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Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga)
 
 
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Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga) [Kindle Edition]

Peter F. Hamilton (Author)
4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews) |
Digital List Price: £8.05 What's this?
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Review

" The depth and clarity of the future Hamilton envisions is as complex and involving as they come."
-- "Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
" The author's expansive vision of the future combines action and intrigue on a panoramic scale."
"-- Library Journal
"" Astounding . . . Thrilling . . . Hamilton uses technology to excellent effect."
"-- Science Fiction Age
"" Shows how thought-provoking yet entertaining science fiction can be. Some of the best fiction . . . in years."
"-- Midwest Book Review
"" [Hamilton is] taking on one of sf's (and maybe all of literature' s) primal jobs: the creation of a world with the scale and complexity of the real one."
-- "Locus
"" [Hamilton is] a rare talent."
"-- The Denver Post
"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Product Description

In AD 2329, humanity has colonised over four hundred planets, all of them interlinked by wormholes. With Earth at its centre, the Intersolar Commonwealth now occupies a sphere of space approximately four hundred light years across.When an astronomer on the outermost world of Gralmond, observes a star 2000 light years distant - and then a neighbouring one - vanish, it is time for the Commonwealth to discover what happened to them. For what if their disappearance indicates some kind of galactic conflict? Since a conventional wormhole cannot be used to reach these vanished stars, for the first time humans need to build a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance. But it arrives to find each 'vanished' star encased in a giant force field -- and within one of them resides a massive alien civilisation.
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Product details

  • Format: Kindle Edition
  • File Size: 1717 KB
  • Print Length: 994 pages
  • Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0345479211
  • Publisher: Tor; 4 edition (21 Aug 2009)
  • Sold by: Amazon Media EU S.à r.l.
  • Language English
  • ASIN: B003GGSTNU
  • Text-to-Speech: Enabled
  • Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (122 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #5,569 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

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Peter F. Hamilton
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
63 of 65 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Odd that Amazon considers it not yet published, as I just finished reading it this weekend after Amazon shipped a copy to me. Once again, Peter Hamilton has painted a broad canvas for his latest series of novels. Set in a relatively near future, but one in which wormhole travel to far stars is an everyday occurrence, where the elves are recognized as an off-world species who walk their own paths between the worlds, and a shadowy terrorist group, inspired by fears of a mysterious alien invader that no-one else believes to exist, Hamilton once again weaves dozens of individual stories into a seamless whole.

The "Pandora's Star" of the title refers to a mysterious cosmic event hundreds of light years away, beyond the reach of the wormhole technology, where two solar systems are suddenly enclosed instantly by a pair of massive force fields. This drives the major action in the book, with its usual massive space battles, detailed descriptions of alien species, complex politics and the tragedy and small triumphs of individual lives.

Hamilton has developed a star-spanning empire with new species, including his usual AI constructs and human memory archives, however this world is very different from the universe of the Neutronium Alchemist. There are the usual cliff-hangers at the end of this satisfying read, which make me certain to buy the sequel when it is released (hopefully this year!)

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12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In my younger days I was an avid sci-fi fan devouring everything that I could get my hands on. Twenty years on I decided to re-visit the genre and after many disappointments happened on Pandora's Star. Don't be put off by the size of this book - I found myself so enthralled that as I neared the end I was getting quite depressed at the thought of finishing but still couldn't put it down. A superb story, fantastic plot-lines, wonderous worlds and amazing technology. The action involves dozens of characters across the galaxy I never once lost the thread of any of the sub-plots so well is the story constructed. Of all the good things I could say the best is.....there is a sequel!
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41 of 44 people found the following review helpful
By A. Whitehead TOP 500 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
What do you do when you have written the last truly great space opera of the 20th Century? If you are Peter F. Hamilton, the answer seems to be to try and write the first great space opera of the 21st. He may have been pipped to the post by Alastair Reynolds' Inhibitor series in that regard, but The Commonwealth Saga, starting with Pandora's Star to be concluded in Judas Unchained, is an extremely impressive piece of work. In his Night's Dawn Trilogy Hamilton populated his universe with starships swallowing the void in artificial wormholes. In Pandora's Star wormholes directly link planets together, meaning visiting another world is as simple as getting on a train. There are no starships and the Intersolar Commonwealth is a peaceful, stable society. When two stars 1200 light-years away disappear, the Commonwealth builds the first faster-than-light ship to investigate. As the title suggests, this isn't a great idea and soon the Commonwealth is under threat of annihilation. Like Night's Dawn, this new series is complex, richly populated with interesting characters and with an effortless style which pulls you in and makes you care about what's happening, a skill most hard SF authors lack (hello Gregory Benford!). The ending is shocking, the humour is impressive (especially the prologue which must rank as one of the best SF novel openings ever) and the 18-month wait for book two will be interminable. Extremely impressive.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
A truly epic Sci-Fi saga - recommended!
Hamilton's universe is well constructed and believable.

This book introduces us to the Primes, one of the most well conceived and utterly alien alien species I've... Read more
Published 25 days ago by HoverDonkey
AWESOME
In my opinion this is better than the Nights Dawn - which has excellent writing but is let down with a deus ex machina ending. Read more
Published 1 month ago by CallumP
Fantastic!
I read this book after first reading the Void trilogy, and I wasn't disappointed at all. Written in typical Hamilton style with a huge plot and a swathe of characters, it is set in... Read more
Published 2 months ago by talyesin
Epic
I could not put this book down. Hamilton has a talent for thrilling plot lines and vivid description. Read more
Published 5 months ago by simoore
Please define 'Good condition'
I purchesed this hardcover edition to replace my paperback one that was falling to pieces - combination of multiple reads and poor manual handling! Read more
Published 7 months ago by Don't forget Sci-fi Kindle!
Nothing happens
I must admit to not being a scifi fan, so maybe thats why I failed to enjoy this.

The more I read the more I knew the end would be a massive disappointment. Read more
Published 8 months ago by S. P. Boronski
Forget the Sci-Fi element it's a cracking mystery thriller
Even if you don't like Sci-Fi you should read this book and its sequels. I'm not a fan of most Sci-Fi but where Peter F Hamilton succeeds is in connecting his future world with our... Read more
Published 10 months ago by davebp38
Worth opening
The talent that started with Mindstar Rising has grown and grown - to stellar proportions.
Hamilton is, and has been comfortable writing huge sprawling epics for a while... Read more
Published 10 months ago by D. J. Ketchin
Epic story which pulls you in, despite a few quiet moments
When I chose to read Pandora's Star its because I was looking for what I deemed a "hard science fiction" story. It didnt disappoint. Read more
Published 11 months ago by James Fenn
A great book
I must admit that when you pick up this book just the sheer size of it puts you off reading the thing. Read more
Published 13 months ago by Mr. T. M. Oliver
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humans are most adept at innovating when placed under pressure or threat, the High Angel said. But there is a difference between building new weapons and the fundamental theories upon which such technical advances are based. Genuine scientific progress is a slow climb, which requires a stable society to support thinkers and theorists over many generations. &quote;
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