Helpful Score: 1
Peter F. Hamilton's sequel to Pandora's Star.
Human civilization is threatened by one alien civilization and is being manipulated by another. Slowly, the characters start putting together the pieces and building an alliance to combat the threats. What do you do when you face annihilation? Start planning genocide?
This book reads well, but I enjoyed Pandora's Star more. If you can imagine, in a 1000 page novel, events start moving too fast, making it hard to celebrate or mourn with the victories and setbacks. Sometimes that's how life works, but it didn't quite seem right. The readers and the characters deserved a bit better treatment from the author. Maybe Peter should just plan on telling his stories in 3000 pages. I guess that what felt clunky was having all the characters that we have journeyed with banding together for the common cause. Sounds great, but the author's style didn't really suit the situation. Still, the universe and the story remain strong and will stay with me for a long time.
Human civilization is threatened by one alien civilization and is being manipulated by another. Slowly, the characters start putting together the pieces and building an alliance to combat the threats. What do you do when you face annihilation? Start planning genocide?
This book reads well, but I enjoyed Pandora's Star more. If you can imagine, in a 1000 page novel, events start moving too fast, making it hard to celebrate or mourn with the victories and setbacks. Sometimes that's how life works, but it didn't quite seem right. The readers and the characters deserved a bit better treatment from the author. Maybe Peter should just plan on telling his stories in 3000 pages. I guess that what felt clunky was having all the characters that we have journeyed with banding together for the common cause. Sounds great, but the author's style didn't really suit the situation. Still, the universe and the story remain strong and will stay with me for a long time.
Helpful Score: 1
Almost as good as the first book, Pandora's Star, this book wraps up the story of the human Commonwealth's war with an extremely powerful alien threat. Peter F. Hamilton has an amazing imagination, and weaves a complex tapestry of intrigue, punctuated with brilliantly tense and powerful battles. His vision of how technology may change human society is both fascinating and compelling.
Just finished the commonwealth series - I loved it, but towards the end, I really wanted to finish the book. This is not light reading, there are so many rich details that you need to enjoy. Reading the commonwealth series is like running a marathon in a beautiful countryside, with so much to see, but towards the end, you just wish you could stop running (but of course you need to finish it). I am done, and even at the end, Peter Hamilton still managed to surprise and delight me.
This is a great second half to the story Hamilton began in "Pandora's Star." I couldn't put it down and am looking forward to reading the "Void" trilogy set in the same universe. Its space opera with a hard sf twist.
Surprisingly good book.... turned me into a Space Opera fan... if you like complex, multifaceted plots then this book is for you... be sure to read Pandora's Start 1st.
A must sequel
Very deep, high-quality sci-fi.
