Rating: 
Summary: It could have been great
Review: Book 3 of this series, and I'm still reading. But, even if there were more, I'm fairly certain I would have stopped here.
The Nano Flower had great promise. Interesting, if somewhat far-fetched, plot, and several threads running through to hold it all together.
But by the end, I was shaking my head. What happened?
The end was disappointing, and not really worth waiting for. All the suspense about the alien, and when it finally arrived.... Well, it was just sad. So much could have been done with all of the different parts of the end of this book.... But nothing was, really.
As it went along, the story got thinner and thinner. The characters weren't bad, but more could have been done with them.
And the 14, 15 year gap between this one and the last... My question is, why? To show that the characters have grown, and evolved? What's the point if you don't have any idea what happened to them during that time?
And judging by what I read, a few important things happened then that I would have liked explained. I'll give one example. Royan. Last we saw of him, well, he was in bad shape. Suddenly in this book, he's married to Julia, and has children, and has been missing for 8 months. Granted, it's almost explained later, but not well. I don't know about most people, but I was very curious as to how exactly Royan ended up where he is now.
Basically, it was just disappointing to me all the way around.
It could have been great.....But it wasn't.
Rating:
Summary: It could have been great
Review: Book 3 of this series, and I'm still reading. But, even if there were more, I'm fairly certain I would have stopped here.
The Nano Flower had great promise. Interesting, if somewhat far-fetched, plot, and several threads running through to hold it all together.
But by the end, I was shaking my head. What happened?
The end was disappointing, and not really worth waiting for. All the suspense about the alien, and when it finally arrived.... Well, it was just sad. So much could have been done with all of the different parts of the end of this book.... But nothing was, really.
As it went along, the story got thinner and thinner. The characters weren't bad, but more could have been done with them.
And the 14, 15 year gap between this one and the last... My question is, why? To show that the characters have grown, and evolved? What's the point if you don't have any idea what happened to them during that time?
And judging by what I read, a few important things happened then that I would have liked explained. I'll give one example. Royan. Last we saw of him, well, he was in bad shape. Suddenly in this book, he's married to Julia, and has children, and has been missing for 8 months. Granted, it's almost explained later, but not well. I don't know about most people, but I was very curious as to how exactly Royan ended up where he is now.
Basically, it was just disappointing to me all the way around.
It could have been great.....But it wasn't.
Rating: 
Summary: Well conceived but carelessly executed ideas
Review: I am new to Peter Hamilton's writing and The Nano Flower is the first of his novels that I have read. I used to be an avid SF reader in the 60s and 70s but found progressively fewer new writers appealed to me. I guess that I make a rather demanding audience but, I am happy to report, Peter Hamilton may well make the grade with me.Other reviewers make a number of valid points about the book and I don't intend to repeat them save to say that I agree it is let down by a rather limp ending. Hamilton doesn't always play to his strengths or, indeed, recognise a strong character when he creates one. Although I am new to the series I can already see that Hamilton's chief protagonists are often his most wooden creations - I found Greg Mandel and Julia Evans unsatisfying as characters. Perhaps I have done Mr Hamilton a disservice and they were better developed in early books. On the other hand there are a number of characters who fleetingly come to life - even though they are later discarded by the author. Baronsky is sufficiently fleshed out to be intriguing and, until her liberation from the airship, Charlotte Fielder is also very promising. The real pleasure of the book is the imaginative development of technology and predictions of future business and political structures. Hamilton has a good mix of familiar global names diversifying into new, but convincing, business lines and minor brands of today emerging as global players. There are also a number of sly and knowing political and regional developments that will amuse British readers but may go unnoticed by others. All in all I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading other by the author.
Rating:
Summary: Event Horizon does not equal "Event Horizon"
Review: I really enjoyed this novel, which got me through a long stretch of jury duty. Contrary to what is implied, however, in the Booklist review posted above, "The Nano Flower" has nothing to do with the recent movie "Event Horizon." The fact that there's an company called Event Horizon in Hamilton's book is merely a coincidence.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, very good - but a slightly flat ending.
Review: In this book, the last in the trilogy, we find Greg Mandell retired from being a private detective for a number of years; but being called back to 'duty' by Julia Evans, to find her missing husband. I could sympathise with Greg, and his feeling that he was getting too old for this type of work, especially when things starts getting quite physical. Greg's psychic talent doesn't play quite as much part in this book, and I think we get to see a bit more of his human side (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean). There are a lot of strands to the story, which are brought together well - a good testing ground for the methods he used in writing 'The Reality Dysfunction'. I have to say that, while I really enjoyed the book, I found the ending to be almost unfinished; as if, once he had all the strands in one hand, neatly coming together after encirling the package - and most of them tied off - he didn't quite know how to finish the knot, and ended up with a slightly ungainly 'granny' knot. I'd be interested to know if this was caused by space constraints; or had he something else in mind, that didn't work out the way he wanted.
Rating:
Summary: Overall, very good - but a slightly flat ending.
Review: In this book, the last in the trilogy, we find Greg Mandell retired from being a private detective for a number of years; but being called back to 'duty' by Julia Evans, to find her missing husband. I could sympathise with Greg, and his feeling that he was getting too old for this type of work, especially when things starts getting quite physical. Greg's psychic talent doesn't play quite as much part in this book, and I think we get to see a bit more of his human side (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean). There are a lot of strands to the story, which are brought together well - a good testing ground for the methods he used in writing 'The Reality Dysfunction'. I have to say that, while I really enjoyed the book, I found the ending to be almost unfinished; as if, once he had all the strands in one hand, neatly coming together after encirling the package - and most of them tied off - he didn't quite know how to finish the knot, and ended up with a slightly ungainly 'granny' knot. I'd be interested to know if this was caused by space constraints; or had he something else in mind, that didn't work out the way he wanted.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent conclusion to the Greg Mandel series
Review: In this third and (so far) final installment of the Greg Mandel series, Hamilton brings the trilogy to a new level. The story is fast-paced, with some of the most intense action scenes I've ever read. As usual, the characters are well drawn and the setting is realistic and detailed. After the disappointing "A Quantum Murder", this is a wonderful way to conclude the series. Recommended if you enjoy fast-paced, near-future SF.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent conclusion to the Greg Mandel series
Review: In this third and (so far) final installment of the Greg Mandel series, Hamilton brings the trilogy to a new level. The story is fast-paced, with some of the most intense action scenes I've ever read. As usual, the characters are well drawn and the setting is realistic and detailed. After the disappointing "A Quantum Murder", this is a wonderful way to conclude the series. Recommended if you enjoy fast-paced, near-future SF.
Rating:
Summary: To The Stars
Review: The first Mandel book (Mindstar Rising) was an excellent Cyberpunk novel, the second (A Quantum Murder) was a futuristic whodunnit and this one, set about fifteen years after the others, reaches for the stars: We have (albeit limited) starships and 'there is life out there'. As in the books before, Hamilton creates a convincing mix of future technology, politics, economics and action. This time he throws in a very different kind of alien presence. I have read Hamilton's short-story collection 'A Second Chance At Eden' and, judging from the alien technology/biology, it's leading from the Mandel Universe into the Night's Dawn Universe (Hamilton's monumental series starting with The Reality Dysfunction). I'm not going to rehash the storyline, but it's very entertaining, I finished the 600 pages in less than a week and Greg Mandel says 'No Messing' a lot less often than in the other books!
Rating:
Summary: To The Stars
Review: The first Mandel book (Mindstar Rising) was an excellent Cyberpunk novel, the second (A Quantum Murder) was a futuristic whodunnit and this one, set about fifteen years after the others, reaches for the stars: We have (albeit limited) starships and 'there is life out there'. As in the books before, Hamilton creates a convincing mix of future technology, politics, economics and action. This time he throws in a very different kind of alien presence. I have read Hamilton's short-story collection 'A Second Chance At Eden' and, judging from the alien technology/biology, it's leading from the Mandel Universe into the Night's Dawn Universe (Hamilton's monumental series starting with The Reality Dysfunction). I'm not going to rehash the storyline, but it's very entertaining, I finished the 600 pages in less than a week and Greg Mandel says 'No Messing' a lot less often than in the other books!
|
