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)

A modern master of epic SF does what he does best

I am a huge fan of Peter Hamilton, and, if you like the kind of epic hard-ish space opera that he tends to write, this is yet another amazing novel. It moves from the far future of his recent books to a single-volume near future adventure, but all of things that make Pandora's Star or the Void Trilogy great are here. But, for new readers, you should know that Hamilton tends to write a very specific sort of novel, and this is no exception.

So, here is what you should expect: As in all of his novels, it starts a bit slow, as Hamilton throws you into the world with little explanation, while the viewpoint switches often between many well-rounded characters, most of whom have obvious mysteries in their backstories that will only be slowly revealed. The book therefore takes a bit of patience as a result (though it is never boring) and Hamilton takes his time filling in the details of his plot. As a reader, I find the journey from confusion about the world to eventual understanding to be a huge amount of fun, and it is a pretty standard approach among the best epic space operas (think Alastair Reynolds or Iain M. Banks). If you don't like the same progression, you may wish the novel had more info-dumps, and fewer characters.

There are lots of other standard Hamiltonian elements as well. There are gateways to other worlds and hardboiled detectives who won't give up the case. There is detailed technology (especially military technology) and top-notch worldbuilding, including governmental and economic elements left out of most other science fiction. There are the usual (very) slowly revealed mysteries and complex wheels-within-wheels plot elements. There are lots of high-powered action and adventure sequences. And, at the heart of the (really long) novel, are some fundamental mysteries that keep you listening late into the night.

In short, this is Hamilton at the top of his game, and is much tighter than a lot of his previous work. If you love epic near-future science fiction, this should be an instant buy. Your patience in figuring out the details of the world will be well-rewarded, and the reading is superb.

The journey and those you meet on the way..

Finished! At almost 37 hours in audio format this is a long book. About halfway through the book I asked myself "Did the author write a long book just to write a long book?" 2/3 of the way thought the book I told myself "No, the author did not just write a long book just to write a long book." It starts off as a sci fi suspense novel and builds to a space opera like conclusion. Peter F. Hamilton does a amazing job at writing epic sci fi. This book will take you will take you on a nice journey to meet a good cast of characters and take you to a really cool conclusion. Narrated by Toby Longworth, who I think does a good job. My only complaint about the book and narration is that sometimes it is hard to tell when the scene change is. A large break on a page is a good visual cue that can tell you the scene has changed perceptive. It is hard to relate that in audio. Sometimes a change in voice in an audiobook can tell you the same thing. Unfortunately the narrators range is not a great as the cast of characters.

Narration and Story - a One, Two knockout!

What did you love best about Great North Road?

Hamilton's vision of the future. I want to go to there.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great North Road?

I always enjoy the descriptions of the technology; how basic input/output and data collection devices are woven into society.

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

Geesh - Toby is amazing. Male, Female, British, English - any nationality; doesn't matter. Smoooth and flawless.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It is a 36 hour book - probably not an "all in one sitting" kind of book. And frankly, one needed a break here and there.

Any additional comments?

An easy 5 stars. First off, the narration by Toby Longworth is superb. I've listened to many audio books (pushing 200 now) and this guy has a command of characterization that is genuine genius.

And, while Peter Hamilton is a masterful story-teller, particularly of the space-epic variety, this mystery/sci-fi piece is one of his very best. How many of his books have I read? Five, six? Probably enjoyed this one the most.

If you like well wrought sci-fi and a bit of detective drama then this one will be a memorable experience for you too.

What went wrong with the audio?

What made the experience of listening to Great North Road the most enjoyable?

Long, complex, with ultimate resolution of the "Huh?" parts. I would give it 5 stars for the "overall rating" if the download would have let me continue where I left off.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Angela, of course.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

The audio in the penultimate dowloaded part kept snapping back to the midway point when I turned off my iPod. Had to hunt around for where I left off. Hope this has been fixed.

Wondwrfil

Sort of similar to Hyperion in theme. Well written and all the plot lines tie together at the end. Hamilton delivers great Sci Fi.

Painfully Long & Not Great

I normally like Peter Hamilton books, but my God... this was very hard to get through. It should have been at least 10-15 hrs shorter. It was so slow. If he had the book edited down, it would have been a much better listen.

Epic journey on planet

There was a great threading of story like a tapestry. However the large party evacuating the base required arduous number of repetitive encounters to kill everyone off. Same plot...monster show up, monster kill, nobody can hurt monster, monster leave, repeat AD INFINITUM, AD NAUSEUM. Streamline storyline by starting with fewer evacuees or killing off more folks. In spite of the tedium still a good scifi read

Quality Sci-fi

Superbly written and performed. Memorable, well developed characters. Toby Longworth is a top notch narrator giving each character their own distinct voice and accent. He flows from British to Cockney to American accents effortlessly. Well done, very well done!

Just get it! This one will stay with you!!

Pays off in the last stretch of SF pulpy goodness

A massive deliciously pulpy SF novel with plenty of threads, both personal and epic. Unfortunately the lengthy dead-end investigation and convoluted mystery drag on a bit much. The bulk of the middle deserves skimming. That said, the last 20% of the book does pay off, and the underlying narrative is smartly connected despite seeming otherwise at times. The flashbacks are worthwhile insights into character and setting, and I do like the complicated heroine and the dipping into clashing views on expansion and economy, religion and environment, etc. Do check the character list and timeline to help wade through the 36-hour listen.

overall good but kind of drags

It was a struggle to remain engaged aint engaged with the story when there were some confusing shifts back-and-forth in time. Overall it was good but some of these flashbacks really dragged and act and the internal monologs of characters if of characters went on for pages.