Pandora's Star

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 37 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such SF giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton's best-selling fiction - powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills - has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction.

Now, with Pandora's Star, he begins a new multi-volume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet. The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some 400 light-years in diameter, contains more than 600 worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over 1,000 light-years away, a star...vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears.

Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him. Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer.

Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends. Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated.

Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery, the unleashing of which will threaten to destroy t...

©2004 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The depth and clarity of the future Hamilton envisions is as complex and involving as they come." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

Save it for the Kindle.

I love reading Hamilton's books, but John Lee is a rough pairing for the narration. Lee has a decent enough speaking voice, but Hamilton has such broad stories with so many plots and such a wide range of characters that the fairly limited vocal variation makes it difficult distinguish the characters and get into things.

It took me approximately 10 hours before my brain managed to latch on to the individual plots and characters, at which point the story improved tremendously. Before that everything tended to run together and I'd lose track of things.

Maybe I'm spoiled by Ray Porter managing to make a dozen versions of the same character vocally distinct, or the ever awesome R.C. Bray who one could mistake for a full cast, but this doesn't work for me.

Good, but...

The story was amazingly in depth a bit too much so at times but other than that my only real issue with the book is how it ended (listen/read to find out what I mean).

The reason its 4 not 5 stars for me is the narration. It sounds as if it might be a bit too compressed as the volume ramps up and down through the sentences. Either the audio tech had too many sliders set to "auto volume" or the narrator kept moving away from the mic... very annoying for me and was almost a stopper but the story kept me going.

Awesome book. One of my favorites

It's not often that I purchase a book a second time. I did to get this on Audible so I can listen to it. It's even more rare for me to read/listen to a book, a second time. The story of Pandora's star is a very interestingly developed world that happens to have a great story with it. It can drag at times, and get a little confusing with the diverse locations and characters, but really, that is pretty rare. The story is also terrific at building up to a massive crescendo.

If you are on the fence, pick this book up. It's really that good. Great writing, interesting characters, great speculative science fiction. You won't go wrong reading (or listening) to Pandora's Star. John Lee is also a terrific narrator.

Captivating but somewhat disjointed.

Where does Pandora's Star rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Middle of the pack.

What other book might you compare Pandora's Star to and why?

It's like no other book I have either read or listened to.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

It's my first John Lee book but he does an excellent job.

Any additional comments?

Some of the character development is unnecessarily long and adds little if anything to the overall plot and one of those subplots ends as a cliffhanger. What's that all about. It's worth listening to the end but it had it's moments where I wanted to bail out as it is very long.

Exceptional SciFi

Love the variety of aliens, characters,politics, wormholes, interstellar travel...this book has it all. Reader does a really good job.

Good Yarn in Desperate Need of a Good Editor

First, let me say that I will download and listen to the sequel, Judas Unchained. That says something about how engaging the story line and characters are. Having said that, not since 19th century British lit have I read an author who loves to describe everything in excruciating detail. I would often speed up the playback to race through long descriptions of an apartment or an office chair. I generally hate abridged versions, but halfway through this novel, I longed for one.

This is an excellend Sci-Fi novel

Would you consider the audio edition of Pandora's Star to be better than the print version?

In most cases I believe the audio format is better than printed, as the performer is able to add inflection and change his tone or pitch for different characters. This performer is no different.

While the reading doesn't sound as professional as many Audio books do, the performance is unique. The reader is able to give the listener the impression that the Characters voice is raised without actually yelling into the mic. I haven't found that happening in many of these audio book readings before.

Overall the Story line is superb and the recording is excellent. I highly recommend.

Only con: The story and it's tracks could be broken up more. I haven't lost my place yet, but doing it 3.6 hours into an 8 hour track would really stink to try and find my place.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

His voice and impressions.

long to listen and lots happening

there are lots of little side stories that go into great detail that eventually link back to the main story line.

First time I have had to force myself to listen to a book

I have spent a long time thinking about why I didn’t completely enjoy this book/performance. What I have concluded is that it was just a perfect storm. The narrator seems (to me at least) like he is hardly interested and is just going through the motions. The content itself is highly interesting and sparks my imagination but bounces around so much that I lose focus on where the performer is in the reading; might be due to either or, or even both the narrator and/or content. Sorry if this seems unclear but I guess it’s just hard to explain.

Wow... just WOW!

I've never heard of Pandora's star, but audible suggested it for me and I took their suggestion. wow, what an incredible story. I enjoyed every minute of it. some of the story travels so fast it's hard to keep up with, and other places seem to drag, but the overall pacing is spot-on, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The quality of the recording is not the best, but it's worth it to hear someone read this incredible story. my only other critique is this, the ending is rather abrupt! I highly recommend this for anyone who enjoys sci-fi.