Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
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Book Reviews of Pandora's Star
Book Review: Space opera with heart
Summary: 5 Stars
"Pandora's Star" is an amazing, sweeping - almost epic - version of the space opera that so many of us know and love. Covering a critical juncture in the history of the Commonwealth (taking place approximately 400 years in the future), which is a grouping of star systems linked by wormholes, "Pandora's Star" is intricately plotted, giving us a rich array of characters, all of whom are fleshed out and complete. Two stars, some distance from the farthest outpost, were somehow covered by a barrier hundreds - if not thousands - of years ago. When an astronomer discovers that the barriers went up almost instantaneously and close to the same time, the Commonwealth decides to build the first starship in hundreds of years to go out and take a look. While examining the barrier, it suddenly goes down, exposing a strongly technological - and very aggressive - society of a hive-mind type creature that calls themselves Prime. The Prime immediately set out creating their own wormholes, so they can eradicate the humans and take over their worlds. But is this the only enemy? A cult group calling itself the Guardians of Selfhood have been claiming for decades that another alien, whom they call the Starflyer, is set to destroy the Commonwealth and they believe that the Starflyer is itself responsible for releasing the Prime. For what reason?
This is the very bare-bones of the ideas covered in this book. Every character that is introduced, no matter how minor, is fleshed out and real. Nigel and Ozzie, who created the wormholes - Paula Myo, who is obsessed with shutting down the Guardians - Mark Vernon, who lives on a distant world in a settlement dedicated to a clean, fairly simple life after dropping out of the fast lane . . . these are just a few of the many characters that Hamilton brings to glowing life.
This book receives a strong recommend from me for anyone who likes sci fi in general; space opera in particular; or just a book with a gripping plot and strong characters. Terrific!!
Book Review: Really good with occasionally annoying grammar
Summary: 5 Stars
The story was really good, and I can't wait for the next book, but, as the reader below said, there are some grammatical faults that the author makes repeatedly. An example (not from the book) would be : "The spaceship rose from the ground, with the gantries falling away." An extreme example perhaps, but repeated over so many pages makes it one of those things (like a dripping tap) that when you've noticed it, you can't ignore it. (A suitable replacement for the above sentence would be : "The spaceship rose from the ground. The gantries fell away", or even, if one insists on using a single sentence : "The spaceship rose from the ground; the gantries fell away.") Basically, any sentence that includes the phrase ", with" is misformed. It appears to be used a lot in action sequences, where its use might be justified as indicating the speed of events and not wanting to stop them with a period (or a "full stop", for UK readers). But would it really be too difficult to phrase it another way?
Nevertheless, I am, as always, impressed with the energy of the action and the comprehensiveness of the author's imagination. The level of characterization in this novel is far higher than in his previous works. The ability the author has to "act" in different characters and put forward their beliefs as the only ones that make sense in their context, is to me, as a writer, very sophisticated. Of course, the story might end up justifying a set of beliefs the reader might find distasteful (Hamilton seems to share an upper-class British belief in the power of the state), but we won't know that until the next episode. At least this author manages to realize that there are other beliefs.
Thanks Peter!
Book Review: The unchallenged master of contemporary Science Fiction.
Summary: 5 Stars
In my opinion, Peter F. Hamilton and Alastair Reynolds are the best contemporary Science Fiction authors. Hamilton is a master in introducing uncountable complex characters in thrilling plot lines set in the most bizarre and exotic environments. Sometimes he describes remote places in such a vivid fashion that one may actually think Hamilton was there and witnessed everything first hand. His imagination doesn't know any limits and he manages to keep the ideas and concepts he introduces graspable for the reader. This ability is probably the biggest differentiator to Reynolds who sometimes goes beyond the capability of the reader's imagination.
Pandora's Star is the first instalment of another Hamilton series and a set in a similarly complex and rich universe as was the Night's Dawn trilogy. Hamilton deserves credit for going through the effort of designing a new future instead of leveraging off the highly successful Night's Dawn environment.
I can imagine that some people may not appreciate the level of detail Hamilton applies to nearly everything in the plot which is typical for his style. Another big Hamilton differentiator is the amount of sex, love, feelings and attitudes he introduces with his characters. This is quite unusual for a Science Fiction Author but maybe the reason why his stories become so incredibly readable. Having said that, Hamilton does overdo it with the amount of sex scenes.
In summary, this book is an absolute must read for every Hamilton or passionate Science Fiction fan. It is a piece of work you don't want to miss out on.
Book Review: Wow.
Summary: 5 Stars
Have I mentioned lately that Peter Hamilton is one of the best currently working science fiction authors? If you have not heard that, take it from me-- his work is simply spectacular.
Pandora's Star may not be for everyone, regardless how good of a writer Hamilton is. Clocking in at 1144 pages, it is a daunting book. It gets even worse when you open it up and see the itsy bitsy typefont that was used in the print run. And, yes, the point that several other reviews have made is true. This book has several significant cliff-hangers at the end. The readers are going to have to pick up Judas Unchained to see what happens.
But even with all that, the pages literally flew by. The various disparate characters and settings were extremely well-written. The background of his future world is rich and fully developed. I actually laughed out loud in the first 20 pages of the book, not very usual in High Space Opera. I was particularly enthralled by the threads involving Ozzie and the High Angel.
If you have not read Hamilton before, and you know that you do not have the patience for really long stories, you may want to consider checking out the Greg Mandel series first. Beginning with Mindstar Rising, the Mandel books are much shorter and more classic genre entries. However, if you like intelligent science fiction, you should not let the size of the book put you off. It is a compulsively good read. It went by much faster than I either wanted or expected. I cannot wait to read Judas Unchained. I may even spring for the hard cover edition.
Book Review: Up There with the Best of the Best
Summary: 5 Stars
I have been a fan and reader of science fiction for 45 years now and while my enthusiasm and consumption level for the genre has waxed and waned, this book absolutely captured my imagination. Hamilton peoples his books with a vast array of original and wonderfully inter-linked concepts. His portrayal of the alien Prime is the best description of an alien intelligence I have found in the genre and his marvelous triple analogy between the Prime Immotile, the motiles and the human re-life program using clonal immortality, and the AI is beyond brilliant. Probably no one besides Frank Herbert, Daniel Keys Moran, Dan Simmons and Resnik can touch this guy.
One of my favorites from the book was his description of robotic battle destroyers called Alamo Avengers. This is just a masterful fusion of historic names with future possibilities. At some point in the distant future, historians will study science fiction with a certain kind of amazement along the lines of: "how the heck did they see that coming so long ago."
I don't know why Nasa hasn't chosen some of the best science fiction writers to go into space so that the rest of us can really get a description of what the future holds for humanity. Poor NASA is now going retro with a glorified Apollo reincarnated in the Orion program. The lack of imagination and vigor is just sickening.