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A Night Without Stars

(Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers #2)

Peter F. Hamilton (Goodreads Author)

4.42 · Rating details · 7,525 ratings · 406 reviews

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 citizen ...more

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Hardcover, 704 pages

Published September 27th 2016 by Del Rey

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Jul 02, 2016 Michael rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction, space-opera, aliens, apocalyptic, netgalley

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 get 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.
...more

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Mar 19, 2019 Bradley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: worldbuilding-sf, 2019-shelf, sci-fi

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 lates ...more

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Feb 07, 2017 William rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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 p ...more

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Jun 15, 2016 Kate rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: out-in-2016-and-read, favourites-read-in-2016

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.

...more

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Jan 18, 2016 Liviu rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: genre-sf, 2016_release_read, read_2016

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 re ...more

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Jun 14, 2016 Mark rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-read

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 t 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. ...more

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Feb 24, 2017 Chris Berko rated it really liked it

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. ...more

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Jul 22, 2016 Gary rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: gave-up

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. Floria 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.
...more

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Apr 16, 2018 Rob rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book, read-2018, author-male, 20xx-laser, science-fiction, own

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 th ...more

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Mar 15, 2017 Mark Medina rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

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.

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Nov 12, 2016 Les rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

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) 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... ...more

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Oct 13, 2016 MadProfessah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2016-read

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 al 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. ...more

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Oct 24, 2016 Florin Constantinescu rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 longe ...more

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Oct 26, 2016 Claudia rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, z-to-a-hamilton

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; jus ...more

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Nov 03, 2017 Fred Hughes rated it really liked it

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 ...more

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Jun 27, 2016 Youko rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

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 V 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 ...more

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Jul 10, 2016 Chip rated it really liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Mar 16, 2019 Vincent Stoessel rated it it was amazing

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. ...more

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Feb 27, 2017 Tami rated it really liked it

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

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Oct 15, 2016 Andrea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, my-collection

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 co ...more

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Nov 03, 2016 Brian Boyle rated it liked it · review of another edition

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 ...more

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Jul 09, 2016 Karl marked it as to-read

Shelves: 2016-07-books-bought

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

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Jan 22, 2017 Luke Burrage rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-book, reviewed-on-the-sfbrp, recommended-by-sfbrp-listeners

Much better than the previous instalment. Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #325.

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Nov 29, 2018 Tresuiri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: to-read-cd

Oh my goodness, this book is so much better than the first. I rank this science fiction on par with Herbert's Dune or Heinlein's A Stranger in a Strange Land. ...more

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Jun 23, 2017 Kim rated it really liked it

In this book Peter F. Hamilton brings to a close the story begun in The Abyss Beyond Dreams. It's now some 250 years after the clone of Nigel Sheldon broke down The Void, an area where time and physics no longer acted normally. This ejected the planet of Bienvenido with its population of humans who had been stranded and isolated from their home planets while within the Void. Now, millions of light years away from the nearest planetary system, they feel no less isolated. And there are two pressur In this book Peter F. Hamilton brings to a close the story begun in The Abyss Beyond Dreams. It's now some 250 years after the clone of Nigel Sheldon broke down The Void, an area where time and physics no longer acted normally. This ejected the planet of Bienvenido with its population of humans who had been stranded and isolated from their home planets while within the Void. Now, millions of light years away from the nearest planetary system, they feel no less isolated. And there are two pressures on the human population: the revolution that took place shortly before the Void was destroyed has become a totalitarian police state and the Fallers are increasing. Fallers are another creature that had been trapped in the Void. They can absorb and mimic humans and will even feast on them. Called Fallers because the spherical eggs that produced them fell from the sky, once they take human form the only way to tell them from any other human is that their blood is blue.

In the time that passed from the first novel the population of Bienvenido has had to make other adjustments. They are no longer able to understand each other in the semi-psychic way that the Void allowed. At the same time, now that physics functions normally again they have begun to expand their engineering and scientific knowledge. The combustion engine has been reintroduced as has the atomic bomb. The latter is being used to try to eradicate nests of the Fallers.

On one of these clearing missions, Ry Evin, of the People's Astronaut Regiment, notices an object streaking out of the atomic firebomb. This object contains a backup plan left by Nigel's clone in the event that his mission didn't succeed. What is in this and who will get to control it becomes the center of this book.

Hamilton creates a tense atmosphere throughout the book. There is tension within the "people's government" now ruling through dense bureaucracy and secret police who use informants planted among the population. And when a near-hermit forest warden named Florian finds the object expelled from the atomic blast the book becomes like the best kind of police chase, where the runner and the chaser are both followed in the book and we can watch from every perspective.

In the first of these books the action began to center around a discovery in a place known as the Desert of Bones. The centerpoint of this book is even more powerful and interesting.

If I have a complaint about the book it's that the ending has a type of deus ex machina ending. It probably has less irritation for someone who has stayed with the Commonwealth books from the start, but for someone starting with these two books it seems to come out of the blue. The only advice I can give to a newer Hamilton fan is to scour the chronology included at the start of the book. If you have the audio version you can still see the chronology in the free preview or "look inside" offer for the Kindle version on Amazon. It will give some answers. After that, you get the joy of working your way through the other books in the series until Hamilton's next book drops. ...more

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Jun 13, 2017 Christopher rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 06, 2018 Robert Stevenson rated it liked it

I enjoyed both books of the chronicle faller series, “Abyss beyond Dreams” and this book.

The author creates a very believable future for human civilization. It a space opera in many ways but more individualistic instead collective team spirited like Star Trek. The author likes to explore the ideas of biological augmentations that allow humans to reshape themselves into weapons and live thousands of years as well as the exploring the theorical physics of wormholes.

If you like Andy Wier or Kim S ...more

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Jan 22, 2019 Joe added it · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

The second in the Chronicle of the Fallers duology was just as enjoyable as the first with a few surprises and curious additions included for good measure. Not my favourite Hamilton as certain plot elements were predictable and a little familar in places but the few little surprises, often related to known characters, was nice to see.

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Sep 23, 2018 Bookbrow rated it really liked it

4.5 stars

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Nov 16, 2020 Michael Pryor rated it liked it

Well-paced, controlled, wide-screen.

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About Peter F. Hamilton

Peter F. Hamilton

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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. ...more