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)

Great start to the series

I read through the culture series, and was looking for my next scifi fix, I'm very happy so far with this.

Narration has serious audio engineering issues

Narration has serious audio engineering issues including glitches and terrible dynamic range compression
too bad

Narration Was Maddening At Times

I almost didn't make it past the first 2 hours of the audiobook. The narrator was constantly dropping the volume of the last couple words of each sentence, so that I just couldn't hear what he was saying. It was like he was constantly moving toward the mic, then away from the mic - over and over and over again. It was maddening. It got better as the book went on, but there were still many shorter periods throughout the book where the same thing happened. Aside from that (which is major!), the performance was excellent. The book itself is long and complicated with many characters. This is the sort of book where it would be nice to be able to go back a couple pages and re-read something (especially when the narration becomes inaudible,). After 45 hours of listening, I realize that there are still some basic ideas and characters that I 'missed' full understanding of. And, of course, the book ends with nothing resolved...except going to the next book in the series (which I will eventually do). I do think I'll get the Kindle version, however.

Good Book

Really great contemporary Sci-Fi. A true Space Opera. Peter F. Hamilton is a total genius.

Great story with a big imagination

Enjoyed. Would be nice to have verbal break between scenes to tell when the narrator is going from one scene to the next. tough to tell from only the context sometimes.

Fantastic book, terrible audio.

The greatness of this book is somewhat overshadowed by the inexcusable audio quality. Tantor Media should be ashamed to have let this one out of the studio in it's current condition. Audio on the first few chapters are the worst, so if you can power though those then you can probably get through the rest.

Wow

This novel has everything. Characters, plot, timing and imagination. I can't wait to hear the sequel. Gonna get it now.

World class scifi

Any additional comments?

I am sure i will listen to all the Peter Hamilton books available, because he writes world class science fiction, his books are on the longer side which I like. The narration on his books have so far been very good. If you are a science fiction buff give Peter Hamilton a try he is as good as anybody out there now that i've come across.

Engrosing story, but the narration lacked a bit

I'm still in Part 4, but I'm really enjoying the whole story line. I'll agree that I wish there were longer pauses when the book transitions from one perspective to the next. There have been quite a few times where I didn't realize the previous perspective had ended and a new one began.

I also have some issues with the narrators accent, but for me it's only when he says "exploritory", which comes out more like "exploditody". And he says it quite a number of times throughout the whole book.

I also have issue with the way the audio was mixed for Part 1. There was no balance between high's and low's. One moment the narrator is accenting a word, blowning out your ear's, and so I turn the volume down on my Ipod. The next, he's whispering so low that I can't hear a thing and have to turn it up, only to have my ears yelled in a few seconds later. Part 1 almost made me give up on the book. But I'm glad I didn't because the audio problems seem to be resolved by Part 2.

The depth that Hamilton gives his characters personalities, even when they are the shallowest of individuals, really draws you into the story. And as should be when creating a strange new world, the comprehensable detail he gives to the foreign worlds, aliens, and technologies has kept me listening for hours. I can't wait to listen to the rest of the story, yet I don't want it to end. An excelent buy!

Wonderful Expansive Book

What a fun first half of a book. Such an expansive universe of characters and diverging plot lines. I really enjoyed this book. The best sci-fi I've read in a long time. My only complaint is the audio level in the reading. John Lee does a great job of reading, but sometimes he's to quiet and then sometimes to loud. The result is I have to turn up the volume loud enough to hear the dialog, but then abruptly get my eardrums blown out by a loud part. It's not so bad with headphones, but in the car it's almost a deal breaker. That said I liked the story enough to stick with it. It is that good. It's too bad audible didn't have a sound leveling feature because that would fix this problem.