The Confederation Handbook, by Peter F. Hamilton

July 5, 2010 by Nekkidblogger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Peter F. Hamilton, Science Fiction, book review

This is a handbook – a book of “facts”, not a science fiction story. The Confederation Handbook is a companion volume to Hamilton’s massive Night’s Dawn Trilogy, which was a trilogy in Britain, but not in the USA. It lays out the history and technology of the major cultures, discusses the planets on which the action of the trilogy occurs, and fills in a little background information.

In this galactic almanac Peter F. Hamilton reveals the true potential of his brilliantly realized epic. Expanding on its concepts and complexities, The Confederation Handbook explores the 600-year history of more than 21,500 inhabited worlds, asteroids, and bitek habitats. You can discover how Edenist space colonies are grown; the real story of the Kulu Kings and the exiled Lord of Ruin; why Adamist religions caused the human schism by rejecting Affinity; the tragic legacy of Rubra, the Edenist rebel who created Valisk; learn about Voidhawk breeding and Tyrathca mating rituals, and much more!

The Confederation Handbook covering geology, politics, technology, weaponry, and alien life forms, and is a must read for Peter Hamilton’s legion of fans.

To some extent it is also a book of spoilers. Much of Night’s Dawn consists of going through a long series of adventures to find out the quirks of Hamilton’s galaxy. It is the wealth and appeal of his background, and the daring of his conceit – science fiction that overtly tackles all the issues usually left to religion – that make Night’s Dawn so popular.

With this book you get in neat summary the information that would otherwise require you to read thousands of pages of the trilogy itself. Indeed, if you read the first volume of Reality Dysfunction& and would like to know where the story goes, you have only to read this book, skip the next four and a half volumes, and read the last 100 pages of Naked God, and you will have the plot. On the other hand, readers who have read and learned all the information provided in the trilogy will find little new here.

Tags: book review, Peter F. Hamilton, Science Fiction

Judas Unchained, by Peter Hamilton

December 13, 2009 by Nekkidblogger · Leave a Comment
Filed under: Peter F. Hamilton, Science Fiction, bestseller, book review

Set in the 24th century, bestseller Hamilton’s richly satisfying space opera is both a sequel to Pandora’s Star (2004) and the second half of one dauntingly complicated, wonderfully imagined novel. In the far future, mankind has prospered under the control of the hegemonic Commonwealth, led by the charismatic Nigel Sheldon. Part of the reason for this prosperity is the adaptation of a new wormhole technology developed by Sheldon. Wormholes are generated iteratively and used to create a series of intergalactic railway tunnels linking distant planets with a simple train network.

When Pandora’s Star ended, the worlds of the Commonwealth were under devastating attack by the alien race called Prime. The Prime are a hive-mind organism that was freed by accident from a force field that had been placed around their star by an unknown race.

In the war that followed, twenty-three inhabited Commonwealth-worlds were lost. Millions of people died and millions refugees. In Judas Unchained, we meet again the major players of the Commonwealth as they seek to come to grasp with the treath and mobilize against it. But a second enemy, another mystical alien force, is appearing on the radar of some of the actors in the plot as well – the Starflyer. The Starflyer may potentially be even more dangerous to the human race.

The Guardians, a splinter group believed to be a terrorist organization, have for a long time expressed their belief in the Starflyer’s existence. Now more and more others are being convinced that what they say is true. The Starflyer, argue the Guardians, deliberately manipulated humanity into war with the Prime, so that both species would be weakened. The Starflyer apparently has agents – humans that it controls – all over the Commonwealth.

Once again, Peter F. Hamilton proves himself capable of writing large scale space opera. In a multitude of subplots, Hamilton adroitly leaps from the struggles of one engaging, quirky character to another. Meanwhile, the main action expands and the super-scientific weapons become increasingly terrible.

Hamilton writes excellent action sequences, and his characters are interesting. For any fan of science fiction, Judas Unchained is one to read!

Links to Peter F. Hamilton’s books: amazon US, amazon UK, and amazon CAN.

Tags: book review, epic science fiction, Peter Hamilton, the Commonwealth series