2004; 986 pages. New Author? : No, but it’s been a while. Book One (out
of two) of the (completed) Commonwealth
Saga series. Genre : Hard
Science Fiction; Space Opera; Epic Science Fiction; First Contact. Overall Rating : 8½*/10.
It
happened in a flash. Well okay, make
that an “unflash”. Astronomer Dudley
Bose was watching a star through his telescope when it just “winked out”. Gone.
Instantly. Right in front of his
eyes. And he checked, it wasn't a
matter of equipment failure.
The bad
news is, he didn’t have his instruments set to record the event when it
occurred. The good news is, he’s living
in an age where wormholes are available, so a quick trip to another star system
allows Dudley to observe the event a second time (you gotta love faster-than-light [aka
“FTL”] travel), and confirm the event.
But the missing star, dubbed “Dyson Alpha”, is far away – clear at the
other end of the galaxy, and far beyond where wormholes can reach. So until someone in a starship can get there, it’s a matter
of conjecture as to what happened. Dyson
Alpha didn’t go supernova, so it seems unlikely that it just “blew up”. It’s more probable that something, or
someone, simply turned off a switch, or threw a cloak over the it. Yet the magnitude of such an explanation
defies logic. How do you build something
big enough to envelop a complete solar system?
But Dyson Alpha is part of a binary star system. And when its sister star, Dyson Beta,
similarly winks out a short time later, that “cloaking” theory becomes a lot
more likely.
Hmm. Anyone that can do that sort
of thing is more technologically advanced than we are, making them a formidable
foe if they have aggressive intentions.
It might be prudent to get an FTL starship heading that way as quickly
as possible, no matter what cost.
What’s To Like...
At
almost a thousand pages in length, Pandora’s Star
is truly an Epic Science-Fiction tale. Other
sci-fi writers do world-building; Peter F. Hamilton does galaxy-building,
featuring detailed descriptions of a bunch of planets and star systems. The book also falls into the Hard Science
Fiction category, where wormholes, FTL travel, Dyson structures, maidbots-&-e-butlers,
cloning, and starships all exist.
There
are multiple plotlines to follow. I
counted at least seven of them:
1.)
The disappearance of the Dyson Pair.
2.)
Paula Myo chasing Adam Elvin.
3.) Paula investigating a double murder.
4.) The Guardians of Selfhood and the Starflyer.
5.) Ozzie and Orion’s travels.
6.)
Kazimir and Justine’s relationship.
7.) Mark Vernon doing who-knows-what.
Some of these threads cross paths along the way, but only peripherally. The jumping from one storyline to another keeps the
reader on his toes, yet somehow it never gets confusing.
This is also a “First Contact” saga, and it is enlightening to see how
an alien species, in most ways more advanced than we humans, treats us when the
two cultures meet. It was also fun to
see Peter F. Hamilton exploring the concept a cult’s “Doomsday” mentality. We always assume cultists are a bunch of crackpots. How would it be if their bizarre belief(s) turned out to be valid?
For me, the most fascinating aspect of the book’s 24th-century technology was “rejuvenation”. People no longer
die. Their save their entire memories (or an edited
version of it, if they so desire), and every so often get a new body
via a process called “relife” (with whatever genetic modifications one can afford). Voila!
You’re young again! You never
died; you just have a memory gap of a few years! The effect this has on things like birthrates, murder rates, capital
punishment, marriages, etc. is culture-shattering.
The
details that are woven into the story are both amazing and amusing. I chuckled at the “Niven Ring” (a nod to a
fellow sci-fi writer), as well as a ship christened the Marie Celeste. Justine’s “hypergliding” experience was thrillingly portrayed. Ozzie’s conversation
with the Silfen was hilarious; and I liked the all-purpose cuss-phrase, “Jesus Wept”.
Kewlest New Word...
Manky (adj.)
: worthless; rotten; in bad taste; dirty; filthy. (a Britishism)
Others: Doughty
(adj.); Rucked
(v.).
Excerpts...
“Couldn’t you
just give the drive array some verbal instructions?” Dudley asked.
“Now what would
be the point in that? My way I have
control over technology. Machinery does
as I command. That’s how it should
be. Anything else is
mechanthropomorphism. You don’t treat a
lump of moving metal as an equal and ask it pretty please to do what you’d
like. Who’s in charge here, us or them?”
“I see.” Dudley smiled, actually warming to the
man. “Is mechanthropomorphism a real
word?”
LionWalker
shrugged. It ought to be, the whole
bloody Commonwealth practices it like some sort of religion.” (pg. 25)
“May I ask with
whom I speak,” Ozzie asked.
“I am the flower
that walks beneath the nine sky moons, the fissure of light that pierces the
darkest glade at midnight, the spring that bubbles forth from the oasis; from
all this I came.”
“Okeydokey.” He took a moment to compose a sentence. “I think I’ll just call you Nine Sky, if you
don’t mind.”
“Evermore you
hurry thus, unknowing of that which binds all into the joy which is tomorrow’s
golden dawn.”
“Well,” Ozzie
muttered to himself in English, “it was never going to be easy.” (pg. 250)
“Life’s a bitch, then you rejuvenate and do it all over again.” (pg. 547)
I
don’t have any quibbles with Pandora’s Star,
but readers new to Peter F. Hamilton should know a couple things.
First, this is not a standalone novel.
None of the plotlines get resolved in the book, nor do they even converge much on each other. The book ends with every thread at a
cliffhanger point. So when you sit down
to read this thousand-page opus, you are also committing to read the sequel, Judas Unchained, which is of similar length.
Second,
the descriptions of the settings are plentiful and meticulously detailed. Almost every chapter starts with one, and
most are several paragraphs, or even pages, in length.
If you’re not into that, the reading can get tedious. Also, a plethora of storylines means a poopload
of characters, and not all of the significant ones might seem that way when
introduced. (eg.: Carys Panther). Make bookmarks, or take notes.
Finally, keep in mind that Peter F. Hamilton has written several epic series, and they’re all structured like this one. I read his “Night’s
Dawn” trilogy back in 2011, and the same caveats apply.
8½ Stars. Bottom line: If 1000+ page books don’t faze
you, and if you like being scared to pieces by the prospect of an alien species
obliterating and enslaving us, you may find (as I did) that Peter F.
Hamilton is one heckuva science-fiction writer and storyteller.
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