Kevin Anderson Books

Ya había leido otros libros de la serie Expedientes Secretos X, pero, creo que este es el mejor. Este libro tiene una trama bien construida, y ha sido escrito con un ritmo ágil que permite disfrutarlo comódamente, a la vez que invita a continuar leyéndolo. Su descripción de los sitios en donde transcurre el libro está bien documentada, y sobre todo nos hace sentir, lo mismo en un hotel de lujo que en plena selva tropical. La sicología de los personajes principales, Mulder y Scully de ninguna forma resulta contradictoria con el canon de la serie de T.V. Aunque el autor cae en algunos clichés que los extranjeros tienen sobre nuestro país, considero que este es un libro interesante y lo recomendaría a una persona que quiere un rato entretenido sin complicaciones.

Samurai sooicide sacrifice screening shame slaughter.


3.5 out of 5

A Science Fiction Story

Martian war ideas.


3.5 out of 5

As I'm sure that a lot of Dune fans have for the continued stories of this wonderful sci-fi world. Brian and Kevin work well together and I think it pushes the writing well to a point that is very entertaining.

For those of you that wrote that Brian Herbert is just trying to ride his father's franchise to financial success, maybe you should have read the last pages of the "House Atreides" book. Brian, initially, did not want to resume his father's work because of the enormous shadow Frank Herbert cast with the original Dune. Also, Brian had many of his own projects at the time. Brian had already collaborated with his father and had planed to write part of the Dune series with him before he died.

The only thing the story lacks is the original writing style of the creator, Frank Herbert. Brian succeeds in telling a good story set in the Dune universe, but does not tell it in the exact manner his father would (nor is that possible). Frank probably would have approved of his sons work, had he lived to read it.

Brian Herbert is the son of Frank Herbert creator of Dune Saga. Brian and Kevin Anderson start with this book a difficult mission: revisit Dune's universe describing the events immediately preceding Dune, the first & unforgettable volume of the famous saga.

Did they succeed? Well, yes and... no. Yes because they deliver an interesting first step with all the elements of this fascinating universe; and no because the story is not as gripping as the original Dune.
Nevertheless Dune's fans (as me) should not be too disappointed because even Frank Herbert wasn't at the same height when writing Dune Messiah, Children of Dune and God Emperor of Dune and he will recover allure only with the last two books of the series.
So let us hope the same will happen with Brian & Kevin efforts!

The variety of themes touched by the original series is still present in this book: ecology, political-religious interaction, genetic manipulation, longevity drugs and secret sisterhoods and brotherhoods.

The story is as follows.
The Scenery.
There is a Galactic Empire ruled by the Emperor. There are powerful Noble Houses that rule different planetary systems and confront each other in endless struggle, yet subject to strict rules. There is a Guild of interstellar Pilots. There is the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood following their eugenic plans and playing in backstage as advisors to all powers. Computers & AI are forbidden and replaced by human-computers called Mentat. Arrakis is Desert Planet inhabited by mysterious desert dwellers: the Fremen.

The Argument.
Consist of several threads that will mingle and interact thru the present book and the intended continuations.
A very young Leto heir of Noble House Atreides is being educated by his father Duke Paulus.
The Bene Gesserit Sisterhood following their eugenic plans is approaching their goal: to produce a male specimen that will surpass all their limitations and fulfill their mission.
Execrable Baron Vladimir head of Noble House Harkonnen, Atreides' ancestral enemy, is in command of Arrakis and planning mischievous deeds.
Prince Shaddam, the Emperor's son & heir and his intimate Fenring are getting bored of Emperor Elrood's long life and planning to shorten it.
Noble House Vernius, masters of point technology, had developed a new cruiser that will cut Emperor's income, incurring in his wrath.
All these elements and more, much more are deployed skillfully by the authors, giving way to an interesting narration.

I recommend this book to sci-fi lovers and general public too.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.

This book has good detail and is a great continuation of the Dune saga, but in reverse since it is Prequel in nature. I think this does the magnificent world of Dune justice because it is so rich in detail and the plots//premises are so interesting. This particular installment of the new series is focused on the Atreides family but we still learn a lot about other Dune factors such as the navigators and the witches. Great job on this book.

After reading the original series, I had not interest in reading any of the prequels. Not bothering for years, until recently I picked up The Butlerian Jihad and gave it a try. I have been reading the Dune story from start to finish ever since. I just finished reading House Atreides, and I must say that it was the best work yet from Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. I saw the plans within plans mixed in with little pearls of wisdom that I longed after from the original series.

The Baron Vladimir Harkonen unleashes his sublte wheels within wheels aproach to life in this fast paced novel. I learned much of the background of many characters from the orinal series. I eagerly look forward to finishing the reast of the 'House' series and will jump back to the original series with gusto.

All in all. This book hit the spot. A satisfying read.

While I totally agree with the bashing of this books Predecessor, children of the jedi, I found this book to be slightly under-rated. While it is indeed true that there IS another super weapon, KJA handles it very well and keeps it fresh. The real importance with this book was it details the progression of the new order of Jedi Knights. We get to see how Luke's academy is eventually going to become a pivotal role in the survival of the new republic.

As with the Jedi Academy Trilogy, you either love or hate KJA's works, I myself am one of the former.

As soon as I saw this book I thought "Not another Freakin Death Star." But since it was from Anderson I thought I'd give it a try. I was not disapointed! This was one of the better Star Wars Books that I've read in a while. The New Jedi Knights are really coming into there true powers in this book while Calista still searches for hers. I was pretty good overall.

Anderson is just a terrible writer. But if the story is good enough you can grit your teeth and find some enjoyment. The Darksaber story is not one of those. Don't read this bood.

Uh oh. The remnants of the Empire are gathering together to form a threat to the New Republic. Uh oh. There is a giant superweapon being constructed using the original plans and scientists who worked on the Death Star. Sigh. Out of all the possible stories that able to be told in the Star Wars Universe (see the Medstar Duology and the Republic Commando novels for examples), this is the story that Darksaber tells. For Star Wars, one must say "how prosaic". It's all been done before. Two movies and danced around in the novels. This is the best that Kevin Anderson and Lucasfilm could come up with for the novel?

Oh, well. Here's the deal: The Hutts are gathering components to build said superweapon, the title weapon. Remnants of the Empire, Admiral Daala and Pallaeon (second in command to Grand Admiral Thrawn) are pulling together various warlords to strike at the heart of the New Republic and hurt the New Republic bad. Luke Skywalker is seeking to find a way to restore the Jedi Powers of his love Callista. Leia, Han, and Chewbacca are investigating the Hutts to find out what the Hutts are planning. This all comes together with a major threat to the New Republic.

If it wasn't for the fact that this book is much of the same old same old for Star Wars fiction Darksaber wouldn't be that bad. Kevin Anderson has crafted a fast paced classic feeling Star Wars novel. The word "classic" is used here in the sense that the style is reminiscent of the original Star Wars trilogy. So, the action is fun and there are quips and back talk and little guys vs the Big Bad, but the novel just felt like a retread. It is a tired story. Anderson's writing isn't strong enough to overcome a story that does not add anything significant to the Star Wars Universe. It's middle of the road Star Wars. Nothing special to see here. Not truly worth the effort.

-Joe Sherry

The idea of a powergrab against the New Republic is not an unacceptable premise in itself. The idea that the gangster clan known as the Hutts would make such a powergrab is feasible. Yet the idea that the Hutts would hire the engineer of two very flawed Death Stars to make another weapon would seem to be a very flawed plan on the Hutts part. But it becomes laughable when the engineer designs a giant lightsaber in the sky known as "Darksaber". An original and more powerful superweapon would have fostered a more threatening tone in the book.

While the Hutts make their destined to fail plans, the remnants of the Empire have gathered a motley crew of old warlords to take another shot at the Jedi and New Republic. Admiral Daala, who can not seem to be killed, leads the Empire in their attack. A lack of organization and the powers of the Jedi make short work of the former members of the empire.

Kevin Anderson spends a great deal of time leading up to these battles scenes only to let them fizzle out in a matter of pages because of simple oversights on the part of the Hutts and the Empire. As absurd as the idea of a weapon known as Darksaber may be, I would have expected the author to let the weapon wreak some havoc before destroying it. Instead, the New Republic does not even have to fire a shot to destroy it.

While there were parts of this book that I enjoyed, including the characters of the new Jedi, I felt I was reading something borrowed from previous plots. Luke Skywalker in the role of leader of the Jedi adds something new to his character which I always enjoy. In Star Wars plots, the Death Star can only be blown up so many times and still be interesting. Similarly, there can only be so many times that the refugees of the Empire can keep crawling out of the woodwork to put up a fight. Should the New Republic seek these people out once and for all to eliminate future problems? I would think the leaders would have that much foresight.

Do not buy this book or any book in the Dune series which is not written by Frank Herbert.

To read these books is a waste of time which would be better served by reading something else.

This story takes you into Geidi Prime itself. Both Brian and Kevin are really hitting their stride in working together by this book, and everything that makes up the story is compelling. A home run.

I think that Brian did an exceptional job on this book. I've reall the entire trilogy and thoroughlly enjoyed it. The 1st 2 were my favourites though.

Dune: House Harkonnen is a fun read for anyone interested in the origins of the characters that appear in Frank Herbert's Dune. There are also several new characters introduced in this series as well.

While I liked the House Atreides, this second book in the House Trilogy starts to get a little cartoonish. There are some events that occur that are simply not believable, even in a science fiction world. Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson seem to have a habit for overly describing the spectacle and wonder of the Dune universe, multi colored gems, crystals, ren-fair and all. With that, there are several cool classic Dune moments to be found. If you are a Dune acolyte and must read all things Dune, then this book is a must.

Anyone wanting to read this book, does not have to read House Atreides (the preceding book in this trilogy) as Brian and Kevin will catch you up on all events in the prior books with no qualms about telling you, rather than showing you or assuming that you have already read the other books.

As a longtime Dune follower, I was thrilled to read this new series/prequel. I was not at all disappointed and feel this is a tribute to Brian Herbert's father's genius and amazingly creative world. In the same way the Atreides and Corrino volumes are rich in detail, with great crossover appeal, this novel also fits the bill. My only complaint is with the overly descriptive torture passages. I can usually take a lot of that without being bothered, but this really turned my stomach. Even though the original Dune novels included detailed descriptions of "horrors" this is much worse. I guess I just like some of that to be left to the imagination instead of spelled out so completely.

Some of the boys really like the smaller Star Wars novels. I have tried to get what they request for summer reading.

I think this is around when Star Wars publishing started to explode, and I gave up as it was looking to be not too interesting.

The Ambiguously Evil Woman vs Luke is a bit of fun, though.

As I have found out, Anderson writes things at a furious pace, so that he makes a nice living, so this is what you have to expect.

I was very sceptical before picking up this book. I read a lot of reviews saying it was boring and not well written, and boy am I glad I didn't listen. Jedi Search has a couple of great story lines going on. First and fore most is Luke's quest to find force sensitive canidates for his new Jedi Academy. The second story line is about Han and Chewie on a diplomatic mission to the planet Kessel that of coarse goes terribly wrong. I highly reccomend reading the Jedi Academy series BEFORE the novel I, Jedi since parts of I, Jedi will give away a lot of the story line in the rest of the series.

The entire Jedi Academy trilogy is terrible. The story has some potential, but the lackluster prose really doesn't serve it as well.

But perhaps worse than that...Kevin Anderson doesn't seem to know ANYTHING about the characters he is writing for. One of the things that Zahn does so well (and what makes the Thrawn series so good) is that he takes characters from the film, who we all know, and expands their story - but he stays true to them the entire way.

Throughout the Jedi Academy trilogy, I found myself constantly thinking "these characters are not true to the ones already created". Even their tone and dialogue does not ring true for me.

Also, let me just point out that, as described by Anderson, the game of sabbac has NO gambling involved, and it is purely a game of chance. Lando is supposedly a brilliant gambler, yet it appears that his game of choice (as Anderson sees it) is nothing more than a simple game of random chance, with no skill or cunning involved whatsoever.

Terrible, terrible books. I feel bad for Zahn for having to acknowledge, albeit slightly, the content of these books as canon when he wrote the last two Thrawn books.

I read this trilogy when there wasn't any other Star Wars stuff out there I hadn't read. Even without the prequel trilogy invalidating the continuity of these novels, these novels had problems. I'm surprised that I made it to the end of Vol. 3.

We now know a lot more about being a Jedi Master than Luke did in these books, and his academy was not much like the Jedi Order as portrayed by Lucas. And the impossibility of a Sith retaining his identity beyond his physical death (when love is the key to doing so) destroys the main premise of this trilogy.

But there are a lot of rediculous things in these books like a Jedi baby in action to save Luke Skywalker (yes, you read that right, a baby) and a super weapon that destroys star-systems. And this story features yet another Jedi that takes the path of the Dark Side, but will he return to the good side? Yes, but who cares? We've seen this before.

I didn't think these books were that good at the time, but they are even worse in retrospect. Don't waste your time. Instead of this series, I highly recommend the following 5-star novels:

Cloak of Deception (Star Wars)
Shadow Hunter (Star Wars: Darth Maul)
Labyrinth of Evil (Star Wars, Episode III Prequel Novel)
Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader (Star Wars)
Shadows of the Empire (Star Wars)

I was really excited to read this trilogy. Last summer I read through the Thrawn trilogy and was pleased by a nice realistic story. Right after that i picked up the first of this trilogy and was so disappointed. Well after getting through that book the second one, Dark Apprentice, which was more i style i could enjoy.
I felt great getting into this book. I was anticipating some good jedi battles, and the forging of the new jedi academy. Well guess what to all those who haven't read this...it happens within the first 150 pages.
I haven't finished reading this yet and i really don't know why I want to.
The chapters jump around every 5-10 pages, the secondary plot line never interested me, and I have notice rehashed lines from the movies. On top of these obvious problems with the writing the worst part of it all is the predictability. The New Republic gets in some problems, and guess what? They come out with out any major problems.
The one character that i really started to like and still do is Kyp. He is a character that i like as much a Mara Jade for one reason...He isn't in the movies and he will re-appear through out the series. I am interested to see where his character goes and how the effects in these last books will effect the over all out come of story.
I gave this book 3 star because i felt like it had potential but ran out of steam really fast. I hope for the next books to be much better, and more enjoyable, but this was a good try.

Good story, terrible writing.

Anderson's prose is trite, unimaginative, and, far too often, simply laughable. Which is a shame because the story is compelling.

This is a key part of the Star Wars extended universe, however. So, read it if you must. But you've been warned.

I love the Jedi Academy Series and I love this book. I really like this book out of the series. A great way to wrap up a fantastic series.

Not much more to say, I just loved this book very much.

My goodness. I deeply enjoyed this book and Dark Apprentice, both of which express the challenge of the jedi and the temptation of the dark side. The trilogy explains of how Luke Skywalker begins his Jedi praxeum (academy) and how his students are tempted to the dark side by Exar Kun, an ancient sith lord who had had his spirit entrapped in the New Jedi Order's temple on Yavin IV.

The highest ranked female officer in the Empire everywhere, Admiral Daala, is trying to become a force to be reckoned with in the galaxy, along with her force of four Star Destroyers (of which has been halved since the beginning of the trilogy). Daala is a suicidal commander, and is sacrificing ship after ship to the attempt to wound the New Republic. You can guess where this crusade will end.

Kyp Durron, the greatest of Luke's students, embraces the dark side and decides to become the Lord of the Sith. He takes a stolen doomsday device, the Sun Crusher (which destroys entire systems instead of just planets like the Death Star), and goes on a rampage throughout the core worlds, destroying three star bodies before coming to his senses again.

I will not give the entire book series, but that is a general outline. It is very good for any fan of Star Wars or the science fiction genre in general. Kevin J. Anderson is not the best author, and sometimes I notice screwups in his writing, and I am not exactly a professional. Also, I looked through his acknowledgements, and he says he has someone transcribe the story through tapes. There is lazy for you. :-)

This book contains much about the Star Wars Universe and I recommend it to all. It has a fairly complex plot, and yet is simple at the same time. Also, everyone should read the Thrawn trilogy. It is quite obvious that THAT book series is my most favorite.

Long live the Galactic Empire!

Your lord and master,
Grand Admiral Thrawn

Champions of the Force concludes Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy Trilogy which began with Jedi Search and built up to the cliffhanger ending at the end of Dark Apprentice before delivering the payoff in this novel. Luke Skywalker lies comatose in the Jedi Academy hanging between life and death, the result of a battle with the spirit of Exar Kun, the Dark Lord whose spirit has corrupted Kyp Duron, Luke's most powerful student, and led him on the path to the Dark Side of the Force. Luke reaches out to Jacen and Jaina Solo, his nephew and niece for their help. Meanwhile, Luke's sister, Leia Organa-Solo, has a fight of her own, as she races to the planet Anoth to rescue her youngest son Anakin Solo before Imperial forces can destroy the young Jedi child. Kyp Duron is using the Sun Crusher to destroy star systems loyal to the Empire, which he believes to be a noble cause, but this is a heinous act which will continue to have impact decades after the end of this story. Admiral Daala is still seeking to strike at the New Republic, using her Death Star prototype. Other Star Wars favorites are included here--Han Solo, Chewbacca, Lando Calrissian, C-3PO and R2-D2. Champions of the Force is a superb finale to Kevin Anderson's excellent trilogy, and I recommend these books for all Star Wars enthusiasts.

SANDWORMS OF DUNE is the latest entry in Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson's series of DUNE fill-in-the-cracks novels. Having completed their 1950s-vintage back story for the "jihad" against artificial intelligence that was part of the unexplained matrix of the original DUNE, Herbert and Anderson project that back story into the future (relative to Herbert's final DUNE novel, CHAPTERHOUSE DUNE), completing what they started in HUNTERS OF DUNE.

It's not difficult to make fun of the stiff, sometimes comically awkward writing in these novels. It's not difficult to wail about the ridiculousness of so many of the plot developments. It's not difficult to go on and on about how abysmally silly and awful Omnius and Erasmus are as characters and as a thread in the DUNE narrative -- it just isn't possible that Frank Herbert had anything like these monstrosities in mind when he thought about humanity's rejection of artificial intelligence. But ...

It's not difficult to read this novel and enjoy at least some of it. I did not feel compelled to throw the book across the room. I did not find myself skipping over paragraphs because they were too tedious (as I have, e.g., in Charles Stross' Merchant Princes novels--and I like Stross a lot more than I like these guys). Some parts were even page-turning suspenseful. In bestselling SF novels, these are things to be happy about.

Would I rather have spent my time reading a new novel by McLeod or Stross or Asher or Reynolds any one of several other authors? Sure, but there aren't any, and until there are ... there's SANDWORMS OF DUNE.

when I got 20 pages into House Harkonen after sitting through the House Atreides on Tape during a really long drive, I threw it in the trash becasue it read more like fan fiction than something from Frank Herbert's Universe.

But After reading all the original Dune books, I couldn't resist Hunters of Dune. Wich I thought was alright, so I went and read the Butlerian Jihad Books, Wich were entertaining. So Now that I finished Sandworms of Dune, I can honestly say, It's not Frank Herbert But it is a fun read, and you get to see alot of your favorite charcters again. So to me that was worth it. and I think it does tie everything up nicely.

I also change shape.

As for "Hunters of Dune" and "Sandworms of Dune" (and let's face it, you can't take one without the other), all I can say is that I really, really hope that somewhere out in the cosmos is a no-ship with Frank Herbert's ghola on board, and he's busy typing his version of the conclusion of the Dune saga, because this stuff is just not that good.

So, Dune could be my favorite sci-fi book and I'm a dedicated Dune reader. Which means that even though I have learned that anything written by Brian Herbert and Kevin J Anderson isn't going to be quite to par, I pick it up anyway. This hadn't been a real issue until recently. Well, this book was actually disappointing. It was just bad. Writing, story, characters- just bad. But the wrost part is I know they are going to put out another book and I'm going to read it too! Boys, its time to leave the series be- Let daddy Herbet have a little peace in the after life, seriously. And next time you two write something, for my sake don't try to slip it into the dune series.

If you like to see everything you care about (i.e. the millenium-long human cause against the machines and the heros and billions of people that died to combat them) mean nothing and the whole series of Dune heros that are brought back have meanlingness roles, then you will love this novel. What the heck were Anderson and Herbert thinking when they plotted this dismal conclusion? And why did we need to read hundreds of pages on the internal wars on the Honored Matres in these two final books when they didn't even play a role in the conclusion? The characters you want to suceed, and the long awaited final victory of man over machine do not happen in this novel. And not only that, it makes most of the previous Dune works inconsequental, as those plots and characters don't impact the ridiculous ending that H&A came up with. What a sad conclusion given that the 4 novels preceding this by H&A seemed to be building towards a spectactular conclusion. Maybe some day they will go back to the drawing board on completely redo the Dune Conlcusion novel(s) -- they could treat Sandworms of Dune as a dream that Idaho has while in the shower akin to that really bad season on Dallas in the 80's where we learned later that is was just Bobby's bad shower dream. This novel is the book equivalent to the sf movie, Highlander 2 - The Quickening -- i.e. a movie that wanted to make you throw up and forget about it, but that nevertheless was so inept and depressing to your senses that you kept getting irrated about it for years afterwards.

Anderson has a good knack for world building -- creating interesting political structures, cultures, social dynamics, and so on.

However, he's absolutely terrible, at least in this book, at creating characters that you want to empathize with and/or which feel real. He is similarly terrible at writing dialog, and most of his characters seem to speak in one of two or three modes -- very little distinct personality is shown.

The mortal sin of writing he commits repeatedly is to "Tell" you what someone is about, or what a situation is as opposed to "Show" you. His characters frequently say what they are about with technical terminology.. it's very odd. It's a damn shame too because his world is pretty cool and have a lot of promise.

First book I've been unable to finish in a long time... and I really tried -- 100 pages from the end.

Maybe his next series will be better...

672 pages of total, complete and utter rubbish!
KJA needs to think about finding himself a new job, most of his "ideas" are STOLEN from various fathers of sci-fi!

What a shame!

Because I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Yes, it might not have the finest prose, the most complex characters, or the most valid science (but what the heck do I know, I'm just a thirty-something kid), but it did have what I consider to be the most important aspect of science fiction: an interesting, even captivating story. Much of the "hard" science fiction out there bores me silly. I want to be entertained when I read, and this book was entertaining. I won't take the time to write a more thorough review (several fine reviews have already been written) because I'm going to order the next book in the series. Don't overanalyze and nitpick. Just relax and enjoy.

The first novel in Anderson's new original series is well done, with an intriguing premise. Mankind has gone to the stars, but we may not be ready for what awaits us there. Hidden within a gas giant planet is a race of powerful and destructive beings. When we inadvertently awaken a sleeping dragon, a war that will consume the galaxy erupts and we must trust in allied who have their own agendas.

The story is very good, however the writing style takes some getting used to. The Saga of Seven Suns is writtem in an alternating narrator method. A chapter or two is told by one person, then the next chapter or two is told by another. Sometimes they are views of the same events, sometimes events that are taking place concurrently but across the galaxy. This can be jarring at first as a reader gets involved with one character and is abruptly jerked to a new one. I still don't like the style as much as standard third person point of view, or even first person, but it does lend itself to this plot.

It's quite an ordeal for me to begin a seven-book series with so much on my reading list. But I'd heard so many good things about this series so I picked up Hidden Empire and it with much promise that I'll return to the series for the second volume.

Kevin J Anderson sets up a universe with a lot of good ideas. The coolest of these ideas is the Theron green priests of Theroc, an order of futuristic druids who can communicate telepathically through the worldtrees - instantaneous across space. The largest of these ideas are the hydrogues, a race of advanced beings who live inside of gas giant planets. And the common, human ideas, like the rivalry between the oppressive government - The Terran Hanseatic League - and the rogue gypsy Roamers who have a near monopoly on the fuel for starships.

In Anderson's universe the humans look to the alien Ildirans as their trading partners and technological superiors, until an idea to turn gas giants into stars awakens the hydrogues to their presence. Then both the Ildirans and the humans are in danger. It seems to be a one-sided war and everyone's at risk.

It's a decent start, but so complex that this first book felt a lot like a long set-up and less like a cool, good hook. I'll read the second one, and I'll expect it to be a well-told story, more gripping than the first.

- CV Rick, February 2008