Status
Available
Call number
Description
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star ... vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him. Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship--s mission for its own ends. Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth ... and humanity itself. Could it be that Johansson was right?… (more)
Pages
768
DDC/MDS
| 813 |
Language
Awards
SF Site Reader's Choice (2004)
User reviews
LibraryThing member jeroenvandorp
Reading a book is choosing a book, catering to your taste. But sometimes you come upon a book that's special, even if you're not interested in the time or the theme. It's just a great book. Those books appeal to all. No wonder we start to call these books "literature" and "classics".
There are also
For others - like me, I admit - it means hundreds of pages of filler, literally dozens and dozens of characters unrelated to a well-hidden plot and the discovery that at the end of the book you'll have to sit through another counterweight of a book.
If you're not only interested in the name of character x but also in his every single move the last few hundred years, including his family, his home town, his car and its spare parts, you have a winner with Hamilton. If you're interested in a well written story that leads somewhere, stay clear of Hamilton altogether.
There are also
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books quite the contrary. They only cater a certain crowd which in turn adores everything the author produces. Like people watching every single episode of a soap, posting on forums about it and joining communities dedicated to their series and characters. Peter Hamilton's books are in this category. People who like to read every single detail just about everything and anything without wondering where the story might go or what it changes in the main characters.For others - like me, I admit - it means hundreds of pages of filler, literally dozens and dozens of characters unrelated to a well-hidden plot and the discovery that at the end of the book you'll have to sit through another counterweight of a book.
If you're not only interested in the name of character x but also in his every single move the last few hundred years, including his family, his home town, his car and its spare parts, you have a winner with Hamilton. If you're interested in a well written story that leads somewhere, stay clear of Hamilton altogether.
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LibraryThing member bunwat
Ugh. This went on forever without coming to any kind of a conclusion, there were multiple sub plots many of which interested me not at all. The prose was clunky the world building was uneven and at times just silly. There were very few female characters I didn't want to drown in a bucket for being
According to this, the future is going to be pretty much like the mid 80's only with more and better gadgets. Despite the fact that this one ended on a literal cliffhanger, I have zero interest in reading on to find out what happened. I will just make it up in my head. In my version there are going to be some revolutions.
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useless and unbelievably annoying. There were some cool aliens and a bit of nifty tech. But the rest of it was a steaming pile of oh just get on with it already.According to this, the future is going to be pretty much like the mid 80's only with more and better gadgets. Despite the fact that this one ended on a literal cliffhanger, I have zero interest in reading on to find out what happened. I will just make it up in my head. In my version there are going to be some revolutions.
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LibraryThing member FlorenceArt
I probably shouldn't have read the two volumes of this series so close together. It was just too much and made me more impatient with the faults of the books. The story is engaging, and the author creates a very detailed universe. Too detailed probably, this prevented me from feeling at home there.
Another problem is the lack of believability. I can accept the technological premises (in fact I have no idea how realistic or unrealistic they may be), but the society imagined by Hamilton is a sort of capitalistic paradize, where a few people concentrate amazing power and wealth on a galactic level, and still manage to not mess things up royally, to never abuse their power (apart from some petty squabbling which is supposed to make the whole thing more realistic I suppose), to never even just crack up when facing incredibly stressful situations and the anihilation of our entire species. Everyone ends up doing the right thing eventually.
The society described here seems to be one huge upper-middle class, with as I said a handful of super-powerful individuals benevolently ruling it. Although there is one hint that some people do not have access to all the technology available (especially to rejuvenation and re-life procedures), this hint is associated with the description of a "socialist party" that is basically a small band of fanatical terrorists, and we never get to meet one of these people who are excluded from virtual immortality. Maybe they just quietly died out?
The unbelievability also extends to characters. As I mentioned, facing the possibility of mass extinction, everybody seems to act rationally and with the greater good in mind. Some characters start out with more or less normal human faults, but they end up working with everybody for the greater good. Told the right way, this could be moving, but unfortunately it just comes out as an artificial change in the personality of the character.
I did read the two books to the end, which I wouldn't have done if they had really annoyed or bored me. However, I felt relieved when it was over. As I said, it was a mistake to read the two back to back. I would probably be more forgiving if I had waited a while between the two.
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Another problem is the lack of believability. I can accept the technological premises (in fact I have no idea how realistic or unrealistic they may be), but the society imagined by Hamilton is a sort of capitalistic paradize, where a few people concentrate amazing power and wealth on a galactic level, and still manage to not mess things up royally, to never abuse their power (apart from some petty squabbling which is supposed to make the whole thing more realistic I suppose), to never even just crack up when facing incredibly stressful situations and the anihilation of our entire species. Everyone ends up doing the right thing eventually.
The society described here seems to be one huge upper-middle class, with as I said a handful of super-powerful individuals benevolently ruling it. Although there is one hint that some people do not have access to all the technology available (especially to rejuvenation and re-life procedures), this hint is associated with the description of a "socialist party" that is basically a small band of fanatical terrorists, and we never get to meet one of these people who are excluded from virtual immortality. Maybe they just quietly died out?
The unbelievability also extends to characters. As I mentioned, facing the possibility of mass extinction, everybody seems to act rationally and with the greater good in mind. Some characters start out with more or less normal human faults, but they end up working with everybody for the greater good. Told the right way, this could be moving, but unfortunately it just comes out as an artificial change in the personality of the character.
I did read the two books to the end, which I wouldn't have done if they had really annoyed or bored me. However, I felt relieved when it was over. As I said, it was a mistake to read the two back to back. I would probably be more forgiving if I had waited a while between the two.
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LibraryThing member Katyas
Read and reviewed in 2007.
Overview of my thoughts: 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
My Synopsis: 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?
Characters: 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.
My Recommendation: 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!!
Overview of my thoughts: 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
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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. My Synopsis: 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?
Characters: 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.
My Recommendation: 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!!
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LibraryThing member crazybatcow
Hamilton is very long winded. This is probably my only complaint about this book. It is way too long. Not too long in that the story got bogged down, but too long in that I wanted to get through it faster.
I want to know what the Dyson Sphere "bubble" was, who the Prime is, what Humankind is going
So, the answers to my questions were fed to me like an IV - drip drip drip - with an interfering nurse at hand who occasionally turned off the drip, or switched the bag for a completely different product.
The story takes too long to get started (I nearly put it down 'cause there's so much buildup and no release for so long). And it's continually interrupted with 'side-stories' which, eventually, turn out to not really be 'side-stories' at all, but part of the main plot. (Of course, you don't know this as you're reading about a space-battle with interesting aliens that suddenly switches to another character who's traipsing through the forest with some elves.)
It's very well woven together, and I assume with book 2 the left-over threads will be pulled tight (and I suspect a whole new weave will be intertwined). And I'm still quite engaged with the whole story because I still want to know "will we win"?
I want to know what the Dyson Sphere "bubble" was, who the Prime is, what Humankind is going
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to do about it... who is the Starflyer, what are the elves? What does Ozzy have to do with the story? And, ultimately, will we win?So, the answers to my questions were fed to me like an IV - drip drip drip - with an interfering nurse at hand who occasionally turned off the drip, or switched the bag for a completely different product.
The story takes too long to get started (I nearly put it down 'cause there's so much buildup and no release for so long). And it's continually interrupted with 'side-stories' which, eventually, turn out to not really be 'side-stories' at all, but part of the main plot. (Of course, you don't know this as you're reading about a space-battle with interesting aliens that suddenly switches to another character who's traipsing through the forest with some elves.)
It's very well woven together, and I assume with book 2 the left-over threads will be pulled tight (and I suspect a whole new weave will be intertwined). And I'm still quite engaged with the whole story because I still want to know "will we win"?
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LibraryThing member reading_fox
Too long. Really. I mean I like long books, I like intricate detail, and backstoried characters. But this is just silly. There's over 400 pages just setting up one character, and another several couple hundred devoted to another who's just gone off for a walk and doesn't contribute anything to the
Bradley Johnsson is our unmentioned hero. The lives of all the characters (and there are so many a partial list has to be included in the front - it's useful) revolve around him without intersecting. The year is 2340 and mankind has invented rejuvenation and wormhole tech. This has allowed them to spread in successive waves of colonisation away from earth without overcrowding but with the wisdom of age. Way out at one of the furthest reaches of human expansion a different alien (for mankind already knows some sentient beings) spacecraft is found crashed. Bradley was part of the investigation team, but quit and now harangues all of human space with his gorilla movement. He claims the alien 'infected' him, but that he's now cured and that the alien's presence is still steering human politicians for its own ends. Such preposterous conspiracy theories are ignored by all our characters as we jump through their lives. The main concern is building and the follow-up of the first wormhole-drive space ship to investigate an anomalous star pair 1000ly away from human space. But from the consequences of this, ripples perturb the stability of human society.
Apart from the vast length - and consequent extremely slowness of the action, there are other problems with this work. At times a quaint small minded and unimaginative anachronism creeps in - people drink tea, and coffee, and coke. 20th century nationalism is retained, they have 1950s cocktail parties! Yes ok they're rejuvs and were born in the 2000s having had several bodies since then, and retaining many memories. But still it just doesn't seem believable to the reader that 20th century Earth ideas would linger. The UKcentric attitude is equally wrong and I'm a UK native. Other examples include the e-butler. This annoys me every time. After 300 years people would drop the e-, and probably the butler too.
Other problems crop up too. I've never been a big fan of multi-character stories, and Hamiliton is not the best at clearly indicating which character is next up in the narrative, not why we should remember them. Then there are unexplained time jumps and discontinuities. The plot lurches from one planet or person to another. Despite the commonwealth having instantaneous communication (wormholes again maybe, although it isn't clear, and Hamilton doesn’t seem to realise the problems of lightspeed lag) we don't know which events are simultaneous and which aren't. Hamilton does write well, the prose is easy to read, he does manage to inteweave the character plot lines (eventually) so that there is some build-up of tension towards the end.
Although sold as Space Opera, it isn't really. The feel is much more like Epic Fantasy that just happens to be set in Space. Opera has a much narrower cast, and a wider backdrop. This has a vast range of characters but even though humanity is spread throughout hundreds of worlds all the power and influence remains on Earth. There are some good ideas (and within 1000pages there had better be) the conflict between the characters is well drawn out; the rejuvenation technology and its consequences for society are also intelligently imagined and handled. I wasn't too convinced by the aliens, but I've read much worse.
Overall I think this could have been a superb book if strictly edited down to 7-800 pages. It would still be long, as there is much story to tell, but it would be faster and tauter. With more action we'd care more about the characters, the tedious exposition could be cut, and Hamilton could focus on his ideas and people, because they're generally quite good. If you like long-winded books it's worth reading because it is imaginative. But it isn't complex and it doesn’t actually have a lot to say despite the number of words. I will read the sequel, but maybe not immediately
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plot. To say nothing about the tedious pages of exposition describing one-shot locations. The real Hero of the story doesn't get any pages at all, just a couple of walk-on mentions.Bradley Johnsson is our unmentioned hero. The lives of all the characters (and there are so many a partial list has to be included in the front - it's useful) revolve around him without intersecting. The year is 2340 and mankind has invented rejuvenation and wormhole tech. This has allowed them to spread in successive waves of colonisation away from earth without overcrowding but with the wisdom of age. Way out at one of the furthest reaches of human expansion a different alien (for mankind already knows some sentient beings) spacecraft is found crashed. Bradley was part of the investigation team, but quit and now harangues all of human space with his gorilla movement. He claims the alien 'infected' him, but that he's now cured and that the alien's presence is still steering human politicians for its own ends. Such preposterous conspiracy theories are ignored by all our characters as we jump through their lives. The main concern is building and the follow-up of the first wormhole-drive space ship to investigate an anomalous star pair 1000ly away from human space. But from the consequences of this, ripples perturb the stability of human society.
Apart from the vast length - and consequent extremely slowness of the action, there are other problems with this work. At times a quaint small minded and unimaginative anachronism creeps in - people drink tea, and coffee, and coke. 20th century nationalism is retained, they have 1950s cocktail parties! Yes ok they're rejuvs and were born in the 2000s having had several bodies since then, and retaining many memories. But still it just doesn't seem believable to the reader that 20th century Earth ideas would linger. The UKcentric attitude is equally wrong and I'm a UK native. Other examples include the e-butler. This annoys me every time. After 300 years people would drop the e-, and probably the butler too.
Other problems crop up too. I've never been a big fan of multi-character stories, and Hamiliton is not the best at clearly indicating which character is next up in the narrative, not why we should remember them. Then there are unexplained time jumps and discontinuities. The plot lurches from one planet or person to another. Despite the commonwealth having instantaneous communication (wormholes again maybe, although it isn't clear, and Hamilton doesn’t seem to realise the problems of lightspeed lag) we don't know which events are simultaneous and which aren't. Hamilton does write well, the prose is easy to read, he does manage to inteweave the character plot lines (eventually) so that there is some build-up of tension towards the end.
Although sold as Space Opera, it isn't really. The feel is much more like Epic Fantasy that just happens to be set in Space. Opera has a much narrower cast, and a wider backdrop. This has a vast range of characters but even though humanity is spread throughout hundreds of worlds all the power and influence remains on Earth. There are some good ideas (and within 1000pages there had better be) the conflict between the characters is well drawn out; the rejuvenation technology and its consequences for society are also intelligently imagined and handled. I wasn't too convinced by the aliens, but I've read much worse.
Overall I think this could have been a superb book if strictly edited down to 7-800 pages. It would still be long, as there is much story to tell, but it would be faster and tauter. With more action we'd care more about the characters, the tedious exposition could be cut, and Hamilton could focus on his ideas and people, because they're generally quite good. If you like long-winded books it's worth reading because it is imaginative. But it isn't complex and it doesn’t actually have a lot to say despite the number of words. I will read the sequel, but maybe not immediately
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LibraryThing member ninjoblio
I kind of felt like this book was too long by at least half. There's an intriguing story here that I really liked, but it felt like a chore to get to the meat of the story.
Lots and lots of characters are piled on top of long, drawn out descriptions of science fiction worlds that don't really
Neat story though. I don't think I hated it, but I don't know that I feel motivated enough to read the second book in this series. I think I need to go re-read some Hemingway because I'm feeling in desperate need of some short, concise prose right now.
Lots and lots of characters are piled on top of long, drawn out descriptions of science fiction worlds that don't really
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enhance the the story that much. I understand the idea of world building, and its not much different than the long back-story passages in something like Tolkien, but for whatever reason I just didn't find it that interesting here... kind of noodling about and just adding pages to an already long book.Neat story though. I don't think I hated it, but I don't know that I feel motivated enough to read the second book in this series. I think I need to go re-read some Hemingway because I'm feeling in desperate need of some short, concise prose right now.
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LibraryThing member if0x
Peter F Hamilton first came to my notice when I picked up The Reality Dysfunction in a tiny bookstore in Dorset, purely on the basis that it looked nice and thick, and I had a long train journey ahead of me. At the time, I wasn't aware that The Reality Dysfunction would prove to be the first
So, Hamilton arrives on my bookshelf with the slight burden of me knowing that the man can write brilliantly, yet can also throw it all away when losing the plot spectacularly (the closing to Fallen Dragon is a case in point).
Hamilton's universes tend to be confederations of Human-settled planets, spread across the galaxy, and Pandora's Star continues in this vein (the Commonwealth). Humans have developed wormhole technology (Nigel Sheldon and Ozzie Isaacs, true geeks' geeks, manage to upstage the Martian landing with great style!), and have spread across the stars, meeting the occasional other sentient race as they go, creating a very nice life for themselves, with rejuventation technology, automation, and interstellar transport as exciting as catching the Tube...
However, something troubles them: the Dyson Pair, a couple of stars reasonably close to human inhabited space, are observed being enveloped by a mysterious force field, and, because as a species we simply can't leave well enough alone, a ship is sent to investigate.
As the ship approaches the mystifying barrier, opinion was still divided as to whether the force-field was constructed as a defence, to keep an agressor out (in which case there was a threat in the galaxy of a scale more or less incomprehensible to humans), or to keep something else in (in which case was it really sensible to go looking?). The book's title should give a hint as to where the answer to that particular conundrum might lie, but sadly our protagonists don't have the benefit of knowing how their tale has been titled.
As with Night's Dawn, we ride with several sets of people for the tale - and as the book progresses, their paths start to converge slightly, so that at the end of the volume, you have a really pretty solid universe picture in your head, even if not quite all the dots have been joined up yet.
Yet?
Yup, because, in the mother of all cliff-hangers (quite literally), Pandora's Star ends with the agonisingly tantalising :The Commonwealth Saga will be concluded in Judas Unchained.
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instalment of a trilogy (Night's Dawn) that proved to be 2/3 excellent 1/3 ludicrous...So, Hamilton arrives on my bookshelf with the slight burden of me knowing that the man can write brilliantly, yet can also throw it all away when losing the plot spectacularly (the closing to Fallen Dragon is a case in point).
Hamilton's universes tend to be confederations of Human-settled planets, spread across the galaxy, and Pandora's Star continues in this vein (the Commonwealth). Humans have developed wormhole technology (Nigel Sheldon and Ozzie Isaacs, true geeks' geeks, manage to upstage the Martian landing with great style!), and have spread across the stars, meeting the occasional other sentient race as they go, creating a very nice life for themselves, with rejuventation technology, automation, and interstellar transport as exciting as catching the Tube...
However, something troubles them: the Dyson Pair, a couple of stars reasonably close to human inhabited space, are observed being enveloped by a mysterious force field, and, because as a species we simply can't leave well enough alone, a ship is sent to investigate.
As the ship approaches the mystifying barrier, opinion was still divided as to whether the force-field was constructed as a defence, to keep an agressor out (in which case there was a threat in the galaxy of a scale more or less incomprehensible to humans), or to keep something else in (in which case was it really sensible to go looking?). The book's title should give a hint as to where the answer to that particular conundrum might lie, but sadly our protagonists don't have the benefit of knowing how their tale has been titled.
As with Night's Dawn, we ride with several sets of people for the tale - and as the book progresses, their paths start to converge slightly, so that at the end of the volume, you have a really pretty solid universe picture in your head, even if not quite all the dots have been joined up yet.
Yet?
Yup, because, in the mother of all cliff-hangers (quite literally), Pandora's Star ends with the agonisingly tantalising :The Commonwealth Saga will be concluded in Judas Unchained.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
To be accurate, this review should go on for pages, and then stop before actually getting to the point, since that's what Pandora's Star does -- after more than 700 pages, the story stops with absolutely nothing resolved. You must read Judas Unchained to see how it all comes out.
So, is this story
OK for fans of Hamilton who don't mind that it's all a lot of noise and little substance.
So, is this story
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worth 1500 pages? I'd have to say no. I'm a big fan of Hamilton's three-volume Reality Dysfunction, despite the deus ex machina resolution, and I was OK with half the plot line in the three-volume Void Trilogy, but bored with the world smashing part. With this two-volume set, a number of interesting threads are created, including the story -- told from both sides -- of detective Paula Myo and her life long career attempting to catch the terrorist Adam Elvin, the star (actually two, but one never seems to matter much) in question and its mysterious encapsulation behind a barrier, the system-dominating entity that seeks to exterminate humanity, the Jobs and Wozniak like creators of wormhole technology, the mysterious StarFlyer alien who may or may not exist and be plotting against humanity, and much more. Unfortunately, in the end -- no plot spoilers here -- it all comes down to a pile of McGuffins and several hundred pages of racing against the clock. Other aspects that didn't work for me: a really long boring thread with virtually no important plot payoff or emotional resonance, repeated reference to present-day corporations, e.g., Volvo, and even devices (DVDs passed by at least once), and an over-fondness for handheld super-energy plasma blasters.OK for fans of Hamilton who don't mind that it's all a lot of noise and little substance.
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LibraryThing member jwilker
I found this at our local used book store, and wowza. Granted I'm a sci-fi nut, but Hamilton surprised me, with how deep his universe goes and how well he lays it all out.
My only gripe, and this isn't a Hamilton problem, but I had no idea it was a two parter, until I was 7/8s done and the story
If you're into the deeper sci-fi stories that have real people and lots of them, this two book series is a must. I'm reading the second part right now.
My only gripe, and this isn't a Hamilton problem, but I had no idea it was a two parter, until I was 7/8s done and the story
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wasn't resolving, a quick flip to the back page, and low and behold, a second part.If you're into the deeper sci-fi stories that have real people and lots of them, this two book series is a must. I'm reading the second part right now.
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LibraryThing member wishanem
Peter F. Hamilton's "Pandora's Star" is a crazy-huge-scope space opera with a wide variety of very interesting and unique alien varieties. It is one of the only Sci-Fi stories I've read where there were aliens that were comprehensible but very different from humans in psychology. There are a wide
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variety of characters all over the moral/pragmatic spectrum, and many of them act as the protagonist for a while without the author clearly endorsing or condemning their choices. Show Less
LibraryThing member rocalisa
I find myself in two minds about this book. It's good, very good in fact. The prose is easy to read, the science doesn't bog the reader down too much and Hamilton's created worlds and alien species are well done. But it is very long. I've just read 1000+ pages, something I find to be pretty hard
All the same, I really liked it. After I write this I'm heading to the library website to order the sequel. I want to know what happens and how everything turns out. I like the future Hamilton has created and the civilisation and I want to see it survive and move forward again. I like the characters, even the ones I don't like, and I want to know how things turn out for them.
Hamilton has created a world that feels solid to me. I didn't study it in detail to figure out how possible or realistic it was, but at the causal reading level I was doing, it all seemed to hold together. I liked a lot of his ideas and the way he's used them. The idea of the main transport system in the entire Commonwealth being trains really appealed to me. It makes sense too. If everything is connected by wormholes, having everything set up around station yards and train tracks works nicely. I do get the feeling that air transport may make more of a comeback however, as the attack on the Commonwealth continues and more spaceships are built. The whole concept of rejuvenation and stored memories is clever, as is the way the concept of death has changed due to secure stored memories and re-life procedures. When a character who did not have those secured memories was killed at the end of the book, I suddenly found myself as shocked as the characters in the pages that he was now permanently and finally dead.
The aliens from the Dyson Sphere were suitably strange and very disturbing. I'm hoping the Commonwealth soon figures out that there will be no negotiation and get themselves organised with regard to their own protection. The other aliens are all interesting, and while I can't comment on the potential accuracy of them or the various other planets visited, nothing was so glaring it tossed me out of the story.
I did have some pacing issues, but I'm not sure if that was actually bad pacing, or if it was just that it was such a long book. We went so far back in some of the set-up that at first many things seemed to have absolutely no connection to anything else. Some are still that way, although I can see more congregations happening in the sequel. Probably the one that seemed to have the most convoluted set up was all the details of the forty year old murder, that was all there to set up Mellanie and her connection to the SI. Once it started coming together, I was okay with it, and it was rather clever that an apparently unimportant side character in the saga was actually the one we would continue following through the book.
So I guess I can see why Hamilton did it as he did, and overall he did it well, but I still have a slight sense of being cheated in that I read so much, only to be left ready to read another book rather than being finished with this one. At least I enjoyed the ride.
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work these days, and the story has really only just begun, with everything poised for the next 1000+ pages that is the sequel, Judas Unchained. I guess I feel a little cheated, that I did all that work and it all proved to be set up for the next book. All the same, I really liked it. After I write this I'm heading to the library website to order the sequel. I want to know what happens and how everything turns out. I like the future Hamilton has created and the civilisation and I want to see it survive and move forward again. I like the characters, even the ones I don't like, and I want to know how things turn out for them.
Hamilton has created a world that feels solid to me. I didn't study it in detail to figure out how possible or realistic it was, but at the causal reading level I was doing, it all seemed to hold together. I liked a lot of his ideas and the way he's used them. The idea of the main transport system in the entire Commonwealth being trains really appealed to me. It makes sense too. If everything is connected by wormholes, having everything set up around station yards and train tracks works nicely. I do get the feeling that air transport may make more of a comeback however, as the attack on the Commonwealth continues and more spaceships are built. The whole concept of rejuvenation and stored memories is clever, as is the way the concept of death has changed due to secure stored memories and re-life procedures. When a character who did not have those secured memories was killed at the end of the book, I suddenly found myself as shocked as the characters in the pages that he was now permanently and finally dead.
The aliens from the Dyson Sphere were suitably strange and very disturbing. I'm hoping the Commonwealth soon figures out that there will be no negotiation and get themselves organised with regard to their own protection. The other aliens are all interesting, and while I can't comment on the potential accuracy of them or the various other planets visited, nothing was so glaring it tossed me out of the story.
I did have some pacing issues, but I'm not sure if that was actually bad pacing, or if it was just that it was such a long book. We went so far back in some of the set-up that at first many things seemed to have absolutely no connection to anything else. Some are still that way, although I can see more congregations happening in the sequel. Probably the one that seemed to have the most convoluted set up was all the details of the forty year old murder, that was all there to set up Mellanie and her connection to the SI. Once it started coming together, I was okay with it, and it was rather clever that an apparently unimportant side character in the saga was actually the one we would continue following through the book.
So I guess I can see why Hamilton did it as he did, and overall he did it well, but I still have a slight sense of being cheated in that I read so much, only to be left ready to read another book rather than being finished with this one. At least I enjoyed the ride.
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LibraryThing member clif_hiker
This book is billed as a classic must read space opera, and it doesn't fail to deliver. ~1000 pages of excruciating detail about 'The Commonwealth', the human space empire based solely on travel via wormhole. Clever weaving of multiple storylines leads to one of the most chilling scenes I've ever
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read in science fiction... along about page 750 or so. A very satisfying cliffhanger ending has me looking for the sequel (another ~1000 pager). Only for the serious fan of science fiction and space empire lovers. Well worth the time to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member lanes_3
A long, epic space opera. This story at times drags on, and at times flies by. There are numerous story lines, and as an audible version can be hard to pick up who each or the characters are and their relationships. Most of it ties together nicely at the end, though it does finish strange for a
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couple of the main characters. I believe there is a sequel which may explain the abrupt ending. All in all, not a bad book. Show Less
LibraryThing member otabari
It was a little boring to read at first; my guess, based on how this book ended, the author wanted to give as much detail about the story and characters as he could, which actually was great. I love all the detail that went into telling the story of the commonwealth, and the subsequent events that
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befall it. Can't wait to start the second book, Judas Unchained, later today. Show Less
LibraryThing member KAzevedo
Yes, it's long, yes, it's like eating a favorite candy (you're full and somewhat sick, but you can't stop), yes, it's sometimes silly, but wow is it fun! The book has interesting, if sometimes unbelieveable science, entertaining, if sometimes unbelieveable people, high adventure, politics, and many
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storylines that do, in the course of both books, come together in totally satisfying ways. I particularly enjoyed (and was spooked by) the detailed development of the alien culture, the Prime, that threatens the Commonwealth. They are not evil and do not set out to destroy humanity specifically, but are obeying the dictates of their evolution which impels them to expand. They do not think or reason as humans do and cannot be negotiated with. How do you fight such an enemy? I will not remember "Pandora's Star" and it's sequel, "Judas Unchained", as great SF literature, but will greatly enjoy thinking about them and how much fun they were to read. Show Less
LibraryThing member att
I frankly enjoyed the book immensely. I haven't read the sequel yet, but the first book really makes good reading to search for the second one. The book goes from dedective story to articial intelligence, to aliens like elves and hippies to hive live existence of a biomachine society that threatens
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the humanity. There are moments of high unbeleivable scenes, but then this is a space opera, where things travel that way :) Show Less
LibraryThing member redwoodtwig
Very interesting picture of the future that I think is very likely to come about in many ways. I almost wish I were there already. Also an engrossing mystery that surprises you when it turns out to be volume 1 of a two parter. My library didn't have the second part and I had to go find it in
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another library. Show Less
LibraryThing member closedmouth
(Reviewed April 27, 2009)
I can feel Hamilton getting a grip on this whole writing caper. Lots of intrigue here, better characters (although they're still irritating, just less so), a very complex and surprisingly subtle plot. The sex is still creepy, but thankfully the action is just as exciting,
I can feel Hamilton getting a grip on this whole writing caper. Lots of intrigue here, better characters (although they're still irritating, just less so), a very complex and surprisingly subtle plot. The sex is still creepy, but thankfully the action is just as exciting,
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so there is a balance. Let's hope he doesn't throw it all away again. Show Less
LibraryThing member daniel.links
An impulse buy, and a highly entertaining one. An excellent fictional universe, a great alien society, and a plot that certainly has you wanting to turn the page (even if it doesn't have too many shocks).
There was some discrepencies of the "but would you really do that?" kind, and some very rather
Worth a look, but be warned, you'll want to read the sequel to see what happened, whether you like this novel or not.
There was some discrepencies of the "but would you really do that?" kind, and some very rather
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1970s science fiction moments (walking the "paths" veered a bit too much into fantasy for my tastes) but perhaps these actually add something to the books uniqueness... I'm not really sure. Some more proactive female characters might have impressed me more; some in particular seemed very stereotyped.Worth a look, but be warned, you'll want to read the sequel to see what happened, whether you like this novel or not.
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LibraryThing member MartvdW
Peter F. Hamilton was in rare form when he wrote this; it is almost as tightly written as his Greg Mandel work, only the sheer size of the setting and the amount of characters are responsible for the size of this book.
It doesn't get the the fifth star because of a few Tolkien-like sidetrips in
What we get is a classic bit of Space Opera. Humanity has colonised multiple worlds and linked them with a network of trains; memory storage techniques have developed so that the contents of a brain can be saved and restored to a clone body, or memories can be edited and stored at will.
In this world, an astronomer sees a star disappear literally in the blink of an eye. For the first time, an interstellar spaceship is built to go and investigate.
The series features political intrigue, multiple mysteries pursued by a Javert-like (but sympathetic) detective, a quest for knowledge among the Elves (yes, it is better than that sounds) and plenty of action, both simple fights and war scenes.
It's entertainment, not High Art, but it's very well written entertainment. Recommended.
It doesn't get the the fifth star because of a few Tolkien-like sidetrips in
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describing the characters' immediate environment, and Hamilton's ever-present weak spot: his inability to hide the major plot twist. About a third in, an astute reader can already surmise who the Big Bad is going to be.What we get is a classic bit of Space Opera. Humanity has colonised multiple worlds and linked them with a network of trains; memory storage techniques have developed so that the contents of a brain can be saved and restored to a clone body, or memories can be edited and stored at will.
In this world, an astronomer sees a star disappear literally in the blink of an eye. For the first time, an interstellar spaceship is built to go and investigate.
The series features political intrigue, multiple mysteries pursued by a Javert-like (but sympathetic) detective, a quest for knowledge among the Elves (yes, it is better than that sounds) and plenty of action, both simple fights and war scenes.
It's entertainment, not High Art, but it's very well written entertainment. Recommended.
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LibraryThing member Radaghast
Pandora's Star is one of the best books I've read in a while. It's a long book, but the plot is paced so beautifully you never notice. The characters are balanced against a back drop that spans worlds, cultures and alien intelligence. Hamilton rarely misses a step. The worlds are believable, yet
The deeper issues are missing a little here. This isn't a simple adventure novel, but the themes are not as deep as you'll find in a book like Hyperion. On the other hand, because of this, Hamilton avoids some of the missteps of Simmons in balancing his interweaving tales. It's tough to say which approach is better. But it really doesn't matter, because I can't imagine a science fiction fan who wouldn't enjoy this novel.
Also, while characterization is sacrificed for story to some extent in this novel, I have to say the character of Ozzie is one of the most realistic and likable heroes of any novel.
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unique. The aliens are really alien and not just facsimiles of humans. And the story is as great as anything I've read. The sub-genre of space opera was written just for Hamilton to write this novel, or so it seems.The deeper issues are missing a little here. This isn't a simple adventure novel, but the themes are not as deep as you'll find in a book like Hyperion. On the other hand, because of this, Hamilton avoids some of the missteps of Simmons in balancing his interweaving tales. It's tough to say which approach is better. But it really doesn't matter, because I can't imagine a science fiction fan who wouldn't enjoy this novel.
Also, while characterization is sacrificed for story to some extent in this novel, I have to say the character of Ozzie is one of the most realistic and likable heroes of any novel.
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LibraryThing member wifilibrarian
Overly long, but otherwise good book. Cover was misleading, not a shoot-em up book, more political intrigue, space-mystery, and suspense. Setting up well for the sequel Judas Unchained.
LibraryThing member buehler
Fantastic book! Hamilton's story describes a very believable future, where humanity is reaching out for the stars to build a vast galactic empire. The technologies of this future are realistic, the characters have depth, the overall storyline is captivating. Hamilton's strength in creating a very
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realistic environment ('world building') is clearly visible. Definitely a must-read book, and of course there is the sequel, 'Judas Unchained', which is already waiting for me in my bookshelf. Show Less
LibraryThing member SR510
I suppose the good news is that this is a long book, so there's plenty to read. Unfortunately, the quality isn't nearly up to the quantity. The writing is adequate at best, there's a faint layer of authorial condescension hanging over all the characters, and the cosmology and technology never quite
I was just interested enough to make it through this volume's 988 pages, but I really don't think I need to bother with the conclusion in the second book.
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add up.I was just interested enough to make it through this volume's 988 pages, but I really don't think I need to bother with the conclusion in the second book.
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Publication
Del Rey (2004), Edition: 1st, 768 pages
Original language
English
Original publication date
2004
Physical description
768 p.; 9.54 inches
ISBN
0345461622 / 9780345461629
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