Pandora's Star

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 37 hrs and 21 mins

Publisher's summary

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 best-selling 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 multi-volume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet. The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some 400 light-years in diameter, contains more than 600 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 1,000 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, the unleashing of which will threaten to destroy t...

©2004 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The depth and clarity of the future Hamilton envisions is as complex and involving as they come." ( Publishers Weekly Starred Review)

Great Epic Scifi

"Pandora's Star" and its sequel are two of my favorite audiobooks, and I've listened to atleast 50 audiobooks over the last few years.

I do have one warning, the story is fairly slow going at first and there are many characters/subplots. I almost gave up after a few hours, but I'm glad I kept going. I caught myself wishing at points that he'd just stop introducing new characters, but hang in there, the story is well worth the initial effort. Some of the characters who I thought were boring and extranious at first ended up being the most interesting and exciting in the end.

Peter F Hamilton has created a unique new scifi universe in these two books. Like all great Scif universes this is futuristic and imaginative without feeling fake or "made up". The humans still act like humans(with human strengths and flaws) and the aliens are truely alien(not just humans that look different). Hearing about life in the Commonwealth is almost as interesting as the story itself.

I would definitely consider this epic scifi, but there are elements that appeal to the Cyber-punk fan in me. This is certainly edgy with plenty of sex and violence. There aren't that many sex scenes but sexuality is certaintly a driving force in some characters and is often refered to in the context of the story. There are also several homosexual characters, but he hardly makes it into an issue, its just one part of a few characters lives. Its refreshing to have characters who also happen to be gay rather than "gay characters".

Some reviews have been critical of the narrator, don't believe them. I think he did a great job, sure some of his american accents aren't flawless, but give him a break hes obviously british. Each character is easy to distinguish and he does a good job with the individual voices without going overboard(like some narrators when they voice a different gender)

Highly Recomended!!

Not my cup of tea

The great thing about audible, especially the sales, is that it gives you the chance to try out new authors. If a writer writes a big book, does that make it a great book?

This author has been compared to Frank Herbet and I believe that to be fairly accurate. Other then Dune, what are your favorite FH books?

I really liked the prologue and thought the book would be very exciting. There was an exciting science discovery and the question was what would that lead to. Then we are taken on many side stories. Each chapter starts with the description of a different planet. This includes the fauna, how it was planted, how it grew , what happened to it over the centuries and what is like today. With a James Michener novel, when you know it is a real world this can be interesting, but on a made up planet, not so much.

I wanted to find out what was going to happen with this discovery, but my mind kept wondering. I would tell myself to concentrate and then PH would start describing some non-essential plant or building or waterway and the next thing I knew my mind was thinking about something else. The book is 37 hours long and I kept saying to myself, Stupid you could listen to three Robert J. Sawyer books in that amount of time. You would get the exciting science, maybe some characters you care about without the Hawthorne part. So after Eleven hours I quit and started a Koontz book.

About the sound quality. I don't know who is at fault, but I found listening very hard on my ears. For a couple of hours when ever John lee would start a new sentence the bass would vibrate in my ears, causing pain, as he would continue the sentence he would get quieter and just when it got comfortable, Wham, he would start a new sentence. That stopped for a while and then the volume would change with new chapters. Like watching a tv show and then a commercial comes on louder then the show. I have listened to hundreds of books and I have listened to John Lee before and this has not been a problem in the past.

Give it a chance

Any additional comments?

my favourite space opera series - seriously well written. very long very satisfying. the premise about human living for centuries due to that genetic replenishment is an awesome concept and allows for interesting twists and for characters to stick around. the bad guy are the most alien alien ive ever read - not human like at all. a myriad of interesting, likeable and hateable characters and great Science fiction concepts. way better than hamilton's nights dawn trilogy. tight plotting - just a very long involved plot with great attention to detail and description - You understand everything. sex, violence, space, aliens and that monster that is sf. 10/10

Narrator ruined it for me

I tried... It's too bad, really. The story seems compelling. So, I may have to actually READ the Kindle version of this book. Either way, the audio version just wasn't doing it for me. More than the inconsistent audio levels (I had to keep turning the volume up b/c I could barely hear the narrator in parts... then down again when the narrator got loud... then up again when he trailed off...) the fact is, he reminded me too much like Captain James T. Kirk's sing-song lilt. 'Just kept pulling me out of the story. 'Had to return it. :(

Narrator's volume variation hard to listen

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I have read the story several years ago and thought I'd enjoy the audio version while driving. The narrator's voice drops off frequently so I raised the volume. Unfortunately, then the narrator's voice increases and the volume is too loud. For some reason there is a wider volume range than I've experienced in other audible titles. In fact, it is so unpleasant that I'm not going to listen to the book after all and will avoid books by this narrator.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Change in volume makes it unpleasant to listen to.

Good story but difficult listen

The story is complex involving both science fiction and fantasy. As it all comes together I loved the book. Only problem was with the reading. John Lee has a good voice and does some variety of characters well.... BUT the transitions are terrible. I found myself lost several minutes into a transition when I realized that the story had moved to a different place / characters, and had to back up to recover the story line. You might want to read this one in written form

Bad narration

This was hard to listen to. My top complains are
- each sentence starts at loud volume and by the end is so soft it is hard to hear. I have to keep the volume too loud just to hear the end of each sentence.
- unable to tell when the scene or chapter ends & begins. The narrator just keeps one reading with no pause. Takes a while to figure out what just happens
- character voices not consistent.

The story took a long time to develop characters but by the end, i am ready to know more. I'm not picky about but I think I will read the next book myself.

Great story, must use headphones

I almost returned it after I found out you cannot listen in a car. The narrator jumps between loud and too quiet. Terrible production. I had to use headphones in the car. Annoying.

Go ahead and start it; then on to Judas Unchained

Peter Hamilton weaves a great sci-fi novel with believable science and characters, including aliens. John Lee has established himself as my favorite narrator. I filled two entire months of commuting hardly noticing the traffic, maybe not the safest option, but that's what I use it for.

Good story; Narration made it a difficult listen

Would you consider the audio edition of Pandora's Star to be better than the print version?

N/A

How could the performance have been better?

The narrator has a strong voice and enunciates clearly, but has a habit of lowering the volume of words at the end of most sentences, making them difficult to understand. For me, it became very distracting and I was unable to "fall into" the story.