Kevin J. Anderson’s debut science fiction novel,
Resurrection Inc. (1988), made a strong first impression because of its powerful themes and well-realized futuristic setting. In this novel, a method is
discovered whereby recently deceased bodies can
be reactivated with mechanical parts installed, and
the resulting cyborgs are employed as an inexpensive work force, leading to considerable unrest as
their mounting numbers cut into the number of
jobs available for the living. In 1998, an expanded
version of the novel was released that smoothed
over some of the rough spots in the original.
For the next few years, Anderson wrote both
fantasy and science fiction on his own, and also
collaborated on science fiction with Doug Beason.
Of the collaborations, the least interesting is the
Craig Kreident series consisting of three near-future technical thrillers, each of which is moderately entertaining without being particularly
memorable. Lifeline (1990), on the other hand, is
an engaging story of survival among several orbiting habitats after a nuclear war cuts off support
from Earth. The Trinity Paradox (1991) is a noteworthy time-travel novel whose protagonist, vehemently opposed to the development of nuclear
technology, travels back into an alternate past
where Nazi Germany has developed an atomic
bomb and discovers he must rethink his position.
There is a clever scientific puzzle in Assemblers of
Infinity (1993), in which alien nanotechnology is
discovered on the Moon, in the form of a horde of
microscopic machines that devour anything that
approaches. In Ill Wind (1995), a bacterium is tailored to consume petroleum released in accidental
spills, but outside the laboratory it quickly mutates
and spreads across the world, attacking all oilbased materials, including plastics.
Despite writing more than 20 media-related
novels between 1994 and 2000, ranging from Star
Wars to The X-Files to The Outer Limits, Anderson
also found time to do original writing, including
two excellent novels. Climbing Olympus (1994) is
an outstanding realistic novel about attempts to
colonize the planet Mars. The story proposes that
the initial program was to modify humans to fit the
environment, but that that project was abandoned
in favor of a massive terraforming project. A handful of the altered humans remain, however, and the
novel focuses on their plight. Blindfold (1995) is
more melodramatic. On a world where telepaths
use a drug to allow them to act as human lie detectors, someone has altered the formulation in order
to reduce their accuracy. A straightforward chase
and mystery sequence follows.
By the end of the 1990s, Anderson was already acknowledged as an author to watch, but he
raised his profile considerably with a series of collaborations. With Brian HERBERT, he has coauthored a series of add-ons to the late Frank
HERBERT’s popular DUNE SERIES. House Atreides
(1999), House Harkonnen (2000), and House Corrino (2001) are actually prequels, each concentrating on one of the leading families of the Galactic
Empire; together these books provide a history of
the events leading up to the period covered in the
original series. A new sequence, to date consisting
of The Butlerian Jihad (2002) and The Machine
Crusade (2003), expands the story further into the
future.
Prolific as ever, Anderson continues to produce novels of his own at an impressive pace,
sometimes broad in scope, sometimes light and
playful. In the latter category are Hopscotch (2002)
and Captain Nemo (2002). The former novel posits
a future in which it is possible to jump from body
to body. The protagonist loans his body to a
wealthy man, then runs into considerable difficulty
when the new tenant refuses to switch back after
the allotted time has expired. The latter novel is
the not very plausible but quite amusing story of
the “real” man who inspired many of Jules VERNE’s
fantastic romances.
A much more ambitious project is the Saga of
the Seven Suns, so far consisting of Hidden Empire
(2003) and A Forest of Stars (2004). The scale is
reminiscent of the collaborations with Brian Herbert. Humans are one of various races living in relative harmony, spread across a broad expanse of
stars. When scientists develop a new technology
that can alter the nature of planetary bodies, they
experiment in what they believe to be an empty
star system, only to discover that a previously unknown alien race has been living within its sun.
This touches off an interstellar war with an implacable and unknowable enemy who seems determined to exterminate the human race. In the
opening volume, attempts to negotiate or blunt the
attack fail, as do efforts to enlist allies to the
human cause in the sequel. The third volume,
Horizon Storms (2004), advances the story without
reaching a resolution.
Anderson has also been a prolific short story
writer throughout his career, although he has yet
to distinguish himself at that length. The best of
his short fiction can be found in Shifting the Boundaries (1995) and Dogged Persistence (2001). It is
probably too early in Anderson’s career to judge
his overall importance in the genre, but he has already established himself as an inventive and
skilled writer willing to work with a variety of styles
and settings.