Scattered Suns

June 6, 2005
Bestseller Anderson delivers more on-the-edge-of-your-seat SF thrills in the fourth installment of his Seven Suns saga (after 2004's Horizon Storms
). Moments of extreme tenderness temper the relentless and often graphic descriptions of a brutal, seemingly endless war among the civilizations that populate the Spiral Arm. As before, menacing turncoat Klikiss robots plot to eradicate all humans (and humanoid alien Ildirans), while the delightfully dismayed DD, a captive robot "compy," takes notes in the event he ever escapes the Klikiss and can warn the humans he serves. Meanwhile, the angry hydrogues, who inhabit gas-giant planets, continue their campaign against humans, verdani ("worldforest" dwellers) and faeros (sun dwellers). Anderson handles a huge cast and complicated plot with élan. Agent, John Silbersack.

July 15, 2005
War against the alien hydrogues, inhabitants of gas giant planets, rages across the Spiral Arm of the galaxy, driving apart the many nations that make up the alliance of humans and allied sentient races. When the chairman of the Terran Hanseatic League employs draconic measures to keep together the increasingly fractious human nations, the possibility of a galaxywide disaster seems imminent. Anderson has created a highly original far-future universe filled with intriguing aliens, a complex political history, and a well-developed cast of characters. Along with its predecessors ("Hidden Empire"; "A Forest of Stars"; "Horizon Storms"), this panoramic sf epic belongs in most collections.

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2005
Chairman Basil Wenceslas leads a beleaguered human race, and the stress is beginning to tell on him--he views any dissent, of any sort, from his leadership as treason. This, of course, does nothing to calm fears in the human colonies. Meanwhile, the divisions of allegiance among the alien Ildiran increase the pain of their leader, Jora'h, at the disruption of his people's long-standing psychic network. The question begins to ask itself: Is the war more dangerous to both sides than the victory of either side would be? Anderson's colossal story of the clash of space empires, Saga of the Seven Suns, has definitely been influenced by his work for the Star Wars franchise and collaboration with Brian Herbert in expanding the universe of Frank Herbert's" "Dune novels. Despite all the sweep, scope, and fast action of the saga, Anderson handles the essential conflicts in it so as to enhance characterization as well as keep things moving. A fine continuation of a fine saga.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)