Even though I really enjoyed reading the series Saga of the Seven Suns, this book (the last in the series) was somewhat lackluster compared to the previous six books. By the end of the book it felt like the varying story threads sort of petered out with nowhere to go. A final book in a series, at least for me, is supposed to bring it all to an end. Tying up all loose ends with a neat satisfying bow, not this book, I felt like there should be at least one more. All and all the books in the series Saga of the Seven Suns are very good reads. This one just left me feeling like the series ran out of steam with nowhere to go. ( )

A fantastic and gripping conclusion to one of the best Sci-fi saga's of modern times, like the rest of the series, its scope of imagination is inspiring and its attention to detail help paint an intricate and believable complex universe. A Universe well worth exploring, for sci-fi fans, the saga of the seven suns is a must have read, I thoroughly recommend it, and this conclusion is one worthy of the brilliant saga which it concludes. ( )

Better than the 6th book. I agree with whoever compared The Chairman to the Dr. Smith character in "Lost in Space." So obnoxious, and I keep asking myself "Why don't they just lose/kill/restrain him?" and I think "Why am I still wasting my time on this?" But I know "Lost in Space" has the Robot and "The Saga of the 7 Suns" has the awesome aliens so I keep at it even though I feel like an idiot.The ending of the book began well, pulling all the diverse plot lines together and making good sense of it all. Like the series, however, it dragged on a bit too long making me wish it would just hurry up and end. A thought: The Chairman was so cartoonish, I began to wonder if this series was meant to be one of those epic Japanese space cartoon serials. He sure fits and the aliens are visually perfect. All the generic character types are there. Even the "adult" themes can work as PG-13. I wonder... ( )

Better than the 6th book. I agree with whoever compared The Chairman to the Dr. Smith character in "Lost in Space." So obnoxious, and I keep asking myself "Why don't they just lose/kill/restrain him?" and I think "Why am I still wasting my time on this?" But I know "Lost in Space" has the Robot and "The Saga of the 7 Suns" has the awesome aliens so I keep at it even though I feel like an idiot.The ending of the book began well, pulling all the diverse plot lines together and making good sense of it all. Like the series, however, it dragged on a bit too long making me wish it would just hurry up and end. A thought: The Chairman was so cartoonish, I began to wonder if this series was meant to be one of those epic Japanese space cartoon serials. He sure fits and the aliens are visually perfect. All the generic character types are there. Even the "adult" themes can work as PG-13. I wonder... ( )

This book is a mess. I understand that Anderson needs to wrap things up, but the book suffers for it. The plot lines (too many of them) go back and fro. Most chapters are 3 pages long, so when you get into a nice bit of the story, the chapter ends. The main characters do stupid things that don't make any sense at all. After the disappointing Hunters of Dune, Anderson does it again. If you thought that HoD made no sense, Ashes of Worlds makes even less sense.

Thinking back to the first few books in this saga I reminder what I liked about them: hard SF. The book takes place in the 25th (26th?) century, but besides some aliens (who act more like humans, what happened to "the thing about aliens is, theyre alien!"?), some spaceships, it could've been a story taking place in this era. There are very few details about the stuff that is interesting in SF: science. Ships travel thru space, but I have no idea how. The Ildarian ships have sails, but are those solar sails? I'm sure it was told in one of the first book (I'm guessing some sort of FTL), but I can't be hassled looking it up again. Also, travelling very very fast in space only works when it's not necessary for the plot.

If I need to summarize it in 1 word:

meh

Only read it if you've read the first 6 books. ( )