Great North Road

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: Toby Longworth

Length: 36 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family - composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone "brothers" have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.

Or maybe not so friendly. At least that's what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who'd like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he'll make enough enemies to ruin his career. Yet Sid's case is about to take an unexpected turn: Because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood.

The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime. Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.

Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world's political and economic elite...all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.

©2012 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"It's a perfect introduction to his gifts for character design, dialogue, and sheer, big-idea-driven storytelling." ( Booklist)

Fantastic story by a great author

Would you consider the audio edition of Great North Road to be better than the print version?

Cannot say. Have not read the print version.

Any additional comments?

Great introduction into Peter F. Hamilton's books. Not connected to his other stories. From what I can tell, I love his writing style and will be moving on to his other books.

Hamilton at his best.

I love the way he can take what appears to be bunch of disparate plot threads and weave them into an single piece of tapestry that is just amazing to behold, and he does this yet again in Great North Road. He uses science fiction to create another rich universe, weaves a mystery through it, and comments on the importance of taking care of our environment. In my opinion Peter F. Hamilton is one of the greatest authors of our day.

Decent

The book is slow to start and struggled to hook me. It was satisfying in the end.

Great Story-- but the female chars were abysmal

The story in this book is awesome! I loved the murder mystery -- I was constantly wondering who did it -- the plot that encompasses some 50 characters, multiple worlds, multiple generations, clones, near tech, genetic engineering, and just good old fashioned detective work.

But omg, I just can't recommend this book, because the women in this book are AWFUL. They are all flat, and are all described by how they are "Still hot, despite being a mother of 3" and I just can't. All the men want to be with young hot girls, and all the women have no drive except to stay hot. They are all vacuous, and honestly annoying.

Listened to this 6+ times

I love this book. I wish he would write more Sci Fy mysteries with loads of story threads. This book has well developed characters and great story telling. Mr. Hamilton's universes hold together from one end to the other and this one is no exception. Toby Longworth was the perfect narrator for this book.

Fabulous complexity

This is an enormous story. Hamilton weaves a complex tapestry from threads that seem at first too diverse to belong together. Although at times the detail slows the story down a bit, a small application of patience provides a payoff, because there's always a reason the author took the reader down that road. Hamilton has developed ideas about the possible futures of today's science and technology, and created from them a credible, cohesive future reality that includes a burgeoning intetstellar human society. He's taken character types and story tropes pleasingly familiar to readers, like detectives, wives, husbands, playboys, doctors, moguls, revolutionaries, zealots, and overachievers, and placed them in a world simultaneously strange and familiar. Through it all, the characters remain human. Despite tech that provides enhanced perception, their lives--filled with fears, needs, joys, and love--are our lives, only (as they shoukd be in great fiction) larger than life.

One of the greatest SF writers

Not quite as much hard SF as his other books but still very enjoyable.
As to the reviews that made me hesitate, saying it was too difficult to follow with many timeline jumps, I just have to question people’s ability to concentrate. There were no parts at all that seemed out of place or jarring, easy to follow in my opinion.
Not as great as his other works, commonwealth and Void being my favorites, but certainly time well spent.
Thank you Peter for many, many, many enjoyable hours over the years! Your imagination is legendary.

Get the Timeline and Cast of Characters

I'm only a couple of hours in and I'm hooked. It's everything I expect from Peter F. Hamilton. A note for listeners: The print copy has a map, a timeline and a very helpful cast of characters. If you have a Kindle you can download the free sample and, since these are in the front of the book, they are included. The cast is large and I find it helpful to have a printed list.

Quite simply: the "War and Peace" of sci-fi

Great North Road is truly a masterpiece of literature, all the better because it's sci-fi. Hamilton crafts a richly complex tale of murder and intrigue that gradually expands to an interstellar affair with multiple alien species. The backstories and flashbacks are deliciously detailed and subtly presented to create an onion peeling effect as the tale evolves. The multiple characters are multifaceted with many foibles and failings that are both endearing and identifiable. Hamilton constructs an eminently believable picture of life in the mid-22nd century, especially police procedures and bureaucracy.

The sci-fi elements are varied and comprehensive, but do not overwhelm the story. Included are physics with wormholes, stellar aberrations, quantum state matter, and nanotechnology; biology with rejuvenation, genetic evolution, and unique alien lifeforms; and cyber with electronic implants, complex digital networks, and powerful AI level software. At the same time, Hamilton pays attention to interpersonal and societal relations: realistic family experiences; romance, parental devotion, law enforcement & crime, government bureaucracy, and military. There is heroism & humiliation, ideological rigidity & flexibility, poignant tenderness & vicious ruthlessness, and struggles with decisions on alien genocide & dating partners.

The narration is equally outstanding; all the more given the enormous number of characters. The tone, mood, and pace of delivery are perfect for the story.

Ok storyline...not as good as previous books

Very long and drawn out with too much time spent on explaining unimportant details. Good book to fill time...too long.