A Night Without Stars

Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers #2

by Peter F. Hamilton

The planet Bienvenido is in crisis. It has finally escaped the Void, emerging into regular space. But it's millions of light-years from Commonwealth assistance, and humans are battling the Fallers for control of their world. This rapacious adversary, evolved to destroy all sentient life, has infiltrated every level of human society—hijacking unwilling bodies so its citizens fear their leaders, friends, and family.

A mysterious figure known as the Warrior Angel leads a desperate resistance. She's helped by forbidden Commonwealth technology, which gives her a crucial edge. But the government obstructs the Angel's efforts at every turn, blinded by prejudice and technophobia. As Fallers also prepare to attack from the skies, she might need to incite rebellion to fight this invasion. But the odds seem impossible.

Then astronaut Ry Evine uncovers one last hope. On a mission against the enemy, his spacecraft damages an unidentified vessel. This crash-lands on the planet carrying unexpected cargo: a baby. This extraordinary Commonwealth child possesses knowledge that could save them all. But if the Fallers catch her, the people of Bienvenido will not survive.

Genres: Science Fiction, Space Opera, Fiction, Audiobook, Aliens, Fantasy, Science Fiction Fantasy

720 pages, Hardcover

First published September 27, 2016

About the author

Peter F. Hamilton is a British science fiction author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide, making him Britain's biggest-selling science fiction author.

Reviews

[Mario the lone bookwolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Fallers are such a sophisticated alien zombie vampire monster alternative, although their parasitic nature prevents full unleashing of well mannered expansion of the sphere of power.

Is there a deeper meaning or just pure terror entertainment?
Are they an allegory of sick ideologies infiltrating and infecting societies, deep allegories, metaphorical as heck? Maybe not, we don´t want stinking meta in some of the best space operas ever written, although the idea of collecting all the historical, sociological, economic, etc. innuendos in Hamiltons´work might take quite a while. Parasites and viruses just rock the body horror house, no matter how much philosophical drivel one wants to sprinkle above the whole thing.

See and realize its impact on sci fi in general awe
The idea of a kind of higher assimilating hive zombie intelligence, somewhat controlled and coordinated to get more than just one brain at a time for one eater, but all of them, mixed with sci-fi, makes fascinating plot options possible. The clash of high vs low or no technology already produces many sci-fi tropes, but biologically inspired fantasy vs science is an even more fertile field for new trope farming, to use the wonders of magic and the ingenuity of science, genetical engineering vs nanotech, green goo vs gray goo, psi vs electricity, etc. to produce amazing first time actions and reactions. To say that I´m obsessed with the epic culmination of bio vs nano psi vs technical and especially body vs mind aka feeling vs rationality would be an understatement.

Make more of it
One should much more often take the science fantasy world, dimension, parallel realities at different times, etc. idea and make it a major book series, because it could include satirizing and interpreting anything from known, established sci-fi and fantasy universes by simply using this aspect of suspension of disbelief. I believe to have identified this one as one of Hamiltons´most important secret ingredients.

Evolution of a genius prodigy god emperor of sci-fi
Hamiltons´ writing evolved towards, sometimes, less stereotypical characters, perfecting the mixture of fast paced and cliffhangery, very detailed action scenes and protagonists´ lives in different time periods of the future, and a detailed description of how the future might look like, one can enjoy in close to no other works. He´s just unique.

Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...

This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order:

Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600

You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present and reality.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

The many hours of reading pleasure from this space opera on a grand scale almost made it a five-star wonder for me. The far-future humans in this tale desperately pull out all the stops and put aside a revolutionary conflict between an underclass and their self-serving rulers in order to deal with an impending apocalypse at the hands of an insidious alien species, the Fallers. Lots of fascinating personalities come into play with all the sub-plots, starting with a forest warden, Florian, who gets a baby delivered to him by a space lifeboat with an AI that instructs him to take care of her in secret for a month and all problems with the Fallers might have a chance to succeed. While on the lam from government security forces, he is perplexed with baby Essie’s rapid development and ability to walk and talk after only a few days.

Earlier in this series a sector of the high tech Commonwealth civilization was laid low by an alien race that can bend physical laws to impose barriers to the humans’ power and reach, called the Void. A fleet that fought back by employing an ultimate weapon, the quantumbuster, ended up getting translocated to a solar system around a sun in remote intergalactic space. One ship crash landed on a planet and another was never found. With what little technology was left to them the new mission to terraform and colonize this empty world was a slow process, and the adverse conditions made it possible for a totalitarian regime to emerge and maintain control under the guise of egalitarian communistic principles. The humans with special brain additions that allowed them to dominate in Commonwealth societies by tapping into networks like a mental internet, the Eliters, are oppressed, reviled, and kept in low status positions in this relatively low-tech colony world.

Over the few hundred years of humans adapting here and exploring their new solar system they come to learn that other uppity species have been similarly banished at various time points to other planets. Several are quite dangerous. One powerful genocidal species called the Prime took all their nuclear weapons and the sacrifice of their tech wizard Laura Brandt to defeat. With her death the knowledge of using wormhole technology to move people or weapons to specific points on a planet was lost. Now several hundred years later they are feeling the threat of a species adept at biological genetic innovation and mimicry, the Fallers.
The humans have developed an industrial base sufficient to counter invasion attempts of the Faller’s seeding operations with bomber fleets and build nukes and conventional NASA-era spacecraft sufficient adequate to start attacking the asteroid bases of the Fallers. Knowledge that human societies have been infiltrated by Fallers who adopt human form has been a closely kept secret while elite security forces work to wipe out their nests. We spend a lot of time with one of their brilliant investigators, Chiang, and his evil partner who is spying on him for the government and subverting him through sex. She hates Eliters more than the Fallers, suspects Chiang of being one, and favors the regime’s backup plan to evacuate the non-Eliter privileged to an island fortress and nuke the rest of the earth. Unfortunately, the Fallers have gotten ahold of the nuke supply, and their awareness of the risk of Essie as a path to recovery of Commonwealth technology brings their apocalyptic plans into motion.

The most fun of the tale for me is when Florian hooks up with a Commonwealth survivor who has kept to hiding for centuries, and they set out with grown-up Essie to find the second Commonwealth ship buried under polar ice. There is a wonderful battle against the Fallers in the winter wasteland. Soldiers with rifles, drone surveillance, and force-shields against Fallers in the form of giant bears ridden by big brutes with bazookas and nukes. Great fun. If the good guys can get wormhole tech and synthesizers working, they have a chance to find most powerful allies among the banished alien species in the solar system to help humanity defeat the Fallers. The fun and wonders just amp up to another plane for a thrilling finish to this excellent adventure in a dog-eat-dog universe.

This book was provided by the publisher for review by the Netgalley program.

[Bradley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another SF epic by Hamilton and it sure as hell doesn't disappoint. At all.

I admit I like the Commonwealth novels best. I LOVE getting back in touch with Nigel and Paula and many others. It helps that everyone has lifespans counted in the span of thousands of years, of course, but it also means that after all these re-lifers, uploads, post-mortals, and re-bodied characters can go through a ton of change over the years.

Hamilton has one hell of a fascinating timeline going on here. And this latest one is right up there with all the rest. 250 years after this particular world was kicked from the Void, the remaining humans are busy doing the same old crap as usual. Disenfranchising ourselves. The technological minorities are hounded by the reactionaries, but if that doesn't give us enough to enjoy, the world is in constant flux with Fallers. Shapeshifter aliens that only have one goal in mind: eradication of all other life. It's a simple equation for them.

The whole novel is fun from start to finish, including a mysterious fast-growing baby handed to a local astronaut who is told that the fate of the world is in his hands, an intractable official, a Captain from the non-technological ruling class out to hunt him down, and TWO delightful big returns to the characters from the previous novels.

One, and I won't spoil it, was a FREAKING DELIGHT once the secret got revealed. :)

Is this another big book by Hamilton? Yep. But it's fantastic the way that all the Void books are fantastic. High Tech, but now, without the inclusion of psionics from the Void and a distrust of all things High Tech, a few of these characters are freaking uber-powerful despite the Fallers. :) It's fun. :)

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

5-Stars for the colossal, exciting, and very poignant final ending of the Commonwealth Saga. Over so many years, we have loved these characters, brought them into our families, lived with them, strived and hurt and were heroic with them. Now they are "grown children" and Peter's parenting of them is over. I know this loss must be deeply sad, as are all good parents when their children leave the nest. We do feel for you, Peter!

The Commonwealth Universe is an extraordinary creation, so carefully planned and realised, so full of joy and surprise and wonder of the universe, a treasure of science fiction.

Commonwealth Novels (Kindle length shown)
Misspent Youth, 439 pages, 3 ***
Pandora's Star, 992 pages, 5*****
Judas Unchaind, 848 pages, 5*****
The Dreaming Void, 641 pages, 5*****
The Temporal Void, 737 pages, 5*****
The Evolutionary Void, 694 pages, 5*****
The Abyss Beyond Dreams, 672 pages, 3 ***
A Night without Stars, 720 pages, 5 *****

Short Stories
Blessed by an Angel
The Demon Trap
Manhattan in Reverse

This is a truly unequalled accomplishment in a science fiction series. The authors C.J. Cherryh, James S.A. Corey, and Alastair Reynolds come very close, but Peter's work is The Best

You may note that I award only 3 stars to Abyss. This is due to most of the last half of the book. I found Slvasta's psychosis and ruination of Bienvenido to be depressing, long-winded, almost a diatribe against communism and/or socialism.


A Night without Stars
Foremost, I must say that in A Night without Stars, I am extraorinarily pleased that the beautiful Faustina, previously Bethaneve, did not die in the yellowcake mines of Bienvenido. Thank you, Peter.

This book begins 200-250 years after the end of The Abyss Beyond Dreams, and shows what the 1960s level technology is able to do against The Fallers. The main focus of the book reminds me of Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith (5-stars, extraordinary!), as one of the protagonists is a policeman in the socialist/communist political system now firmly established on Bienvenido. Chaing is struggling with a political mystery, which becomes ever more complex and threatening. The detective aspects of the book are mostly very good, and Chaing and his assistant/lover work through the clues with zeal.

One parallel story concerns the Eliters, who still have some functioning biononics and live secret lives in fear of Slvasta's police state. Several somewhat disjointed strands do come together in the second half of the book quite nicely.

Another parallel story concerns the Soyuz/Mercury-level astronaut program aimed at attacking the Fallers in high orbit. Ry and Anala are terrific characters.

Most of the action sequences are good, but not all of them. There is quite a bit more (tasteful) sex in this Commonwealth book that any of the others, but these support the character development extremely well. (Not solely for titillation).

The book really shines when it's focused on Commonwealth characters and technology, particularly when Paula Myo is ressurected and begins her campaign to save Bienvenido, in spite of the political police hatred of the Eliters. The emotional and pscyhological battles within the police is well handled, with well-developed characters (as always by Peter!)

The final few chapters (Book 7) are superb, the action intense and full of Commonwealth magic, and particularly the political and technological leadership of a familiar character from previous Commonwealth stories.

All Peter's characters are truly human and well-developed, fully realised and not clowns or cliches. In particular, the raising of a young baby to adulthood was clever, poignant and Very funny!

And, of course the last two chapters, the final view of our Commonwealth families and their new members, is touching, sweetly nostalgic, and full of names and events which will surely drive me helplessly back to Pandora's Star to start the saga again. HURRAY !

A Triumph! Thank you, Peter, for sharing your gifts with us.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a book! The Commonwealth chronicle begun with The Abyss Beyond Dreams concludes and it is magnificent. There is so much going on here, so many lives, I'll be thinking it over for a long time. Tempted now to re-re-read Pandora's Star..... Peter F Hamilton is the Master.

[Liviu · Rating 3 out of 5]

disappointing; the first PFH novel that felt like a drag to read and finish and I did it more from a "dot the i's and cross the t's" perspective than anything else and if it were from almost any other I would have abandoned it without qualms; even the overlong Great North Road had enough goodies to make me get over the long boring police procedural part, while Mispent Youth was intriguing enough too to keep me interested despite being a soap opera disguised as sf, but this is repetition after repetition in a milieu that is very uninteresting, with little in terms of essential suspense and a predetermined happy ending all kisses with almost all characters from the now done Commonwealth/Void saga (it almost equaled Heinlein's folly in one of his last novels when he brought all his characters together in a nonsensical book that no one talks about today)

I really hope the author does something different next as I have no intention to read anything more about the Commonwealth, Void etc

[Gary · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Night Without Stars is the disappointing sequel to The Abyss Beyond Dreans. Whereas the earlier volume was characterized by some intriguing ideas and was populated by some complicated characters the sequel abandons both plot and lazy writing.

Here is what I mean by lazy writing:
1. The author doesn’t take time with his sentences. Here is an example: “They were halfway across the lake to the Vatni village when the baby woke up and started crying– really bawling. The noise was incredible. Florian was convinced she’d wake the whole county.” Taking no time with his sentences for the sake of merely rushing forward with the plot, the author resorts to a sixth-grade writing level.
2. Cliched characters. The caretaker of police archives in the deep basement of headquarters is—what else?—a sepulcural old stick of a woman with a short disposition. Gangsters dress and talk like mid-twentieth century thugs. An artists’ colony is populated by wildly dressed, free-love hippies. These are cartoons.
3. Which only reprises one of the objections I had with the first book in the series, as well: how likely is it that a civilization isolated far from Earth over thousands of years since is establishment by the first humans, would evolve culturally over thousands of years into a society that in its relationships, institutions, and technology, looked not very much different than our own? I don’t expect Earth’s own societies to look like the one in which we currently live thousands of years from now (look how much it has evolved in the last several thousand years). I would expect the new environment of a different planet would lead even those carrying our same human DNA to cultural networks and artifacts that would in fact look quite alien from our own.

Even as a plot-driven book, the story could have been tightened. When a flight is launched into space, we get a lot of detail about the process of the launch that really does nothing either to forward the narrative or offer insight to the characters—so what’s the point?

I don’t abide by the argument someone may give that I should lay off because Mr. Hamilton’s books are, after all, “only space opera.” Space opera can be written with depth. Mr. Hamilton himself has done better. If he had only spent as much time editing as he did writing, putting more polish to his narrative with characters that while human were yet “different,” he would have had a reader who was more involved and drawn to what he had to say.

[Brent · Rating 5 out of 5]

My journey through the Commonwealth universe is now complete, and I'm happy to say that Peter F. Hamilton absolutely landed the plane perfectly with this concluding volume. After Abyss Beyond Dreams kind of let me down it was a complete 180 with A Night Without Stars as I think it is my second favorite book in the whole universe after Pandora's Star.

My complaints with Abyss Beyond Dreams were basically that it didn't feel like science fiction and it didn't feel like a Commonwealth book. ANWOS corrects both of those issues. It gave me everything I wanted. He goes back to leaning into the futuristic tech and other aspects that make this series great. Also, the plotting political revolution plot is gone and replaced with a plot about actually trying to save the planet from the Fallers. And that plot is a rocket ship all the way until the end. And at the end Hamilton again shows that he's an expert at tying up all the threads in a very satisfying way.

If you are someone who maybe didn't read this because you weren't happy with Abyss Beyond Dreams do yourself a favor and pick this one up. This will be what you want. A fantastic end to a fantastic series which I would put right up there with the Sun Eater universe in my sci fan series rankings.

[Chris Berko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. I thought this duology was lacking compared to the ten other books I've read by him. Still good, still entertaining, just lite.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Night Without Stars is Peter F Hamilton’s conclusion to his Chronicle of the Fallers duology, itself effectively a conclusion – at least for the moment – of his Commonwealth Universe. Following on from The Abyss Beyond Dreams (Mark C’s review, MarkY’s review), Night Without Stars has a lot to do in its page count to effectively tie up the story, and it makes this task even greater by essentially resetting the society and technology on Bienvenido following its expulsion from the Void. It’s safe to say that having read The Abyss Beyond Dreams is a must before tackling Night Without Stars…

Nigel Sheldon’s attempt at destroying the Void at the conclusion to The Abyss Beyond Dreams failed and Bienvenido has been ejected into deep intergalactic space. With the Void behind them the planet must adapt to these new conditions where technology can prevail, having to build society around these life-altering changes. However, the Fallers are a constant and even more deadly threat now that their orbital spawning ground has been shattered, causing them to come down across the entire globe. The struggle for the planet, and the survival of humanity, is more precarious with an oppressive government denouncing the use of Commonwealth enhancements, relegating those born with this heritage to second-class citizens. There are but a few rays of light against this dark backdrop, and it’s down to Kysandra, the Warrior Angel, and her group of ANAdroids to take the fight to the Fallers, and a little help is coming…

I’m a big fan of Hamilton’s work, especially his Commonwealth books, so the release of Night Without Stars was one I’ve been looking forward to since the closing pages of The Abyss Beyond Dreams. However, when I cracked open the novel and began reading, it was somewhat of a surprise to find that time had moved forwards over 200 years since the previous volume’s conclusion. This surprise turned to interest at the society Hamilton had created – rather than one that had embraced the Commonwealth technology that Laura Brandt and Kysandra had at their disposal, it turned against these elements, forcing the ‘eliters’ underground to work in secrecy. While Sylvasta is no longer around, his presence and desires are felt through the governmental policies that restrict control and advancement in the hopes of maintaining a status quo that keeps them in charge.

While this society is fascinating to read – comparable to the mid-20th century, with few aspects of higher technology – the conflict against the Fallers is what interests me so much. Fighting an enemy with the ability to take on the form of anyone or anything, with a sharp intellect focused on the genocide of humanity, makes for a startling brutal story. Not only this, but also other elements present in Bienvenido’s new star system cause much woe and a little intrigue, especially to the reader. However, it’s the Fallers against humanity that this story is ultimately about, and Hamilton manages to weave a tight story with the many threads present. Not a single page is wasted in the telling, and once again it’s a joy to witness such a master of science fiction at work.

With a varied cast of characters that each bring their own point of view to the story, and many threads that intertwine as the plot progresses, Night Without Stars ticks almost every box on an SF fans list. While sporadical during the early parts of the novel – prologue (Nigel Sheldon in Andromeda!) and start of chapter 1 (Primes!) excepted – these elements build to a very satisfying and enjoyable conclusion, and one that long-time fans of Hamilton’s work will relish.

The Chronicle of the Fallers is an excellent duology of novels. Where The Abyss Beyond Dreams brought a different take on the Void with some unforgettable characters, story elements, and plotting, Night Without Stars shows conflict on a human level against the most terrifying of enemies, all the while delivering an action-packed page-turner. Highly recommended.

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Executive Summary: A bit of a slow start, but probably my favorite Commonwealth books since Pandora's Star.

Audiobook: John Lee does his usual quality job. He doesn't do a lot of voices, but his normal reading voice is fantastic.

Full Review
I struggled a bit with the first third or so of The Abyss Beyond Dreams. Once things got moving they most got pretty good, but there were still lulls. This book however had very few lulls.

I originally felt like Abyss kind of abruptly ended, but given how this book starts out, I think the split makes more sense. This book focuses heavily on three entirely new characters: Captain Chiang whose a member of the military responsible for rooting out Fallers, a forest warden named Florian and astronaut Ry Evine.

I struggled a lot with Chiang's character, which I think was by intent. He's not inherently evil, but he tends to be a bit too determined to stop the fallers at any cost. Florian on the other hand was fantastic. It was largely his part of the story that sucked me into this book. Ry Evine was interesting enough but his story felt much smaller compared with the other two.

Much like all of the other Commonwealth books, the story is full of cool tech (albeit much less than some of the others dues to reasons that explained in the book), memorable characters and huge stakes.

There are some other aspects of this book I really enjoyed, but talking about those would get into spoiler territory, something I try to avoid when writing reviews.

If you liked previous Commonwealth books, or if you were so-so on the last book and haven't picked this one up yet, I think it was well worth it.

I really enjoyed this book and I was especially happy with how he wrapped everything up a the end. I don't need another Commonwealth, but I'd easily read another one if he writes it. The world building is so big that it feels like there are plenty of stories that could be told.

[Claudia · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the book that ends the Commonwealth universe series. To be honest, I liked the previous trilogies better.

This one had too much Marvel-like characters for my taste and too many cliches. Not to mention that society... I love the Commonwealth universe with its wonders and high technology and the diversity of aliens. If it wasn't for the (cheesy, but so lovely) ending, it would have been the first PFH disappointment. But the ending worth the struggle.

Overall, it was an enjoyable reading; just do not expect to have the same impact as Pandora's Star.

[Mark Medina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth reading.

Lots of good points. Faced paced, action, etc. Good characters and exciting story. How much actual science fiction is debatable. Concludes the chronicle of the fallers series. Can be classed as good fun, without stretching the brain too much. Worth reading.

[Youko · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

A Night Without Stars takes us back into the Commonwealth/Void universe. As the story takes place on Bienvenido and since I have only read the Commonwealth trilogy and not the Void Trilogy, I missed out on much of the context. While reading the Void Trilogy was clearly not a requirement, there was a lot of emphasis on the events of that story and plenty of references that I did not get.

Setting
The story takes place on Bienvenido, a planet that was formerly in the Void (something which is not really explained until near the end of the book) but which was expelled into, apparently, intergalactic space as part of a solar system with planets populated by misfits. An interesting setting with potential. But then it turns out that the human population of Bienvenido is at a technological level comparable to our own, pre-internet and home computers, and is governed by a totalitarian state. The planet is also fighting off alien invaders that have the ability to 'eggsume' people and take their appearance and genetic material. But somehow they still have blue blood, for plot reasons. I thoroughly disliked this aspect of the story as it was evident, almost from the get-go, that lack of technology was going to be a problem in fighting the aliens. It felt like I was reading an alien invasion story set in the USSR with telepaths. It did not feel like a Commonwealth story, so for me, this felt like an unfulfilled promise.

Characters
Chaing is a secret police agent who wants to stop the Fallers at all costs and hide his problematic ancestry. Jennifa (ugh) is a secret police agent who is secretly tasked with rooting out agents with Chaing's ancestry. How terribly inconvenient. Ry is an astronaut who causes the main plot to kick into high gear and is generally fine. Florian is a forest warden and an Eliter/Advancer who just wants to be left alone but gets pulled into the plot and then falls for the Warrior Angel. Our protagonists are, I would say, Chaing and Florian. Ry and Jennifa and a couple of others take a secondary role. Florian's character develops at the speed of plot, but I felt that Chaing and Jennifa both had fairly believable character arcs. My biggest beef is that both Chaing and Jennifa were driven by motivations that stem from a background that we don't actually learn about - so some of their actions require the reader to infer their beliefs/motivations.

Plot
The less said, the better. The plot starts more than 30% into the book but once it gets going, it accelerates into the climax which I found pretty exciting. The denouement was a 'happily ever after' epilogue that is well worth skipping. Generally, I was not thrilled with the alien invasion/apocalypse storyline. I liked the aspects of the story where Commonwealth technology came into play but otherwise I was disappointed with the plot.

My favourite aspects of the story were the moral dilemma that Chaing faced, the Commonwealth tech when it finally made a resurgence, and the fast-paced plot progression once it kicked in.

My least favourite aspects were just about everything else. The first 1/3 of the book could basically be excised. It's clearly intended to set up the rest of the story but, honestly, literally all of it could go without hindering the story. And removing that bit would have made my reading experience much more enjoyable. I skimmed as much of the descriptive text as I could because almost each chapter started with a lengthy descriptive passage which had no bearing on the story. This is the kind of worldbuilding I struggle with because while it does help to set the stage, it does not tie into the story at all (compare Steven Erikson's worldbuilding). The sex is also ridiculous. This is a huge failing of this author as almost every female character spreads her legs at some point and it's so gratuitous and degrading to the characters. It feels too much like adolescent wish fulfillment.

2/5 stars

[Les · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was everything that I'd hoped it would be, an epic and satisfying conclusion to this pair of books set in Peter F Hamilton's truly awesome Commonwealth universe. I selected it as my own personal "Book Of The Year" for 2016.

Set a number of years after the events of The Abyss Beyond Dreams, the story starts of rapidly and remains fast-moving with lots of action. There's a cool battle at the beginning where an old foe from the past (which Commonwealth universe readers will instantly recognize) makes an appearance. We're also given snippets of information about what has come before in the story arc, background information that helps to flesh put the vast plot. The characters are as vivid as ever and, typically for PFH, there are cops and detectives as key players. They all form part of the mission to rid the isolated world of Bienvenido from the relentless and ruthless Fallers.

Things have changed a lot on the planet since it's expulsion from the Void, events that occurred in Abyss. Now we're seeing the use of modern Commonwealth technology and devices, and society has divided into factions that either have the use of this tech, welcome it and want more, to those who yearn for the simple older times prior to the expulsion (or the "Great Transition" as they call it). This has created a rather paranoid society that the Fallers are able to take quite some advantage of. There are even 20th century-style rocket missions into orbit to nuke Faller "trees" which form a gigantic ring around the planet. Very cool. Early on, a new player is deposited on Bienvenido in an attempt to enact a final blow to the Fallers. The identity of this character will keep readers guessing for a while, and it was fun discussing who it might be with other readers.

As well as events on the planet itself, we learn of other planets in the group which are also marooned in the starless dark of intergalactic space, light years from anything else. This adds more color to the already impressive backdrop that PFH has woven, and clarifies somewhat where things fit within the overall Commonwealth universe story line and along side the Void trilogy. I'm going to resist the urge to prattle on and go into more detail of the finer points of the plot, because readers will be familiar with these after having read Abyss, which is mandatory reading before this one.

So then, I'll summarize by saying that this book is more classic PFH in that it's excellent modern space opera and is supremely fun to read. It's moderately long at 750 pages in paperback form, but it's by no means hard going. It's an even easier read than Abyss, which I thought was the most accessible PFH novel I'd read. That got more tied up with the world building and politics of the story, whereas this book is the finale that wraps it all up in great style.

After reading this pair of books, now would be a perfect time to go and read the Commonwealth Saga which consists of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. These will reveal in all it's splendor the universe that Hamilton has created and I promise that you'll be impressed. Then after that, the Void trilogy awaits your attention...

[MadProfessah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Somewhat inconsistent but enjoyable entry in Commonwealth saga

A strong ending (with cameo appearances by some of the most famous and beloved figures in Hamilton's recent oeuvre) rescues this entry in the Commonwealth saga from relative obscurity.

A Night Without Stars is the second (and final) entry in a duopoly that began with The Abyss Beyond Dreams. These are nominally two more books set in the same Commonwealth universe of some of Hamilton's best work (Judas Unchained & Pandora's Star) but also feature the Void, which was the primary focus of Hamilton's excellent (and exhaustive) The Void Trilogy.

One of the most exciting aspects of this series is the completely new setting of the planet of Bienvenido and the interesting possibilities for new plots and characters this allows a grandmaster of science fiction like Hamilton to create.

There is a huge twist that happens about halfway through A Night Without Stars that I kicked myself for not seeing myself (it's even hinted at in the prologue!) which guarantees that any Hamilton fan will enjoy reading this book.

However, there are some definite drawbacks in the book as well. There are some clumsily written (heterosexual) sex scenes between some of the new primary characters that were a bit cringeworthy. Hamilton's primary strength, in my opinion, has typically been his imaginative portrayals of a technologically complex world, coupled with intensely violent conflicts between (typically alien) intelligences with competing ideologies. There are definite stretches of the book which are pulse-pounding scenes of action, but there are also stretches of the book bogged down in prosaic depictions of political intrigue with one-dimensional characters.

Overall, I'm very glad that Hamilton is writing in the Commonwealth universe again and would LOVE him to write many more books in this series. However, the way the book ends, it feels like he is ready to move on, but this doesn't bring me sadness it makes me feel gratitude at how much he has already created that I have enjoyed for so long.

FOUR STARS.

[Florin Constantinescu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picking up a few hundred years after the events in 'The Abyss Beyond Dreams', PFH tries to fix up whatever flaws were in its prequel. Did he manage to do it? Only partially.

Same recipe apllies yet again. 19th century society struggling to cope with the Void (see 'Void Trilogy'). Some Commonwealthers stick their noses here and there, apparently with their own agenda.
Compared to the prequel I had the impression that this time the 'voiders' were a little bit better written. The side action no longer holds center stage.

Since the end of this two-book sequence occurs before the end of the Void Trilogy, I can't say I'm surprised with its ending. Still, a small step in a better direction. Unfortunately, too little too late.

Hope he's done with the Commonwealth universe.

[Emily · Rating 5 out of 5]

At approximately at 12:33am EST I finished the 7th and final book in Peter F. Hamilton's Commonwealth Universe series.

Not quite sure what to do with myself now... 🙃

I think that of the Void Trilogy & Fallers duology, this just might be the book I most enjoyed reading. Need to think a little bit more about the reasons why. Stay tuned.

[Fred Hughes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great story from a master story teller. Ejected from the void the issue becomes defending themselves from the Fallers who can create any type of person or animal they "eggsume".

Super sophisticated science fiction and evil at the highest level merge to create an epic story

[Gernot1610 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Klasse!

[Chip · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part two of the Chronicle of the Fallers series that began with The Abyss Beyond Dreams. If there is someone that can keep a series going without the quality decreasing over time, it is Peter F. Hamilton.

I believe that this is the twelfth book I've ready from this author. My average rating has been 4*. I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley. Yes, I'm a fanboy, but this rating was earned and not given.

The story continues shortly after the end of the previous book in the series and assumes some familiarity with the plot of that story. Additionally, some knowledge of the universe that this book resides in is also helpful, but not mandatory. While some characters from other stories in the universe, but outside of this series do not appear, you do not need to be intimately familiar with them to appreciate this good hard sci-fi novel. Although, if you do know them, you will gain an extra appreciation for the story and one of the major characters.

The plot of this story is intricate and sometimes complicated, but it flows steadily and improves on the preceding book in the series. It moves steadily and enjoyably until the conclusion of the tale.

The characters are very well developed and grow throughout the story. While a few of the characters are somewhat one dimensional (and the only real flaw in this outstanding story), the vast majority of them interrelate well with each other and change throughout the story. The one star I deducted was only due to the lack of depth of a few characters.

I always say that I love well written worlds. Well, this series takes that one step further by giving me a well written universe. The location of the planet and the galaxy around it and the relationship of this planet to the rest of the universe described in the overall series plays a major role in this story and I love it for that.

[LaTeigne Du Cosmos · Rating 3 out of 5]

J'adore Peter, mais là, vraiment, il m'a saoulée : personnages stéréotypés, la belle garce sadique, toutes les femmes à la sexualité débridée (sauf si elles sont agées, et dans ce cas, ce n'est pas folichon non plus)… ça a été le volume de trop. C’est dommage car c'est un maître en worldbuilding, en sense of wonder, mais mon plaisir de lecture a été gâché et même l'incorruptible Paula Myo n'a pu rien faire, je n'ai pas pu faire l'impasse sur ces "dérives" (yeux au ciel).
Ce tome 2 est aussi à mon sens trop ressemblant au premier (que j'ai trouvé meilleur d'ailleurs).
Bon Peter reste malgré tout parmi mes auteurs SF préférés, mais je vais faire une pause avant d'attaquer la saga l'Aube de la nuit, série réputée pour être sa meilleure oeuvre.

[PeterS · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

[Vincent Stoessel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect wrapping up of the commonwealth and Void series. I know that Hamilton is moving on to another universe and I'll be following him there as well.

[Romulus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wymęczyłem się nad tą powieścią. Chyba nawet pierwsza część Kronik Upadłych bardziej mi podeszła. I choć ta jest jej kontynuacją to jednak zamiast podnosić napięcie udzielanymi odpowiedziami jakoś specjalnie na nie nie czekałem. Może to wina świata, który nie przypadł mi do gustu z powodu swojej "biedy", na pewno to wina nieciekawych bohaterów (w stosunku do innych postaci innych powieści tego autora) i mniejszej skali wydarzeń. To nie jest zła powieść. To chyba ja osiągnąłem jakiś przesyt twórczością Petera F. Hamiltona.

[Michael Finocchiaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this second volume of the duology worked better, primarily because Paula was back in the house. I enjoyed the non-stop action and the incredible imagination Hamilton deploys here. There is plenty of action and cool tech and some great bad guys you love to hate. In order of reading pleasure, I'd rate this duology after the Commonwealth duology and before the Void and the Night's Dawn trilogies.

[Tami · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another great commonwealth series. Hopefully not the last one. Not ready yet to part with the characters.

[Andrea · Rating 5 out of 5]

An entertaining, breakneck adventure in a modern boy's own cracking good romp that takes no prisoners.
Here is what I loved about his earlier works, that I found lost in the introspective rambling first Void trilogy. Which was very good and interesting, but here it is surpassed by the flamboyant, exuberant action of this new work in the series.
And what fabulous action indeed. We have a medly of believable characters, diverse in so many ways (so, so, so many ways), desperately chasing their own contrasting goals, racing deadlines with rapidly increasing stakes. Hamilton really knows how to build the suspense, never letting go and introducing what seems like an inexhaustible series of unlikely yet logical complications - that eventually tie up all the loose threads. We've seen him do this before in the Starflyer War, and he suceeds magnificently yet again.

This success overshadows my moments of irritation at the unlikely event that microfiches, or police cars having red and blue lights, would exist after 3 millenia post the Commonwealth era. Not enough jarring anachronistic notes to detract from my 5 star rating.

A delight to read.
I love good space opera.
And the seibears bit? Pure genius. Best chase scene ever. Someone needs to make an animated version as a homage.

Ps. To those reviewers who complained that the ending was a bit too much deus ex machina. Nope, it was foreshadowed right from the beginning of the first trilogy and there were hints right through this book.

[Brian Boyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crudding Uracus! It's the Peter F Hamilton greatest hits novel. All the usual elements are there: breathless plot-driven narrative, characters primarily differentiated by their clothes, and the obligatory car/train/ship/blimp/tuk-tuk chase. And that's the problem. Normally I can tolerate (nay enjoy) this confection - since Hamilton brings in lots of new ideas. And that's the problem with this novel, there are no new ideas. As a result, I ran out of puff half way through. Like having enough of a greatest hits album after the first side. Actually, I rarely made it that far through... so its some credit to the story that I made it all the way to the end. But Great Giu, can we leave the Commonwealth behind now, please?

[Karl]

This book is an Advanced Uncorrected Proof with an on sale date of 09/27/16.