A review by cjblandford
Fallen Dragon by Peter F. Hamilton

adventurous challenging tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This was a weird one. 80% of the novel is spent on a conflict between a pirate corporation and the revolutionary groups who try to stop the company from pilfering their planets resources. But the last 20% reveals what was truly at stake and the tone completely shifts. I liked the revolutionary characters the most, and really wanted them to wipe out the main character, who was a space marine who joined a space-faring corporation to explore the stars, but ended up enforcing the corporation's policy of forced resource accumulation on colonized planets, i.e. piracy, because this was the only way that space colonization was profitable. I did not identify with his character, but he was obviously written to be the protagonist, even though his ultimate character arc came so close to maturation and growth, he ended up chasing his past and his ending was just..uncomfortable. There were many interesting ideas here and the author tried as hard as possible to be even-handed about the philosophies that were being argued. I liked the themes and ultimate philosophy of the book but did not enjoy the military aspects of it. Probably won't read it again, but it was worth reading once.