Colin

The first book introduced you to Greg Mandel and his "Gland" that allows him to tell if you are lying, the first story was really good and this one is just as good but its a totally different story it just has most of the same characters in it.

One thing I find cool is there is all this talk about Global warming, ice caps melting and a housing market crash and all sorts of things that are happening now, and remember this was written in 1994

This time Greg is investigating a murder which turns out to be Quantum in nature and what happens is pretty cool, not giving anything away here but someone is murdered in a really strange way that was a "calling card" of a famous killer who is already locked up in prison so it couldn't have been him, right? well thats the thing you find out about but I guarantee you wont guess the outcome

As I said in my other review this is not the best of Peter F. Hamilton but its pretty good, just a few years latter in his life he wrote the next trilogy The Nights Dawn and that is really something to read (come on Audible.com get this trilogy) with all sorts of cool things, but about this trilogy.

This is not really a trilogy since each book is a different story all together and only have the characters in common but each story is good.

Well let me first say that this wasn't what I expected it to be like, it was good contained some surprises and overall was worthy of reading.

There are some things about this story that are a little unexplained or maybe poorly explained, you can understand whats happening but its not until the end that you really get what is going on and then there are more questions.

So there are these "things" in the sun that people have seen when going into the surface of the sun doing observations for science. The Aliens don't understand this because there is a "galactic library" that holds everything one needs to know so there is no reason to do research like that anymore but being the suborn Humans we are we are doing it anyways - well things are seen in there that look to be sentient life and its the research vessel that goes into the sun to research these things and report back because the "galactic library" doesn't have anything on what they could be so some suspect that they have been lied to and the copy of the library that we humans have is not complete or maybe deliberately missing stuff

If you know who Erich Von Daniken is and his book from 1986 called "Chariots of the Gods" and latter works you know about the "uplift theory" where by aliens have "uplifted" humans in the distant past that's why we cant find the so called "missing link" in the evolutionary tract and why we have jumped so far in such a short time, this is sorta the concept of the books back story.

In this book we Humans have uplifted dolphins and chimps to full sentient as in able to think like a human can or at least at the same intellectual level which results in chimps and dolphins talking to humans and helping them do tasks like any other human would except for dolphins can do underwater stuff better - its a cool concept and according to the galactic library almost every single race was "uplifted" by another race leading all the way back to the start with some group of races that isn't explained completely , but humans don't seem to have a "up-lifter" which is a little strange to many aliens

The Humans here think that maybe the beings in the sun could actually be the uplifters of humanity, and will the Aliens help them to understand it or maybe do something even worse?

There isn't much about this book I didn't like other than it was missing some better explanations and maybe a nice pre-story for a chapter or so to get you into the world thats created but it was good, I am going on to the next book so check my reviews for that one to see if it is as good as this one was

This is a little strange to me that the first book was written in 1986 the second in 1987 and then this one in 2002, that is a big gap in time but as it turns out it was for the better.

The first 2 books were sorta "dated" having some things in them that were, well, the best way to put it was "out of the 80's" and then this book in 2002 somewhat cleared up those things as well as add to some of the science as some thigns were missing in the first 2 books.

The "victory" that is in this book is something that you can probably figure out, but in case you cant I wont ruin it for you, we will say that what happens is not as expected but it exactly as expected - that is to say that the outcome was expected but the way it came about wasn't.

The thing about Michael McCollum is that his books that I have read when the "thing its all about" is over the book is over, there isn't anything really after the "thing" is over whatever that is, I wish there were some little after that but they do end properly.

I liked these 3 books and I hope a prequel is written because I think there can be like 3 more books before this one if not more than that.

I have written a review for the first book so that is where you should go first, if you have read the first book then you will probably like this one and the 3rd one. In the first book the fold space reopened and the rest of civilization was reconnected, sorta.

This was written only 1 year after the first book but book 3 was written 15 years after that in 2002 which is sorta strange, I have a review of that one also.

First let me say that this is sorta a review for all 3 books, thats how I am going to be doing my reviews for dual books or trilogy's or more that are a direct continuation of the ones before it.

I have gotten the trilogy from the same author "Gibraltar Earth" and it was great, this one being written in 1986 is a little dated but is still worth reading. This trilogy is a little strange being as the first 2 books "Antares Dawn" and "Antares Passage" were written in 1986 ad 1987 however the last book "Antares Victory" was written in 2002. This allows for some of the "dated" things to be "updated" as it would be and some of the science cleared up a little better.

This book was great the whole concept is something that should have a prequel and I hope its written, I have sent an email to the author expressing my want for a prequel of some sorts you can find his site, it to is a little "dated" but it works.

The "dated" things I am talking about are the fact that women are basally treated like they were in the 1980's where they have pretty much no place in the Navy, there are a few but not many. This book has that thing going on here where men are confused about why women are going to be doing things on a Navy ship when its always been men, well as most people know in the 80's that was happening and its in this book thats sorta in the future. A few other things will seem to be "from the 80's" I cant put my finger on it but when you read this you will see what I mean.

The story holds up to the test of time if it is only 27 years old sometimes sci-fi that old can be unreadable except for when its from some of the greats, not saying that Michael McCollum is one of the greats but he is pretty dam good. The technology here is all good and sound based on science, the weapons used are all practical and seem to make sense.

If you are going to read something from this author I would start with Gibraltar Earth it is newer and a better story IMO so if you like that then go and read this one understanding that it will be a little "80's"

This is the last book at the time of this review (4-29-13) but the way it ends there could be a few more, these 3 books feel like a prequel for something really huge latter on and I hope the author writes them.

The debate is over and the Humans are going to war with the Broa, its just not a normal war since the Broa dont really know that the Humans exist for sure but it will become something they are aware of soon - the only Broan to meet a Human is the one who was found on the ship in book 1 and hes not talking to any other Broa.

The way this book ends is sorta strange I thought there would be more to the story, its not like it ends incorrectly but it does end in such a way that you want to know more, what happens next sorta of thing. I don't want to give anything away here but really Humans and Broan never meet in battle like I was expecting but the way it plays out is really good - but like I said I hope the author writes more books that go into the aftermath of the end of this book.

This is highly recommended if you like space opera style books, this one not really long enough and not galaxy spanning as most space operas are like Peter F Hamilton or Alastair Reynolds but its up there.

This being the second book I will assume that if you have read the first one then you like it and this review is sorta not needed but I will say a few things, if you want to know more go to my review of the first book.

This book continues the story nicely and you are hoping that the Humans get things done, you are setup for the next book in the series which is currently the last book (4-29-13) as of now but I hope there are more to come.

In this book it is confirmed that the Broan empire indeed controls 1 million stars or more and things aren't good for the Humans if they find out they are in the neighborhood so lets hope things go the right way.

So first let me say that I have been waiting for this book to come to Audible and the others from the same author, I herd about it on Security Now with Steve Gibson and Leo Laporte from This Week in Tech over at TWiT.tv - Thanks Audible.com for your continued sponsorship of the TWiT network.

Now the review. This is sorta a review of all 3 books as you should read all of them but I will do individual reviews of them also.

The narrator is pretty good he just mispronounces words or pronounces them not as they should be by people who say them - like Toronto the "t" at the end is silent people say it like "Torono" but the narrator says the "t", many other words are like that also but its not that bad

This is a "First Contact" novel but not like any you have read before, without giving anything away that's not in the description I will say that Humans find out about a Race of Aliens that must control everything (sorta like the USA is now) and they don't know about the Humans so for now we are safe.

Humans find an Alien and go on an adventure to find out more about these evil Aliens that want to control everything.

This book goes into many of the things that would probably would be happening if we actually encountered Aliens like in this book, I think that the events play out pertty much how it would in real life but we can only wait and see when the Aliens come

The end of this book is nicely setup for what you expect in the next one and it flows nicely, this author is top notch and I am going on to reading the other 3 book series Antares Dawn next, the other one Life Probe the Makers books has a female narrator which I sometimes find problematic when they try to do male voices so I might not be able to listen to that one of The Sales of Tau Ceti but I will give it a chance.

This series of books is great but let me warn you the 3rd book ends nicely but you will want more and honestly i think there needs to be another book, I hope the author writes one or more.

So it goes without saying that PFH (Peter F Hamilton) is among the best out there for long sci-fi books and this one is long, 976 pages in print form so you can understand why its 36 hours long but don't let that put you off its totally worth it.

This isn't like the other PFH books but that's sorta like he writes, each one is different but has the same feel to it.

This is a standalone book which is not something that this author has done much of in the past, its really always been 3 books or 2 like Pandora's Star/Judis Unchained, but thats not a problem, PFH said in an interview that he likes the idea of finishing a book and having that story be over, not having to work on the next book - well this works good for me as long as he writes one every year or more ha.


The Review:

This is a great story about a murder 20 years apart on 2 different planets in the same fashion the supposed killer Angela Tramelo was convicted and jailed for that murder but it seems that her story of an alien attack might be true, so this causes all sorts of problems.

This is the story of a mother who would do anything to save her sick daughter, and how she was once a rich girl who lost everything when all the other rich families conspired against hers and her father's company causing her to loose everything, she grew up and hatches a plan to rip off some people who wronged her because it turns out he daughter is sick, the kind of sick that costs so much the only people who can afford the treatment are the ultra-wealthy milti-billionaires on the planet and she was no longer one of those.

But something happens on that mission, an alien monster? or some sorta crazy person in a muscle armor suite with blades for fingers? whatever it is they go back to the planet that the original murder happened at and "look for an alien monster" because that's what Tramelo said happened, and that's where this story starts.

Although the author said hes not writing another book in this "world/universe" there could be one after this ended, its not like things were left open and misunderstood, everything is explained pretty much and the rest is obvious. I wont tell you if there is or isn't an alien monster you will have to read to find out but what you do find out is that its something that you didn't expect because that's how PFH does it.


Great book, highly recommended!

This is the end of the story that started with Ringworld written in 1970, then some prequels were written that are pretty good and a must read if you are getting into these books so start there if you haven't read Ringworld years ago.

There isn't much to say about these reviews of books that are latter in a series other to say that its good or bad because if you have read the past books and liked them then its safe to say if other reviews say its good you don't have to know much more that that - well this is a great book, its the last one but there could be many more of them if the Authors want to write more of them.

This is a great book so if you liked the others then you will like this one.

Well it goes without saying that if you liked the first 2 books then you will probably like this one, Louis Wu, the puppeteer known as the Hindmost, and Acolyte, son of the Kzin called Chmeee who was "Speaker to Animals" in the first book.

There are some people who think that this book shouldn't have been written, and in some aspects they are right. Larry Niven the Author never planed to write a second book but it had to be done to clear up some of the inaccuracies in the first book, this book sorta falls short of the others and I assume at the time it was released it wasn't that good compared to the last ones, but read as a whole this book fits in nicely in the story line with the other books.

In this book there are 2 major story lines that come together in the end of the book, without giving anything away here it has to do with the vampires on the world, more specifically a vampire protector - if any "hominid" eats "Tree of Life root" and they are of the proper age they can become a protector which is what the Ringworld needs, a "Protector"because its old and relatively week when it comes to what it can be subjected to.

This is a must read, its not as up to par as the other 2 books or the ones that follow but its a good book and fits right in the middle of the story so its worth reading if you read the second book "The Ringworld Engineers" and really want to experience more of this Ringworld and the Universe its in this is where it starts