Scattered Suns

The Saga of Seven Suns, Book 4

By: Kevin J. Anderson

Narrated by: David Colacci

Length: 20 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

The war between the alien hydrogues and the faeros rages, reducing suns to blackened shells - including one of the fabled seven suns of the Ildiran Empire. Instead of protecting themselves, the Ildirans engage in bloody civil war and the many factions of humanity are bitterly divided. Can mankind and Ildirans overcome their own internal fighting to face a deadly new enemy that is ready to annihilate them?

Newly ascended to the Ildiran throne, Mage-Imperator Jora'h must quash the rebellion launched by his mad brother before the hydrogues destroy what is left of the empire. Assailed from all sides, Jora'h turns to his beloved half-human daughter, dispatching her on a desperate mission to make peace with the hydrogues.

Hope for humanity now rests with Jess Tamblyn, who continues to seed worlds with the watery wentals, the mortal enemies of the hydrogues. And on the ravaged planet of Theroc, home to a telepathic worldforest, a dead man is resurrected to prepare for the arrival of mysterious new allies in the fight.

But Chairman Basil Wenceslas's vendetta against the free-spirited Roamers has blinded him to danger closer to home - the soldier machines that make up the backbone of the Hansa fighting force. King Peter has long suspected that the compies, built with the help of the ancient Klikiss robots, cannot be trusted. Now the shocking proof comes when the Klikiss launch their long-planned extermination of all things flesh and blood. And in the ensuing battle, humans and Ildirans alike will face their darkest choices yet.

The saga continues: listen to more of Kevin J. Anderson's Seven Suns series.

©2005 WordFire, Inc. (P)2005 Brilliance Audio

Critic reviews

"More on-the-edge-of-your-seat SF thrills....Anderson handles a huge cast and complicated plot with élan." ( Publishers Weekly)
"David Colacci's youthful, mildly expressive voice is a plus....Lots of action here, and a fully realized universe." ( AudioFile)

GREAT Series....Narrator change from Book 4 on

I wrote Kevin J. Anderson at his blog about the change of narrator in mid series(book 4 and on). I made similar comments to the ones I found here about bad pronunciation of names and do the narrator's ever read the book. To my surprise, he responded the next day, and very much appreciate him taking the time to respond:

Kevin J. Anderson says:
August 25, 2011 at 11:59 am

The audio publisher changed after book 3 (from Recorded Books to Brilliance); in most cases, Scott Brick or Jim Meskimen have read my books, and I have very close contact with them. For the first three Seven Suns books, I had a long phone conversation with George Guidall to guide him through the pronunciations. For the other Seven Suns books, I sent a pronunciation list, but I did not have any contact with the reader.

Narrator Change (I keep wanting to correct him)

Would you consider the audio edition of Scattered Suns to be better than the print version?

I don't read; I only listen to books...

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jess...

How could the performance have been better?

The performance, on its own is fine, but this is a series of books. And if you are going to change narrators in the middle of the series, can the Producers at least make certain the Pronunciation of nouns remains consistent. I'm angry every time the narrator says "e-ah" instead of E A (which shows he didn't read or listen to the first 3 books; the name is from the shortening of the serial number); and so he's saying "u-er" instead of simply U R (as in you-are). And the proper names of characters we are attached to in books 1 through 3 are now being butchered with long vowels or short vowels, opposite what we are used to with the first Narrator. I don't blame the narrator (much) though he should have listened to the first book to understand the story and hear the pronunciation; I'm certain he knew he was stepping in... the Producer, however, should have know better. They would have stepped in and corrected the reader. Especially with the "TAZe-E-Ah" instead of "Tahse-E-Ah"

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

Great Story; but the reader is making me angry with my perceived mis-pronunciation of everyone's names... I keep wanting to correct him.

big world

I like the new narrator. The characters and plot are starting to get interesting. DubC

Bad choice on Narrator

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I would recommend against listening to the audio book.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The pronunciation was extremely off, the accents chosen are stereotyped. It was a significant loss to change narrators. The inflections used show that the reader does not know the story and therefore makes it seem like the book was written by a different author who doesn't know the characters.

Terrible Performance

Would you be willing to try another one of David Colacci’s performances?

No, This narrator ruined this whole story for me.

Any additional comments?

Why in the world wouldn't a production crew keep the pronunciations from the previous narrator. It feels like listening to a completely different story, like starting from the beginning all over again. All the characters I grew to love all died a hideous horrible death in the mouth of David Colacci's terrible performance.

The New Narrator Took a Minute for Me

After settling in with the new narration style a enjoy the 4th book greatly. However, the pronunciation of names still throws me a bit. Great saga!

Producer or Reader?

I'm not sure which made the mistakes, but instead of artful reading, the production includes "high school play" sound effects, adding accents (Roamers from Alabama?), and confusing changes in character name pronunciation. All were distracting (repeatedly wanted to abandon the novel) from a good continuation in the Saga. Basic reading was pleasing, it's the unnecessary "special vocal effects" that crashed the performance for me.

Another great tale in The Saga of Seven Suns

Any additional comments?

David Colacci is probably the only reason I didn't give five stars in the performance ratings. He is not necessarily a bad narrator, but following from the previous narrator for the previous three installments of the saga was a bit rough for me. He pronounced character names and words a bit differently, but overall it was not a bad listen.

In regards to the story, Kevin J Anderson does not disappoint. He makes it a habit not to focus on the interest or the complexity of this future-day technology, but rather focuses on the character development and the story in great detail. This story feels like it is told from the inside out, rather than a distant observer recounting events.

I would certainly recommend this specific audiobook, but I would urge you to start from the beginning, or you will miss quite a bit.

Doable, good thing it is such a great series.

This book had a different narrator. Not pleased with the name mispronounciations, a little research goes a long way. I love this series though, good thing for Brilliance Audio. The narrator wouldn't have been considered horrible if not compared to the first three books, which was awesome. But what am I going to do? I was hooked on this series within the first hour of the first book.

I will give it to the new publisher of the audio book. There was an attempt at some small special effects with the voices, whereas on the first three, the narrator was so good special effects were not needed.

So, take it independently, and don't compare. I read the reviews after the first book and was hesitant to continue because of this. But, the series is too damn good to abandon. So, I went into this book with a good frame of mind and not only survived it, but was content with the performance. As a stand alone it would have been great.

Continued richness and development of the Saga storyline

4 of 5 stars.

Scattered Suns adds new layers and background to the Saga of Seven Suns. There are several major plot developments where different story threads intersect in this fourth installment.

Osira’h realizes her purpose. New details emerge of ancient wars and agreements. An Ildiran rebellion reaches its culmination. The power of the Wentals and Verdani are revealed. Basil Wenceslas starts to fray into irrationality.

The narrator is excellent for the material.