All Planets Are Earthlike: Averted. In one chapter, a planet is methodically reached, explored, and rejected for settlement potential in the course of several hours. Two additional novels, set in the time 263 years before (A.B.D.) and five years after (N.W.S.) "The Void Trilogy", were released in 2014 ( The Abyss Beyond Dreams) [1] and 2016 ( Night Without Stars). [2]

Well, for the same reason I think it should be put on a higher rung than most SF. It's super ambitious, leading in and through whole lives as if we were reading a classic novel on the level of Les Miserables, giving us a very clear picture of the future worlds that are very much like our own except for a few heaping handfuls of world-changing techs. We have social commentary that would be welcome in any shorter soft-SF, mysteries that would be fine in any techno-thriller, big scoops for the expose crowd, and decades of spy intrigue. WITH the big alien threat. Any piece of this would be great, or even two. Or even three. The story is about the discovery of a couple of stars which dissapear, the investigation as to what happened and the subsequent consequences. Hard to write this review without spoliers so I shall skip the detail of the plot and just say it is quite complex and there is a lot of detail but never so much that you end up confused as to who is doing what and why - a triumph in books this large in both size and scope. On the positive side, Hamilton certainly has a rich imagination! A lot of the technology he envisioned was very interesting, and the alien species - particularly the antagonist - were very different and quite interesting. For some folks who are interested in visions of future technology, it might be worth a read just for that alone. Everyone is different, but for me I also could not continue listening to this book. I listened to the preview and thought it was OK, but believe me after a while it is totally brain numbing.Crispin Goldreich [CS] Senator, Chair of the Budget Commission and member of the Exo-Protectorate Council Citizens of the Commonwealth can rejuvenate when they grow old, essentially making them immortal. This has interesting implications for family and relationships: marriage is a much less permanent; first-lifers are considered less emotionally mature in comparison to people who have lived for a hundred, two hundred, even three hundred years. Living three lifetimes can build up a lot of memories of course, so memory manipulation and storage is big in Pandora's Star. None of the questions this technology raises are unique to this book; rather, they are standard SF fare: is the clone with an upload of your memories a continuation of you, or is it just a copy? How does being able to edit out the fact that you murdered someone affect your culpability? And so on. Hamilton is not breaking any new ground, but he does manage to integrate these ideas into an interesting, dynamic society. To that he adds a story with an exciting conflict, a challenging enemy, and great interstellar politics.

The only other con is the sheer length. Hamilton describes a lot of stuff - planetary geography, city layouts, every single thinv a character does, etc. - in excruciating detail when it's really not necessary. I like more balance between description and actually moving the story along at less than a ponderous pace. There were just too many really interesting and funny scenes to single out any in particular, I really enjoy Peter's sense of humour, and John Lee brings this across so nicely Bumbling astronomer Dudley Bose observes an entire star system (one of two that have shared the same fate, Dyson Alpha and Beta) blink out of existence for no apparent reason, indicating a sort of instant-Dyson-sphere may have been erected. Damn, that was a big tome. And as much as I like John Lee, I need a new reader in my next book. Between this and Revelation Space, I've heard John Lee's voice more this year than any member of my family's voice. My wife does say I can tune her out, and unfortunately I think this happened with Mr. Lee as well for large parts of the book. Campbell Sheldon [CS] Direct great-grandson of Nigel Sheldon with a high position in the Family DynastyElves! Who could say no to that! Silvergalde is a more tempting planet. And down the rabbit hole we go!

Dimitri Leopoldovich [JU] An academician specialising in tactical analysis at the StPetersburg Institute of Strategic Studies The intertwined lives of the various characters and species, but most of all the complete escape from what we call normal, into a world (Sorry I should say galaxy) that just blows your mind.

This is "book bloat" at its worst. There is so much non-essential garbage in this book that I could not wait to finish. It is filled with non-essential details of people you wind up not caring about and who, in effect, are not all that germane to the story or even worth caring about.