Pandora's Star (The Commonwealth Saga) Mass Market Paperback – January 25, 2005

As a huge fan of hard science fiction, I had always heard this book was somewhat the impetus for the modern genre. Now that I have finally read this juggernaut, I can say that it lives up to the hype.If you are new to hard science fiction novels, I wouldn't recommend this as an entry point. While the author does a really good job at framing and explaining conceptual theories, he also doesn't spoonfeed the reader; it helps to have a baseline. So if you're dipping your toes for the first time, it may be a bit overwhelming.For those with a more experienced palate, this book has a lot to offer. It's not as fast-paced as the terrific Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds, or as wonderfully strange as Iain Banks' Culture, but it's damn good and carves its own unique niches. The book focuses on a distant alien threat, and whether to use military and technological means to exploit it. It also has several intertwining storylines that all culminate together at some point or another. In addition to this, the author has developed an entire fictional political system that serves as an interesting backdrop on how society should tackle the different problems it faces throughout the book.While the story is part alien invasion, part noir detective, part cyberpunk, and part wilderness survival (amongst others), there are many themes prevalent: immortality, climate politics, technology dependence, the disparity between social classes, and mass media manipulation to name a few.Like Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton throws a lot of theoretical physics at the reader that bolsters the storyline's authenticity. Also like Reynolds, Hamilton eases you into it and does a good job of explaining high-concept science, without making you feel like an idiot. The story can move slowly, but when it's at its best, it is exciting, suspenseful, and riveting. 5 out of 5 stars, can't wait to start the sequel.

Not sure if I'll buy the next because this left too many questions and no answers, especially for a long book.

Pandora's Star marks my foray into the space opera genre. I must say, I've been expecting something else - more like Star Trek, I guess (space voyages and adventures). Nonetheless, Peter F. Hamilton delivered a solid read with a very interesting vision of humanity's future - that is plausible and seems very real.We already work on genetics, can produce artificial organs and even clone whole animals (say hello to Mary the sheep), if we could just go one step further and clone man, we would only need one more thing - memory crystals, where everyone dumps their memories and feelings - think of them as your file backup in the cloud. Without them, even being fully genetically compatible, a clone is just a heap of meat that looks and works like you, but doesn't behave like you and certainly isn't you. But if we could dump our memories to an external storage device and then clone our body and download the memories to it... It would virtually mean immortality, something that humans have been seeking forever - be it literal or written in letters (poetry).The inhabitants of Hamilton's universe (our universe projected a few hundred years forward) have achieved exactly that - there is no final death - if your body dies, you go for a re-life procedure and end up in a clone with all your memories. If you don't die, you can still rejuvenate your body every few decades and stay forever young and strong.Living like that re-calibrated human brains, we've become more peaceful and warfares just died out. But there is another threat, a threat that only the Guardians of Selfhood - a terrorist group lead by a raving lunatic - Bradley Johansson - believes, a fairy tale they claim is real and dangerous - the Starflyer. The Starflyer is not real, it's a conspiracy theory which says that there's some alien working inside the human Commonwealth and its only goal is to bring peril to us. It doesn't help that believers turn to terrorist methods that we know all too well from 20th and 21st century. No one has seen it, no one has heard it, there is only the word of one men who claims he's been enslaved by it and used by it and then fortunately the Silfen (another alien race) freed him. Now he smuggles weapons and performs the acts of terror killing innocent people - all that to save the human race. Er, yeah, right...You'll find a bit of detective story, some action (but I wouldn't say the book is action packed), adventure / other worlds and a very realistic image of ourselves in the future. All in all, Pandora's Star has been a great read and I'm looking forward to the second tome. It is a hefty one, counting almost 1000 pages (in print), but it's nowhere close to dull and it certainly doesn't feel too long. I think it should appeal to every hard sci-fi fan, even if this would be the first book of the genre that you read - if you like sci-fi movies, games, anime, whatever, you're gonna like Pandora's Star.

One of the best sci-fi books ever. So many great characters and cool technologies. Nice interwoven stories and good character development. Can’t wait to ready the next one

De boeken worden zonder beschermend materiaal bezorgd, dit zorgt ervoor dat ze beschadigd aankomen.

Irgendwie gut. Das Buch ist lang und ich habe öfters das lesen unterbrochen. Irgendwie hat es aber doch viele interesante Ideen und ich habe die Reise immer wieder aufgenommen. Am Ende war ich zufrieden, in dieses Universum eingetaucht zu sein, und habe bereits den Folgeband gekauft.

A very rich universeMany interesting characters in crossing storiesA breathtaking book that leaves you waiting for the next opus

A fantastic novel by Peter F. Hamilton. The first book of the commonwealth series.

Never having read any of Peter Hamilton’s books before I was not sure what to expect. This book blew me away with the vast complex universe of the Commonwealth, the twists and turns of the storyline and the nail biting tension of the climax. This is classic sci-fit at its best.