The unchallenged master of contemporary Science Fiction.

books:

	• Pandora's Star Peter F. Hamilton Del Rey, 2005 - 992 pages average customer review:based on 159 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Really good with occasionally annoying grammar

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!

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The unchallenged master of contemporary Science Fiction.

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.

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Great action book

I loved this book. Multiple storylines often make me sick, but I think Hamilton did it right. I can't remember how many storylines he ended up opening in this book, but they all work. I didn't have the quibbles with grammar that others did, so I don't detract for that. My only problem is with the two year gap between this volume and the next one. That's an awfully long time, and my memory isn't that good. It's a complaint, but I don't think it's a downgrade for this volume.

Great Read

I previously read the Night's Dawn Trilogy, and was disappointed by the ending. But this book I absolutely loved! I have already ordered the sequel from Amazon UK (it came out in the UK yesterday) because I could not wait until February 2006.

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Enjoyable Space Adventure

Hundreds of years in the future, fusion power and wormhole technology has enabled mankind to colonize hundreds of worlds in the galaxy. Rejuvenation therapy, cloning and memory copying allow anyone with enough money to live indefinitely. Life's pretty idyllic for citizens; there's plenty of space to live in, mankind has met no hostile aliens and the Commonwealth government is fairly benign. Naturally, this utopia is threatened by forces within and without.

The first hundred-odd pages set the stage and are a bit tedious. There's plenty of characters and each one gets a certain number of pages. Unfortunately, their stories are told with the same style so it's hard to be really interested in them. Once the Commonwealth decides to explore a stellar anomaly, the characters become better defined, the plot picks up pace and the story races to multiple cliffhangers.

Hamilton's great at writing action and creating detailed universes, but his writing can be boring elsewhere. For instance, it was a chore to read the horse-trading between senators for the presidency in the Commonwealth and his characters seem to only experience intimacy by having sex (and plenty of it). Minor niggles aside, this is a very enjoyable space adventure and I look forward to the sequel.

Kam-Hung Soh, 20 November 2005.

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reviews: 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, page 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20

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