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cassie_b's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
If only Hamilton could write endings. I usually enjoy his books despite the ropy final acts & as usual the majority of Fallen Dragon was good fun but the total lack of character development was underlined at the very end & spoiled it by diving headfirst into power imbalance / inappropriate age gap / markedly differing maturity levels relationship territory. I’m relieved to see the publication dates of Fallen Dragon vs Salvation because both reminded me of Dan Simmons, though for different reasons. I’m glad Hamilton moved away from Endymion towards Hyperion during the 20 year gap!
ekfmef's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
How much easier it is to move and start anew than to rectify the institutional, even constitutional, mistakes of a monolithic social system.
A great book that explores this question in a very engaging way.
A great book that explores this question in a very engaging way.
peter_xxx's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book because I wanted to give Peter F Hamilton a try. I had become interessted in him by listening to the SFBRP. And I choose this book, because it is a standalone novel unlike most of his other books.
I really liked this book. It is fast paced, gripping, action packed and thought provoking. The book might be a bit to long and the main character makes some debateable choices in the end, but other than that this is an awesome book.
I highly recommand this.
I really liked this book. It is fast paced, gripping, action packed and thought provoking. The book might be a bit to long and the main character makes some debateable choices in the end, but other than that this is an awesome book.
I highly recommand this.
disorderlydaydreams's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book a bit difficult to follow along on audiobook. There's no clear transition when time jumping or switching character perspective. That's okay though, I sorta figured it out and by the half way mark, we were chugging along fine. Then I got to the 85% and it completely lost me. I had to stop listening and pick up my hardcover copy. I mean the book went from something I could understand to dragons. Dragons but space dragons? After reading the last 15% though, I was able to put together what was going on in a way that was satisfactory for me.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
jessring's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Starts slow and very science heavy like most other Hamilton books but comes together in an in a fun story with some interesting characters. I would've liked a more developed ending.
zolama's review against another edition
1.0
I guess i needed to be reminded that i don't actually like hamilton these days. It's full with his typical technobabble and weird characters and i should have dropped it after chapter 5. I didn't though, so i had to slog through too a lot of stuff that ultimately felt entirely irrelevant and too verbose to be "mindless fun"
let_the_wookie_read's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
cats_coffee_chaos's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book a bit difficult to follow along on audiobook. There's no clear transition when time jumping or switching character perspective. That's okay though, I sorta figured it out and by the half way mark, we were chugging along fine. Then I got to the 85% and it completely lost me. I had to stop listening and pick up my hardcover copy. I mean the book went from something I could understand to dragons. Dragons but space dragons? After reading the last 15% though, I was able to put together what was going on in a way that was satisfactory for me.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
e_t_smith's review against another edition
1.0
By the time I finished it, I hated this book and it's put me off reading anything else by Hamilton.
The low points as I recall them with regret:
* The conflict filling up the first 80% of the book isn't what it's actually about. The story transitions (rather sloppily) to another plot entirely in that last remnant with only vague foreshadowing, leaving the first unresolved. The author probably thought this was clever, but it's actually frustrating.
* The protagonist is a petulant privileged man-child actively opposed to personal growth who, when
* The tone of the book is consistently cynical and pessimistic, repeatedly fumbling into a weak "screw it, why bother" message.
* There are long pointless digressions, the worst being a several-hundred page flashback to a farm on Earth adding no new insights and having no bearing on the rest of the story.
* Probably the most maddening thing about this book is that it has several interesting ideas worth building a good story around, but they get lost in the meandering text. This manuscript desperately needed the attentions of an ax-wielding editor to hack it down to something useful and box the author's ears until he got over his indulgent mid-life crisis sulk.
The low points as I recall them with regret:
* The conflict filling up the first 80% of the book isn't what it's actually about. The story transitions (rather sloppily) to another plot entirely in that last remnant with only vague foreshadowing, leaving the first unresolved. The author probably thought this was clever, but it's actually frustrating.
* The protagonist is a petulant privileged man-child actively opposed to personal growth who, when
Spoiler
offered the one-time opportunity to travel anywhere in time and space, squanders it on jumping back to high school so he can watch his favorite TV show and patch things up with his ex-girlfriend. Turns out this regressive ambition is the central goal of his adult life. By the way, said relationship with ex-girlfriend is fondly recalled almost entirely because she was sexually compliant.* The tone of the book is consistently cynical and pessimistic, repeatedly fumbling into a weak "screw it, why bother" message.
* There are long pointless digressions, the worst being a several-hundred page flashback to a farm on Earth adding no new insights and having no bearing on the rest of the story.
* Probably the most maddening thing about this book is that it has several interesting ideas worth building a good story around, but they get lost in the meandering text. This manuscript desperately needed the attentions of an ax-wielding editor to hack it down to something useful and box the author's ears until he got over his indulgent mid-life crisis sulk.