Judas Unchained

This second book in the Commonwealth Saga reveals that the Starflyer alien entity from the ancient crashed ship, named the Mary Celeste and found on the planet Faraway, actually exists. It is this hidden-in-the-shadows enemy that has infiltrated the Commonwealth's galactic society for centuries and through its controlled human agents, has brought about the mutually destructive war between the released Dyson Alpha Prime species and the Commonwealth. Old Commonwealth enemies must now come together in the fight to stop the Starflyer from returning to its refurbished spacecraft on Faraway and escape to continue its own deadly quest to conquer known inhabited space.

While sometimes slow in parts, this huge book, with an almost overwhelming cast of characters, was able to keep my interest until the spectacular, action-packed conclusion. Peter F. Hamilton has created a very imaginative and descriptively detailed version of a far-off multi-planet spacefaring society in which interactions between enhanced humans and other alien species is a given. Part detective story, part Sci-Fi action-packed thriller, and with just a hint of fantasy, the Commonwealth saga is well worth the read for those who enjoy well-written space opera fare.