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tshim's review
4.0
Mary Sues, Gary Stus, flat characters, smut out the wazoo, spelling errors, pacing problems, and an ending that is quite literally Deus Ex Machina... And yet I still read this series once every couple of years. Why? Because the rest of the series is pure, unadulterated awesome. This is truly an exemplar of how fun 'rule of cool' can be.
If you're willing to suffer through its flaws, you won't find a funner, more interesting trilogy. Perks include:
***bioengineered spaceships
***wormhole-generating starship engines with a twist: they don't work in gravity wells. This also leads to one of the COOLEST chase scenes in biblio history, and consequently the most hilarious, badass nickname I've ever come across.
***believable, interesting aliens with actual, interesting psychological differences from humans
***beautifully believable jargon and slang that lend the world an incredibly real feel.
***Edenists, tied with the Culture for coolest scifi society. They're a people with an artificial telepathy/empathy gene, letting them a) be supernally well-adjusted from growing up in such a supportive, welcoming, empathetic environment, and b) function as a perfect democracy when needed.
***Some of, if not THE, coolest space battles, sci-fi hand-to-hand combat, and futuristic shoot-outs in all of fiction.
Vague spoilers:
***Al Capone with magic, building an interstellar empire. I dare not say more.
If you're willing to suffer through its flaws, you won't find a funner, more interesting trilogy. Perks include:
***bioengineered spaceships
***wormhole-generating starship engines with a twist: they don't work in gravity wells. This also leads to one of the COOLEST chase scenes in biblio history, and consequently the most hilarious, badass nickname I've ever come across.
***believable, interesting aliens with actual, interesting psychological differences from humans
***beautifully believable jargon and slang that lend the world an incredibly real feel.
***Edenists, tied with the Culture for coolest scifi society. They're a people with an artificial telepathy/empathy gene, letting them a) be supernally well-adjusted from growing up in such a supportive, welcoming, empathetic environment, and b) function as a perfect democracy when needed.
***Some of, if not THE, coolest space battles, sci-fi hand-to-hand combat, and futuristic shoot-outs in all of fiction.
Vague spoilers:
***Al Capone with magic, building an interstellar empire. I dare not say more.
lorune's review
5.0
One of the most challenging books/serie i even read. The sheer size of the books is so daunting when you start in the first book.
The story is not overly complex in the general sense, however its told from quite a few different angles, so expect yourself to be going over already read pages to figure out where u heard that guy's name before.
It all comes together in the end (of the series) but at some points it really feels like the book is going nowhere, the first book was the hardest to get through due to well being mostly introductionary to the serie, and giving u the starting parts of the main story line.
On its own this book would not be worth 5 starts, but in the context of the total serie's i wish i could give it 6 starts :)
The story is not overly complex in the general sense, however its told from quite a few different angles, so expect yourself to be going over already read pages to figure out where u heard that guy's name before.
It all comes together in the end (of the series) but at some points it really feels like the book is going nowhere, the first book was the hardest to get through due to well being mostly introductionary to the serie, and giving u the starting parts of the main story line.
On its own this book would not be worth 5 starts, but in the context of the total serie's i wish i could give it 6 starts :)
vickerstaylor's review against another edition
5.0
This is Hamilton at his most Hamilton and I loved it. It was nice to see what he does with something that isn't in the Commonwealth world, and this truly has a bit of everything. It was also nice to have him focus on a singular place and have the large cast converge onto that location. Excited to see where this goes next. John Lee audio awesome per usual.
star_ansible's review
3.0
pretty good, maybe ill finish the rest of the series one day when im old and dead.
brian9teen's review
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
3.0
andrejt's review
3.0
An enjoyable hard sci-fi novel with some significant horror elements set some 600 years from now. Interesting and plausible technologies, space battles, tons of sex. Likeable, though stereotypical characters. What I found quite problematic: psychology and interpersonal communication remained largely unchanged since the 20th century despite a partial merger of humans and machines.
cirenel's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.5
hank's review
4.0
3.5 rounded up to 4 becuase I love space opera more than I should. This isn't as good as Judas Unchained but probably better than the Void trilogy. Since I read those first, it didn't feel as fresh or unique and since this was a very early novel in Hamilton's career, the writing wasn't as good. The dizzying caste of characters was too dizzying and I lost insight/connections to several of them. The bad guys are a bit hand wavey, their skills and motivations seem to change depending on the situation. Maybe there is a larger plan to tie it all together but I am not sure I want to wade through the other 2000 pages to find out. Some characters good, plot line decent but nothing awesome.
I am not sure if I will read the next book, right now I am leaning no but I am definitely on the fence.
I am not sure if I will read the next book, right now I am leaning no but I am definitely on the fence.
bkeving_74's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating story and characters
I've read science fiction before but nothing before now this elaborate. The story and characters come to life in this novel. There is very strong character development even for many of the minor characters. At times this story takes the reader on tangents that don't always make sense but give added layers to the universe's he is building. I really enjoyed this and have the next book ready to go!
I've read science fiction before but nothing before now this elaborate. The story and characters come to life in this novel. There is very strong character development even for many of the minor characters. At times this story takes the reader on tangents that don't always make sense but give added layers to the universe's he is building. I really enjoyed this and have the next book ready to go!