien species that only resembles them. Forced to desperate ends, the Mage-Imperator must convince his successor of the need for a reprehensible program—the one that tore his lover away.

For the past five years, the hydrogues have been content to limit the destruction to trespassers. Now they’ve been seen throughout the Spiral Arm, raising tensions in already-fracturing societies.

In this, the second installment to “The Saga of Seven Suns,” Anderson pens an epic tale worthy in its own right. While he continues to use multiple subplots to weave the story, each thread is easily distinguishable, and they succeed in creating an overall tapestry of overwhelming depth. More impressive is his ability to do so while providing enough unknowns to keep the reader engaged.

For those who don’t like metaphors: It’s good. Darn good. If you forget who a character is, you can look it up in an appendix.

Although brilliant, this novel possesses a few issues, albeit nothing devastating. The first is the fuzzy timeline. Events occur in a linear order, but there are few indicators as to the passage of time. The reader is left wondering has much time has passed until one of the rare mentions of “in the past __ months. . .” A simple date stamp for each chapter, or a more concise timeline appendix would be great.

The other issue worthy of mention is that some readers may grow annoyed with the numerous subplots. This is a point than can go either way. As mentioned before, it is this reviewer’s opinion that each subplot is clearly drawn and, while not always vital, certainly helpful in allowing the reader an overall view.

Highly recommended to sci-fi fans.

Reviewed by Christina Wantz Fixemer
5/31/2006

Review for The Sage of Seven Suns, Book 1: Hidden Empire

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