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A review by tshim
The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton
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.