Customer Reviews

A Forest of Stars (The Saga of Seven Suns)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this chapter of the Saga is where the meat of the story really gets going. All the ground work laid in the previous books begins to pay off with. Great Battles and political intrigue and some new unexpected allies are on the horizon. This was not a let down.

I went to the bookstore looking for a nice, long, fun-to-read space adventure and found it. Having read the first two books, I'm very happy with the story and writing so far. Yes, there are a LOT of characters and separate storylines (which a number of folks complain about), but I've found Mr. Anderson to be a courteous writer, in that:
-If you begin a chapter about a character he hasn't brought up in a while, there's usually a sentence within the first couple paragraphs casually reminding the reader of the context. In previous sci-fi saga's I've read (by other authors), either the author is overly blatant in reminding the reader (such that it is disruptive to the narrative) or it takes 2-3 pages to remember who they're talking about.
-There is a a glossary of terms and characters in the back, along with a timeline.
I usually don't finish books in one or two sittings, so these things are quite nice.

THE SCIENCE: I've taken a few undergraduate level, into and intermediate level physics and astronomy courses, and I haven't been grievously offended by the science in the series- nothing a little willing suspension of disbelief can't handle.

THE FICTION: In comparison, Asimov is more clever with plots and characters, but I've found the worlds/races in this series suitably diverse and creative, and the characters interesting (if a bit archetypal).

BOTTOM LINE: Its a fun read if you like sci-fi space adventures. I'm really happy with it so far.

As good as the rest of the series! Anderson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. His crisp style and detailed world cultures always satisfy my SF cravings.

Strange but true, this is a first rate B sci fi series that is a great deal of fun. The work throughout the series is uneven, but my interest never waned enough to warrant my putting any of the books down. Anderson certainly knows how to create a page turner even when he has lost his way and that happens somewhere in the middle of each book of the series. The beginning of the series is also a little flat, well thats not quite true. Then opening is crisp, energized and the situation pushes your interest into the body of the work. More characters are added at a dizzying pace, at that point things become vague :but now you are hooked. Each volume in some way follows the same cadence, the energy pushes, the new figures are introduced, the story flags or gets confused and then Anderson finds a hook strong enough to reign in your interest. The writing is good but never reaches the level where it takes off. Six of the books were complete before i became aware of the series. I was finished with all six in books in about 4 weeks. Reading the series was effortless because the writing is aimed at comic book readers. Anderson is very skilled at keeping us attached to reading his work but nearly none of the characters stick in your mind. Even book to successive book, the character's vibrance fades. Over all The Saga of the Seven Suns creates a galaxy spanning cosmology stunning in its breath but unremarkable its realization. I will continue to read Anderson's work, but only when I want to enjoy a first rate B sci fi a comic book series.

Book 2 of Seven. That places me closer to the finish line.

Looking now at what will probably be close to 4500 pages of material, and being 28% done, we should have plot twists and we do. When you thought before we had three, perhaps four combatants by the end of the last book, that number has nearly doubled.

Not that the short chapters and the cast of thousands still does not detract from the book. Though I also read it several years after publication, the story line seems to echo in my memory, and so do several of the plot points. I wonder if I have read this all before by another author. Somethings are different, the archaeologist thread, the world forest, but the battles always lost at the beginning, the abandoned officer, those seem to come from stories that are part of sci-fi lore by other authors. It is possible that it is being done better here.

But also worse. When you confront some introspection all in four pages and then flip to the next scene, it is a disservice to one of our many protagonists. We have so many it is hard to keep track of who are our real heroes and who are our villains. Where the smartest people are, and that too few brains at the top syndrome permeates to govern a society of billions. (The whole chairman, one commanders in chief, General thing is worrisome, since we know from our own reality that the top man would have hundreds of advisers who would be the best in their fields, relying on many other brains to filter information. One man can not do it all.)

To judge on style then, this book would get lower marks. Too short chapters, too many characters, action is decidedly lacking and one sided, the bad guys always win right now... (That changes as new allies? come to play)

To judge on story, except for the echo of what has happened in other very well done science fiction epics, it is getting better. Based on the first two, may not be worth a read, but by the end (3000+ pages to go) it may be so.

Just like the previous book in the series, you'll be drawn in from the beginning, and become more and more intrigued as the book progresses. A highly recommended book.

I would like to offer an overall review of all seven books combined. Even though each book has its own sub-plots, one has to read all seven to stitch every piece together. Unless you plan to read all of them (a major time commitment) I suggest that you go find yourself some thing shorter to read. This is an epic saga.

I find the books and the story hard to classify. It is science fiction, but what kind? The story starts as if it is going to be hard science fiction. (That's why I probably consider the first book to be the best.) But then it degenerates into several parallel threads, many of which are pure fantasies. By the end of the seventh book, I felt that 90% of the threads and plot were more appropriately described as fantasy than science fiction.

Even if you prefer fantasy over hard science fiction, you will still be disappointed by the repeated "deus ex machina" saving the day. I count seven such cases, three of them occurring in the last volume. Anderson is very good in weaving a complex story to its crescendo and creating a very tense (nearly hopeless) situation for the heroes. Then he cannot get them out of there in any plausible way, and he resorts to dues ex machina time after time. Because of that, you will feel disappointed (perhaps even cheated) once you finish the story, even if you will find it entertaining most of the way.

The characters are one-dimensional. There are good sub-plots of love, hatred, betrayal, revenge... The evil is really evil, and the good-guys could do no wrong. If you don't mind that, you may enjoy the saga.

The book really starts to take off. The whole book was interesting. Anderson really starts to tie things together and the plot becomes much deeper it is filled with twists and conspiracy theories.

Much better then the first book.

Anderson's story line and plot seem well laid out. I'm a fan of military science fiction so I'm glad there are some components of space battles here. However, I'm not a huge fan of his writing style. Too many times he over-states things and you'll often find numerous cliches. Really has the potential to be something great if the writing was better. I can only imagine how good it would be if Zahn or even Clark wrote this.

If you are looking for the quality of Reynolds, Hamilton, Asher et al then you are going to be very, very disappointed. This whole series is total and utter tosh. Aweful dialogue, terrible narrative, mechanistic storyline, 2D characters, unbelievably repetitive (especially to stretch it to seven books). It is rubbish. Period. Cheaper to by firelighters or single ply loo paper, because thats all these Books are good for. If you could score ZERO stars, then I would have.