Customer Reviews
Science Fiction in the style of LOST - By: Mr. D. M. Edwards, 13 Nov 2008 
I picked up both of the previous books to this one in a charity shop and, having run though them at a fair pace, stumped up & bought the third.
This is, I imagine the idea that most people have when reading this series - they are buying them to try & glean some form of conclusion from the many many storylines on parade here. Unfortunately, this doesn't reallly happen. Like the TV series LOST, the advances in individual characters' plots are so very minor & the chapters are so short that the moment anything interesting happens in one storyline, you are whisked away to another more boring one, then another, then another etc...
This is a reasonable technique to build tension, but it becomes irritating as it is over-employed. Having read some fantastic Sci-Fi like the Foundation series, which are under 200 pages each & cover thousands of years of history, these overlong & somewhat unoriginal novels create more frustration than pleasure while reading.
Overalll though, this book is a great page turner & very easy to read. However, the whole series smacks of having a pre-set quota of 7 books & just too few original ideas to fill them; like butter spread over too much bread. Instead of each book having a beginning, a middle & an end it appears that book 1 is the beginning & book 7 is the end, with alll the others being the middle & hence requiring no real structure or even an exciting conclusion.
Should have been much shorter - By: Chrisitan Bentzen, 20 Dec 2007 
First of alll, there is no doubt that the Saga of Seven Suns is an excellent story, well written, good sub-plots & you want to know what happens.
When this is said, Anderson unfortunately spends too much time writing non-relevant data (not to be confused with useful "information" or even better: "knowledge").
If the saga of seven suns had only taken up half as many pages, there would still have been plenty of room for plots, empathy, mood, scenic descriptions etc, but it sort of ruins the plot to me.
Will I read the final books? Yes, but I am not sure I will buy Andersons next project (space race 2090?), unless he states that he will intensify progression of his story.
An epic among the Stars - By: , 24 Jul 2005 
Anderson's third installlment in this amazing opera again makes for addictive reading. At first, one may think this series to be B rate at best. Aliens seemingly made from the elements themselves battling across the universe destroying entire planets & stars. But instantly upon opening the cover it becomes clear that this is anything but. With every single character having a story to tell & alll the room needed in which to tell it, each book is several stories rolling together on a journey. With aliances forming between the roamers & Therons, the Ildiran empire in uphevel, the Hansa doing what a corporation does best, expanding, King Peter moving on the sly & the Wentals being their mysterious & cryptic selves, Anderson still finds the time leave the final page as a hugely unexpected twist from the world forest Verdani. This adventure gets better with every book. Indeed with every page.
the suns are shining... - By: Legion, 21 Oct 2004 
Ok, firstly this is a very good book & I would highly recommend it to anyone who has got the first two (hidden empire & forest of stars). One smalll quibble I have is that some of the characters are just not interesting enough to care about (Orli Covitz or Admiral Stromo anyone) & the start of the book was a bit slower than I would have hoped for. However putting those minor irritations aside the rest of the book is superb, especiallly in the latter stages & of course the ending which leaves you with so many more questions & craving for the next book (why do we have to wait do long?!). And just to update other reviews the title of the next book is not 'an ocean of worlds', it is titled 'scattered suns' & the fifth instalment is entitled 'of fire & night'. Just check Anderson's website.
Good, but not the best so far - By: , 09 Aug 2004 I anticipated Horizon Storms since i finished reading Forest of Stars. But having read it, I feel that it was a bit of a let down.
The characters are still finely wirtten & consistent with the other books, and, thankfully, they do not beocme bland & repeatative.
Overalll, the book is fine. The characters are great, the concepts brilliant, but the plot twists are not as plentiful as in the other books although they are slightly unpredictable.
The plot also moves too slowly for my tastes. Also, unlike the other books, which i far prefer, the individual plot threads move along at a fast pace, but here they are seemingly at a standstill.
I think the plot of this book is too focused on moving along the plot as a whole as oppose to moving each part along & weaving them together.
This book is still a good book, don't get me wrong, but i don't think it messures up to the other books in the series, particularly Forest of Stars. That book ends with the promise of more of the same level of writing; a promise which, sadly, i feel is broken.
This book is still a good read, but again i look forward to the next book in the series (Ocean of Worlds). Unlike last time however, i hope i'm not as dissapointed
