Rating: Summary: ONE OF THE BEST S.F. Review: I HAVE READ 100s AND 100s OF SCIENCE FICTION BOOKS. HEAVY SCI. FICTION IS MY READ. THIS SERIES IS YUMMY. IT HAS IT ALL. SUCH A WELCOME FROM CRAP LIKE BRADBURY TYPE READS. HAMILTON READS LIKE KIM STANLEY ROBINSON. BRAVO. ANYBODY WHO LIKES SERIOUS SCIENCE FICTION, READ THIS. THIS AINT FOR THE MASSES.
Rating: Summary: Sequel available early March '98 Review: For those of you waiting desperately for the continuation of THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION Parts 1 and 2, the time has come. THE NEUTRONIUM ALCHEMIST Pt. 1, CONSOLIDATION, goes on sale early March 1998, and Pt. 2, CONFLICT, in early April. (Though I warn you, they end with the Mother of All Cliff-Hangers....) In other news, THE REALITY DYSFUNCTION has just been named a Recommended Novel for 1997 by Locus magazine, the Publisher's Weekly of the SF/fantasy field.
Rating: Summary: Excellent science fiction, fantasy, horror from "beyond" Review: I haven't seen an author bite off this much in one piece in quite awhile and pull it off and I read Lots of this Stuff! I enjoyed the various tours and histories of his universe as well as the wonderful detail that so descriptively brought it all to life. Mr. Hamilton is really good at jumping all over time and space without losing us readers and keeping up interest in his seemingly staggering number of principal characters and plot twists. Since reading Emergence & Expansion I have found myself speculating on just WHAT Mr. Hamilton is going to do next with WHO and HOW it will all pull together as I'm sure it will. I like the fact that I can't second guess where he's ultimately going with The Reality Dysfunction so, you see, I must buy the next book! Smart, Mr. Hamilton........
Rating: Summary: Good but wordy and complex Review: This is a good book for any SF reader that is also into religion. The number of plots and complexity of the story line makes it hard to follow unless you stay focused. I NEED the next one in the sequence bad.
Rating: Summary: An excellent book Review: I read the European Edition of this book and was desperate for the second volume so I snatched it as soon as it was released! Only to realize I had allready read it. The American Edition splits the first volume into two volumes: Emergence and Expansion.
Rating: Summary: Too thick ! Review: I'm sorry - I was disappointed with this. His early books were excellent near future stories. This new series is a quasi Bruce Sterling/Heinlein mixture of a story. It is also far too wordy (where was the editor for heavens sake ?) Plot and characters were excellent, but I simply had to flick past some pages that rambled on and on about bodice ripping etc etc. (yawn yawn). Still worth reading, but make sure you are on the beach, a longhaul flight or ill in bed before you do. Cut it down a bit next time Peter and get an editor like the excellent late John Campbell
Rating: Summary: One of the Best SI-FI books written Review: Simply compelling and dinamic book, with deep characters and involving plot. A MUST read !
Rating: Summary: More Space Opera Review: A continuation of the first book, again none of the stories end with any kind of conclusion. I guess I have to buy the next one. Damn it!!! I hate soap operas.
Rating: Summary: Techno-Smash!!! Review: Truly the worst thing about it is waiting for the sequel. The characters are well written, the technology original, and the action intense. One of the best I have read in a few years!!!
Rating: Summary: Space Opera, Meet H.P. Lovecraft Review: A cracking good read, despite its off-putting size (I have the European edition, combining both US volumes in a paperback as big as a doorstop). Mr. Hamilton takes the best elements of space opera and hard science fiction, building up a plausible and very interesting universe for his characters to romp through -- and then literally lets all hell break loose when the dead return to possess the living. Several other reviewers have expressed disappointment at this "horror" plot point intruding in their sf. However, on a larger scale, Hamilton is dealing with crises of faith in society. In a modern society, what greater faith do people have than in logic and science? And what do people do when reason fails them, as it does here? These people have almost total control over their environments, their thoughts, even in some cases their bodily responses, yet they cannot control or understand the threat they face. (Although I think Hamilton has prepared the ground for a reasonable sf explanation later, the characters are at the moment confronted with unreason bursting in upon them.) Plus, look at the characters. Syrynx, the Edenist, who has a guaranteed afterlife as part of a telepathic community, yet wanting to believe in the existence of the soul when her brother passes on incompletely. Horst, the priest, who loses his faith completely under the direst circumstances, only to regain it again (a bit of a cliche here, but only a bit). Joshua Calvert, space captain extrordinaire, who seems to be the only character acting fully on intuition rather than on reason, and coming out on top every time when more "reasonable" people falter. Only three examples from a very large cast.
Take your time with this book, savor it, and think about it. It has more to offer to sf readers than is at first apparent, which makes it all more enjoyable.
|