Rating: 
Summary: Book Two of the best sci fi series to come along in years
Review: It has been many years since I have been this excited and emotionally attached to a science fiction series. In A Forest of Stars: The Saga of Seven Suns Book 2, Kevin J. Anderson not only builds upon the galactic epic begun in Hidden Empire, he makes the incredible drama detailed in the first book seem like a warm-up act to the real performance. You have to commit yourself to the story; there is just too much happening to too many characters for you to read this novel in dribs and drabs and expect to keep up, but that should not be a problem because A Forest of Stars is all but impossible to ever put down in the first place.Five years have passed since the Earth-based Terran Hanseatic League used ancient alien technology to turn a gas giant into a brand new star, thereby incurring the wrath of the unknown and seemingly unstoppable race of hydrogues who call the gas giants home. Almost every race and planet in the Spiral Arm has suffered both mentally and physically at the hands of the hydrogues, while the deadly enemy's refusal to allow ekti (the source of stardrive fuel) mining in the atmospheres of their home planets has crippled the galactic economy. Even the impressive Solar Navy of the might Ilderan Empire has been proved embarrassingly inferior to the destructive hydrogues. The ominous events detailed in Hidden Empire barely hint at the things to come in the pages of this second entry in the series. A Forest of Stars will take your breath away again and again. I could never begin to describe all of the momentous and oftentimes shocking things that take place in this novel. The improved military might of the Hansa's Emergency Defense Force remains ineffective against the hydrogues, and the growing scarcity of stardrive fuel has resulted in the breakdown of Hansa control over a number of its colonies. The Roamers, descendants of earth-based pioneers, continue to maintain their independence and nomadic lifestyle among the stars, but the Roamer economy struggles as its very foundation, the mining and selling of ekti for stardrive fuel, collapses. On Theroc, home of the sentient worldforest, life goes on much as normal for some time, but even the Therons will not emerge from this book unscathed. On Earth, young King Peter, a king in name only, matures and begins to assert himself, all but openly rebelling against the true source of Hansa power - Chairman Basil Wenceslas. Across the Spiral Arm, the true intentions and plans of the Mage-Imperator of the Ilderan Empire are made known, invoking great emotional pain among several important characters as well as the reader. Power changes hands on almost every central civilization involved before A Forest of Stars ends. Beloved characters die, incredible new plot elements (as well as unexpected, mysterious forces) are thrown into the mix, the destructive hydrogues still seem unstoppable, and romance in all its forms tears at the heart-strings of the reader. Kevin J. Anderson holds nothing back. Two lengthy books into this saga, the story is amazingly even more refreshing and promising than ever; I get the distinct feeling that "I ain't seen nothin' yet." The very nature of the awful war changes in these pages, as we learn that this is an ancient war between elemental forces never before imagined by the humans and Ilderans who now find themselves dragged into the apocalyptic conflict. Only now do we begin to understand just who the real enemies of the hydrogues are. Only now do we learn of the Ilderans' secret plans for survival and their total subjugation of select humans in barbaric breeding grounds. Only now do we gain insight into the disappearance of the ancient Klikiss race and begin to learn the truth about the incredible robots they left behind. The Saga of Seven Suns is such a fantastic science fiction series that I would almost recommend waiting until the series is complete before reading it. Having just read both of the first two novels, I am dying to learn what happens next - the wait for succeeding entries in this saga will be almost painful. Oftentimes, science fiction characters are rather cold and distant from the reader, but Anderson brings each of his characters to life and, through their triumphs and sorrows, brings the reader intimately into their world. No one (apart from the hydrogues) is starkly good or evil. Best of all, I have no idea how events will play out from this point forward. I may only be two books into this open-ended epic science fiction series, but I can already say that The Saga of Seven Suns is the most impressive, exciting series I have read since Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
Rating:
Summary: He's Done It Again!
Review: Kevin, Kevin, Kevin....You are truly the MAN! As much as I enjoyed Hidden Empire, you really topped yourself with this Book 2. Absolutely loved this book. I've already recommended it to tons of people. You have aboslutely achieved the impossible Kevin, you have caused me to start the whole Dune series just so I can then read your prequels. I note that I've attempted many times to start Dune and have just never really gotten into it. I know I'm an idiot (HOW CAN ANYONE NOT ENJOY DUNE?). Well I'm anxiously awaiting Book 3, I just don't know if I can wait until next summer. Keep them coming.....
Rating: 
Summary: Why so patronizing?
Review: Normally, this is the type of sci-fi that I like - a broad opera covering many events that lead up to a grand conclusion. However, Anderson's writing style makes getting through these books a chore, with only paragraphs here and there that bring it to life and make it worthwhile. It seems like every time he describes anything he has to lug out the thesaurus and ensure to include at least three adjectives. In addition, you are constantly reminded in depth of events that took place just a few chapters back. Overall, I get the sense that Anderson doesn't think too highly of his audience - that or he's shooting for the wrong audience altogther. The dialogue is trite and unrealistic - no one that I know speaks like his characters, especially when they are relating to intimate friends. I kept reading for the story line, but I have to admit, I put this book and the previous down a few times, promising that I wasn't going back.
Rating:
Summary: a truly spectacular space opera!
Review: once again Kevin anderson has astonished me with his storytelling ability in his second novel in his epic Saga of the seven suns. This novel is sequel to Hidden empire in which 25th century mankind unknowlingly started a terrible interstellar war with a ancient and advance race called the Hydrogues. This terrible war in seen through the eyes of some memorable characters both human and alien and across the expand of space.King Peter-the young monarch of Earth who in a deadly power struggle with the ruthless Basil Wenceslas, chairman of Hanseactic Terran league who rulers the human empire behind the scenes and uses King Peter as his puppet. Tasia Tamblyn-the roamer woman who joins the terran army to vengeance against the hydrogues and who sees the Hanseactic league brutal treatment of it's colonies. Prime Designate Jora"h the soon to be Mage-Imperator of IIdiran empire.Jess Tamblyn-the roamer businessman who will make a incredible first-contact with a alien race that might help the humans in their tragic war against the hydrogues.
Nira-the girl from Theroc who is enslaved by the IIdirians in their sinister breeding program!
Anderson's world-building skills are incredible once again as he takes you worlds like the green planet Theroc where world-trees communicate beyond the vastness of space and IIdiran empire where shocking secrets threaten this alien realm and it's leaders will take terrible steps insuring the survivial of their empire! Anderson's plot twists are wonderful as you watch the machinations of it's villians such as Klikiss robots who aid earth in their war but secretly plot to destroy the human race and the battle scenes in this book are sweeping in their intensity as you see the cause of lives.Now my own drawback is waiting another year for the next book in this powerful series!
Rating:
Summary: Incredible in size, scope and quality
Review: This book was flat out brilliant. The plot moved rapidly (eat your heart out Robert Jordan), and readers will be left guessing as to what happens next. The plot was plausible (humans unwittingly entering an eons-old conflict) and the book does not get bogged down in mindless technical detail. The book views the plot from multiple perspectives in the same manner as book 1, but I would have liked to see something from the hydrogue perspective. I'd be happy if that included in later books. I don't particularly like the idea of waiting an entire year for Book 3, though.
Rating: 
Summary: What a Read!
Review: This is a series that I have been enjoying very much. After having waited a year for this book, I finally came across a copy while on vacation. Needless to say, the rest of my vacation was spent around gas giant planets...
The book flowed very well from character to character and from situation to situation. I can't wait to see what Mr. Anderson does with the third book.
The only real downside to this book was the fact that I wanted to know what happened to Margaret Colicos.
Rating:
Summary: Overly Long - Many Holes
Review: This is the sweeping kind of story that I generally like a lot. If you liked The Lord of The Rings, The Lensman Series and the like, this is the kind of series that will appeal to you. But if you like plots that make sense, I'd try something else. Though Anderson creates a compelling universe, the storytelling is so ponderous and slow while jumping from storyline to storyline, that the act of reading becomes drudgery. Trite storylines abound and I found myself many times predicting the outcome of certain aspects with barest hint. I just knew that Anderson would take the "road most travelled".
Plot holes about and have been mentioned in other reviews so I won't labor the point... just be aware that you'll have to check your brain at the beginning of many chapters and ingnore obvious solutions to contrived conflicts. Characters will ignore the obvious solution so often you'll find yourself screaming at the book!
I'll give up 2 stars here because of the vastness of the setting but I would not dream of spending the time these books require unless you have read everything else by folks like Vernor Vinge, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and even E. E. "Doc" Smith (though dated, it still beats this).
Rating:
Summary: Better than the first
Review: This is, like the first in the series, somewhat predictable. Still, both books remain very fun space operas. One major improvement that this book has over it's predicessor is that the characters are finally acting intellegently. While not brilliant, innovation has changed from something as obvious as kimokazi attacks, to knew methods of mining that might actually take some brain power to come up with (not brilliance, but thought none-the-less). He also explains why they don't just have compies do the kimokazi attacks (aside from the fact that the human's and Ildirans have less ships, compies aren't capable of military work, which I presume means they aren't capable of sufficient decision making to manuver a ship around the hydrogue fire). I have two main problems with this book, but they aren't enough to cost it a star when judged by it's own standard. One is the inconsistency with naming at the beggining of the chapters (i.e. Jora'h is "Prime Designate Jora'h" and later "Mage-Imperator Jora'h", but Udru'h is just "Dobro Designate", and Cyroc'h is just "Mage-Imperator"). The other problem are these elemental aliens. While it has yet to cost the series to much believability, it does seem a bit far fetched that World Tree roots are harder than any metal despite being organic, and hence requiring semi-permeable membranes for their cells, and their should be at least a slight difference in analysis between Wentals and H2O. I hope KJA thought ahead, or I see "Storms" on the "Horizon" (the next book is "Horizon Storms" which I hope to read soon).
Rating:
Summary: Better than the first
Review: This is, like the first in the series, somewhat predictable. Still, both books remain very fun space operas. One major improvement that this book has over it's predicessor is that the characters are finally acting intellegently. While not brilliant, innovation has changed from something as obvious as kimokazi attacks, to knew methods of mining that might actually take some brain power to come up with (not brilliance, but thought none-the-less). He also explains why they don't just have compies do the kimokazi attacks (aside from the fact that the human's and Ildirans have less ships, compies aren't capable of military work, which I presume means they aren't capable of sufficient decision making to manuver a ship around the hydrogue fire). I have two main problems with this book, but they aren't enough to cost it a star when judged by it's own standard. One is the inconsistency with naming at the beggining of the chapters (i.e. Jora'h is "Prime Designate Jora'h" and later "Mage-Imperator Jora'h", but Udru'h is just "Dobro Designate", and Cyroc'h is just "Mage-Imperator"). The other problem are these elemental aliens. While it has yet to cost the series to much believability, it does seem a bit far fetched that World Tree roots are harder than any metal despite being organic, and hence requiring semi-permeable membranes for their cells, and their should be at least a slight difference in analysis between Wentals and H2O. I hope KJA thought ahead, or I see "Storms" on the "Horizon" (the next book is "Horizon Storms" which I hope to read soon).
Rating: 
Summary: Nice Old-Style Space Opera
Review: While this series of books has suffered from a choppy writing style with characters that are not nearly developed enough, they are certainly a great read! A Forest of Stars takes up 5 years after the events of Hidden Empire with the war against the hydrogues going badly. Anderson does a better job of developing the characters than he did with the previous novel, but the format of devoting each chapter to a different voice becomes annoying at times because it creates a situation in which the story must jump from person to person at a hectic paste. That being said, it does not detract from the overall story, which builds to a suspenseful level as main characters die, new ones appear, and we learn more about the ancient gas-giant aliens. For me, the Theroc race of humans who live in the huge, telepathic Worldforest is by far the most interesting with their sentient trees and green priests. As I rushed through the ending chapters, I found myself riveted to a story in which I had become much invested. I've always been a fan of great space opera and Anderson does not fail to satisfy. The original aliens and human races make up for the choppy writing style. Anyone looking for escapist action, adventure, and romance will be more than satisfied.
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