Misspent Youth

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 12 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

A gripping introduction to the world of Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga, Misspent Youth is set in the near-future, over three hundred years before Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Stephen Baxter.

Read by Steven Crossley, narrator of C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.

Jeff Baker is granted the gift of eternal youth. However, it’s not all it seems . . .

It is 2040 and, after decades of research, we can finally rejuvenate a human being. At seventy-eight years old, Jeff Baker – renowned inventor and philanthropist – has given the world much of his creative genius. He’s therefore selected as first choice for this gift.

At first, rejuvenation feels like a miracle. Until the glow begins to fade. Personal relationships start to break down and the world waits for more brilliant new work. Living the dream will come at a cost, but can Jeff pay the price?

©2016 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Critic reviews

‘The owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction’ – Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the Earth

‘Hamilton handles massive ideas with enviable ease’ – Guardian

Sudden finish

I was surprised by the sudden finish. it felt wrong, yet still right. d e t. d sna. f f

A bit of a slim story.

Compared to the previous 4 books from Peter this was a bit slim in depth an focused too much on lust. Only my opinion. I prefer the depth of the commonwealth series. My review typed on my phone in a hurry.

Waste of a credit

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

Actually making this a sci-fi novel rather than a pre-teen wannabe erotica.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Anything but this.

What three words best describe Steven Crossley’s voice?

Slooooooooooooooow, had to listen to the entire novel at 2x speed

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

boredom

Any additional comments?

I have listened to all of Peter F. Hamilton's other books, and they are brilliant, this one is crap beyond belief. It doesn't answer any questions about rejuvenation that you may have from his other books, and the entire story is centered around teen angst. Frankly, there weren't any characters in the book that I actually liked either. Save yourself the credit and get something else, seriously.

More sex than science fiction

More sex than science fiction. Bad soap opera and no likeable characters. Not my thing.

Hamilton's gratuitous "intimacy" as a whole book

Science fiction is about exploring the impacts of futuristic technologies and settings on mankind. This book specifically explores the invention of early "rejuvenation" technology (a process that restores the body to it's youthful state) and how being the same age as your son gives you a shot at stealing your son's extremely hot girlfriend and banging her a lot. Like, a lot.

Also a bit about how he doesn't relate to his old friends because he's young now, but he doesn't relate to young people because they're so much less experienced with life, except the young women he's banging who are of course very experienced.

I kept waiting for the SciFi elements to come back but then the book just sorta ended with a "twist" that was only hinted at maybe fifteen minutes prior. I remember one of my high-school English teachers telling me about enjoying the short story I wrote for an assignment and turning the page over to discover that I appeared to have suddenly become very bored of writing it. I know exactly what he meant now.

What the heck was that?

I've read every other Hamilton book and loved them. But this one was... dull.

Its based on a mildly interesting sci-fi premise that could go in interesting ways but then, nothing. It's hours and hours (and hours) of cringy sex scenes and family drama. Sprinkle in some pointless pseudo-intellectual pan-European unrest backstory and you've just wasted 15 hours of your life. And all that for an uninteresting and ubrupt ending.

If you enjoy Hamilton books this is not for you!

Sings: I'm my own Grandpa

In the end I finally had skipped more chapters then I listened to. This seemed more like a rerun of a messy family Drama then the Prequel to the epic SF Series I was expecting.

I suppose some might find Exploring the family drama that occurs when a old man experiences the first rejuv and is suddenly the same physical age as his sons teenage girlfriend and his best friends grand-daughter. The hormons gone wild story-line was definetely underwelming. If your actually looking for a roots of the commonwealth story less then 10% of the 12.5 hours actually seems to cover that.

I've listened to many of Peter's other books and just ended up here because I wanted to "start at the begining and listen to them all". Didnt even read the reviews just expected an Epic SF Drama. If your here just to "Start from the begining". Skip this one.