4.02 AVERAGE


Pandora's Star was the second book I read as part of the monthly No Elves! group. The first book I read for the group was Connie Willis's Doomsday Book, an all-time favorite. That selection, plus a glance at the list of books the group read before I joined, gave me the confidence I needed to begin Pandora's Star, a cinderblock of a book that checks in at just over 1,000 pages. I made it to the end of the book, but I did so with sharply decreasing satisfaction. Pandora's Star might be just the thing for some readers - author Peter F. Hamilton's success makes that seem very likely - but it was not at all for me.

The book's shifting points-of-view, a device I have enjoyed in many other books, was off-putting in Pandora's Star. Hamilton's cast of characters is vast, and I found myself genuinely interested in only a small handful of significant figures. When these characters took center stage, I was all in, but I found this happened much too rarely. I found the book a real chore when lengthy chapters focused on characters who interested me only a little.

Strangely, perhaps, I finished the book with a desire to read at least one more of Hamilton's novels. I have yet to do that, but I hope to do a bit of research online sometime soon, then choose a book that will give me a second look at Hamilton's work.

smedders89's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

One of the few books I didn't finish. I tried, I really did, I got halfway through when I finally gave up.

I found the pacing barely existent. That's the main problem I had. The world was very richly described, but too much so. The description killed the pacing so that even scenes which were supposed to be exciting came across as dull.

I found no characters I could relate to or even like. Virtually everyone was living a privileged life and there was virtually nothing to make them interesting.

Apparently the last two hundred or so pages are good, but I just couldn't get through the first eight hundred. It's a shame but not the book for me at the end of the day.

The second-to-last line of this book is "You got to be F'in kidding me!" I couldn't have said it better myself.

I can see how many readers would love this novel. It's a sweeping panorama of science-fiction/alien contact/Commonwealth vastness. The "world building" is on an epic scale and there are numerous characters to follow.

But for me, I just couldn't get into it. Perhaps it was too vast and sweeping. Perhaps there were too many characters for my taste. There was a murder/detective story in there that was pretty drawn out and seemed to have very little to do with the rest of the plot at least until near the end of the book. All of the female characters seemed identical and the author took great pains to point out how beautiful and sexy they were. I didn't notice anything like that with the male characters.

And the book doesn't end. There is a cliff hanger ending, after nearly 1100 pages of reading with no warning that this was just the first volume of a 2-part novel. Sort of a pet peeve of mine.

I may someday tackle part two of this grandiose novel but it's not on my to-be-read-next list.

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

Pros
  1. Broad scope: You can do so much in a sci-fi world, and this book is probably the most expansive in scope that I've ever encountered. I liked seeing all the different worlds and different philosophies, the tech involved, certain alien species, etc. Feels quite realistic in way to see just how rich you can be across wealth accumulated across planets of industry, more humble lives, rejuvenation (and all the extremely creepy relationships with first-lifers), SI, etc. But there's still some mystery out there.
  2. The final battle in the book.
  3. Extracting your brain...the most frightening, horrifying thing I've read in a long time. The impersonal and calm probing, wondering why that orifice is making noise, the red and yellow liquid oozing out. Why don't these ones self-heal? Oh...I think that one is damaged and can't be fixed. Gimme that brain. Oh shit, maybe we've fucked up. Welp, we've got another one we can poke and prod some.


Cons
  1. I had to consult a list of characters online because I often forgot who people were. It's a long ass book, so I wish we had a list/cast to cross reference people and their jobs. (And also names of planets referenced.)
  2. Sometimes a little description heavy, but didn't happen too often.
  3. Apparently everyone's hot when they're young...but I guess nearly everyone's getting work done/enhancements.
  4. Really creepy relations are happening all over the place...but I guess everyone's so enlightened no one has a problem with it?

It takes a while to really get going and does at times feel like there’s too many plot threads going on at once, but when things got moving it was really engaging and enjoyable.

There are several very interesting plot points and sci-fi elements in this novel. The main antagonists are fascinating, the consequences of practical immortality are intriguing, and the mystery aspects are engaging. The author can generally be forgiven for straight-up copying sci-fi fixtures from other works like Hyperion.

Unfortunately they are spread thin throughout what is often a more tedious narrative. Pandora's Star employs several points of view within each chapter, bouncing around between roughly seven different perspectives. Some of these seem to serve little or no purpose in advancing the overall plot, and instead are just excursions of worldbuilding. Others have such an outlandish turn partway through that they strain credulity. I feel the book would benefit from being much shorter and more direct.

Fantastic book if you love Science Fiction (which I do). It's got everything you want in it!

The book is long and detailed, so I'd probably not recommend this one to people who aren't already super into the genre.


Consider this a review for both Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. This is hands-down my favourite sci-fi book series of all time. You simply MUST read it if you're a sci-fi fan. There are a couple of side-plots that are underwhelming, but overall this is a real page turner.
adventurous challenging mysterious tense slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: No
Loveable characters: No
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: No
adventurous medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes