By Cynthia Ayala

The war is coming to an end. Basil has lost the last threads of humanity and sanity he had, alienating the other factions of the universe. The Faeros, bound to the mad imposter Rusa’h, have invaded Ildiria and only Jora’h can stop them. The Klikiss have regrouped and are now invading the Earth and only King Peter and the Confederation can come to their aid, pitting the Earth Defense Forces against the Confederation. Intrigue, secrets and lies are all starting to unravel and the people are trying to save themselves and all of humanity against the elemental monsters and those who would have them all dead.

Published on July 1, 2008 by Orbit, the final novel in The Saga of Seven Suns series by Kevin J. Anderson’s science fiction space opera delivers an exciting and fulfilling end to the series.

This is a series that has been wonderfully constructed since the very beginning. The story slowed of course, but was able to gain the momentum leading to this very moment in the series, the climax of the entire series. And it certainly did not disappoint. It was a solid story that was faced paced from beginning to end and with everything closed up so nicely. No loopholes, no open ended conclusions, everything was closed up perfectly, making the story come full circle.

Now, while the story and the characters all had pretty fitting ends, something that was rather irksome was the fact that some of the action came off as very easy. Half way across the universe something happened that provided a victory on the other side of the galaxy. It all seemed very coincidental and made the outcomes come easier and swifter than they would have. Granted this has been a very long series about a war in a very vast universe and it has been stretched out into seven books so wrapping it us here was Anderson’s goal, that’s obvious. However, while this was a long novel, it would not have hurt the novel or the series if the novel to give the scenes more exploration, more tension. Given everything that has happened; no easy solution has ever been a viable option within the series. Doing that within this novel was somewhat out of place but also symbolized the point of the novel: change. Change is coming to the galaxy alongside hope that everyone can and will live in peace for as long as they are able to solve their problems together, and it was touching.

Anderson wrote this novel very well, bringing everything, he has laid out together effortlessly. He wrote with clarity and amazing detail that brought everything to an amazing close. It is fast-paced and thrilling every second with no boring parts in between. Anderson was able to slow the story down sometimes to allow the reader a chance to catch their breath and absorb everything that has been going on in the novel.

All the hard work that Anderson has clearly put into closing up the series with this amazing novel would have amounted to nothing if his characterization had been off. Thankfully, he has made sure that all the characterization was top notch. Shifting between character point of views is a task that can easily been messed up, but he makes every point of view very distinct and very strong. Given everything that the characters had been through, their actions reflected who they were built to and the events that defined their lives.

Everything in this novel was wonderfully put together and ties the whole series together beautifully. Anderson highlights his talent for writing, storytelling and characterizing within this novel by pulling together all the threads that made this series so amazing and tying them together effortlessly and imaginatively. (★★★★☆ | A)