Of Fire and Night

I really enjoyed it. When I was near the end I had to keep going. this is a great series. Intergalactic war, political intrigue, love, hate, families a little bit of everything.

Very enjoyable series with lots of great characters, massive battles, and twists and turns

Still ticking. This series reminds me of the old Timex commercials. All that is bad about it has not been fixed.

The time scale, the short chapters. Now we have a few new terrible elements. The pregnancy that will not end. As we see so many things happening, as the author wanted to build to his first climax he had placed one of he numerous main characters into the situation of expectant motherhood. That was a good plot point. Except with all that has happened, the woman must be carrying the child for over two years.

It is amazing to me that such a large scale spic has not taken into account any calendar.

The second large scale problem that emerges in this book is the items to lead to victory. They have been building a little for a few show more books. The main enemy has seen several others show up to attack them back. Not in alliance, but willing to fight and end the war. Then also our heroes come up with various technologies that become as destructive against the enemy as they have been against our heroes. So destructive we see that they can be utterly destroyed by just one of them. (The balance of power had been that the aliens could have done that to the humans from the beginning but had been doing a slow measured campaign instead of total annihilation, but now at book 5 want to totally annihilate humanity.)

Then all at once in a battle for earth, most come together in ways that see much of the eradication of the enemy. Overwhelmingly. Five books of space opera to end in a few pages. Wouldn't our greatest war have been nice like that. Japan keep attacking the US territories and Allies, whittling away and then in a week we and all our friends can mount an attack that stops them dead in their tracks. It is us developing the nuclear bomb, but not have done any of the island hopping campaign before that.

It might have worked, but Anderson just does not sell it. He finally resolves matters between his monomaniacal leader on earth, but the man could never have run the planet and sphere of humanity without more competent leadership as a check and balance, or without more then the three aides he seems to have. By making this subplot continue for so long, it has made his hero king look like a wimp. Even when he takes action to kill someone, another comes to play and makes his hands ultimately free of taint.

A story where heroes aren't. Just now to finish it up and tell all if it can redeem itself, or continue to enumerate where it fails. The worst thing to note is how Anderson drones on in the end about his process and those who helped him. Did no one catch these items I point out? Was a sense of time totally ignored on purpose? This needed more time on the drawing board before it was released. Never read again. show less

[url=http://www.librarything.com/work/1128833/book/61189312]Of Fire and Night by Kevin J. Anderson[/url] :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky: :binky:

The best book of the series so far, a lot of story threads were tied up in the end. The epic battle ending the Hydroge War occurred at Earth, with independently-led forces of the Hansa, Elderans, Verdani, and Roamers defeat the combined assault of the Hydroge energy spheres and Hansa ships captured by the evil robots. Beleaguered King Peter finally decides it's him or Basil, the Hansa leader whose failure on all fronts leads him to focus on a personal vendetta that he can bully. After a failed assassination attempt on the Chairman, Peter and his pregnant queen flee earth in the midst of show more battle and wind up on Therok, her home and the base of the Verdani World Forest. Since the Hansa raped resources then pulled protection from all of their colonies in defense of the earth, Peter had little trouble putting together a new Human confederacy, including the disenfranchised colonies and the hunted Roamers.

It seemed most story lines were wrapping up when, at the very end, the Elderian renegade who unsuccessfully fomented rebellion last book made a return at the head of a contingent of Faros, fiery elemental creatures of uncertain loyalty who had been periodically appearing to destroy Hydroges. And then, Margaret, the archeologist who escaped as her husband was killed by the evil robots at the end of the first book and fled through a gate, suddenly appears through a gate on a newly colonized world. Then bugs start pouring out of the gate. Thousands of them! The Klickis race, thought extinct at the hands of the evil robots they created, are back. And they want their planets again. Without human infestations. show less

A great series!
***
Publishers Weekly Review: /* Starred Review */ Bestseller Anderson's fabulous fifth volume in his Seven Suns saga (after 2005's Scattered Suns) combines glitzy space-opera flash with witty, character-driven action on a cosmic scale. In retaliation for the destruction of a gas planet's hydrogue inhabitants, the surviving hydrogues join forces with human-hating Klikiss-created robots to exterminate all Terrans, including Hansa colonists, gypsy Roamers and Therons of Theroc, the forested planet that's home to sentient verdani. Vast verdani organic battleships unite with fiery, star-dwelling faeros, Earth Defense Forces and humanoid Ildirans in "elemental synergy" to fight the hydrogues. Expertly juggling a huge cast and show more multiple story lines, Anderson unleashes major firepower as he sets the scene for the sixth and final chapter in an SF series more entertaining than a 3-D superstar game of outerspace Twister. (July) --Staff (Reviewed May 22, 2006) (Publishers Weekly, vol 253, issue 21, p34) show less

Orbit,fall07

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