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Misspent Youth  By  cover art

Misspent Youth

By: Peter F. Hamilton
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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Publisher's summary

It's 2040. After decades of research, scientists of the European Union believe that they have at last conquered humankind's most pernicious foe: old age. For the first time, technology holds out the promise of not merely slowing the aging process but actually reversing it. The first subject for treatment is 78-year-old philanthropist Jeff Baker. After 18 months in a rejuvenation tank, Jeff emerges looking like a 20-year-old. And the change is more than skin deep. From his hair cells down to his DNA, Jeff is 20 - with a breadth of life experience.

But while possessing the wisdom of a septuagenarian at age 20 is one thing, raging testosterone is another, as Jeff soon discovers. Suddenly his oldest friends seem, well, old. Jeff's trophy wife looks better than she ever did. His teenage son, Tim, is more like a younger brother. And Tim's nubile girlfriend is a conquest too tempting to resist. Jeff's rejuvenated libido wreaks havoc on the lives of his friends and family, straining his relationship with Tim to the breaking point. It's as if youth is a drug, and Jeff is wasted on it. But if so, it's an addiction he has no interest in kicking.

©2002 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2016 Tantor

What listeners say about Misspent Youth

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Dang, what a disappointment!

If you are a Peter F. Hamilton fan as I am, please save your money or credits and let this one pass you by to avoid extreme disappointment. I couldn't decide if Hamilton had just 'lost it' and decided to write the 'rejuvenated man bangs every woman he finds and makes poor choices fantasy' or if it would turn in the end to have some deep hidden message. Nope, no such luck. Here's hoping the next eagerly awaited audio book will be his traditional, exciting adventure.

In general, Steven Crossley's narration was good. He had a few female characters's that I would not have pegged as women if there weren't some pronouns in use.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Can't stand the vulgarity.

I have several books by Mr. Hamilton and none are as vulgar as this. I have worked trying to find something redeeming but I have finally given up. Got about halfway through.

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I can only assume PFH needed a pay check quick.

Love everything else of PFH but this was horrendous and not worthy of his name. Not sure what his intent was or why he wrote this trash but I can't believe he published it. I can only assume he needed a quick payday and had to churn out something so he repurposed a soap opera into his world and put his name on it. Don't bother, and don't hold this crap against him as his other works are excellent.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Awful

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Nothing. The performance was spot on, but the story was dreadful.

Any additional comments?

I love Peter F. Hamilton's as an author, but I have to say on this one, WTF. I waited hours for the story to start happening, and when it finally did it was like a terrible soap opera porno script. At 60% of the way through I stopped to check wikipedia for a summary of the book to see if it was even worth continuing. (I've never stopped reading a book partway through before.) I will not be continuing. Based on the summary it only gets WORSE. I can't sit through five more hours of this.

Also, it barely even qualified as sci-fi, and this from the Galactic Master of Sci-Fi, Mr. Hamilton.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Meh

Is there anything you would change about this book?

The book. It's barely a Commonwealth book, very soap opera-ish.

What could Peter F. Hamilton have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I was hoping for something with a larger scale.

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

Great characterizations the make the characters more interesting.

Could you see Misspent Youth being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Heavens no.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

If you enjoy sex, drugs, and drunk teens . . .

I like Hamilton's other books and thought this would be good background for the other stories in the series, but it proved to be a lot of sex and getting high. It is basically about an 80(?) year old man who gets the rejuvenated body of a 25 year old and then cannot control himself. He even takes his son's girlfriend. That is the point I stopped the book.

I found it depressing.

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15 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

God this was junk. NO SciFi whatsoever

When I think of English SciFi, I envision big beer can-esque robots with little plungers, zipping about and screaming "EXTERMINATE" in proper bri'ish accents. Or Tom Baker with a 'fro and Harry Potter scarves, passing around a bag of "jelly babies." If someone suggests this book as a worthy read, slap them, and throw them to a darlek (Dahlek?). Honestly, I got the impression the author belched his old-man-regrets and wishes and dreams into a word processor and called it worthy fiction. Here's the plot: english kids shagging and drinking, a mention of science here or there, Europe falling apart ... aaaaaaaaand ... well, that's about it. Honestly, pure tripe that I'd expect a normal 12 year old to get bored with. The best part was "Audible hopes you enjoyed this program"

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14 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Pervert

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

No one.

Has Misspent Youth turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, I enjoy the author's other works.

Which scene was your favorite?

None

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Anger, sadness and disappointment.

Any additional comments?

This is story about an old man's fantasy about having sex with his grandson's female friends.

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  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Pretentious rambling spiel with no goal

Narrator OK. I forced my self to endure the very amateur story line and views on society; "surely this will go somewhere?". But, alas, a COMPLETE waste of time and money. Seems there were a few seeds of technical knowledge the author acquired and tried to grow but they died on fallow soil without the fertilizer of maturity and depth. The ONLY good thing was the audible book was a wonderful sleeping pill...it was so boring I usually would fall asleep in 5 minutes. Perhaps the advertisements could play up "Almost instant sleep aid without the drugs". DON'T WASTE YOUR TIME. Now I fear I have wasted more money because in a weak moment I bough a series by the author...I'll let you know!

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Soap Opera, except with more sex.

I'm a big fan of PFH; I've listened to nearly all of his work available on Audible. While I tolerate his typical, descriptive sexual encounters in most books, this is beyond the pale. It's the first book of his that I won't finish. It is very, very thin on science fiction, and very, very heavy on teenage fantasy. I'm more than halfway through and I don't think there's a true storyline here, just loosely threaded sexual encounters that occur about every 20 pages. If that's your thing, then I'm sure this book will do it for you, but I'm off to try some other writers for a while.

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