Judas Unchained

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 40 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Peter F. Hamilton's superbly imagined, cunningly plotted interstellar adventures are conceived on a staggeringly epic scale and filled with fully realized human and alien characters as complex as they are engaging. No mere world builder, Hamilton creates entire universes - and he does so with irresistible flair and intelligence.

His previous novel, the acclaimed Pandora's Star, introduced the Intersolar Commonwealth, a star-spanning civilization of the 24th century. Robust, peaceful, and confident, the Commonwealth dispatched a ship to investigate the mystery of a disappearing star, only to inadvertently unleash a predatory alien species that turned on its liberators, striking hard, fast, and utterly without mercy.

Coexistence is impossible with the technologically advanced aliens, who are genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. Twenty-three planets have already fallen to the invaders, with casualties in the hundreds of millions. And no one knows when or where the genocidal Prime will strike next.

Nor are the Prime the only threat. For more than 100 years, a shadowy cult, the Guardians of Selfhood, has warned that an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist - the Starflyer - has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth. Branded as terrorists, the Guardians and their leader, Bradley Johansson, have been hunted by relentless investigator Paula Myo. But now evidence suggests that the Guardians were right all along and that the Starflyer has placed agents in vital posts throughout the Commonwealth - agents who are now sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage?

Caught between two deadly enemies, one a brutal invader striking from without, the other a remorseless cancer killing from within, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before. This will be humanity's finest hour - or its last gasp.

©2006 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"For flat-out huge widescreen all-engines-at-full I-dare-you-not-to-believe-it space opera, there is no one quite like Peter F. Hamilton." (Richard K. Morgan, author of Market Forces)
"Richly satisfying.... In more ways than one, this...work is monumental." ( Publishers Weekly)

A sweeping saga

This is a huge story, which expands across planets and solar systems. I forgot how many characters that a Peter Hamilton book contains. When I started listening, I thought he would never link all the character stories, but the ending left me satisfied. The science was great. I also enjoyed thinking about the philosophical question, "If we have the technology to cause a belligerent race to become extinct, do we have the right?".

Great Book

Would you listen to Judas Unchained again? Why?

Yes, it's a really complicated story line in which you catch more every time you listen to it. I'll need to listen to it a few times just to learn all the character names.

What didn’t you like about John Lee’s performance?

Not so much the performance as the fact that paragraphs run together without a break. Scenes change without notice or pause and I was confused a lot as to what was happening when the change of scene happened. This is John Lee's best reading I've heard, I can't normally stand books he reads.

Any additional comments?

Lots of characters. I had to take notes.

Great story, wide and deep.

What made the experience of listening to Judas Unchained the most enjoyable?

Makes you want to live in this world. Gripping story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Paula Myo - she cant help herself being so strict. I am like this...

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

Reading it with different voices.

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

Yes - if I had time. I did start liking traffic jams and made my runs longer.

Any additional comments?

Cant wait to listen to the void trilogy.

Thank Goodness....

Thank goodness there was a second book in this series! I'm loving this more than the first one...

Best science fiction out there. hands down!

I've read these books twice and now. I'm listening to them on audible because it just doesn't get any better.

Better than the first book

Because Hamilton has already built much of his commonwealth galaxy, the second book is focused more on actually telling the narrative and less on world building.

Overall a satisfying conclusion.

Enjoyed it a lot

John Lee does a fine job of narrating a long and complex story, working hard to keep his characters consistent throughout. I hope Audible will consider adding to the Peter Hamilton items in the library.

Excellent hard sci-fi

This is a long, convoluted story spanning a large cast of characters and many worlds but it still manages to keep me sitting in my car after my commute completely enthralled. The Sci-Fi feels very plausible and the author seems to really understand how technology changes society. The reader does a great job, occasionally slipping up on an accent or doubling up several characters with the same voice but given the huge cast and great length that's not surprising.

Great story, audio had some annoying problems

I thoroughly enjoyed the story, and I’m writing this at 3am after finishing the last couple of riveting chapters. I can’t recommend this story enough!

The only problem I had was the hugely annoying audio issues in the first parts. The audio was recorded with incorrect compressor settings, which resulted in the first syllable of each sentence being incredibly loud followed by it rapidly becoming quiet. With every volume knob at maximum, I would suffer between a shouted word, followed by the trailing off audio that required rewinding several times to catch what was said throughout several chapters.

excellent plot and well developed characters

I love the vision of the world the author created and how he uses it to explore challenging ethical questions that are critical to the evolution and resolution of this story. Aspects of the story are somewhat formulaic, but much is extremely original. Very well crafted overall....