Hidden Empire

Journey through a galaxy teeming with life in all its incarnations - from merchants, politicians and soldiers, to "green priests" who communicate telepathically with a semi-sentient forest; gypsy Roamers who mine the clouds of gas giants for stardrive fuel; the alien Ildirans, and the insect-like robots that are the only remnants of the vanished Klikiss civilization, destroyed by powers that yet lay dormant, awaiting the call of those foolish enough to believe they can be tamed. Using clues found in the ancient ruins of that lost civilisation, Margaret and Louis Colicos constructed the Klikiss Torch, a device that could transform gas giants into new suns. But was Mankind wise enough to wield the power of the gods? Seeking new planets to colonise, human explorers encountered the age-old Ildiran Empire, and before long, Humanity's youthful energy threatened to overwhelm the stately dance of their new neighbours. A race long past their prime, the Ildirans had recorded their entire history in the ever-growing 'Saga Of Seven Suns', named for the stars in their home skies. But within the Ildirans' history were secrets of ancient disasters and conflicts forgotten throughout the galaxy. After millennia, the fire of Humanity's torch would re-ignite those memories, into a conflagration that would threaten to destroy entire galaxies . . . 'Hidden Empire' begins a dazzling space opera fit to stand with the classics of the genre. It is an epic in the truest sense of the word, combining the politics of Frank Herbert's 'Dune', the scope of Peter F Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, and the pageantry and romance of 'Star Wars'.