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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