Hidden Empire, by Kevin J Anderson

Hidden Empire reminds me quite a bit of A Game of Thrones.

Both are multi-volume epic stories, both involve many characters and seeing how each reacts to the events of the novels. I enjoyed Hidden Empire more, because the unifying plot line was stronger and showed up earlier. A Game of Thrones seemed a bit too much like a soap opera to me...lots of plot threads but nothing unifying them.

The basic conflict in Hidden Empire comes when humans use advanced technology to ignite a gas giant into a small star. The purpose is to make the moons of the gas giant habitable for humans. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the gas giant are non too happy with this, and start a war whose eventual goal seems to be the extermination of all humans. The war also drags in an alien race sufficiently human-like to be indistinguishable for the gas giant dwellers.

The war itself is a backdrop for the rest of the story, since humans are outclassed by the gas giant dwellers. We get to see how the human government reacts to the stresses of a losing war, and how individuals in other human factions react to shifting politics. There's also an archaeological team working to uncover more advanced technology that might help in the war, and still functioning robots from an ancient alien race that have their own agenda.

My only objections to the book are a couple of minor points. The smallest is the incongruity of a gas giant that has a breathable atmosphere. One of the sky mines that travels through the atmosphere of gas giants, mining hydrogen for starship fuel, had an open balcony and birds that regularly flew away from the sky mine and back again. I'm no expert in gas giant atmospheres, but it seemed unlikely.

The second is what seems like a plot hole. The human experiment that started the war was known to the humanoid aliens, whose empire has existed for thousands of years. Later in the story it turns out that the leader of the aliens knew about the gas giant dwellers. You'd think he would have expected a violent reaction to turning one of their homes into a sun and mentioned that to the humans. It's always possible he allowed it to happen to try and gain an advantage for his empire in the ensuing war, but that isn't even hinted at in the book.

Overall, though, the book was extremely enjoyable. You have to be willing to invest in the story for the long run, though, since it will span seven books, only four of which are currently available.