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 story sometimes bogs down in details

I liked the story a lot. All of the different plot lines woven together made for an exciting galactic-wide story. I did have some trouble following for the first couple of chapters. There didn't seem to be a lot of warning that the story had changed to another thread or viewpoint, but once I started following the different threads it got much easier.

The writer put a tremendous amount of detail into this book and it added a lot of value given the nature of the story and the technologies introduced, but it did also at times bog down the overall flow. I listened to this at 2x and, while I was never really bored, I did find my mind wandering to other things because the level of excitement and intrigue was lacking during some portions. This is the only reason I rate it a 4 star.

The narrator was great. He kept the story moving and had some interesting voices for some of the characters. I quite enjoyed listening to the story.

I already have the next book in the series, but will have to take a break and listen to something else before I dive into it... even though this book ended on a tremendous cliff-hanger. Looking forward to it in a few weeks or so though.

Hamilton has created an intricate view of future

The author builds a world that speculates on what humans and reality might look like if rejuvenation by cloning were possible. He provides an in-depth view of its' science, technology, politics and warfare, as well as the every day lives of some of the characters. Throw in mysteries about a murder and the identity of at least one of the villains and it all makes an interesting listen.

This is an unabridged version so I predict you will encounter some boring parts. I guess which ones are boring to you will depend on what you are looking for. In my case, for example, I enjoyed the sections on how the powerful families manipulate what happens in the Commonwealth. On the other hand, slogging through an hour plus on the development of "emotiles" was punishing for me.

The number of "major" characters in this work is very large. While I listened to the audio version, there were times when I wished I had read it instead. The numerous characters, locations and plot points requires real concentration not to miss something. If you are looking for an easy listen, skip this one! I gave the narrator five stars because he did a really great job over 37 hours of (mostly) making the individual voices distinguishable. The only performance complaint I had was wishing there were decent pauses between chapters. However, that might be attributed to a need to keep the production time down in an already very long work, so I didn't want to ding the narrator for this issue.

Everyone will have their own favorite characters. Among the "major' players, mine is the enigmatic Bradley Johannsen and his single pointed dedication to eliminating the Star Flyer, an alien who most people think is a fantasy. I also enjoyed the sections on Mark and Liz, willing to take the chance of restructuring their lives to be happier, despite the cultural pressures of the Commonwealth. One of my least favorite characters is Paula Myo. Hamilton casts her in a way that you have to accept that she is who she is and isn't capable of change. While I won't give away the details, there is an incident about her "parents" where I have difficulty accepting her reactions. Her inability to have any empathy for the effect her actions regarding her parents will have on her sister is disturbing to me. Therefore, I was unable to connect with her even though her role is meant to be one of the "good guys." I'm not sure if it was intentional but the way Hamilton casts Paula is an interesting example of how we humans are complicated and shouldn't be easily cast into simplistic views of what is a "hero" vs. a "villain." Perhaps this is why Bradley is one of my favorite characters.

One note about purchasing this book. I got it on a daily deal months ago and just finally got around to it. Somehow I didn't see or later forgot that this is the first of two books (an understandable error given that Pandora's Star is over 37 hours). So I was surprised when I got down below 10 hours and it felt as if the story wasn't going to be wrapped up, Going back to the website, I saw that there is a part two, Judas Unchained. While the reviews on it aren't terrific, I plan to continue anyway to get closure after such a long listening investment. For anyone like myself who is on the annual $10 "light" plan, I would suggest buying the Kindle version and then the audio book at reduced price for buying both, since the full price for Judas Unchained is quite hefty for those of us who don't have credits. This way makes it quite a bargain for 40+ hours of listening, greatly improving my long work day commutes. Happy listening!

Looking forward to Part 2--30+ hours sailed by

My favorite part of this story was getting to know all of the characters/planets/socio-political groups. This is some pretty thick Sci-Fi. There is no warning when you jump from one to the next, so it's a little confusing at first, but fun when you get the hang of it.
The narration is amazing. Really. He changes his voice just enough from character to character that you know who is speaking, but it's not strained or overly "acted," just really truly very honestly well and smoothly read.

Good story, irritating narrator

I enjoyed the story. The only problem is that there were SO many story lines, and I never found them to come together. The problem I had with the narrator is that he's so veddy Bditish. He never said an "R" and pronounced words like "shedule" the British way, so I came out of the story about every third word. But interesting and imaginative story about future planets and a First Contact.

I want an e-butler!

I can't believe how much is going on in this book. Besides humans, there are at least 4 other types of developed sentient species and all are very different. There is genocide. There are hundreds of developed planets, and they are quite different. Earth still exists and it appears to be less crowded and under strict environmental regulation. There is genetic manipulation. There is resurrection and reliving. There are individuals with 1000 years of memories, as well as "first-lifers." There is murder. There are terrorists/resistence fighters. And you really have to pay attention, as there are a lot of characters and, at first, seemingly unrelated characters and events. But, you quickly learn that no one appears and nothing happens that is not going to be important later!

The technology is quite impressive and used for transportation, education, reproduction, and just about anything you can think of. I was quite envious of the e-butler - the PDA of the future!

I did not realize this was a series so was quite shocked at the ending and ready to give the book a 3 for leaving me hanging. But having discovered there is more to come, I am relenting and going back to the 5 stars it had just before the last sentence and buying the the next installment! For a more detailed review, see my review on Goodreads.

Excellent Listen

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

36 hour single session? No way. :)

Any additional comments?

If I had one complaint about this production it was regarding John Lee's knack for not pausing when the narrative POV changed. A couple times it threw me off.

Great

The story was fantastic. I found John Lee's narration solid, but a little monotonous in tone. I would gladly listen to it again and highly recommend it to others.

excellent. but audio recording mediocre

what an amazing story well-written. unfortunately the audio is not that great. the volume comes up and down; however the narrator is exceptionally good

loved the book, the whole series really

Great series, love the details it really feels like a living world, and A future you'd wish to live in.

Great story

If you love hard Science fiction this is the ticket. This is a classic work of the genre.