Judas Unchained

Executive Summary: An enjoyable conclusion to the Commonwealth Duology. I plan to check out the Void trilogy at some point in the future.Audio book: John Lee once again does a great job. He doesn't do voices, but he's got a great reading voice that I could listen to for hours and seems well suited to Space Opera. I'm excited to see he reads the Void series for Tantor as well as a few other books I plan to check out.Full ReviewThis is a long one, but overall I enjoyed it. I think this works best in audio because Mr. Hamilton can sometimes go overboard on the details and I found it easy to miss a little here and there and still not seem to miss any plot points. If I were reading it, I might start skimming or something.This book picks up right where [b:Pandora's Star 45252 Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1) Peter F. Hamilton https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347952635s/45252.jpg 987015] leaves off, so you'll want to read that first before jumping into this one.We're introduced to a few new POV characters in this one, to go along with some old favorites (of mine anyways) like Ozzy and Paula Myo.I think Mr. Hamilton does a good job in not only tying up all the loose ends but merging the various story lines together into a cohesive finale.There were some parts of [b:Pandora's Star 45252 Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1) Peter F. Hamilton https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1347952635s/45252.jpg 987015] that felt superfluous (I'm looking at you Hang Gliding scene!) or just more background and depth that felt necessary (like the whole murder/disappearing bodies subplot) that suddenly clicked in with this book.The real enjoyment for me wasn't necessarily the space battles, the politics or the aliens, but just the Commonwealth itself and the people we meet. Don't get me wrong all that stuff was cool (not to mention I had a hankering for some Starcraft after the scenes with the soldiers in badass armor suits going to toe to toe with aliens that remind me a lot of the Zerg).The Commonwealth feels very much like our world today, only with a lot more fun toys to play with and near-immortality to allow one to experience them. That is if you're lucky enough to be part of the right family/born on the right planet.I think Mark really became one of my favorite characters because he uses his intelligence and hard work to get ahead, albeit thanks to taking advantage of some timely opportunities.I'm excited to check out other stories the Commonwealth, even if they are with a whole other cast of characters. I happened to snag [b:The Dreaming Void 866136 The Dreaming Void (Void, #1) Peter F. Hamilton https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1388208500s/866136.jpg 851537] as part of an end of year BOGO sale too. I'm hoping some of the characters from this are still alive and kicking and make a cameo or two at least.