Hidden Empire: The Saga of Seven Suns, Book 1

By: Kevin J. Anderson

Narrated by: George Guidall

Length: 20 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

An explosive new science fiction series by New York Times best-selling author Kevin J. Anderson, Hidden Empire is the first volume in The Saga of the Seven Suns, modeled after the Star Wars and X-Files universes. Anderson has become the foremost science fiction writer of the century, bringing to life vivid characters and worlds that delight his fans across the galaxy.

The Klikiss, a now-extinct alien civilization, left behind vast technological information that has been discovered by two xenoarchaeologists. One discovery, a device that converts gas planets into life-giving suns is quickly put to the test with unimaginable results. Arising out of the test is a new alien species that threatens every human. Mankind is left with the dim reality, either fight the new alien life form or face humiliation, death, and extinction.

This riveting adventure swings you from one wonderous realm to another as the Hidden Empire is sought after and exposed. Anderson has created a gripping beginning to what will surely be his best series yet. George Guidall has returned a stellar performance and brought these characters to life in vivid detail.

Don't miss a minute of the action in Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of Seven Suns.

©2002 WorldFire, Inc. (P)2002 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

"In this stellar launch of a new series, bestseller Anderson...delivers action, engaging characters, and credible fantastic worlds." (Publishers Weekly)
"Full of battles, chases, and hairbreadth escapes...this is also an intelligently conceived and executed nailbiter." (Booklist)
"Anderson's skill in delivering taut action scenes and creating well-rounded human and alien characters adds depth and variety to a series opener that belongs in most sf collections." (Library Journal)

Great story. So-so narration.

Would you consider the audio edition of Hidden Empire: The Saga of Seven Suns, Book 1 to be better than the print version?

Unsure

Who was your favorite character and why?

The concept of the sentient forest and the green priests was innovative and interesting.

What aspect of George Guidall’s performance would you have changed?

I think he would do better to simply read and not try so hard to interpret characters with his voice. Many readers can do a great job of this, but I found the voices he assigned to King Frederick and some of the older characters particularly annoying. I think my comments are more a statement of personal choice rather than a true critique

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Too long.

Cool story very one dimensional characters

The characters are pretty bad but I like the story. It's like 1800"s gender roles and each and every character is an extreme archetype.

Another Long Read

Sometimes a bit long, but when certain things are discovered the pace picks up and it becomes an adventure

New author for me

This book was great. It has a lot of policial twist and turns in it. But I liked the way each chapter focuses on 1 person at a time. The way it ends you have to get the 2nd book to find out what happens next.

Great read

Really interesting sci fi universe, with compelling characters and a gripping story. Nice start for a series.

Try getting through the first half

So I tried to review this book 3 times... that's how conflicted I was... the first half of this book is a slog... Every time action happens and plot gets interesting the author breaks the flow and spends time explaining about some random absurd history. And entire chapters at that. The editor of this book was sleeping for the first half. there is a lot of telling and less of showing events too.


However the second half is where things definitely come together and things actually start happening. The premise is very interesting and I will move on to the next book in the series to see what happens.

unfortunately the characters while interesting aren't very memorable and they don't drive the plot forward. Hopefully that will change in subsequent books.

Expansive and dun universe

KJA self describes this as his magnum opus. After a solid volume one, I am excited to see where the series goes.

One of my personal favorites

I really enjoyed reading this book and the others in the series. Definitely worth a read if you like sci-fi fantasy novels and enjoyed books like GOT, Dune and Enders Game.

OK. But Really ?

So,if I set off a device that causes a gas giant planet to turn into a sun, and soon after this alien race shows up from the depths of another gas giant and attacks, would you tend to connect the two events?. Yeah. Me too.

So why did it take the people in this book so long to figure this out?

Australians do not buy this

Hello there.

This is a seven part series, but because of rights reasons Australians will only be able to obtain
from Audible:

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 7

SO, save yourself the heartache. Give this a miss if you're Aussie.

In fact, if you're non-American, maybe you should check to see if you can get parts 4 5 and 6 before you start.