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paleflyer 's review for:
Pandora's Star
by Peter F. Hamilton
I have very mixed feelings about this book. There were a lot of moments I really enjoyed, and a lot of moments I could hardly get through. It's not often I have a book that I'm so back and forth on.
I'll start off with my positive thoughts. Hamilton's ideas and world-building are fantastic. He came up with interesting visions about the future: re-life, rejuvenation, wormholes allowing humans to finally explore beyond our own world, e-butlers and all sorts of technological advances. It's interesting to ask the question "what would life really be like if people could regain their youth, and live almost indefinitely?" and then see how Hamilton carried it out. It's an interesting question, and when it comes to the re-life, especially, makes you think what is it that really makes someone themselves? Is it their memories? Their original body? Does the body have nothing to do with it, and is re-life like waking up from sleep?
Beyond the excellent ideas, the styling of the book was difficult for me. There is a lot of vapid description and fluff in this book (and I say that having made it through Swann's Way). The chapters all tended to start the same way: Hamilton would describe the opening scene of the chapter in minute detail, page after page, making sure you knew every little piece of information (however drab) before he even attempted to begin moving on with the story. Maybe I didn't appreciate the heavy setups because I am not as into science fiction as others, but it often felt heavy handed.
The characters themselves also felt very one-dimensional much of the time. There wasn't much distinction between them; when Hamilton would switch characters in the middle of a chapter sometimes I wouldn't even realize until I'd read a few paragraphs. (Compare to George R.R. Martin in Game of Thrones, where each character has their own tone in their chapters). The women were all in general spoiled, beautiful, and used sex exclusively to get their way (excluding, I suppose, Myo). The men had a little more individuality, but the dialogue was still fairly humdrum.
One other thing that bothered me, even if it doesn't have as much to do with the writing itself, is why did Hamilton split his chapters the way he did? Some were inches long, others pages long, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for his choice to end a chapter and start a new one. At that point, why even have chapters?
I guess in short, I love the idea and the main structural bones of the book, but I think it could have been harshly edited, and made the book more readable and lucid. I'm still keen on the story, and I do want to finish the saga with book two; however, I think I'll wait a few months before diving back in.
I'll start off with my positive thoughts. Hamilton's ideas and world-building are fantastic. He came up with interesting visions about the future: re-life, rejuvenation, wormholes allowing humans to finally explore beyond our own world, e-butlers and all sorts of technological advances. It's interesting to ask the question "what would life really be like if people could regain their youth, and live almost indefinitely?" and then see how Hamilton carried it out. It's an interesting question, and when it comes to the re-life, especially, makes you think what is it that really makes someone themselves? Is it their memories? Their original body? Does the body have nothing to do with it, and is re-life like waking up from sleep?
Beyond the excellent ideas, the styling of the book was difficult for me. There is a lot of vapid description and fluff in this book (and I say that having made it through Swann's Way). The chapters all tended to start the same way: Hamilton would describe the opening scene of the chapter in minute detail, page after page, making sure you knew every little piece of information (however drab) before he even attempted to begin moving on with the story. Maybe I didn't appreciate the heavy setups because I am not as into science fiction as others, but it often felt heavy handed.
The characters themselves also felt very one-dimensional much of the time. There wasn't much distinction between them; when Hamilton would switch characters in the middle of a chapter sometimes I wouldn't even realize until I'd read a few paragraphs. (Compare to George R.R. Martin in Game of Thrones, where each character has their own tone in their chapters). The women were all in general spoiled, beautiful, and used sex exclusively to get their way (excluding, I suppose, Myo). The men had a little more individuality, but the dialogue was still fairly humdrum.
One other thing that bothered me, even if it doesn't have as much to do with the writing itself, is why did Hamilton split his chapters the way he did? Some were inches long, others pages long, and there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for his choice to end a chapter and start a new one. At that point, why even have chapters?
I guess in short, I love the idea and the main structural bones of the book, but I think it could have been harshly edited, and made the book more readable and lucid. I'm still keen on the story, and I do want to finish the saga with book two; however, I think I'll wait a few months before diving back in.