Novel: Hidden Empire

Overview
Hidden Empire launches Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns with a vast, bustling galaxy where human colonists, ancient alien empires, and strange planetary intelligences collide. The novel opens a tapestry of interwoven storylines that range from political machinations inside human polities to enigmatic alien cultures and the slow, ominous awakening of long-dormant forces. The narrative moves across worlds and viewpoints, building toward a cascade of discoveries that will force old alliances to fracture and new wars to begin.

Setting and Major Factions
Humanity has spread among dozens of star systems, living under complex political arrangements that include powerful merchant families, bureaucratic governments, and independent Roamer clans that harvest crucial fuels. Opposite them stands the Ildiran Empire, an ancient and spiritually oriented alien civilization that maintains a wary alliance with humans. Scattered among these players are the remnants and ruins of vanished civilizations whose technologies still litter the stars. Looming over these human and Ildiran interactions are the hydrogues, vast sentient entities that inhabit and feed on the hydrogen of gas giant planets, creatures whose existence ties deeply into the fate of several inhabited worlds.

Inciting Discovery
At the heart of the plot is an archaeological and technological shock: the discovery of ancient artifacts left by a long-dead race. These relics are more than curiosities; they carry power and knowledge that multiple factions covet and fear. Their uncovering triggers political jockeying, secret missions, and scientific curiosity that cannot be contained. As factions press to control or study the artifacts, old suspicions flare, and hidden agendas come to light, forcing leaders and adventurers into desperate choices.

Escalating Conflicts
Tensions that were previously manageable begin to unravel as the human appetite for expansion collides with the ecological and cultural realities of other beings. Attempts to exploit or alter gas giant environments provoke the hydrogues, whose reactions are neither predictable nor forgiving. Diplomatic overtures fail in the face of sabotage and mistrust, and small skirmishes begin to sprout across star lanes. Meanwhile, the artifacts' influence lingers like a loose spark in a dry field, drawing the attention of forces that may not be human and may not share human ideas of warfare or negotiation.

Characters and Perspectives
The novel unfolds through many viewpoints, giving readers access to political leaders, pilots, scientists, and alien minds. Personal loyalties, family obligations, and cultural obligations drive decisions, and characters often find themselves torn between self-preservation and larger moral questions. Through these perspectives the story explores how individuals react when their routines are ruptured by extraordinary discoveries and sudden threats. The polyphonic approach allows a sense of scale while keeping the human cost of galactic upheaval immediate and emotionally resonant.

Themes and Stakes
Hidden Empire examines the cost of expansion, the ethics of resource exploitation, and the dangers of resurrecting technologies better left buried. It frames a clash between commercial pragmatism and spiritual or ecological stewardship, asking what price civilizations will pay for power and security. The stakes are planetary and cultural: if diplomacy fails and the awakened forces cannot be contained, entire worlds and species could be reshaped or extinguished. The novel sets up a broader saga in which ancient history, contemporary ambition, and alien lifeforms are all threads in a rapidly tightening knot.

Conclusion
By the end of Hidden Empire the galaxy has been irrevocably changed. Alliances are frayed, ancient designs have begun to exert influence, and the specter of open war looms. The book closes with momentum rather than resolution, signaling a vast, ongoing conflict that will unfold across the subsequent volumes as characters, factions, and strange intelligences respond to the consequences of the artifact's discovery and the hydrogues' growing fury.