Pandora’s Star

Pandora’s Star
by Peter F. Hamilton

I just finished Peter F. Hamilton’s latest book A night without stars: a novel of the Commonwealth and I must admit he is one of my favorite authors. The thing is, there is so much background information provided by previous books that A night without stars: a novel of the Commonwealth is not the place to start reading Peter F. Hamilton. 

So this blog is featuring an older book (I usually only blog about very new books).  I think to justify the post, I need to explain why I enjoy Hamilton’s stories so much.  Many critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton’s bestselling fiction is powered by a fearless imagination and world class storytelling skills, has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. His stories are hugely ambitious, philosophically stimulating and wildly entertaining. Don’t let the 750 pages scare you, his engaging characters and page turning plot will have you breeze through the pages easily.

With Pandora’s Star, he begins a multi-volume adventure, 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.

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.