I’m a huge fan of Peter F. Hamilton myself (original username NorthernLightMountain after all) and figured there ought to be more of us around here!
My absolute favorite world of his is the commonwealth universe and really want him to get back to something on that scale again.
I’ve read both the Salvation and Arkship trilogies after that and even though they’re both good I want brick sized epic space opera again!
Might just have to go back an revisit his books again.
I did see that he co-authored a book semi recently that managed to fly under my radar; Light Chaser (written with Gareth L. Powell).
Has anyone read it? No spoilers please :)
raises hand
Slowly working my way through the Commonwealth universe novels at the moment - about done with Judas Unchained, have a used copy of Abyss Beyond Dreams on the way. Hadn’t seen **Light Chaser **but adding it to my overly-wrong TBR list.
I’m a big fan. I read Nights Dawn trilogy as a young teen and absolutely loved it. Recently re-read it and really enjoyed it , again.
Yeah? They still hold up? Been thinking about doing that too.
I mean, they have their flaws and show their age a bit. But fundamentally, they’re still very enjoyable sci-fi with entertaining characters and some great imagery.
Yeah I’m definitely a fan. MorningLightMountain absolutely blew my mind when I got to that part.
The awkward sex scenes not so much…. But putting that aside they great reads.
The deus ex machina conclusions to his stories are getting a bit worn, but he’s still superb at producing lots of seemingly unconnected threads that come together to form a wonderful picture at the end.
The first thing I read of his had a very unsatisfying deus ex ending that seemed to come out of the blue, but perhaps a re-read would show me there were clues I missed. Since then I’ve been fairly happy with how he wraps things up, and I’ve read almost everything he’s published.
His Night’s Dawn Trilogy got me into reading science fiction, so his books will always feel nostalgic to me. However I haven’t read him in years. It was just more of the same and my taste grew elsewhere. Especially towards shorter works and his books are doorstoppers.
I miss those doorstoppers though… :)
I haven’t read any Peter F. Hamilton books yet (though after reading this thread plan too!) but I have read all Gareth L. Powell books. He writes fun adventurous sci fi set in unique worlds. I love his books.
Oh, and I’d say a good starting point would be Fallen Dragon since it’s a standalone or Pandora’s Star since it’s the start of what imho is hist best work! It’s a universe divided into three series, first the Commonwealth Saga (Pandora’s Star & Judas Unchained) followed by the Void Trilogy (The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void) and lastly The Chronicle of the Fallers (The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Night Without Stars)
There’s a prequel to the Commonwealth Saga as well, Misspent youth… it’s… decent. I wouldn’t start with it but it might be nice if you want a little bit more backstory to the main tech aspects used in the series.
Thank you for the suggested reading order. I looked him up and saw he has written many many of books! Excited to discover a new (to me) sci fi author.
And almost all of them are great! :)
There are some complaints about sex scenes in his books. I don’t remember much details from his earlier work, it’s been 20+ years since I read them but I can’t recall ever being bothered by them either.
I do recall him saying that his publisher back then wanted him to make his books a bit spcier though, so that might be where they’re coming from. Don’t quote me on that though. :)
He’s a brillian world builder, tech writer and up there with George R R Martin when it comes to juggling character arcs.
Thanks for the warning! In general sex scenes don’t bother me and are easy to skip over if they do. Not letting that get in my way on this new adventure!
Yeah, I’m the same. It’s sex. In a book. Worse things have happened. :)
Then this collaboration sounds very promising! :D
I love his books, and I have 110% stolen the name “Bionanonics” for use with a sci-fi character in RP forums, and if I ever write a sci-fi story I am going to probably use it there too. I am currently wrapped up in writing a fantasy serial instead though, so no idea if that will ever happen.
I have not read Light Chaser though. I should look that up.
It’s just a novella so I guess it’s far from his older tomes but still.
Peter F. Hamilton is the reason I got into Love, Death & Robots. The first episode is a short story from A Second Chance at Eden.
I read Great North Road and Pandora’s Star, and they were both pretty damn good, although not what I’ve been looking for lately in my fiction. I really need to pick up Judas Unchained at some point and actually finish the commonwealth saga, but it’s been about three and a half years now that I’ve been putting it off, so I feel like at this point I’m going to have to reread Pandora’s Star to know what’s going on lol
I think you just might have to! Well maybe not have to but it’s a great book and the next book will make more sense.
Then you have another five books after that in the same universe! :D
