Rating: 
Summary: as always, Hamilton rules the sci-fi roost
Review: In deference to the first poster, I wonder just what book he was reading. Hamilton is the new master of big-view space opera, and with this new book, he again shows us what the mystery of imagination can offer. HIs daialog is is flawless, his action invigorating, his ability to capture both the mysteries of future space and those of human existence uncanny. How he does this book after book is astonishing, and the act that he is younger than I leaves me a bit withered. Read them all. Be prepared to be dazzled.
Rating: 
Summary: Deus ex machina, anyone?
Review: Lose your chance at love? Time travel's the answer!British industry may be ailing today, but investors will be glad to know that Rolls-Royce will prosper. Did I mention that Rolls-Royce will be the chief source for starship engines? Rolls-Royce, I said! Rolls-Royce! I must confess that the idea of acrobatic sex with a Catholic schoolgirl is arousing, however.
Rating: 
Summary: Started ok - but went downhill
Review: Nice hard sci-fi idea - but way too many irreverant details, the pacing gets slower and slower, and a lot of whats-the-point detailed sex. You almost got the feeling the author was enjoying writing about sex instead of it being useful for the storyline. Horrible ending. You had no feelings for any of the charactors. I actually skimmed the last 50 pages just to get it done.
Rating: 
Summary: Disappointed
Review: Peter F. Hamilton has a great talent for creating fantastic and imaginative worlds and populating them with a set of well developed characters. The problem I have with this book is that unlike his "Mind Star" novels or even the "Night's Dawn" trilogy, the ending [stinks]. Sociopolitical, technology and other issues addressed in this book where not that interesting to me compared with his previous works. The ending seemed anticlimactic and boring.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but flawed, read
Review: The premise of this book is interesting. Colonies are not founded by governments or some sort of altruistic federation of planets, but by corporations who are in it for the money. These corporations require a return on their investments. This means they need soldiers to enforce this requirement - this investment gathering. Like another reviewer stated, it starts off well, but ends up grinding to a climax that seems rather forced, and sudden. The end seems rather like something out of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode. I can recommend it for it's challenging plot and interesting ideas on the nature of humanity and our future.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but flawed, read
Review: The premise of this book is interesting. Colonies are not founded by governments or some sort of altruistic federation of planets, but by corporations who are in it for the money. These corporations require a return on their investments. This means they need soldiers to enforce this requirement - this investment gathering. Like another reviewer stated, it starts off well, but ends up grinding to a climax that seems rather forced, and sudden. The end seems rather like something out of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode. I can recommend it for it's challenging plot and interesting ideas on the nature of humanity and our future.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book is IT. It has great action and good character development. It has a wonderful, suprising ending. A must have for Hamilton fans and SF fans everywhere
Rating:
Summary: also a great love story
Review: This book is not only an exciting Sci-Fi but also a fantastic love story. Hamiltion creates a very believable world and believable characters that keeps you wanting for more. The surprise ending made me smile :)
Rating:
Summary: Good but lots of filler
Review: This book wasn't nearly as exciting as the Night's Dawn series. But it was a fun read, all the same. The clash between the ZB troops and the townspeople was the best part of the book. Now for the complaints: - Lots of boring exposition. Most of this could have been ripped out to tighten up the book. - The author loves the word "indigenous" and at one point seems to use it in every sentence. - The personality of the young Lawrence Newton is well defined, but the older Newton is flat and doesn't feel like the same person. - Like the Night's Dawn series, Hamilton solves everything at the end with a deus ex machina. - All the summaries and synopses of this book focus on a plot device that doesn't even appear until two-thirds into the book. That being said, it was a a fun and enjoyable read if you skip over the exposition.
Rating:
Summary: Okay, but...
Review: This goes off in a number of directions, some of them more interesting then others.
It starts full off technobabble which I found irritating before the story settles down into a sort of sci-fi 'Kelly's Heroes' linked into a flashback history of the main
character (with some highly telegraphed plot twists) then into a story of urban warfare and then rather uncomfortably lurches into a 'finding ones place in the universe
and doing things for the good of all' kind of thing.
Some if it is exciting (the battle scenes are well written) and there are some interesting (if unworkable) ideas about inter planet economies but overall while readable it is a little too cluttered to raise above the average.
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