Great North Road

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: Toby Longworth

Length: 36 hrs and 34 mins

Publisher's summary

A century from now, thanks to a technology allowing instantaneous travel across light-years, humanity has solved its energy shortages, cleaned up the environment, and created far-flung colony worlds. The keys to this empire belong to the powerful North family - composed of successive generations of clones. Yet these clones are not identical. For one thing, genetic errors have crept in with each generation. For another, the original three clone "brothers" have gone their separate ways, and the branches of the family are now friendly rivals more than allies.

Or maybe not so friendly. At least that's what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who'd like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he'll make enough enemies to ruin his career. Yet Sid's case is about to take an unexpected turn: Because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood.

The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime. Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.

Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world's political and economic elite...all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.

©2012 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2013 Tantor

Critic reviews

"It's a perfect introduction to his gifts for character design, dialogue, and sheer, big-idea-driven storytelling." ( Booklist)

Awesome audio book!

Possibly the best sci fi novel I've ever listened to. Terrific story, well paced, and narrated with just the right style. I'd read Hamilton's Nights Dawn trilogy, and liked it but thought it was a bit too dark for my taste. Great North Road is just as well written, probably better, but has a more optimistic tone than Nights Dawn.

I'd read another review that said that the book was too long. I disagree. I wish this book were twice as long, so I could listen to another 25 hours!

Great!!! I did not want it to end.

One of the best listens in a while. Even though its long I did not want to leave future Newcastle or the Sirius system. While the book left a few questions in my mind, the story is neatly contained and satisfyingly concluded. The performance is great. I hope there is a sequal in the works or another tale from the same universe,

The story unfolds over space and time with the back story of the main charecture being filled in as a we go along. This can be a bit confusing but makes sense in the end. Well worth the effort.

Best book I've read all year

What did you love best about Great North Road?

First of all for me, Peter Hamilton is one of my favorite sci-fi writers. But I have to say, this book might be one of my all time favorites by him.
I loved all the clones, and a murder mystery that took place on two different planets. I loved the main characters, and how fleshed out they were. Of course this is easy to do, when the book is Ginormous.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Great North Road?

Just finding out all about Angela.

Which character – as performed by Toby Longworth – was your favorite?

I don't think I had a favorite character, however Toby did a great job with the accents. Even had the vowel sounds, spot on for an American midwestern flat accent.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Angela, and Rifka.

Entertaining, but hard to follow sometimes.

Entertaining, but hard to follow sometimes. Many subplots and flashbacks so you must pay close attention to not get lost.

Extremely long and complex, but GOOD!

To enjoy this book, you have to enjoy a LONG story, a complex set of characters and at least three timelines. I would characterize this book as science fiction, so be prepared for LOTS of references to futuristic technology. Very cool.

I was initially concerned: Could I keep track of everyone? But I encourage you to hang on because the result is well worth the effort.

NO SPOILERS HERE:
This is a story about a family of cloned brothers that is prominent on several different worlds and that - in particular - controls fuel production, so they are wildly rich. It is also a story of ecological ethics and carries a Biblical theme (the Garden of Eden comes to mind), in my opinion. "Humanity" is a central character in this book and resurfaces throughout.

It is also a police murder mystery, a convoluted family drama, a commentary on politics, a monster-slasher story, a "who dunnit" and a morality play.

Be prepared for one thing: Author Peter Hamilton periodically thrusts the reader back 20 years, but not necessarily in the order that would immediately clarify certain details. So he will toss you a moment in a brand new character's life for what seems to be no reason at all. Ten hours of listening later, he will bring this character back, and you will think, "AH HAH! I am beginning to get it."

The only reason I gave the story 4 stars is because of the degree of complexity. It will discourage some readers and demands more effort.

As I stated earlier: hang on, and ENJOY!

Terrifically Fun & LONG Story

This book is over 30 hours long which is great for my long commutes. The book has many stories which at first seem unrelated, but slowly the tendrils start to wind together. I couldn't wait to get back in my car to hear more. I haven't read this author before but I will definitely look for more of his books.

The narrator is excellent but he does have an English accent if that bothers you.

Great Book

I have listened to Great North Road probably 8 times over the last year, always a good read!!

apprehensive to excellent

I was quite unsure of making the purchase after the sample listen & reading the story overview. I had put it aside & avoided buying it several times. The reviews helped convince me. Extremely glad I bought it. It started slow & I began to question the "wisdom" of the purchase. It took some getting used to the narrative style (which I have heard before on several other books), not necessarily my favorite, but I found the entire experience grow & grow on me until I was addicted to it. Slow moments only led to greater anticipation of the crescendos of exciting moments. Definitely opera style in its presentation & formatting of the emotional manipulations, again not my preference, but the story carried the lulls to let you appreciate the operatic stylization. Being an action junkie & thrill seeker, I was able to wade through the more benign side stories & spin-offs which did offer base & content to your overall understanding of the characters, situations & direction. Great excitement when it came, not over done and a wonderful ending, surprisingly well thought out &unanticipated. Well done. Thank you!

wow

This is an amazing story. I find it hard to describe though. it's sci-fi but also a detective story. It's a redemption story but also a monster tale. well written, beautifully performed. I highly recommend this book.

The only thing that bothered me was the jumping back and forth from character to character and time. It made it hard to follow at times but that may be thae fault of the reader not the author.

Wonderful

A truly amazing book I'm always a fan of Peter F. Hamilton books this is my 9th book I have listened to thank you so much