Author's note Hidden Empire

Hidden Empire is the first book in a multi-volume science fiction epic, The Saga of Seven Suns, filled with alien races, court intrigues, romance and sense-of-wonder on a galactic scale. This series is not about gadgets or equations, but rather follows the family adventures, the loves and tragedies, pomp and pageantry among several competing races in an expanding stellar empire. The Saga of Seven Suns is an epic for science fiction comparable to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time fantasy series, or Terry Brooks's Shannara novels.

When I started planning this series, I felt like an archaeologist unearthing a magical ancient city buried beneath the Sahara. At first, I could see only a small outline on the overall landscape, but as I started digging and working, I found more and more surprises, hidden treasures, complex mysteries. Storylines and characters took off in unusual and fascinating directions, and The Saga of Seven Suns got bigger and bigger than I had ever imagined. In the back of my mind, I have this sneaking suspicion that I've barely scratched the surface.

With my prior successes in writing STAR WARS and X-FILES books, as well as my current bestselling DUNE prequels with Brian Herbert, I feel as if I've been training for this project all my writing career. Fans are already familiar with both my productivity and reliability, so I can promise readers that each volume in The Saga of Seven Suns will come out regularly. You'll always know when to expect the next part of the story. In fact, I've already written Book #2 and a graphic novel prequel for Wildstorm/DC Comics, and I'm finished with the outlines for the third and fourth novels. This is a big canvas, with lots of room for myself, my characters -- and all the readers -- to explore.

© 2002 by Kevin J. Anderson