From the author of the magnificent 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a provocative look at the days not too long after tomorrow It is forty years into the future and, following decades of research and trillions of Euros spent on genetics, Europe is finally in a position to rejuvenate a human being. As the first subject for treatment, is chosen Jeff Baker - the father of the datasphere (which replaced the internet) and philanthropist extraordinaire. After eighteen months in a German medical facility, the seventy-eight-year-old patient returns home looking like a healthy twenty-year-old. MISSPENT YOUTH follows the effect his reappearance has on his family and friends -- his young ex-model wife Sue, his teenage son Tim, and also on his long-term pals who are now themselves all pensioners, and starting to resent what Jeff has become. Bestselling author Peter F. Hamilton has brought his unique story-telling skills to bear on an aspect of future living that is bound to increasingly fascinate.
Misspent Youth
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Peter Hamilton is famed for SF blockbusters of far-future interstellar adventure. By contrast Misspent Youth is a social comedy set in the year 2040 in England. When gene therapy rewinds Jeff Baker's age back to his early 20s he finds that wisdom and experience are no match for hormones...
The rejuvenation treatment, developed by federal Europe to impress laggard America, is so complex and expensive that only one person every 18 months can receive it. Jeff is the first because he's a celebrity inventor, father of the "datasphere" which superseded the Internet.
Family upheavals follow. An "arrangement" with his much younger, still beautiful wife Sue lets her enjoy lovers while the aged Jeff turns a blind eye: now things are different. Meanwhile their 18-year-old son Tim is struggling ineptly with teenage sexual pangs and the impossibility of understanding girls. All part of growing up, but Jeff's renewed youth brings farcical complications.
It's not just that Jeff now fancies Sue again. He can't resist even younger women. An early one-night stand is publicised all over the datasphere. Embarrassment escalates when he's seduced by the granddaughter of a long-time pub companion. Worse, several of Tim's ravishing female schoolmates are interested in Jeff the celebrity stud. The dishiest of all is Tim's latest, most hopelessly adoring girlfriend.
Can it be coincidence that the action mostly happens in Rutland?
This comedy of embarrassments and revelations has a darker background: Europe is plagued by separatist movements whose terrorist habits make the old IRA look like pussycats. The turning point in Jeff's tangled relationships comes when he attends a London conference surrounded by protest that breeds riot--with Tim among the protesters.
A foreshadowed twist leads to a finale that mixes cynicism with sentiment. En route Misspent Youth is a lot of fun. --David Langford
Review
From the talented Hamilton, a provocative look at the days not too long after tomorrow. It is 40 years into the future and, following decades of research on genetics, Europe is finally in a position to rejuvenate a human being. The first subject for treatment is chosen: Jeff Baker, the father of the datasphere (which replaced the Internet) and philanthropist extraordinaire. After 18 months in a German medical facility, the 78-year-old patient returns home looking like a healthy 20-year-old. Misspent Youth follows the effect his reappearance has on his family and also on his long-term pals who are now all pensioners, and starting to resent what Jeff has become. Standing quite apart from his previous novels, a very welcome new SF outing by a British leader of the field.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Classifying this book as science fiction would seem to be against the Trade Descriptions act. It would seem to belong in a genre that has more to do with xenophobic old men's sexual fantasies. I had read and enjoyed all of Peter Hamilton's books up to this one. His usual story telling style was absent. No captivating threading of the story and no substance to the story by the way of clever science fiction props and setting. Right up to the end I kept hoping the story would get going but it just didn't. Very disappointing but I'll allow him this one based on past performance.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
By P. Millar
Format:Paperback
Having reviewed and highly praised Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy for The Times (those are my quotes about 'interstellar overdrive' and 'recapturing the high ground for British scifi), I picked this up expecting more of the same. Instead, this is a simplistic plot with a predictable denouement and some trite generalisations about humanity, all as a thin disguise for a rant about Britain and the EU, and Hamilton's dearly-beloved Rutland. In short, it's not science fiction at all; in fact, it's barely fiction, and certainly not readable, unless you want a political pamphlet with a shabby story line. Disappointing. He might be better advised to give up writing and start a fringe political party.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By MR M L JONES
Format:Hardcover
Rarely have I been so let down by the new works of one of my favourite authors. This book fails on many levels: The characters are unbelievable and shallow. Our Hero, like previous Hamilton heros, is highly charged but lacks any of the humanity which the previous characters fell back on. The plot is thin, without any surprises or turns and it all leads to a dissapointing fanale.
Hamilton has been a fantastic SF writer - previoulsy his books have felt more like rock videos than films. But take away the excitement, guns and spaceships and youve just got the rich people having sex, which reads more like Jilly Cooper. I dunno, perhaps hes intentionally switching audiences - I certainly will be casting a more cynical eye over his next work before it reaches the checkout.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not to his usual standard
Apart from the fact that I had already read this book under a different cover, I was dissapointed that it was about one persons journey through life (again) in a younger body and... Read more
Published 17 days ago by brad
5.0 out of 5 stars
Social Science fiction!
I didn't manage to lay this book down! It presentet event of to day's Europe and science, and took it into 2040. I will not tell of what it contained of plot's. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Arne Leonhardsen
1.0 out of 5 stars
I could not finish it. I did try. Really.
If this were a film it should have been consigned to the cutting room floor. To call this book SF contravenes the trades description act! Read more
Published 2 months ago by David Blake
4.0 out of 5 stars
This was first published in 2006 but roar those who have never read...
This was one of the first Peter Hamilton books I read and did enjoy. For fans of this author, this book will have been read by you all in past when first published
Published 2 months ago by James McVean
3.0 out of 5 stars
Misspent Youth
I enjoyed Misspent Youth. Having read the Nights Dawn books, Commonwealth Saga and Void trilogy I think it should be pointed out that this is not standard Hamilton. Read more
Published 2 months ago by GPickup
5.0 out of 5 stars
Good fun!
Having just started on Peter F Hamilton's books with the superb epic Great North Road, I picked this book up after reading so many outraged remarks about it! Read more
Published 4 months ago by DomTH
4.0 out of 5 stars
Why all the hate?
I'm baffled at the hate being directed at this novel.
It's loads different to the rest of the things Hamilton has written but that is by no means a bad thing. Read more
It's loads different to the rest of the things Hamilton has written but that is by no means a bad thing. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Dr. Dinosaur
1.0 out of 5 stars
Unrecognisable
The author of this book is unrecognisable as the Peter Hamilton who wrote the Night's Dawn Trilogy and so many other truly original and inventive books. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Typograf
4.0 out of 5 stars
Thought-provoking vision of the near future
As I've often stated I'm not that well-read on the SF side of speculative fiction. Not having a hard science bone in my body, made me think I wouldn't understand the science in... Read more
Published 24 months ago by W.M.M. van der Salm-Pallada
1.0 out of 5 stars
By far his worst
A horrible book. The characters are all so loathsome that it is impossible to empathize with any of them. I couldn't actually finish reading it all. Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2011 by OxfordDon
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