The Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton.

Salvation 

Salvation Lost 

The Saints of Salvation 

👍👍👍👍 

 Not as good as the Commonwealth saga but an amazing story which I binged like a maniac (thanks to the 🎄 holidays!) A story of alien invasion. Interesting science fiction concepts and gripping plots. I liked the aliens a lot! and as usual with Hamilton this growing sensation of starting small but gradually becoming bigger and bigger to interstellar and galactic scopes, travelling hundreds of light years through wormholes with the story developing across thousands of years.

The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton.

😕😕😕 This is the second book in the Night's Dawn trilogy. Found some interesting concepts and some interesting storylines and characters but overall I'd say this was a long, boring experience. I personally found all the storylines and chapters featuring old resuscitated characters (the possessed) uninteresting (e.g. Al Capone). Not for me. However, the concept of the Alchemist is still intriguing (a sort of apocalyptic weapon), I might go ahead and read the third book. Oh and I also want to know how the beyond and the reality disfunction, which allow the dead to come back to reality, works.

Light Chaser by Peter F Hamilton and Gareth Powell

A fun, quick read. Lots of things packed in just over 170 pages. Themes I enjoyed: immortality, reincarnation and

Evil AI as well as that sense of immensity of space-time that makes us seem insignificant.

The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton.

First book in the Night's Dawn trilogy. It took me abt 20 days to read this 1220 page book. It felt like reading 3 or 4 books! The story is good but I wasn't excited. I will try and read the other 2 books (which are longer than this one!) But not now. Ideas I am interested in are the way certain transhumanist societies are organised, organic/biologic, sentient spaceships and the concept of affinity which allows humans to communicate between them and with their ships. Actually the theme I enjoyed the most was that one of genetically modified humans because it connects nicely with a book I read a few weeks ago: CRISPR People about Germline Genome Editing (embryo editing). It made me wonder about the social implications of such technologies, at least in fiction. 

I also liked the mystery around space ruins left by an ancient civilisation. I got a bit bored by the events in a pre-industrial, recently colonised planet and I didn't like the idea of humans coming back from the afterlife to possess other people... not science fiction but fantasy I think.

Night without stars by Peter F Hamilton

🚀🚀🚀🚀 Second and final book in the Chronicle of the Fallers duology. I couldn't put it down! Super interesting, engaging story. A writing style which allows supersonic speed reading. Interesting concepts and characters some of which are immortal thanks to advancements in genetics, mind transfer, cloning and biononics (biological and electronic implants and augmentations). I found the ending satisfactory but I wouldn't have minded a darker end to the story. Not a perfect book but a great one.

The Abyss beyond Dreams by Peter F Hamilton

🚀🚀🚀🚀 Book 1 in the Chronicle of the Fallers duology, which is part of the Commonwealth Saga. Loved 99% of it! Wasn't too keen on the pre-industrial setting in the Bienvenido planet, but Hamilton's gripping narrative meant I couldn't put the book down. Hamilton's storytelling never disappoints. After the Commonwealth saga and the Void trilogy we get even more interesting stuff, the universe, the science, the technology and the characters. So far Nigel Sheldon is one of my favourite scifi characters. He's lived for over 1 thousand years, in many bodies, sometimes digitised, always doing interesting things. I loved his first appearance in Pandora's Star and in this novel we see a different facet of his.

Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton (4.7🌟)

Judas Unchained is the second book in the Commonwealth Saga. See my post on the first book Pandora's Star.

So much happens in this book (actually in both books) it will take me days to digest. However it was a great conclusion to the story and a great read. Not much to comment but to recommend this saga to any Science Fiction fan. It was worth the 4 weeks it took me to read the two books.

Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton (4.8🌟)

This a is well written, gripping story. Three hundred years in the future, humanity has colonised over 400 hundred planets. This was possible due to the invention of wormhole technologies which allow people to travel through space without spaceships. Wormholes also allow faster, almost instant communication between planet's light years away. Humanity is enjoying immortality with rejuvenation treatments which reverse the ageing process, and re-life procedures ( resucitation!) in which digital copies of people consciousness and memories are uploaded into new bodies made with DNA information.

Anyway this is only a snippet of this universe created by Hamilton. The action kicks with the discovery of what seem to be Dyson Spheres enclosing two solar systems. A decision is made to travel more than one thousand light years to investigate them. Political, economic and scientific struggle arise from this decision, but the focus of the story is set on answering a couple of questions. What kind of civilisation could have the technology to build a dyson sphere? And why would they do that?

The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton (4.5🌟)

The Evolutionary Void is the third novel in The Void trilogy. You can find my thoughts on my previous two novels here: The Dreaming Void and The Temporal Void.

My conclusions after reading this book are:

• As with the other two books the quality of writing is excellent, the plot is addictive, and we get more scientific explanations as to the nature of the void and the technologies of ancient alien species (loved these bits!). 
• Inigo’s dreams end halfway through, something I appreciate as I thought these dreams were the weakest aspects of the novels. 
• The ending is brilliant! (Although at some points I sensed soap opera vibes.) And all the main plot lines are nicely closed. This doesn’t mean that the novel does not leave unanswered questions, because it does. 
• Although Hamilton takes his time explaining the science and technology behind some of the characters and ships abilities, I finished the trilogy still feeling I couldn’t grasp the FTL (Faster than light) technologies for both ship transportation and communications. I couldn’t really get how people could talk or sense each other even when they were thousands of light years away and even when one of them was inside the void and the other wasn’t! 
• Some of the decisions some characters make were questionable, at least for me. Can’t say exactly which because spoilers, but suffice to say there were more realistic options to pursue in most cases. 

Opinion: I can’t recommend it enough. The three books are chunky but the reading experience is unique.

My edition was published in 2014 by Pan Macmillan and it has 726 pages.

The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton (4🌟)

The Temporal Void is the second book in The Void trilogy. I read the first book, The Dreaming Void, only a few weeks ago and I couldn’t wait to read this one. This is a science fiction with space opera and fantasy-like elements. I say fantasy-like because the narrative in Inigo’s dreams (please read my previous post about the Dreaming Void) takes place in a strange world in a medieval setting. However, I was happy to read in this second novel that some scientific explanations are starting to emerge on the nature of The Void and Querencia, one the planet inside it.

I will not say much about this novel here as it is a sequel and I don’t want to spoil the first novel to anyone. Things I would like to highlight are the political conflicts and the turmoil caused across the whole galaxy by the Living Dream (a cult who believes the future of humanity is inside the Void) planning a pilgrimage to the Void. Really engaging political and social criticism, providing some food for thought. In terms of characters not much to say here. The plot progressed with little character development, except perhaps Edeard, the Waterwalker, the guy who lives in a planet in the Void who is the protagonist of the fantasy-like chapters.

My edition was published in 2014 by Pan Macmillan. It has 746 pages.

The Dreaming Void - Peter F.Hamilton (4.4🌟)

The Dreaming Void is a hard science fiction novel with elements of space opera and fantasy (?). It deals with themes like cloning, body enhancements, consciousness downloading and religious fanaticism. This is the first book in the Void trilogy which takes place in the same universe as the Commonwealth saga, only, more than, one thousand years after.

This novel narrates two (connected) stories told in alternate chapters. The first one which, I believe, takes place in "reality" in the far future in year 3589, and the other takes place in a strange planet, maybe in a different universe/dimension (?), with people with telekinetic powers, living in primitive conditions. The plot in the reality timeline takes place in multiple scenarios (planets, cities, spaceships) and follows several characters' stories in parallel.  The plot in the other dimension is simpler, following one main protagonist.

The main concern of all plot lines taking place in 3589 is the Void. Supposedly a black hole it was discovered later that it was something else. Something that has been devouring the galaxy  and everything it contains for millions of years. The Raiel, an alien species, has been researching the Void for millenia from a space base thousands of light years from the edge of the Void.  They have built a wall, a kind of barrier using Dyson Spheres, to deter anyone from entering the Void. It is believed that such an act would trigger another devourment phase.

However in one small planet on the edge of the Commonwealth  (union of planets) there is a growing cult of people who believe that their destiny is waiting for them inside the Void. The "Living Dream" came to life after an astrophysicist, Inigo, started to have dreams of a young man with outstanding telekinetic powers and who lives in a planet inside the Void. Thanks to his neural implants, Inigo is capable of broadcasting his dreams into the "gaiafield," a network of information and emotions. As the Living Dream gain political and economical power they make plans to build technologically advanced starships to go on pilgrimage. This causes concern among the central government of the Commonwealth, the Raiel and other species who believe this crusade will destroy the galaxy.

Opinion: wow! I loved this novel. So many interesting characters, so many stories. This is an intricate narrative and one has to devote some quiet time to understand and absorbe names, technologies, science and history, all interwoven in an amazing tale.

Regarding characters and their interwoven plots, I would like to highlight, first the way Hamilton describes them: not too in depth, but enough to keep the reader interested and engaged. There is one character called Aaron, who is a man on a mission to find Inigo, but with no memory of who and why he is on that mission. He has a set of body enhancements which are fun to read about. Another character called Paula Myo, a woman more that a thousand years old, and who, I believe played an important role in the Commonwealth saga (haven't read it yet.) She's got an interesting past and I loved her attitude.  Next is Araminta a seemingly average woman. At the beginning her story seems disconnected from the rest but then we get a mind blowing twist and understand why she is there. Finally, Mr Bovey an interesting minor character, not because of what he does but because of what he is: a multiple (man), that is, one consciousness/personality in multiple bodies.

Another interesting aspect of the novel is its massive scale in terms of time and space. The Raiel and the Void have existed for millions of years. Humanity now moves across the galaxy in faster than light spaceships. All of this massiveness is rightly explained and justified throughout the novel.

To finish, one thing I didn't quite like was the nature of the story in Inigo's dreams. Much more fantasy than science fiction I would say. Hard for me to follow at some points and the reason why this book is not 5 stars.

Oh and the ending was .... I need book 2 Now!



My book is a paperback published by Pan McMillan in 2014. It has 647 pages.