Judas Unchained

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 40 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Peter F. Hamilton's superbly imagined, cunningly plotted interstellar adventures are conceived on a staggeringly epic scale and filled with fully realized human and alien characters as complex as they are engaging. No mere world builder, Hamilton creates entire universes - and he does so with irresistible flair and intelligence.

His previous novel, the acclaimed Pandora's Star, introduced the Intersolar Commonwealth, a star-spanning civilization of the 24th century. Robust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy.

Coexistence is impossible with the technologically advanced aliens, who are genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. Twenty-three planets have already fallen to the invaders, with casualties in the hundreds of millions. And no one knows when or where the genocidal Prime will strike next.

Nor are the Prime the only threat. For more than 100 years, a shadowy cult, the Guardians of Selfhood, has warned that an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist - the Starflyer - has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth. Branded as terrorists, the Guardians and their leader, Bradley Johansson, have been hunted by relentless investigator Paula Myo. But now evidence suggests that the Guardians were right all along and that the Starflyer has placed agents in vital posts throughout the Commonwealth - agents who are now sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage?

Caught between two deadly enemies, one a brutal invader striking from without, the other a remorseless cancer killing from within, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before. This will be humanity's finest hour - or its last gasp.

©2006 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"For flat-out huge widescreen all-engines-at-full I-dare-you-not-to-believe-it space opera, there is no one quite like Peter F. Hamilton." (Richard K. Morgan, author of Market Forces)
"Richly satisfying.... In more ways than one, this...work is monumental." ( Publishers Weekly)

a light year a minute

The characters and plot of this scfi epic are fun and believable as long as the reader is willing to turn off all preconceptions as to how life should be, but is a requirement shared by all lovers of this genre. Hamilton is a master of taking nuggets from present science possibilities and extrapolating these into ifinite realms. How does it feel to live in a world of worm holes spanning the galaxy, a world where we can live for millenia and our lives are closely interwoven with machines and aliens live among us. His possible answers are always engrossing and exhillerating.

Good story. Terrible narration.

The story was good, but impossible to follow because the narrator isn't good. The narrator starts every sentence so loud it will burst your audio system, then fades to finish each sentence so quiet it can't be heard over ambient room noise. The engineer should have recognized this issue and fixed it within the first page. Audible would do well to run this recording through a program to set the levels more uniform. Or, just get a better narrator and start over.

Great read!

Loved the book. I came from the expanse series to this and loved It. I'm new to the scifi realm and really loved this expansive story and interesting characters. looking forward the rest of the series.

Epic Space Opera

Whenever I get a Peter F Hamilton book I feel like I'm stealing something from audible. it's 44 hours of amazing entertainment performed by John Lee ( who could possibly be the best reader out there). Hamilton Paints a future in the broadest possible sense giving you a huge epic story thats impossible not to immerse yourself in. I'm downloading the Naked God right now.

Great story writing!

Kept me on the edge - great plot twists and surprises! I suffer from some hearing lose and just about all other narrators come through my Bose over ears headphones clearly. This narrator is fantastic, different voices and accents are so real and whether it’s the narrator or the sound technician the change in volume and his own accent made it hard for me to make out what was being said. You who still have your hearing won’t miss a thing! Over all the series sits in my top favorites! Oh, and all the fooling around by some of the main characters would make me not trust or respect them if they were real people in my real world!

Just fantastic!

What Hamilton does best. Incredible world building! Loved the key characters, narrative structure, and even the info dumps.

You'll miss the characters when finished

This is one of those rare books, which is part of one of those rare series, that actually gets you so involved in the story that you'll miss the characters when you finish "reading". I was Bleary-Eyed for days from non-stop listening when I should have been sleeping.

Number 2 in my number 1 book series

I think that this book was very well written and orated even better. It was the continuation of the story of the "Commonwealth" and the "Primes". It kept me on the edge of my seat and I loved every minute of it... I would highly recommend this book of you like it's prequel "Pandora's Star".

Wow!

I loved the flow of this story. So many twists and turns. Great book.

This is it

I had reservations against Pandora's Star, but this one is the story you thought you were getting back in that first book. Impossible to not enjoy this one if you made it through Pandora's Star. Beautiful ending. Excellent book(s).