Scan barcode
A review by typesetjez
Hidden Empire by Kevin J. Anderson
3.0
3 stars instead of 4 because I'm not terribly fond of the narrator in the audiobook.
I've already read what's been released of the Saga of Shadows, so coming to this series was an interesting experience. There's a lot of world building, which actually explains some things that aren't covered in such depth in the later series, and of course, the "new" characters are familiar and already established in the roles later. It's funny because I know where most of these characters end up later in life and know parts of their story already, but I don't feel spoiled, rather, I like to be able to anticipate and theorize what could happen to get them to that point later on.
This book is enormous. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but this audiobook took me a full month to listen to and really seemed to drag in some places and there were plenty of scenes that could have been left out without affecting the overall story. Part of the drag could be that I much prefer the narrator from the Saga of Shadows audios, admittedly. Still, I think this shows Anderson's growth as a writer, that he's able to distill a "saga" into 3 books later instead of 7 and is able to focus on what's important to the plot.
Looking forward to book 2...but I think I'll need to get through a few more pressing books on my TBR shelf first (namely the 2 for book clubs due this month).
I've already read what's been released of the Saga of Shadows, so coming to this series was an interesting experience. There's a lot of world building, which actually explains some things that aren't covered in such depth in the later series, and of course, the "new" characters are familiar and already established in the roles later. It's funny because I know where most of these characters end up later in life and know parts of their story already, but I don't feel spoiled, rather, I like to be able to anticipate and theorize what could happen to get them to that point later on.
This book is enormous. Normally, that wouldn't bother me, but this audiobook took me a full month to listen to and really seemed to drag in some places and there were plenty of scenes that could have been left out without affecting the overall story. Part of the drag could be that I much prefer the narrator from the Saga of Shadows audios, admittedly. Still, I think this shows Anderson's growth as a writer, that he's able to distill a "saga" into 3 books later instead of 7 and is able to focus on what's important to the plot.
Looking forward to book 2...but I think I'll need to get through a few more pressing books on my TBR shelf first (namely the 2 for book clubs due this month).