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)

Go-to guy for modern space opera

Reading a Peter Hamilton novel is really like reading several novels at the same time, each one set in the same universe, all of them connected by overlapping events, and all leading up to the big finale where all of these narrative roads lead. It can be a bit overwhelming, and it definitely involves a commitment. It's more than worth the investment if you find really smart speculation about artificial intelligence, biological solutions to the aging problem, human-machine interfaces, and really cool, scary aliens interesting. This particular collection of sub-novels starts slowly, in spite of the very interesting mystery about how the Prime worlds got trapped inside uber force fields, but as soon as the Primes are introduced, things get truly fascinating. Hamilton does a wonderful job of thinking through the details of this truly alien way of organizing life and intelligence. The aliens, even though they are really malevolent, were the most fascinating characters in the book. Others have commented that there is too much detail and too much character development in the novel, but I did not find that to be the case. Everyone in the story is compelling in some fashion, and the way Hamilton eventually weaves all of their lives together is masterful. The novel is truly operatic in scope, sometimes over the top, and always interesting. I had none of the audio issues discussed by others, but the narration is just okay -- not up to the novel itself.

Good book, very unique alien bad guys

What made the experience of listening to Pandora's Star the most enjoyable?

A lot of book for the money. Multiple story points and some cool bad guy aliens.

Who was your favorite character and why?

MorningLightMountain was the coolest alien I've ready about in a long time. Seems like SciFi aliens all get similar after awhile but I've never read about one like this.

What about John Lee’s performance did you like?

Overall it was very good. Although he tends to bleed story lines together with no break so it's hard to tell sometimes when the story line changes.

Lots of Fun for Fans of "Space Opera"

Although I am a long-time science fiction fan, Mr. Hamilton's work was new to me. Starting with a cracklingly funny introduction, where two young scientists using wormholes beat the official government expedition to be the first humans on Mars, and moving on to a later struggle of humanity with an imaginative form of hostile intelligent life, this is an enjoyable novel with many strands of stories woven together, but fitting well.

What I took to be the ending sucked until...

I found out that there is a sequel which is the second half of the story. With that realization I can enthusiastically say that this is one fantastic story.

Epic, gripping...could not stop listening.

What did you love best about Pandora's Star?

I love the original ideas about faraway worlds, and distinctive characters, and the tension that builds and is finally released to great effect.

What did you like best about this story?

I like the scale of the story and the unique perspectives, from larger-than-life characters, diverse venues, and bizarre aliens.

Which scene was your favorite?

My favorite scene was the Prime first contact on Dyson Alpha.

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

Definitely was hard to put down.

Any additional comments?

Looking forward to the subsequent books in the Commonwealth series!

Be careful what you wish for

Pandora's Star is a space opera on a grand scale. The year is 2380. Many inhabitable planets are now part of a system know as the Commonwealth. The planets with plants secreting acid that burns through your space suit are considered off limits. Thanks to stem cell research in Europe, that was banned in America, your body can be rejuvenated. Your memories recorded and stored in a crystal at the base of your brain. Nobody really dies but you can live for hundreds of years and be young but with a lifetime of memories and knowledge. OC tattos, or organic computer, make your body connected to the Unisphere, the internet that is vast and shared with all the planets. A complex interstellar wormhole transport system, the CST, connects planets of the Commonwealth making travel to far away planets quick and easy. And amazingly enough all the planets of the Commonwealth are at peace. There are aliens and humans living in harmony.

One night while star gazing, astronomer Dudley Bose makes an simple observation of a lifetime. Something that will boost his lackluster career. Dudley sees a star 1000 light years away disappear. Simply vanish. Loads of speculation begins about what this could mean and how this could happen and why. It is as if a giant force field surrounded the star system. But who has the technology for this and why would they do this? Is it to trap the beings inside or keep others out? Or is there another reason. This star system is too far outside the Commonwealth to use the wormhole system to reach but the government wants to sent a ship there to investigate. But some mysteries are better left alone.

I enjoyed it and it kept me interested. There were some very clever concepts used in an extremely original way. You have to be patient with the first half of the book because everything he introduces has a purpose. I am not, however, in love with this book. Why? Because of the length and the vast number of characters (at least 70) and the pacing. It follows multiple characters and many seemingly disconnected story lines and for the first 300 pages or so you feel like there is no way all of these stories and characters can be brought together into a cohesive story line. But by the middle of the book I am on the edge of my seat with the suspense cheering and in shock, and at times laughing, only to have the rug pulled out from me by the story going in another direction and get bogged down with political discussion. It was like here is 300 pages of intriguing world building. Then 200 pages of why are these multitude characters being thrown into the book. Then I can't put this book down for another 75 pages. And then I am bored out of my mind with the political B.S. and family dynasty crap. Also there were some 21st century concepts and technology that to me would seem outdated in this time period. But by the end I am literally baffled by a strange cliffhanger ending and wanted to read the 2nd half of these two books because I invested so much time into reading about these characters.

John Lee does an excellent job with the voices, although the American accent is not quiet right, I can give him a pass on this. On to Judas Unchained but I think I will read the e-book to get through it quicker. 47 hrs is a lot of time to spend listening to one book.

if you stick with it its worth the effort

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

it's a good book but has a lot of wordy background(not bad if you like lots of small details but hard to know whats going on until later when everything falls into place)

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

yes it was but would be impossible its way to long

awesome production!

The story is intriguing and I could not stop listening. The author weaves a vast, complex world.

Likewise, the performance was good!

My only complaint is this: the novel jumps among many different story lines and it can be difficult to tell when those jumps occur and which story line it is. They really should have included distinct and obvious pauses at each jump.

Slow to start, great finish

Would you be willing to try another one of John Lee’s performances?

Unfortunately the weakest part of the experience was the narrator. It felt as if every american-accent was a bad impersonation of Captain Kirk - he'd quickly switch from melodramatic highs to near-whisper lows, almost dropping to the point where understanding was difficult. And whenever the characters hit an emotional or shouting moment, he did a sort of whisper shout which just sounded strange. His narration was great, but anytime he did dialogue I was in pain - although I got used to it by the end of this 37 hour marathon.

Any additional comments?

The book was really slow to get going - I feel its a bit of a fiction sin to have this many characters on this many worlds and then just dump the reader in the middle of it. Establishing all of his characters and the scope of the world took far too long. Honestly if I hadn't paid for the book, I'd never have finished it, I was so bored during the first 20 hours. He had moments of interesting things happening, but then you'd have to slog through another five hours of listening to characters you didn't care about doing things that weren't remotely interesting. However, once I made it past all of this, the book started to really pick up. He had some amazing moments in the later third of the volume that make some of the tedium worthwhile, especially when you realize the scope of the disaster that Humanity finds itself in - and the enemy he's created for humanity was incredibly fascinating and terrifying. I definitely don't regret listening to this book, even though I think the first portion could have been more carefully edited for pacing. I really look forward to the sequel, knowing that it won't have to bother with nearly so much establishment.

Good Story and a little hard to follow

If you could sum up Pandora's Star in three words, what would they be?

Long, Detailed, Good

What did you like best about this story?

The story is very well written. Maybe even a little too well written. It is long and there are a lot of mini plots to follow. When the reader changes from one plot to the next there isn't pause which makes it difficult to follow.

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

I like the way the reader has a different voice for each character. I became confused at times when the