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“An imaginative and stunning tale of the perfect future threatened . . . a book of epic proportions not unlike Frank Herbert’s Dune or Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.”—SFRevu The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars, 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 . . . disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, the Second Chance, a faster-than-light starship commanded by Wilson Kime, a five-times-rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, led by Bradley Johansson. Shortly after the journey begins, Kime wonders if the crew of the Second Chance has been infiltrated. But soon enough he will have other worries. Halfway across the galaxy, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself. “Should be high on everyone’s reading list . . . You won’t be able to put it down.”—Nancy Pearl, NPR “Recommended . . . A large cast of characters, each with his own story, brings depth and variety to this far-future saga.”—Library Journal Read more
Publisher : Del Rey
Accessibility : Learn more
Publication date : March 2, 2004
Edition : 1st
Language : English
File size : 2.8 MB
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Enabled
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Top Amazon Reviews
Format: Kindle
As a huge fan of hard science fiction, I had always heard this book was somewhat the impetus for the modern genre. Now that I have finally read this juggernaut, I can say that it lives up to the hype. If you are new to hard science fiction novels, I wouldn't recommend this as an entry point. While the author does a really good job at framing and explaining conceptual theories, he also doesn't spoonfeed the reader; it helps to have a baseline. So if you're dipping your toes for the first time, it may be a bit overwhelming. For those with a more experienced palate, this book has a lot to offer. It's not as fast-paced as the terrific Revelation Space series by Alistair Reynolds, or as wonderfully strange as Iain Banks' Culture, but it's damn good and carves its own unique niches. The book focuses on a distant alien threat, and whether to use military and technological means to exploit it. It also has several intertwining storylines that all culminate together at some point or another. In addition to this, the author has developed an entire fictional political system that serves as an interesting backdrop on how society should tackle the different problems it faces throughout the book. While the story is part alien invasion, part noir detective, part cyberpunk, and part wilderness survival (amongst others), there are many themes prevalent: immortality, climate politics, technology dependence, the disparity between social classes, and mass media manipulation to name a few. Like Alistair Reynolds, Peter Hamilton throws a lot of theoretical physics at the reader that bolsters the storyline's authenticity. Also like Reynolds, Hamilton eases you into it and does a good job of explaining high-concept science, without making you feel like an idiot. The story can move slowly, but when it's at its best, it is exciting, suspenseful, and riveting. 5 out of 5 stars, can't wait to start the sequel.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 21, 2023 by phxcoastie
Format: Kindle
The book is engaging, and after a pause of about a year I even decided to read the second part (even though I had read some spoilers after the first book). The scope of the universe is compelling. Characters are so-so, and there is more "pop writing" that I would like (abundant erotic scenes, etc.) but after thinking on it, I feel the overall composition is reasonable in the sense that the book reflects a plausible day-to-day reality in the imaginary future that is the premise of the story, hence I'd give the book (and its sequel) a solid four stars.
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Reviewed in the United States on April 24, 2026 by TheH
Format: Kindle
Read this series a long time ago and it was one of my favorite sci fi series in my 20s. I’d say it holds up well to today’s modern sci-fi/fantasy stories, and the only parts that feel dated are probably the few sex scenes that feel like you’re reading girl smut fantasy lol. Nothing bad though, and again this series is amazing. Not a series or book for people who don’t enjoy world building and a lot of background info.
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Reviewed in the United States on May 28, 2026 by Jonathan Hoang
Format: Mass Market Paperback
[My ego is getting the better for me for writing this as there are over 200 reviews, but I wanted to make a few points.] I have read / listened to Pandora's Star and its companion Judas Unchained about four times each, no small feat considering each is about 1000 pages. And I am flabbergasted by the sheer breadth of creation and amazing skill necessary on the part of the author to keep track of the intermingling plot strands. I have fallen in love with the Intersolar Commonwealth despite its flaws. I sincerely hope that something like this is what's waiting for our descendents in a few hundred years. There are many different kinds of readers out there, but if you love future worlds created in loving detail you'll most likely flip for this duology. It is very long. Much of it could have been omitted, though throwing out two much of the exposition and world building would have likely ruined the essential character of the story(ies). As others have pointed out, Hamilton painstakingly builds an astonishing civilization. You will truly understand what's at stake as it faces a formidable threat. Though I've enjoyed most of his other works, I believe Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained is Hamilton's magnum opus thus far. * I also recommend Manhattan In Reverse, his newest collection of short stories and A Second Chance At Eden, another short story collection from a decade ago. * SPOILERS AHEAD * . * SPOILERS AHEAD * . For those of you who've read it already, a few points: * Ozzy's Silfen adventure was not a waste of time. After all, who else but the Sylvan could finally force the man to grow up a little? (One of my favorite parts, in fact.) And what happened to Ozzie along the paths to convince him to cross Sheldon at the end? It's in there. * Who helped save the human race? Well, who rehabilitated Bradley Johannson? Maybe the Sylfen were less hands-off than they appeared to be. What was Johannson smoking that he would name his group the Guardians of Selfhood? Adam pointed that out, of course. That's one way to ruin any credibility they might have had.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 19, 2011 by Doug T.
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Two years ago, I read Peter Hamilton's magnum opus, The Night's Dawn trilogy, a 3,000 page doorstop of a space opera which opened my eyes to a new era of science fiction. Far removed from the old pulp novels, with predictable hackneyed alien races and faster than light travel, Hamilton actually created new life forms and technologies that I found to be very creative and believable. And while I was glad to finally finish the final novel in the trilogy, it motivated me to sample more of his writing, hence this, the first of a two volume work. Much like the Night's Dawn trilogy, in this work Hamilton weaves a dizzying number of story threads into an ultimately cohesive, tightly wound story that captivates the reader. If you can push your way through the first 200 pages without feeling completely lost, you will be amply rewarded in the balance of the novel. Set several hundred years into the future, the human race has colonized hundreds of planets through the use of wormhole technology. While this is not a new construct, Hamilton has modified and applied it to make it his own. These human occupied colonies are joined in an intergalactic Commonwealth, governed largely by an aristocracy of powerful families and organizations. In addition to conquering faster than light travel, the human race has discovered the fountain of youth, a medical procedure referred to as "rejuvenation", which is scheduled every 20-30 years or so, depending on one's pocketbook and lifestyle preference. Humans periodically initiate "memory dumps" and carry memory chips in their brain in the event of accidental death, after which a person's memories can be implanted into a newly cloned body. Presto, eternal life. Of course, in colonizing the universe, several alien life forms are encountered, some with mythological origins and others created out of whole cloth by the author. Thankfully, there are no giant insect or animal forms that so annoyingly find their way into most science fiction stories. Instead, as in his previous work, Hamilton has gone far outside the box in hypothesizing possible alien life forms which are far beyond the constructs imaginable by most sci-fi authors. As mentioned above, this is the first of two books in a series, being followed by Judas Unchained, another roughly 1,000 page book. I'll say this for Hamilton, if he is paid by the word, he is a very rich man.
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Reviewed in the United States on July 23, 2012 by Steven M. Anthony
Format: Kindle
Pandora's Star and its sequel, Judas Unchained, continue to exhibit Hamilton's excellent storytelling and ability to develop complex plots. Characterizations are wonderful, and action is gripping. For all the important things, these books get a five star rating. However, there are some serious inconsistencies in editing that are infuriating- I am pretty sure these arose from production as an Amazon e-book. Notably, in these two books, there are many references to what should be "renowned" characters; however, in every case these e-versions speak of "renown" characters. I double-checked against other Hamilton books I have. For instance, in the e-version of the Reality Dysfunction, the word "renowned" is used consistently and correctly. Going further with inconsistencies, Hamilton always uses the British "aluminium," versus the Americanized "aluminum," in other books than these two. In Amazon's e-versions of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, it is always " aluminum. " These two inconsistencies lead me to think that Amazon used a particularly crude Americanized AI to publish the books, or worse, a very inept editor. There is at least one incidence of "their" instead of "there" in Judas Unchained, and there are other little niggles here and there. For his own part, Hamilton has been guilty of mixing metric and imperial distances. These show up in both these e-versions and in other books. In particular, he occasionally throws in yards instead of meters/metres. Unfortunately I don't own hard copies of these two books, but I suspect that the errors I have cited are unique to the e-books. This kind of sloppiness is a discredit to Hamilton's effort. From a technical, sci-fi viewpoint, it seems unlikely that the hypergliders would have their vertical stabilizers (which prevent yaw) at the tail. Since these gliders are pushed by storm winds until they turn over for descent, you would need yaw stabilzation at the front. As described in the books, the hypergliders are capable of programmable reconfiguration anyway, so it should be no problem to reverse the stabilizers. The rest of the fictional technology is just for support of the story. Hamilton's projection of human/machine integration is wonderful, and the most likely to come about I suspect. In light of Elon Musk's recent demonstration with a chimpanzee, along with reports of hearing and vision implants for impaired patients, Hamilton seems to be on the right track. Exo-skeletons have recently been demonstrated as well. The various weapons and propulsion systems are a bit far out, but make for good stories.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 30, 2021 by Kindle Customer
Format: Kindle
Pandora's Star marks my foray into the space opera genre. I must say, I've been expecting something else - more like Star Trek, I guess (space voyages and adventures). Nonetheless, Peter F. Hamilton delivered a solid read with a very interesting vision of humanity's future - that is plausible and seems very real. We already work on genetics, can produce artificial organs and even clone whole animals (say hello to Mary the sheep), if we could just go one step further and clone man, we would only need one more thing - memory crystals, where everyone dumps their memories and feelings - think of them as your file backup in the cloud. Without them, even being fully genetically compatible, a clone is just a heap of meat that looks and works like you, but doesn't behave like you and certainly isn't you. But if we could dump our memories to an external storage device and then clone our body and download the memories to it... It would virtually mean immortality, something that humans have been seeking forever - be it literal or written in letters (poetry). The inhabitants of Hamilton's universe (our universe projected a few hundred years forward) have achieved exactly that - there is no final death - if your body dies, you go for a re-life procedure and end up in a clone with all your memories. If you don't die, you can still rejuvenate your body every few decades and stay forever young and strong. Living like that re-calibrated human brains, we've become more peaceful and warfares just died out. But there is another threat, a threat that only the Guardians of Selfhood - a terrorist group lead by a raving lunatic - Bradley Johansson - believes, a fairy tale they claim is real and dangerous - the Starflyer. The Starflyer is not real, it's a conspiracy theory which says that there's some alien working inside the human Commonwealth and its only goal is to bring peril to us. It doesn't help that believers turn to terrorist methods that we know all too well from 20th and 21st century. No one has seen it, no one has heard it, there is only the word of one men who claims he's been enslaved by it and used by it and then fortunately the Silfen (another alien race) freed him. Now he smuggles weapons and performs the acts of terror killing innocent people - all that to save the human race. Er, yeah, right... You'll find a bit of detective story, some action (but I wouldn't say the book is action packed), adventure / other worlds and a very realistic image of ourselves in the future. All in all, Pandora's Star has been a great read and I'm looking forward to the second tome. It is a hefty one, counting almost 1000 pages (in print), but it's nowhere close to dull and it certainly doesn't feel too long. I think it should appeal to every hard sci-fi fan, even if this would be the first book of the genre that you read - if you like sci-fi movies, games, anime, whatever, you're gonna like Pandora's Star.
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Reviewed in the United States on December 10, 2010 by Paweł
Format: Mass Market Paperback
Full disclosure - I'm an avid Hamilton fan from the Night's Dawn trilogy. So when I saw this book on the shelf some time ago, I bought it - and waited. I didn't want to start it until the sequel came out, so I wouldn't have to get half way in to the story and then wait for the conclusion. I strongly advocate you do the same. When introducing people to Hamilton's work, I often start them off with this one first. It's a faster pickup than Night's Dawn, while still maintaining Hamilton's outstanding weave of disparate stories into a cohesive whole. Advanced technology is handled particularly well by Hamilton, working it into his stories without slamming it in your face with technical jargon or detailed descriptions, but instead making it obvious how the new technology works through its use in the plot. I love good hard science fiction as much as the next guy, but nothing bogs a space opera down faster than having the plow through the handling characteristics of a new model laser blaster. If you're a science fiction reader, you already KNOW the science behind these things and can deduce the functioning of the equipment from its use - this, to me, is a much more satisfying mechanism than direct explication. Hamilton's focus, nicely complemented by tangents of real life, is driving the plot forward. And what a plot it is! If you love space opera, this one has got it all - invading aliens, wormholes, galactic confederations, genetic engineering and human perfectability, social commentary and exploration, artificial intelligence - the works. All held together with a sprawling storyline and ever-growing cast of characters, human and otherwise. Hamilton excels at bringing even minor characters to life, imbuing his storytelling with a human connection that stands out from most. Even a bit player destined to die in a page and a half is brought to life vividly before meeting his fate. Another great Hamilton technique: when faced with unexplained phenomenon, his characters will speculate just like you or I would - and sometimes they'll be wrong. This is surprisingly rare in fiction in general and science fiction in particular, where every writer and reader is used to being a high-information person with a decent handle on reality. Hamilton captures this realism well. This is epic space opera at its best, which is what I've come to expect from Hamilton. For science fiction lovers, I cannot recommend this highly enough. For those who've never really gotten into science fiction on a grand scale, this is a compelling and accessible story, and a great place to start. On a scale from 1 to 10, I rate this FANTASTIC.
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Reviewed in the United States on September 29, 2009 by Timothy Ellis