[ZFA]⋙ Libro A Night Without Stars A Novel of the Commonwealth Commonwealth Chronicle of the Fallers Peter F Hamilton Books

A Night Without Stars A Novel of the Commonwealth Commonwealth Chronicle of the Fallers Peter F Hamilton Books

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A Night Without Stars A Novel of the Commonwealth Commonwealth Chronicle of the Fallers Peter F Hamilton Books

I have read all of Peter Hamilton’s work, after having first been exposed to him through his magnum space opera opus, Night’s Dawn trilogy, a 3,500 page, door stop of a work. His blend of originality, especially as applied to alien constructs, and hard science fiction is unmatched in my opinion. Sure, he tends to be a little long winded, but I can overlook that in the presence of excellence.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hamilton’s latest work, A Night Without Stars had the bad fortune to follow up Cixin Liu’s trilogy of science fiction excellence, Remembrance of Earth’s Past. While Hamilton writes outstanding science fiction, Liu’s work was one of the best reading experiences I’ve ever encountered, regardless of genre.

This novel is the second of a two part sequel to the Commonwealth series (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained) and the Void trilogy. I read these five novels (about 4,000 pages worth) several years ago and it took me a little time to become re-familiar with the underlying story and landscape. Do not let anyone tell you that this novel can be appreciated as a stand-alone work; don’t even try it. The world that Hamilton has created cannot possibly be appreciated by starting in the middle of the story.

In this follow up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams, the world of Beinvenido has been expelled from the Void, millions of light years from Commonwealth space. Beset by orbiting alien constructs which produce Fallers that seek to destroy the humans, Bienvenido has developed into an autocratic, repressive state. The only hope for survival rests with a handful of Commonwealth citizens that possess technology sufficient to not only rescue the Bienvenido citizens from the Fallers, but return them to Commonwealth space. Good story line, interesting characters and rock solid hard science fiction.

As an aside, Hamilton repeats what has become a pet peeve of mine among science fiction writers in general and Hamilton in particular; the need to create a new epithet to be used by future humans, and repeat it ad nauseam throughout the work. In earlier Commonwealth and Void novels, we were repeatedly assaulted with such terms as "Dreaming Heavens!", “TANJ” (There ain't no justice) and “TANSTAAFL” (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

In this work, the word “crud” has replaced the perfectly functional “f” word in all its many forms. On some pages, the word “crud” or a form of it may be used up to half a dozen times. Uracus (the Bienvenido parallel to Hell) is also used ad nauseum. Far from contributing to the originality of the story, it instead is annoying and comes across as silly. By the end of the novel, it had become a serious distraction.


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A Night Without Stars A Novel of the Commonwealth Commonwealth Chronicle of the Fallers Peter F Hamilton Books Reviews

Hamilton possibly deserves five stars for his detailed world building and sheer number of characters alone, but fortunately his novels go beyond such elements to deliver just about the most outlandish space opera going in sci fi today. (And with the sad passing of Iain M. Banks, Hamilton is arguably numero uno on that score as well.)

Still, I gave it only four stars and that's because the somewhat retro universe described in "Night Without Stars" is structurally limited in ways that strained my credulity. In particular, I just can't see a human society with any technology base - and this is essentially fixed at about the 1950's level for most of the novel - holding static for any duration and certainly not spanning thousands of years.

That same technology base also dramatically undermines ones of Hamilton's strengths - high tech gizmos, gadgets and enhancements. While Soyuz-replica rockets are lovingly described, that's been and gone stuff, the details of which I can look up on Wikipedia. I want to read about the impossible stuff that he makes not just possible, but plausible. And apart from a few Advancer carry-over characters from the previous novel, there is precious little of that.

The plot is typically Hamilton intricate, but again, he excels at presenting the goings on across scores of planets and here we're reduced to one, and actually a single continent and really, a couple of cities. Don't get me wrong, his plotting is superb, but as with the technology aspect, it's like strapping a V8 to a skateboard. Sure, it goes fast, but what a waste of an engine.

This can't be your first Hamilton novel - it's a sequel for a start! - and so you'll know what I mean when I wish for more of the Commonwealth or Confederation universes. This is OK...hell, better than OK, Hamilton is a great author...but it seems a bit hemmed in for his talents and so the epics that are normally spread across a very broad front are concentrated into a focused beam of overly gritty detail that sometimes goes way too deep for the purpose of the story.
I have read all of Peter Hamilton’s work, after having first been exposed to him through his magnum space opera opus, Night’s Dawn trilogy, a 3,500 page, door stop of a work. His blend of originality, especially as applied to alien constructs, and hard science fiction is unmatched in my opinion. Sure, he tends to be a little long winded, but I can overlook that in the presence of excellence.

Unfortunately, Mr. Hamilton’s latest work, A Night Without Stars had the bad fortune to follow up Cixin Liu’s trilogy of science fiction excellence, Remembrance of Earth’s Past. While Hamilton writes outstanding science fiction, Liu’s work was one of the best reading experiences I’ve ever encountered, regardless of genre.

This novel is the second of a two part sequel to the Commonwealth series (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained) and the Void trilogy. I read these five novels (about 4,000 pages worth) several years ago and it took me a little time to become re-familiar with the underlying story and landscape. Do not let anyone tell you that this novel can be appreciated as a stand-alone work; don’t even try it. The world that Hamilton has created cannot possibly be appreciated by starting in the middle of the story.

In this follow up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams, the world of Beinvenido has been expelled from the Void, millions of light years from Commonwealth space. Beset by orbiting alien constructs which produce Fallers that seek to destroy the humans, Bienvenido has developed into an autocratic, repressive state. The only hope for survival rests with a handful of Commonwealth citizens that possess technology sufficient to not only rescue the Bienvenido citizens from the Fallers, but return them to Commonwealth space. Good story line, interesting characters and rock solid hard science fiction.

As an aside, Hamilton repeats what has become a pet peeve of mine among science fiction writers in general and Hamilton in particular; the need to create a new epithet to be used by future humans, and repeat it ad nauseam throughout the work. In earlier Commonwealth and Void novels, we were repeatedly assaulted with such terms as "Dreaming Heavens!", “TANJ” (There ain't no justice) and “TANSTAAFL” (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).

In this work, the word “crud” has replaced the perfectly functional “f” word in all its many forms. On some pages, the word “crud” or a form of it may be used up to half a dozen times. Uracus (the Bienvenido parallel to Hell) is also used ad nauseum. Far from contributing to the originality of the story, it instead is annoying and comes across as silly. By the end of the novel, it had become a serious distraction.