Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Judas Unchained
Book Review: READ IT *** fantastic conclusion to Pandora's Star
Summary: 5 Stars
Of course you can't read this until you have read "Pandora's Star". If you handled that book, this is more of the same
I personally loved it, there was plenty of action, mystery and intrigue. Stilltoo much unecessary sex in the book, hopefully Peter will give up watching the playboy channel when writing his books!!
Conclusion- great read.
(ps don't bother with the even earlier book in the same universe, "mispent Youth", it's a terrible misguided attempt to bring porn to Science Fiction. yeucchh!!)
Book Review: So hard to be nice.
Summary: 2 Stars
Pandora's Star, to which this is the necessary sequel, is a decent read that made me think: space opera written by British crime mystery writer P.D. James. Literate, complex plot, often amusing or insightful. Not so, Judas Unchained.
This 1200-page honker is SF for those who can--or who want to--believe that roughly immortal humans who live on a hundred-plus planets some 400 years from now say things like: "We need to think outside of the box here,folks," and "That's why I'm paid the big bucks. Not!" Where 350-year-old genius-trillionaire Ozzie continually whines comments like, "Oh, dude, that's just so harsh, man!" Actually, the lowest part of this low effort, for me, was the climactic denouement between Ozzie and his equally old, rich friend and business partner Nigel that ends with the high-minded, free-thinking,(heroic, I'm guessing?) Ozzie (apparently always at a loss for an original thought) grumbling, "F*** you very much!," as Nigel leaves the room. FYVM? That's the best that Ozzie and Peter Hamilton have to give us? I mean, oh, man, like, why bother, dude?
And although that was not the end of this endless book, that was the 38,976th F-bomb. I know. I was counting. (Not!)
Finally, Mr. Hamilton's distant hardscrabble future is a place where those weirded-out future kids listen to pounding "goth rock." And where mechanical cooks are called "chef-bots,", and mechanical maids are called "maid-bots," and blimps are called "blimp-bots," and, worst of all, mechanical battlefield scouts are called "sneak-bots." Sneak-bots. 'Nuff said...
Writing any novel has to be a tough accomplishment; several huge novels even more so. One wants to be nice to anyone who has done so. But that is so hard, this time.
Book Review: Space Operatics - Not over till the fat alien sings...
Summary: 2 Stars
Peter F Hamilton is capable of producing a darn good read - Fallen Dragon springs to mind - however this isn't one of them.
I put it down to a combination of editing and possibly the fact that all the "big" ideas came out in the previous book (Pandora's Star).
It contains too many jarring incidents (for want of a better word), particularly with technology and its application, to provide a "suspension of belief" - at least for me. For example
when the story calls for a time machine it's all down to a software upgrade for a wormhole generator - take about a week.
Everytime someone drives we're told that it's on "enzyeme bonded concrete" and that they're in a Volvo, Ford or Mazda 4x4. Everytime.
My absolute favourite is when one of the characters is subjected to a sudden G Force his virtual vision (think Terminator) starts to go red at the edges!
In fact the better sections of the book don't deal with technology - Ozzie's travels for example are fun and maybe could have been a work in itself - bit of Stranger in a Strange Land feel.
Nope for me its the fact that the technolgy is just not believable or consistant.
Book Review: Starts with a bang, ends with a whimper
Summary: 3 Stars
Pandora's Star was probably the best science fiction book I have read in several years. The technological advancements described by Mr. Hamilton are thoroughly fascinating and at the same time utterly plausible. The cast of characters and myriad of sub plots creates an utterly absorbing narrative that quickly carries the reader along to the cliff hanger ending.
Judas Unchained is a good ending to the stellar beginning but falls down in several areas. First some major characters from the first novel fall out of the spotlight in Judas and others undertake activities that do not seem in character (I am thinking specifically of Wilson Kime as a primary example, but Justine Burnelli receives the same treatment). Granted the actions that occur must happen for the sake of the plot but too many instances feel forced or out of character (Orion being a prime example of a character so completely two dimensional it is a wonder why he was left in at all). The unfortunate part of this being that Mr. Hamilton does such a good job throughout most of the first book that the problems really jump out at the reader throughout the second book.
Other reviewers have commented on some of the area of failures in this book and I would echo most of them. The attempt at philosophical introspection over the potential genocide of the Primes is an interesting thought, but seems poorly developed. Humanity goes from the brink of mass chaos or outright extinction to dithering over what level of restraint to place on weapons of mass destruction. In fact the whole end of the war is given extremely short shrift and instead we get a chase scene that feels overly long and quickly becomes uninteresting. The novel goes from a massive, sprawling excursion over thousands of light years and millions of people to a standard Hollywood action movie. That transition feels forced and provides a surprisingly uninspired conclusion to such a promising beginninig.
I recommend the series since I so thoroughly enjoyed 3/4ths of it, but be prepared for an ending that goes out with a whimper.
Book Review: Still a wonderful universe but not so thorough as previous offerings
Summary: 4 Stars
The conclusion of Mr. Hamilton's most recent duology. I deliberately took a long time to read this book as I do so enjoy the universe that he crafts. I was less impressed by this anthology than by his previous offerings. There were many characters (Ozzie and Paula for instance) that I felt were never adequately explored. However in a universe as rich with characters as this, I suppose everybody has their favorites and wants to see them on center stage more than the others.
(***Spoiler Alert***) Don't read further if you have not yet read this book and do not want any details given away!!
I also felt that the end portion of the book was not fully satisfying. Perhaps it was the intent, but I felt that the ultimate antagonist in this story was never properly realized. Also, the final conflict was somewhat contrived and unsatisfying.
Don't get me wrong, I fully enjoyed the entire lead up and I do not read these stories solely for the ending. But usually the ending can be counted upon to be as satisfying as the experience of getting there. So I would still recommend the books based on that alone.