Pandora's Star, Peter F. Hamilton: November Scifi Discussion

[Hellsheep]

Well, one really might call the wormhole-generator a wish fulfilment device, but please don't forget that immeadiate communication between star systems is absolutely required, if you want one civilisation. If there wasn't such a thing as a wormhole, you would have two choises: either you make up some ultra-something radiation which travels a lot faster than light (really fast, like a milion times c) or you end up with a diffenrent and independent human civilisation in every starsystem. Would be like the middleages, no European had a clue about what was going on in Japan and could not find it out without spending half his lifetime.

[polymath]

I thought this one was ho-very-much-hum compared to Night's Dawn Trilogy, which I thought had some stand-out moments. I mean, the whole hippy star-wandering giga-billionaire Ozzy thing with his rag-tag companions - nah. It's OK, it's worth a read but on the whole, nah. Night's Dawn was much more space-opera cool.

[JohnMay]

I loved the Book.

The Aliens were great. I like the sub-plot of the The Guardians of Selfhood, and the Alien they are fighting against, which as the book progresses seems a more real threat all the time.

I love the Alien who bombed and nuked his own planet as well, I liked the background stories about him.

And as with all Hamiltons book his characters are great, I have the second book at home, but think I will have to read first one again and read them back to back, I guess we find out who the traitor is the second one... I havnt a clue right now.

All in all a class read as we always expect from the Hamilton, but I agree with polymath, Nights Dawn was a hard set of books to beat... Awesome set of books.

John May.

[purple_kathryn]

This was the first Peter Hamilton book I have read (got it cheap ). At first I found it quite difficult to get into and just as I was really getting into it, I find out it's part one! Ohhhhh!

I'll have to check out Nights Dawn

[star.torturer]

same here

read the second one

brilliant

I like the sub-plot of the The Guardians of Selfhood, and the Alien they are fighting against, which as the book progresses seems a more real threat all the time.

sub plot!!!

have read nightsdawn between them, great aswell

[jackokent]

Have just finished this book and am starting the next one.

Whilst I got all the way though the thousand or so pages without actually encountering one character I particularly liked, I was surprised to find I liked the book.... I think.

I am not sure I share Chris and others objections about the technical imposibility of wormhole generators (but then I could write what I know about physics on the back of a postage stamp twice). Possibly if Hamilton was displaying a similar lack of crediblity about a field in which I knew something (can't think what) I would be equally annoyed.

By the end of the next book Judas Unchained I am sure I will know if I liked them both. But does anyone know if he's finished the 3rd one. I am assuming there's a third, I am sure I read the word trillogy somewhere.

[Steffi]

No this series is only the 2.

When it comes to technology I'm an ignoramous but surely like fantasy, you have to stretch the brain and just enjoy the fact that someone...somewhere had invented a forcefield that can wrap around a whole star system...cool.

[jackokent]

Well after finishing the second one, I think it was brilliant. I tend to veer towards fanatasy more than Sifi just becuase I am not technical and description of technology leave me cold. This however was totally absorbing for all the many thousands of pages. A real achievment.

[Gav]

[quote=dwndrgn;146834]Peter F. Hamilton's Pandora's Star

1) Anything you particularly liked about it?

I quite liked the ideas. I liked the Primes.

2) Anything you disliked?

It's a Peter F hamilton book. Entertaining in a "fluff" kind of way. Hamilton is a good writer (as it goes) but tends to blow the later stages of his books. I felt that this one was peculiarly flaccid in the middle section. I didn't feel that he padded out some of the more interesting sections well - for example the "perfect detective" investigating the star flyer (aka chasing the arms dealer). It's been a while since I read it so I am a biy fuzzy on the details. I didn't bother with the follow-up.

3) What subjects jumped out at you while reading?

None really.

4) Any other topics you'd like to discuss, related to this work?

No.

[pipecad]

I realize it's rather late to add to this discussion, but I've a question about the series that has really puzzled me.

Anyone know why the Starflyer Assassin kills Morton's wife early on in the books? It sets him on his path to MorningLightMountain and recovery of the Bose motile, but that all seems incidental and after the fact. I think I follow pretty much everything else in the book, but could never figure out why this killing occurred in the earliest parts of the book's time sequence. TIA.