Rating: 
Summary: Good characters, good setting, dreadful plot
Review: As in the first Greg Mandel book, "Mindstar Rising", the characters and setting are excellently drawn. I enjoyed returning to the dystopian near-future version of England, just recovering from years of dictatorship and environmental problems. Some of the characters are very interesting, notably the Mindstar veterans Greg and Gabriel, and some of the Trinities people (Suzi, Teddy, Royan). It's just the plot of this novel ... I'm used to fantasy and science fiction plots being really really "out there", but this one pushes it a bit too far. I don't want to spoil the story here, but the final shootout almost made me throw the book down in disgust. I will read the third Mandel book, but I really hope it'll be a bit more plausible than "A Quantum Murder".
Rating: 
Summary: Very nice follow-up to Mindstar Rising
Review: Hamilton delivers another solidly entertaining novel with A Quantum Murder. In this book, Greg Mandel is called back to the service of Julia Evans to solve the mystery of a murder that it appears nobody has committed. It is not long into the investigation before the political involvement and strange case features make it clear that this is no ordinary case...
Although the writing is very smooth in A Quantum Murder (smoother than in Mindstar Rising, actually) I still found it a little bit of a letdown after the first book. In Mindstar Rising Hamilton played with mystery genre characteristics-- in A Quantum Murder the book is driven by them. Despite the futuristic technology, this book had significantly less scifi elements than the first. The plot was also quite a bit simpler and significantly more hackneyed in several places.
I liked the first book in the series precisely because it combined the two genres (mystery and science fiction) very effectively. I suspect that A Quantum Murder will generally appeal more to mystery fans who are more tolerant of the genre's standard flaws than it will to science fiction readers. Still, I found it an absorbing read which kept the pages turning very quickly.
Rating:
Summary: The needet follow-up to Mindstar Rising.
Review: I picked this book up on a whim in a sale which was unfortunate as A Quantum Murder is one in a series, although not a direct sequel. This meant that although Peter Hamilton did good work filling in background, I wished that I'd read the previous books to give me a better understanding of character makeup and relationships. Some of the references to past events were infuriatingly tantalising. But that's a shopping issue....The book is an interesting whodunnit - you are faced with a problem straight out of a logic puzzle. Who killed Kitchener when nobody could get into the house and all the occupants are innocent? The technology in the book is interesting - another review mentioned Cyberpunk which is close and made me think. This book is Cyberpunk WITHOUT the mirror shades! Peter's extrapolation of the effects of global warming are well thought out and I was tempted to dig out a map to see how he had come to his conclusions. Good attention to detail and not at the expense of the characters or plot either. The style of writing is good. Peter doesn't have to go into much detail to get the idea across - for example, the actual murder at the end of chapter 15 is one short, but very effective and unsettling, paragraph. A good book but should be read in sequence.
Rating:
Summary: Agatha Christie in the 21st century
Review: I picked this book up on a whim in a sale which was unfortunate as A Quantum Murder is one in a series, although not a direct sequel. This meant that although Peter Hamilton did good work filling in background, I wished that I'd read the previous books to give me a better understanding of character makeup and relationships. Some of the references to past events were infuriatingly tantalising. But that's a shopping issue.... The book is an interesting whodunnit - you are faced with a problem straight out of a logic puzzle. Who killed Kitchener when nobody could get into the house and all the occupants are innocent? The technology in the book is interesting - another review mentioned Cyberpunk which is close and made me think. This book is Cyberpunk WITHOUT the mirror shades! Peter's extrapolation of the effects of global warming are well thought out and I was tempted to dig out a map to see how he had come to his conclusions. Good attention to detail and not at the expense of the characters or plot either. The style of writing is good. Peter doesn't have to go into much detail to get the idea across - for example, the actual murder at the end of chapter 15 is one short, but very effective and unsettling, paragraph. A good book but should be read in sequence.
Rating:
Summary: A gripping murder mystery...
Review: Quantum murder is the best of the Greg Mandell (Mindstar Rising) triology, and although second in the series it was in fact written last. This shows through as the author's grip on the characters and narrative is much tighter and well structured than in the other two books - more reminiscent of the work to come in the Reality Dysfunction series... The murder of a physics professor at a remote country house sets up a perfect locked room mystery. Asked to investigate by his billionairess friend Greg Mandell and his empathic power soon establish that none of the people in the house at the time could possibly have committed the crime. The only person who could is currently locked up in a top security mental hospital. Things get more complicated when evidence proves that one of those in the house was in fact the murderer but Mandell still knows in his heart they couldn't have done it! The characters are interesting, the climax excellent, and not to mention very chilling. The setting also feels more fleshed out in the post global warming Britain recovering now from the disasterous socialist PSP, and heading to be the Japan of the 21st century. A cyber punk novel set in the British Midlands... highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: An excellent sequel to Mindstar Rising.
Review: Some years after the events portrayed in Mindstar Rising, Greg Mandell finds himself being called in to help Julia Evans solve the mystery of the murder of a scientist who was doing some work for her company - Things start to get 'interesting' very quickly - in the sense of the Chinese Curse, that is. Again set in the Rutland area of England, Greg has now married the girl he met in the first book & that adds its own complications (read the book to find out more on that); with psychic abilities also playing a large part in this book, including a very nice twist to 'solving' the murder. These books always get me thinking, the events are set in the near future, with environmental & political upheavals which are all too possible. A very good read. If you haven't read 'Mindstar Rising'(the first book), don't worry - this book stands on its own, but you will benefit if you read 'Mindstar' first. Better still, read the trilogy, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: An excellent sequel to Mindstar Rising.
Review: Some years after the events portrayed in Mindstar Rising, Greg Mandell finds himself being called in to help Julia Evans solve the mystery of the murder of a scientist who was doing some work for her company - Things start to get 'interesting' very quickly - in the sense of the Chinese Curse, that is. Again set in the Rutland area of England, Greg has now married the girl he met in the first book & that adds its own complications (read the book to find out more on that); with psychic abilities also playing a large part in this book, including a very nice twist to 'solving' the murder. These books always get me thinking, the events are set in the near future, with environmental & political upheavals which are all too possible. A very good read. If you haven't read 'Mindstar Rising'(the first book), don't worry - this book stands on its own, but you will benefit if you read 'Mindstar' first. Better still, read the trilogy, you won't regret it.
Rating:
Summary: Second Book of a Very Good Trilogy
Review: The three books in Peter F. Hamilton's Greg Mandel series were written before his "Night's Dawn" series. I'm not certain of this, but they seem to occur in the same universe as that series, just at a MUCH earlier time. Regardless, this series is excellent. What's especially nice, is that, for the most part, each of these books stands alone. You still need to read them in order, but none of them ends in a cliff-hanger requiring your reading of the next. Unfortunately, each of these books has a few fairly explicit sexual situations described in them. The amount of sex increases as you move from book to book. If it weren't for that, I'd recommend these books for everyone.
"Mindstar Rising" is the first book in the series. It's a very good, fast-paced sci-fi action thriller. The book introduces all the important characters and the "universe" used throughout the series. For the most part, the character development is good. I have a few qualms about a character or two suddenly being more capable than they are during the majority of the book, but that's mostly inconsequential. The plot, too, is very good. However, the transition between the first, introductory, situation in the book and the primary situation could have been worked better: it seems contrived. But, I might be seeing that solely because I've read the book four times now.
"A Quantum Murder" is the second book in the series. This book takes place about three years after "Mindstar Rising." Instead of being the science-fiction action thriller that the first book is, it's more of a science fiction mystery. It's a close call, but I think this book is slightly better than "Mindstar Rising." Once again, there's good character development, but this time, the plot is somewhat more tightly put together. I've only got a couple of quibbles: first, in one scene, Mandel's psi powers inexplicably include actual telepathy instead of just the empathy described in "Mindstar Rising." And, second, after the characters find out who the murderer is, instead of sending the police out immediately, they close up shop for the night and say they'll do it in the morning. Other than that, this is an excellent book which shows the origins of a lot of the technology in the "Night's Dawn" series.
"The Nano Flower" is the third, and final, book in the series. The various dates specified in the book don't quite agree, but, in general, it seems to takes place about 16 years after "A Quantum Murder." Like "Mindstar Rising," it's a sci-fi action thriller. Like "A Quantum Murder," it further develops technologies that Hamilton uses in his "Night's Dawn" series. Also, as in "A Quantum Murder," Mandel's psi-powers have once again expanded. Of the three books, this is probably the best. It's a hard comparison to make since the second book is more of a mystery and this book more of an action-thriller. But, in general, I'd say there's an incremental improvement in these books as you move through the series (all of them are very good, though).
Rating:
Summary: Adventurous Speculative SciFi
Review: This author writes a well paced book. If you like the idea of
Gland Psychics, Hardliners (body guards) and Cyber
technology, this one is fun.
Good characterisation and a story wonderful!! More speculative SciFi please.
Rating:
Summary: Adventurous Speculative SciFi
Review: This author writes a well paced book. If you like the idea of
Gland Psychics, Hardliners (body guards) and Cyber
technology, this one is fun.
Good characterisation and a story wonderful!! More speculative SciFi please.
| 
