Rating: 
Summary: Has its highs and downs, but makes you crave for part two.
Review: Now, it isn't every day one comes along over a book and an author one is so mesmerized with, but at the same time wishes that his genius would take a somewhat closer look at itself. The imagination and writing style put into The Reality Disfunction reveals Peter F. Hamilton as one of the most gifted (SF) authors of today - observing him easily handling the numerous interlinked subplots marvellously connecting to the main theme is nothing short of brilliant, and the sheer scope of the book and its notions (living starships and habitats, neural nanonics...), combined with knowledgeable presentation of psyhics (now at long last here's a SF book in which starships don't generally perform as X-wings) and well-crafted language makes for a very believable, lush and intriguing world. The pace is unrelenting, and if you have the stamina to battle through the initial setting of the story and some rather lenghty charachter developments, you will no doubt be rewarded. The main idea also opens up all kinds of specualtion, if one is not too fed up with religious themes which seem to pop everywhere nowadays. However, everything is not rosy in this virtual, 27th-millenum world. Simply too much emphasis is put on wanton violence scenes - it would be far better if they were farther between, for they would carry far more impact. Medieval torture and billowing organs, fine, it's pretty King-uesque and well-written, but have mercy, not on every page. Also, the character of Joshua, the all-space-hound knocking over virtually every single woman coming across is rather silly. The sex abundance itself is perfectly acceptable, if viewed in correct scope: those complaining about the immaturity should be aware that such sexual practices were, at least, a normal feat with the medieval European nobility, and the book draws heavily from the very same age. It is a little bit overdone though, and the fault is assigned mainly to Joshua. Now there's a sex macho machine, if there ever was one, and his one-dimensionality affects other! , otherwise vivid and multi-dimensional characters as well. One might even begin to suspect the author holds some unlived fantasies he simply had to convey to his unwary readers (no offense, Peter!)... ;-) But, be it as it may, none can deny that once reading the first part the second one comes high on the priority reading list, despite the longevity (1217 pages in my UK paperback copy). Gosh, I wish it were winter again... :-)
Rating: 
Summary: amazingly disjointed narrative
Review: I was quite disappointed in this novel. Although the concepts were quite unique, the narrative flow was so disorganized that I actually lost interest in the story. I think the author needs to review basic literary style 101.
Rating: 
Summary: Gripping page turner, Stephen King meets Niven/Pournelle
Review: This is the first series in a long time that prompted me to collect the rest of the books in the series prior to finishing the first book. Hamilton introduces a large number of characters and places and then gives them motivations, depth, and believable personas.Hamilton uses the first 350 pages of the book to establish a fascinating galactic setting populated with living habitats and starships bonded to telepathic Edenists. Also included are your more standard Adamists who use technology in place of bio-engineered contructs. An incredibly uplifting picture of the future is painted but it is also realistic. The future is not perfect and has its seedier side with evil or opportunism waiting in in the wings. After the first 350 pages, you get a glimpse into pure hell. What began as a space opera takes on hints of King/Lumley-esque horror as the Dead return to possess the living and there is precious little the living can do to stop them. Throughout the novel the main characters are inexorably pulled deeper into something that may be bigger than them all. Will the living detect the invasion in time to contain it ? Can they stop it all and at what cost ?
Rating:
Summary: Terrific Science Fiction !
Review: I am not going to waste space and pretend I am some pretentious literary reviewer like others have done here. Simply put, this book and the sequel(Expansion) are terrific and I can not wait for the arrival of the next book in the series. Great effort Mr. Hamilton !!
Rating:
Summary: Many very interesting ideas,drags along in many places
Review: I have a hard time saying if I really like it or not. There are some places in the two books that I really like and too many where the plot just drags on and on. I also think the author introduces way too many characters. I soon lost the overview who is who (except for the few most important people). I didn't have a problem with the sex, although I think the focuses at little too much on it. The concepts of nanonics, sentient space ships and habitats and and and are just some of the wonderful ideas in this saga. The ideas in here are material enough for several novels. Several (also major) characters are brought in and you never hear from them again in the end - maybe they will reappear in the Neutronium Architect? Although I like the book it was a tough read for the reasons mentioned above and therefore I'll probably not read the Neutronium Architect. So I may never find out what became of them...
Rating:
Summary: Boring space opera
Review: This book is very looong and unfortunately very boring too. It has some interesting descriptions about combat, society and life 600 years into the future but this just doesn't justify the 1000+ pages of boring one-dimensional characters doing boring things through a lot of boring side stories that do nothing to advance the main plot. The main story starts all right with a mysterious entity taking over the newly colonized planet Lalonde. However, when the take-over is revealed as souls of dead people taking over the bodies of the living it just goes too far and becomes religious and uninteresting. I won't buy the other books in the series for sure. I was very happy when the last page in this one was turned and I could start forgetting it as just another childish SF book (just a bit more boring than the rest). I won't recommend it unless you're a religious person but then the sex might be too much for you :-)
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting world creation marred by poor writing
Review: A few pithy comments: 1. This book's biggest drawback is the adolescent sex which the writer seems to fixate upon. Although I am not offended by the graphic sex, it adds a very juvenile tone to the novel and literally detracts from the plot. 2. A very thorough and interesting universe, full of unique takes on sci-fi technology, a fascinating schism between Edenists and Adamists, and some great cyberpunk elements. A barfight with a cybernetic secret agent is easily one of the book's highlights. The compelling mystery of the destroyed Laymil is pretty good, too. 3. Characters are badly portrayed, and one-dimensional. The writing is also fairly cardboard and uninteresting. All the women are described in terms of how much curve is visible through their clothing. It's pretty lame. 4. The most interesting character, and possibley the most interesting plot point, is killed off. Laton, the rogue Edenist (masters of biotech) has a covert project to make himself immortal AND inhabit multiple bodies with a parallel processing, ESP - linked brain. He is also the only complex character presented, since he is supposedly evil and wanted by the other Edenists, but cares for his small enclave/family and has lofty goals for humanity. Finally, I thought, something compelling and interesting in this series. But alas, he is killed by the biggest flaw in the book, which brings me to: 5. The writer seems to think that religious images (Adamists and Edenists) and religious debate are still interesting, as if thousands of books and novels haven't already covered this well-worn territory already. He certainly has nothing new to add. The book is heavily engaged with religious overtones and questions of religion. They are presented in a way that makes you wonder why the author cares, because you certainly don't. A satanist cult of convicts on a colonist planet unleash the souls of the dead from some nether dimension by accident (during a ritual sacrifice to satan) and they possess the living, wiel! d incomprehensible and extraordinary powers, and they are apparently ALL evil. It's pretty stupid. The book degenerates into a pitiful body-snatchers tale that isn't even frightening, just hokey and trite. 6. The writer apparently watches too many soap operas, because he seems to think we care about long and irrelevant passages describing the main character's seduction of various women, intricate details of relationships between colonists and other characters, all of which apparently do nothing to advance the plot and fail to actually flesh out the characters as much as just annoy the reader with irrelevancies. 7. The book's good points: The barfight scene with the cybernetic secret agent is fantastic. One of the best "cyberpunk" type descriptions of futuristic combat I have ever read. The character of Laton is fascinating, and the plot introduced with his character should have been the plot focus of the series. Too bad both are killed off. Overall, I won't buy the sequels. You can get everything good out of the series by reading the first book, since the only good things are in the universe background explained in the first book. Poorly written, juvenile stuff, which some highlights that make you wish he was a better writer.
Rating:
Summary: Perverted trash (written from prison?)
Review: This book is packed with page after page of detailed, lovingly crafted descriptions of every form of rape, mutilation, torture, Satanism & sado-masochistic sex act (among others) that can be strung together in 600+ pages. A fair amount of it by sexually insatiable teenagers. The author is quite sick. But it seems to go beyond one person and publishing house -- how remarkable almost all the people commenting here rave about it without mentioning it has page after page of scenes like a significant dog character scrambling towards its attacker on stumps with blood spurting as its legs are amputated, etc., all described from the point of view of an affinity-bonded person (who can read the dog's mind). Of course, none of it is necssary to tell the story (except in the author's mind, no doubt) -- you could strip out all the garbage and tell the same story. If you are wondering why modern teenagers are gunning down their classmates, look no further than the encouragement and applause given to things like this. It is a measure of how far modernism and people have sunk. I feel sorry for anyone, especially under the age of 30, who reads this book, thus debases themselves. Not remotely in the same league as "Foundation" or "Dune".
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book- beginning of the best series I've ever read.
Review: Mr. Hamilton gives a very plausible and fascinating description of what things will be like in around 600 years. I have read the entire series (the first two books got me hooked) and I only hope that when the "Naked God" is released next year the series will continue into the future. I highly recommend this book and the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A space opera with sentient ships
Review: The characters were two-dimensional and the future culture unbelievable. The plot was interesting enough to keep me going, however. It had a nebulous ending, which was presumably necessary to justify sequels (this one is labeled "Part 1: Emergence"), though I will not buy the sequels.
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