Pandora's Star

Commonwealth Saga, Book 1

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 37 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Pandora's Star is the first part of Peter F. Hamilton's epic Commonwealth Saga duology – a fantastic galaxy-spanning novel from the master of space opera. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Alastair Reynolds.

At the edge of the galaxy something awakens – and it's coming for us . . .

Earth AD 2329: Humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked by wormholes. For the first time in mankind's history there is peace. Then a star over a thousand light years away suddenly vanishes, imprisoned inside a force field of immense size. Yet who – or what – has that sort of technology? And what could this mean for us? Only a faster-than-light starship, captained by ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime, can reach that distance to investigate.

For Wilson, getting inside the force field could be easy. It may be harder to stop something else from getting out.

What if there was a very good reason to seal off an entire star system?

The Commonwealth Saga duology concludes with Judas Unchained.

©2004 Peter F Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor Media Inc

Critic reviews

The best book Hamilton has written in years (Guardian)

Anyone who begins this won’t be able to put it down (Publishers Weekly)

Compelling (SFX)

Wonderful & transporting!

I have been a fan of PFH's work for some time, and jumped at the opportunity to get this audiobook. In short, the material is fabulous and John Lee's confident reading is inspirational. He brings this exciting and non-stop story to life! Thoroughly recommended!

Amazing saga

Would you listen to Pandora's Star again? Why?

Absolutely I will listen to this again. I didn't want this book to end, so many sub-stories within the main text, great characters and the amazing world in which the live.

What other book might you compare Pandora's Star to and why?

The Rama series would be the next best thing aside from other Peter F Hamilton books.

What does John Lee bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I hated John Lee's narration when I first heard him narrate the Dreaming Void, but after a few chapters he settles in and I started to enjoy his narration. The same applied to this book but this time I was expecting it so it did not bug me so much. In the early part of the book he sounds like he is over emphasizing parts of the sentence and overall it sounds to staccato in his speech but then he settles into normal reading pattern as he progresses.

Any additional comments?

Best series I have ever read, after reading Game of Thrones series it was a pleasure to read a well written series that was as interesting on page one as it was on the last page.

Exiting, emotional and deep.

This slow-starting book slowly bring together the fates of different aliens and humans in a bright future dwindling to what seems like a dystopian alien apocalypse. 10/10 on all parts.

Excellent!

Fast paced, mature, well thought out and awesome. Not suitable for children but great for anyone else.
Now for the sequel...

Massive in scope

The beginning of a great adventure. I'm looking forward to the next storey. Fun times ahead.

Great story, deep characters

Would you listen to Pandora's Star again? Why?

While it is one of those "every detail down to the nose hair" books, the characters are deeply developed.
Hamilton offers an insight into a scientifically plausible future with great insight and interesting story line.
yes a tad long and you must buy the second book but if you like the first hour, you will love the rest. one of those that is hard to press stop.

Fantastic Sci Fi

Absolutely love the ideas in this book, Peter F. Hamilton does a brilliant job of fleshing out an extremely interesting and compelling future. Some may be turned off by the wordy descriptions of tech but I absolutely loved that aspect of the book. Maybe the character development isn't quite what it could be but overall I just thought it all came together incredibly successfully. I have to get the next chapter in this saga because of the cliff hanger that it leaves you on. I will definitely check out his other works as well as I am extremely impressed with his tech knowledge and the way he implements that in his story. Fantastic stuff.

Love it!

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I love the performance of John Lee. He speaks beautifully, in my opinion, and brings the characters to life.

Any additional comments?

I have previously listened to the Void Trilogies, and the lastest follow-up. But I loved that this book was a little more "technological" (less "magical"), and that it gave lots of good background to many of the characters and on the Commonwealth itself.
I downloaded the second book within minutes of finishing the first.

Epic space opera

Great sci-fi book with lots of exiting plots and likable characters. Makes you fantasize about the future.

Perfect if you want to take your time

This is a VERY long and detailed telling, with many characters, many of whom (sort of) protagonists. So from the start you'll have to pay attention, otherwise you'll get lost quickly. I had to 'rewind' several times because I wasn't paying close attention for a whole minute. So this novel is not something to listen to while doing lots of other stuff that requires your attention.

That being said, if you do like to invest the time and effort, this scifi novel offers a pretty immersive story, the author taking his time to paint his universe. His characters are fleshed out very well, and none are 100% 'good' or 'bad', which gives them a realistic feel.
As for the scifi aspects, I enjoyed this author's concept of human society a couple of centuries from now. How humans tackled the immortality problem, the everyday tech gadgets that are used by everyone, and even its application to... porn. Really fun ideas, without getting crass or sleezy. However, be aware that there are several instances of crude language, if that is something you deem important to know.

The author has also integrated diversity into his character concepts, different races and sexual preferences are incorporated in a very natural way without drawing unnecessary attention but present nonetheless. The only thing that does not get much attention is religion; none of the characters seem religious in any way, the entire human race seems to have a naturalistic viewpoint. Which is the only thing I found lacking in this otherwise colorfully diverse universe.

The narration is terrific, with lots of different accents and voices done by John Lee. He is a joy to listen to, and adds emotion and identity to his characters without overacting. I especially enjoyed his high society females, the way he read them was absolutely fantastic. Loved it all.

The editing makes it very hard to distinguish between chapters, and even viewpoints. There are no pauses whatsoever. So one minute your completely into one character's story unfolding, and literally the very next sentence takes you to a whole different character WITHOUT mentioning them by name so you still think you're at the previous viewpoint! Another reason to rewind several times...

Nevertheless I recommend this novel, and I went ahead and bought its sequel as well, titled Judas Unchained.

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