Peter F Hamilton help!

BossArky

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Well, how did you get on?

... massive space battle porn is not enough for me anymore

Finished Judas last week. Let me summarise:

- Read the two books back to back in 3 weeks altogether
- Pandora's Star was twice as good
- Too much politics in both which slowed the pace
- Not enough action which everyone is expecting I presume, but when the action comes along it is great.
- If I was the editor I would have snipped out the whole storyline where Ozzie, Orion and Tochee go off on their travels through various worlds. I felt it didn't add much to the story apart from a bit of background padding.
- Too mand boring cases which Paulo Myo has to solve and which again are mere background padding.
- Melanie gets around so much she must have all types of diseases.
- The final chase few hundred pages with the Guardians, Paris Office, Cats Claws and StarFlyer on Faraway I found pretty tedious. Too slow moving.

I convinced my gf to read Pandora's Star before I finished Judas, but now don't have to heart to tell her not to bother with it as she has been reading for a week or so.

On the whole I would give Pandor'as Star a 6.5/10 and Judas a 5/10.

The reasons they get those positive marks in the first place is due to the visions of the future which Hamilton can construct. The story was pretty brutal though. Ok, maybe I'm being harsh - I enjoyed it but wouldn't go looking for his next 300000000 page edition in a hurry.

CiDeRmAn

Well, if you haven't already done so read the Nights Dawn trilogy, again very soapy with an even bigger raft of characters to keep track of but a much better read, rivalling Consider Phelabas as one of the greatest space operas ever written.
Otherwise just read the Takesi Kovacs books by Richard Morgan, just read Woken furies and apart from a habit of sticking porn in the middle if a politically astute scifi novel.

BossArky

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Well, if you haven't already done so read the Nights Dawn trilogy....

Yeah I read the ND trilogy a few years ago. Trying to figure out if I enjoyed it more because I was more into sci-fi then or if it was because it was better. Probably cos it was better.

Going to concentrate on reading my way through some classic novels, e.g. from the list of 100 top books from the 20th century. Got a good few of them on eBay over the past week.

flinx11

Just finished Judas Unchained.

OOOOHH GOD!!!!

Talk about the end sticking out like a sore thumb.
Frankly im dissappointed. I think Hamilton might have gotten bored or writers block or somthing near the end.
And yes you could snip about 600 pages out of both books & still end up with all the plot points.

I have to say at this juncture i still the way he constructs his universe from the ground up but PLEASE dont strangle the magic of the vision with turgid secondary plotlines.

Hopefully he will drink lot of coffee, take a long holiday & deliver a better story next time.

By the way is there anybody else out there who writes in a similar vein to Hamilton? I love to drop into a fully formed future from the first page.

pH

By the way is there anybody else out there who writes in a similar vein to Hamilton? I love to drop into a fully formed future from the first page.

Well Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovacs books (Altered carbon etc.), any of the culture novels by Ian M.Banks and also his latest the algrebraist.

Also check out alastair reynolds.

One of my favorite new 'finds' is Charles Stross - I liked Singularity Sky a lot!

secret_squirrel

flinx11 wrote:

I love to drop into a fully formed future from the first page.

try neil asher. Very good and in same vein as PFH.

Personally I thought Pandora and Judas were his best books apart from my personal fave Fallen Dragon..

The characterisation was much better in those than Nights Dawn. And no Deus Ex Machina ending for a change!!

Jimboo_Jones

CiDeRmAn wrote:

Sorry but massive space battle porn is not enough for me anymore, anyway, Iain M Banks writes it much much better!

Which ones would they be? I find his work very hit and miss, from the ridiculously good 'player of games' ( One of the best sci fi books ever, I love you morat! ), 'use of weapons' and 'consider phlebas' yet 'against a dark background', well I have tried to read that three times and it just bores me. I think it is his humour that grates me, the next time I read a supposedly witty robot (in the vain of school teacher) I will go nuclear! But none of them have space battles on the scale that Peter F writes.

I actually think that the ending of Judas is a lot better than Nights Dawn, Nights Dawn was one of the most disappointing endings ever (I can only think of Absolution Gap by
Alastair Reynolds that has a more disappointing ending ) Yes the ending could(should) have been a lot shorter, but hey its only an extra day or so reading time, I’d rather have that than the ‘bling – every thing in the universe was then OK once again’.

flinx11 wrote:

By the way is there anybody else out there who writes in a similar vein to Hamilton? I love to drop into a fully formed future from the first page.

Let me see

Alistair Reynolds - Gap series was most excellent series, perhaps my favourite one- you will have to forgive the authors tendency to just skip important events and you would probably be better off skipping the last five pages and coming up with your own ending but I really liked this series despite its flaws.

Dan Simmons – Hyperion – great series, has the greatest bad guy ever (no more on this, do not spoil it for the lad) Not so much ‘hard’ science, it has some mad crazy ideas in but the last two book in the series have some of the most endearing characters in.

And there is always the stuff by C J Cherryh (down below station and the han books) I never seem to see anyone recommend her stuff, but some of it is absolute quality, and she did win the hugo award, so there must be some following.

pH wrote:

One of my favorite new 'finds' is Charles Stross - I liked Singularity Sky a lot!

Yes I liked this as well

AnCapaillMor

Reynolds dunno, some of his books were great, loved chasm city and redmeption but the resolution of the inhibitors really pissed me off. been looking for new stuff must give simmons a go.

The gap series was'nt that donaldson? got 30 pages into the 3rd book and stopped.

Jimboo_Jones

AnCapaillMor wrote:

Reynolds dunno, some of his books were great, loved chasm city and redmeption but the resolution of the inhibitors really pissed me off. been looking for new stuff must give simmons a go.

The gap series was'nt that donaldson? got 30 pages into the 3rd book and stopped.

opps ment the Inhibitor series (Absolution Gap being the last one) I loved the series, really really did - never felt so let down by an ending though

Is the third book in the gap series the one where it takes three chapters to turn a ship arround ;p and they tell the same story about 4 times from different peoples views....Its not a bad series really - though it is hard work at times, the depths that he drives some charaters is quite bad.

With the simmons book the first one is very strange - but stick with it as all is reveled by the end

secret_squirrel

Jimboo_Jones wrote:

always the stuff by C J Cherryh (down below station and the han books)

I second this. Downbelow Station and Cyteen were her 2 hugo's both excellent.

The Chanur Series absolutely excellent.

Foreigner series truly stunning - the most believable humanoid aliens ever.

She rarely gets a novel wrong.

Second what people have said about Alastair Reynolds, he comes up with some of the best ideas in modern SF together with great storytelling and then manages to screw them up with skipping of crucial scenes, dreadful endings and random offings of major characters when he gets bored of them.

Stephen Donaldsons Gap series still counts as my favourite SF series ever. They arent an easy read, the things he puts his characters through is shocking, but its the best Character Led convoluted space opera you will read.

Hyperion was one of the very few novels I have never finished, just couldnt get on with it.

Jimboo_Jones

How far did you get with the hyperion books? The last two are (in my opinion) exellent, very charater driven. They also tie up some of the first two books, making them appear slightly less strange

They are worth reading just for 'The Tree of Pain'

CiDeRmAn

I would second the recently posted notion of going back over sci-fis history and reading the great novels of the last 100 years or so, some awesome stuff out there, stuff with real substance and things to say. Once again of no has read him goout and read John Varley, his stuff is great, The Opiuchi Hotline and Steel Beach fantastic, just reading a series of books from Frank Herbert, The Jesus Incident, The Lazarus Effect and The Acension Factor, otherwise known as the Pandora Trilogy, great stuff.

secret_squirrel

In terms of Sci-Classics I cant recommend some of Robert A Heinliens stuff enough.

Just re-read Starship Troopers for the 3rd or 4th time. The amount of socio-political commentary he manages to slip into a cracking story is amazing.

One one level its similar to the film, in spirit at least. Kinda a gung-ho military adventure yarn. On other levels its a critique of Government, Democracy and the futility of war.

The rest of his stuff can be good, some of it has dated, some is still very relevant.

There's also some very good books in the Sci-Fi Masterworks series.

The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester - is stunning.

CiDeRmAn

I have just started reading The Dreaming Void, Peter F Hamiltons new book, so far so good.
Only thing that has me confused is in the timeline in the back of the book, Cat has been sent to stasis for 5000years, what did she do? Can't quite remember her role in the previous two books, any help?

AnCapaillMor

Cool was looking for something new to read.

CiDeRmAn

2 thirds the way through it now, holy crap, this thing has gone all Takashi Kovacs, if you know what I mean, its going to be long feckin' wait til the next one!

AnCapaillMor

CiDeRmAn wrote:

2 thirds the way through it now, holy crap, this thing has gone all Takashi Kovacs, if you know what I mean, its going to be long feckin' wait til the next one!

Ah jaysus no, a 2 parter, between that and the saga of the 7 suns, i'll go mad.

AnCapaillMor

Just started it, its a bloody 3 parter.

I'm not sure but i think Cat was one of the prisoners in stasis that was freed and sent to scout the planet that had the first alien invasion, can't remember if she did anything bad that warranted 5k years but i do remember she was always up to no good.

CiDeRmAn

Yup, finished it last week, bloody good, all that stuf of Edeard finally going somewhere, next book focuses somewhat on him, should be great, seems a lot more rounded than any of his previous work, new book may be out in time for Christmas, he says, fingers and everything else crossed!
Going off now to read Mindstar Rising...
Half way through it, not bad, quite different from his later work, a lot in common with Ken Mcleods early stuff, although from a different political point of view.

AnCapaillMor

Finished it there last week, man i reckon Hamiltons a real dirty git. I hope its true about an xmas release for book 2.

mcgovern

Nearly finished it now, good so far, really liked the early dreams with the bandits etc.

qwertz

Chistmas this year? That would be great.

I finished it yesterday and (as with the previous two books) I am impressed. Can't wait for the next one...

mcgovern

Finished it yesterday as well, bad news on the 2nd book though, his father died so its behind schedule.
Taken from his blog

However, normal service is slowly resuming, and I’ve now started chapter three of the Temporal Void. It might be delivered a little later than hoped for, but I still think I should manage to finish by Easter next year.

CiDeRmAn

Still, it'll be worth waiting for, I remember waiting for The Naked God, I was in and out of Easons like a yoyo!
Getting into Harry Turtledove right now, that guy never sleeps, just writes!
I read How Few Remain, a novel of alternate history where the US is forced to accept a truce with the Confedaracy at the end of the american civil war, thats followed by a trilogy set during the WW1, where Germany and the US are up against the CSA, France and the UK, thats followed by two more trilogies and then he has more to come, what a guy!
Anyway I'm just about to finish the opener of the first trilogy and its very very good indeed, Borders are ordering in the next 2 over the coming weeks, in the mean time I've got Pratchetts new book to keep me company.

ixoy

Finished this one yesterday - very good stuff. I know what you mean about it going a bit Kovacs when

Aaron went into an awesome firefight when retrieving Indigo's memory cell. The idea of those Higher-fitted soldiers in a time-stasis field is exactly the sort of stuff Hamilton pulls off well.

What surprised me was how it tied into the previous duology, namely

almost every character returning, including some of the dead ones! I do love Gore though and how he was insulting the alien space craft (which is the one on the cover!)

Interesting mix with the Edeard storyline too - like how it's almost independent but weaves in and

the "Waterwalker! Waterwalker!" bit at the end was good, even if it was obvious that this person had to Edeard.

.

Definitely looking forward to book two - let's hope he remembers that we're all expecting a body count in this trilogy that's in at least seven figures, preferably eight

AnCapaillMor

The Temporal Void is scheduled for 2009 according to wiki, aagghhh. Says SFA on his site.

mcgovern

secret_squirrel wrote: »

Stephen Donaldsons Gap series still counts as my favourite SF series ever. They arent an easy read, the things he puts his characters through is shocking, but its the best Character Led convoluted space opera you will read.

Not exactly easy to get :mad: Ordered the second one on the 02/08/2007 from play.com and still awaiting stock.

AnCapaillMor

got halfway through the 3rd book and stopped, did'nt like em at all. Yeah book 2 was b1tch to get, had to borrow it.

ixoy

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

The Temporal Void is scheduled for 2009 according to wiki, aagghhh. Says SFA on his site.

Hmm his site says he expects to finish it by Easter next year. Then he has to hand it into the publisher and we'll have the whole back and forth, re-writes, etc and that can take quite a while (as I've read on other author's blogs). Still hope to see it in 2008 though.