Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton's bestselling fiction--powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills--has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with Pandora's Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet. The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends,.Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy but dangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself. Could it be that Johansson was right?From the Hardcover edition.

Executive Summary: A really enjoyable hard sci-fi space opera, with only a few minor complaints to prevent it from a 5 star rating.Audio book: This is the first book I've listened to narrated my Mr. Lee. He does an excellent job. He does a few voices, but I sometimes had a hard time determining who they were at first. It felt like he was using the same voices for multiple characters at time. Overall I was happy with the narration though.Full ReviewIs Epic Sci-Fi a thing? If not it should be. Or maybe that's what Space Opera is. This book has a lot of point of view characters and starts with a lot of stories that appear to have nothing to do with each other...at first. It made me think I was reading an epic fantasy novel where technology replaces magic and aliens replace elves and dragons.There is a ton of sci-fi concepts in here: memory/life backups, cloning, anti-aging/near immortality, worm holes, FTL. I'm probably missing some minor ones, but those are the biggies.It's a world where space exploration is boring because wormholes make travel between planets instantaneous, and the idea of spending money on ships and sending them to the far reaches of space to explore is considered a waste.That is until a mysterious event occurs on the edge of space prompts the need for the first space ship in centuries to be constructed.Meanwhile you have a terrorist, a murder investigation and a whole lot of politics to contend with. It's a society that doesn't seem very far off from out own, save for the technological advances.Mr. Hamilton does a great job at character development. And he makes you think about things. What would you do if you lived for multiple centuries, getting a youthful body every few decades or so as you needed (assuming you can afford it)? Would you stay married to the same person? Would you keep the same job?My favorite characters/story lines was the main storyline with Wilson Kime the one time NASA pilot and now captain of the new constructed Second Chance.The other I enjoyed most was probably Paula Myo and her investigations into both a murder and the case that eluded for over a hundred years involving a terrorist named Adam Elvin. She's not someone I could see myself being friends with (I'm not sure she has any anyways), but I can identify with several of her character traits.My only (mostly minor) complaints are that some scenes go on too long (30 minutes of hang gliding, seriously?), and the way this book ends by setting up several cliff hangers.I knew this was part of a series coming in, but I think the ending could have been better.Overall though, a very enjoyable book and I'm looking forward to finishing the series with [b:Judas Unchained 45244 Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga, #2) Peter F. Hamilton https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1316501189s/45244.jpg 44507] at the end of December with my next road trip.

This gives Dickens a run for his money in the unnecessarily-long-descriptions department

Talk about serious world building! More like let's pause the plot to do some serious universe building. So much so that there's not a plot to see by the 25% mark.

I'd tried reading this back in 2017 but dropped it pretty quickly, clearly for the same reason.

Pandora's Star is one of the few books that I've heard glowing reviews about by people with similar interests only to read it and not enjoy it. What's funny is I think the story is amazing. Similar to “The Mote an God's Eye”, it focuses on a far flung star system. In this case, the system, and it's neighbor, are encased in a Dyson Sphere. Did they erect it, or did someone else? What distanced me from enjoying this book was my lack of ability to connect with the characters. It was much more situation focused than character or major plot focused, leading to discussions of things I had no interest in when so much else was happening in the world. Some of my lower rating is also because I gave up on it a few times, which lead to a disjointed reading experience.