The Neutronium Alchemist (Night's Dawn Trilogy) [Paperback]

I found this instalment somewhat overlong. The whole story could have worked well at half the length. Though I suppose Hamilton wanted to keep the bulk of the novel in keeping with the blockbuster idea he started with TRD. The was no need for this to be so fat a novel and although well written it went on and on and…

The ideas behind TNA are sound and the science bits are intriguing to say the least. The characters run around and do their thing with zest and inventiveness that keeps the novel afloat, but why so long?
A good bit of editing is needed here…

Peter Hamilton is a consummate writer. His skill lies in his ability to develop and maintain all his characters throughout a constantly twisting and ever more convoluted plot. Having said that, he does not succumb to the temptation of sacrificing the plot to further his characters development, thereby allowing the story to run its course without too many miracles or last minute rescues. On a number of occassions I found myself putting the book down because I did not want to find out what was going to happen - but not for long, I always had to return to the story.

He has also, in my opinion, created a very believable universal order. He has produced societies and technologies that are conceivably the product of our current society. The split between Adamists and Edenists echoes the sentiments of our current growing dilemma with genetics. He also bows to the inevitability of the super-corporation and the probable reality that, ultimately, money will motivate our colonization of the stars. He has kept away from the utopias or lawless free-for-alls of other galaxy-colonizing authors and has written about a culture that has left Earth from a variety of motivations and using different technologies. This diversity makes his universe that much more believable as it mirrors our own historic development.

He also steers clear of blinding the reader with too much futuristic mumbo-jumbo science. Where an explanation is clearly required the description is short and simple, using the minimum of jargon and leaving the reader with a belief that his inventions could be real. This is a useful skill for any science fiction author to develop as it leaves the reader with a sense of superiority accompanied by the thought that, "hey, I understand what he's talking about!".

It is difficult to talk about specifics without giving too much of the plot away, but we get to follow the continuing stories of those who survived The Reality Dysfunction, along with the introduction of some intriguing new characters and some really nasty surprises.

If you devoured the first book, you will have no trouble with the second. My only plea is that Peter Hamilton and his publishers don't leave us in suspense for too long and produce Book 3 as soon as possible.