Night Without Stars

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Following the astonishing The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Night Without Stars is the epic second and final part to Peter F. Hamilton's Chronicle of the Fallers.

The planet Bienvenido is in crisis. It has finally escaped the Void, emerging into regular space. But it's millions of light-years from Commonwealth assistance, and humans are battling the Fallers for control of their world. This rapacious adversary, evolved to destroy all sentient life, has infiltrated every level of human society – hijacking unwilling bodies so its citizens fear their leaders, friends and family.

A mysterious figure known as the Warrior Angel leads a desperate resistance. She's helped by forbidden Commonwealth technology, which gives her a crucial edge. But the government obstructs the Angel's efforts at every turn, blinded by prejudice and technophobia. As Fallers also prepare to attack from the skies, she might need to incite rebellion to fight this invasion. But the odds seem impossible.

Then astronaut Ry Evine uncovers one last hope. On a mission against the enemy, his spacecraft damages an unidentified vessel. This crash-lands on the planet carrying unexpected cargo: a baby. This extraordinary Commonwealth child possesses knowledge that could save them all. But if the Fallers catch her, the people of Bienvenido will not survive.

Critic reviews

A thrilling, multi-viewpoint ride . . . ties all the loose ends together in a satisfying denouement

Roars relentlessly along in utterly mesmerizing style, with edge-of-the-seat plotting, thrilling action, and knife-edge tension that will leave readers gasping. An atomic blast of a yarn. Hamilton in peak form and absolutely not to be missed

Hamilton delivers on all the expectations set by The Abyss Beyond Dreams . . . pacing and exciting concepts keep the momentum fast and tensions high until a satisfying resolution

A very entertaining read which, like all of Hamilton's novels, seems to whip by

An action-packed page-turner. Highly recommended

Night without Stars is a tremendous novel. It is vast, ambitious and wondrous

Definitely one of my favorite books of all time.

The narrator did a fantastic job and he sounded like what I believe Nigel Sheldon would sound like in reality.

One of the best things you can listen to.

If you don't like grab space opera than Hamilton is not for you.
But if you do, the commonwealth series is possibly the best you can find. And this latest installment holds up wonderfully.
Enjoy.

Satisfying ending to nice in-between storyline

* No spoilers *
The two tomes that make up the Chronicles of the Fallers are kind of a mini series within a larger millennia-spanning saga. The chronicles are not exactly sequels or prequels, but a separate storyline following some known but mostly new characters in The Void en beyond. Of course Nigel and Paula are great old-time favorites to draw you into this new storyline, and the new supporting cast is everything you can by now expect from Hamilton.

As for the plot, this one is more political than the rest of the saga, as it follows the development of a new, kind of communist, society. The political angle made for a different kind of vibe throughout the Chronicles, one that I found less enchanting than the saga as a whole, because to me the saga is brilliant SF&F, not a political novel. It also made for less sympathetic characters, as several of them work for this communist regime, hunting down others in quite the fascist way. Like I said, different atmosphere - and then the long, long hours it takes to listen to these novels do not by any means fly past as quickly as with the Commonwealth & Void novels. I found myself listening to quite a lot of other content in between chapters, because these Chronicles didn't hold my attention as well.

Nevertheless, still great enough storytelling to warrant 5 stars, especially when compared to other audiobooks, and also with the very satisfying ending, that also ties together any lingering questions you might have had about the ending (and esp. the characters) of the The Void trilogy.
And narration is brilliant as always, I've become a big fan of John Lee thanks to the Hamilton novels.

amazing space opera!

Omg, just went out for Japanese. Pretty sure this is what second trimester feels like. I think I just felt it kick

Brilliant second part of the story

The narration is excellent, the narrator knows how to do Peter f Hamilton stories.
The story is so rich and detailed. The future technology and not so future technology fits in so well.

I kept wanting to hear more of the story, it was hard to pause or stop listening as I wanted to know what was going to happen.

Just a brilliant page turner or just another few minutes of listening to find out the next amazing part of the story.