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The Nano Flower
(Greg Mandel #3)
by
Peter F. Hamilton is one the rising stars of science fiction in the nineties. His epic space adventure, The Reality Dysfunction, was a major international bestseller, while his near future thrillers, Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder, introduced an intriguing new hero in the character of Greg Mandel, a freelance operative whose telepathic abilities give him a crucial ed
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Mass Market Paperback, 608 pages
Published
June 15th 1999
by Tor Science Fiction
(first published 1995)
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Bob
Yes, the character development in the first two books makes this one more interesting, but I think it would fine as a stand alone story.
Community Reviews
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Start your review of The Nano Flower (Greg Mandel, #3)
Aug 04, 2011
T.I.M. James
added it
I was a bit apprehensive about starting this book - I'm a big Peter F Hamilton fan, but as good as his earlier work is, it does not compare to the Reality Dysfunction and beyond.
I should not have worried, this, the last of the Greg Mandel books shows a writer really starting to come into his own.
It deals with big themes (especially the end), a rapidly escalating situation, some dynamic action sequences, while keeping true to the characters established in the earlier novels.
There is a genuine ...more
I should not have worried, this, the last of the Greg Mandel books shows a writer really starting to come into his own.
It deals with big themes (especially the end), a rapidly escalating situation, some dynamic action sequences, while keeping true to the characters established in the earlier novels.
There is a genuine ...more
I really love the Greg Mandel books and would have given them 5 stars as they were particular favourites when I was a teenager, however on a re-read I find the concept of a conservative government and benevolent captalism saving the day (particularly as embodied by Julia Evans) rather galling.
The concept is great fun though. An ex-army commando acquires a useable psychic ability as part of a military experiment and then uses his ability to set himself up as a private detective. The Psi Boost (m ...more
The concept is great fun though. An ex-army commando acquires a useable psychic ability as part of a military experiment and then uses his ability to set himself up as a private detective. The Psi Boost (m ...more
It starts with a robot cockroach being dropped into a toilet. Tee hee!
5/18 hrs - Good characters and tech, and the possibility of aliens. Now this is the Hamilton I know and love.
16/18 hrs - Seeing some ideas from his next Night's Dawn trilogy. There was actually a lot of action around 9 hours. It almost felt like the end of a book. I'm sure some action is coming up now.
All done. The conclusion was very 'organic'. There were definitely precursors to his later work. I loved the female tech merc c ...more
5/18 hrs - Good characters and tech, and the possibility of aliens. Now this is the Hamilton I know and love.
16/18 hrs - Seeing some ideas from his next Night's Dawn trilogy. There was actually a lot of action around 9 hours. It almost felt like the end of a book. I'm sure some action is coming up now.
All done. The conclusion was very 'organic'. There were definitely precursors to his later work. I loved the female tech merc c ...more
This is the third book in the Greg Mandel trilogy (series?) and by far the weakest of the lot. Each book is completely self-contained, and I wish I'd stopped with the last one instead of continuing to read this. This takes place years after the last book ended. The husband of ultra-rich businesswoman Julia Evans goes missing before the book opens. She is sent a flower from him that appears to have come from space somewhere, as it features alien technology, but she doesn't know what it means or h
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“The Nano Flower” is written by Peter F. Hamilton and is the third Greg Mandel book of three. ISB number 978-0-812-57769-8, first published in 1998 by Tor.
First of all I would like to mention that the illustration of the book is for e a little bit disappointing. The cover art is by Barclay Shaw and the cover design by Carol Russo Design printed in America. For me the cover is important and must have some relation with the story and the setting of the story. When I look at the cover it gives me m ...more
First of all I would like to mention that the illustration of the book is for e a little bit disappointing. The cover art is by Barclay Shaw and the cover design by Carol Russo Design printed in America. For me the cover is important and must have some relation with the story and the setting of the story. When I look at the cover it gives me m ...more
Dec 31, 2020
Tony Calder
rated it
really liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction
This is the third book in the Greg Mandel series. I haven't read the first two, but all the books are standalone novels, so I didn't have any difficulties in following the story - although there may have been some nuances with the recurring characters that I didn't pick up on.
The book opened with a very cyberpunk feel, which is not something I associate with Hamilton's work, but that didn't last. Humans interfacing with tech was a major part of the novel, but not the gritty cyberpunk feel that t ...more
The book opened with a very cyberpunk feel, which is not something I associate with Hamilton's work, but that didn't last. Humans interfacing with tech was a major part of the novel, but not the gritty cyberpunk feel that t ...more
Apr 05, 2018
Michael
rated it
liked it
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
audiobook,
science-fiction
It's an OK Peter F. Hamilton book.
If you have read The Night's Dawn Trilogy and The Commonwealth Saga you don't really need to bother with this book, but it's OK if you are a completionist. ...more
If you have read The Night's Dawn Trilogy and The Commonwealth Saga you don't really need to bother with this book, but it's OK if you are a completionist. ...more
I really enjoyed The Nano Flower..up until the ending...It's not that it's a 'bad' ending exactly, it's just that the latter portions of the novel get a little strange...
the book's been summarized pretty well in the editorial excerpts as well as the previous reviewers' statements so I won't go into that in any great depth.
Greg's pulled out of retirement (once again) by Julia Evans (you guessed it) because she gets a note from her missing lover Royan, delivered by a known consort (read, call girl ...more
the book's been summarized pretty well in the editorial excerpts as well as the previous reviewers' statements so I won't go into that in any great depth.
Greg's pulled out of retirement (once again) by Julia Evans (you guessed it) because she gets a note from her missing lover Royan, delivered by a known consort (read, call girl ...more
Originally published on my blog here in November 2000.
The third Greg Mandel novel is, like its predecessors, obviously flawed; unlike them, it is more a thriller than a mystery. It is set the better part of two decades later, when Greg and his wife Eleanor have teenage children, and Greg's friend and employer (billionaire industrialist Julia Evans) has a husband and children of her own. Had a husband, I should say, for he has gone missing before the start of the novel. The story begins when a fl ...more
The third Greg Mandel novel is, like its predecessors, obviously flawed; unlike them, it is more a thriller than a mystery. It is set the better part of two decades later, when Greg and his wife Eleanor have teenage children, and Greg's friend and employer (billionaire industrialist Julia Evans) has a husband and children of her own. Had a husband, I should say, for he has gone missing before the start of the novel. The story begins when a fl ...more
The final book in the Mandel series. It was very awesome. Just as good as the first, though different, and far better than the 2nd. And it's the only one in the series that can possibly be classified as a space opera.
Note that you can safely skip the 2nd book in the series and only read #1 and #3 if you want. This one takes place 15 years after the 2nd book and the plot is not contiguous except for the introduction of a couple minor characters.
Hamilton's story pacing, action sequences, and world ...more
Note that you can safely skip the 2nd book in the series and only read #1 and #3 if you want. This one takes place 15 years after the 2nd book and the plot is not contiguous except for the introduction of a couple minor characters.
Hamilton's story pacing, action sequences, and world ...more
This is the first Peter Hamilton book I ever read although it is the third in the trilogy. I found it as an import, and thank goodness for that because if I had first encountered this book through the (original) US version, I never would have picked it up, because the cover is absolutely atrocious. That would have been a shame, because this is a wonderful near future cyber thriller. The first book is good. The second one I did not like very much. But this one is a classic. It is set in the UK an
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The third Greg Mandel novel finds Hamilton straining the limits of his post-Warming, post socialist tyrany, hi-tech world of psychics and corporate espionage: suddenly we have an alien flower and visits to space. This is a thriller more in the vein of the first Mandel novel, Mindstar Rising, than the formal murder-mystery of the second. That's probably why I prefer the middle novel: Hamilton is at his best when writing detective stories.
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For the final book in the Greg Mandel series, Hamilton gives him his biggest case. Greg's journey is well drawn and convincing: he's changed considerably since the first book and it's a shame to see him hang up his psychic powers. Hamilton caps off the series nicely: it's sad to see it end, but it's always good to see a series finish on high rather than left open for a sequel that never comes.
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The last Book in the Mandel series. I have to say I am sad to have finished them. I like Hamilton's vision of the future,the characters and character development and story lines. As such I have read almost all his published work. It seems he has explored several time periods in earths future. Though the characters in this book were getting older it is a shame they have passed out of time.
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This is another fine Greg Mandel sci-fi mystery, with many the familiar and loved cast of characters of the first two books. The Nano Flower is creative and clever often, but truly a pre-cursor to the wonderful work of Pandora's Star and the subsequent books of the Commonwealth Universe.
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Third in the series. I liked the others, but the main characters seemed out-of-character of sorts in this one. I put this one down much more than the previous and I don't think I will recommend this one.
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The most "Hamilton" of the 3 Greg Mandel books and I also notice some idea he later expanded on in his other books. Fun read.
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I've never met a Mandel book I didn't like
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Enjoyed the first half or the "scene setting" - but found it then meandered a bit too much towards a slightly unsatifying conclusion . . .
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I didn't think that The Nano Flower was as good as the previous two books in the trilogy. (view spoiler) It sort of feels like it was written only to tie in the trilogy to the author's later novels (will know for sure once I've read those).
But one can't deny Peter F. Hamilton's talent and great writing style. I don't like space opera, ...more
But one can't deny Peter F. Hamilton's talent and great writing style. I don't like space opera, ...more
Something happened to Peter F. Hamilton between the second and third volumes of the Greg Mandel trilogy. He turned from a good average writing style to a great one. The Nano Flower is almost at the same level as Pandora's Star and births Hamilton's detailed universe. No wonder there was no fourth novel in the series, it would only drag the writer down.
The book has everything I came to expect from Peter F. Hamilton: hard sci-fi, detailed sociopolitical context, aliens, the party of braves, the so ...more
The book has everything I came to expect from Peter F. Hamilton: hard sci-fi, detailed sociopolitical context, aliens, the party of braves, the so ...more
Like the other two books in the series, this book is set in a future past global warming where Britannia, once more, rules the global waves. This could be a fun self-deprecating exercise of a style that marries James Bond to Red Dwarf, but unfortunately, it ends up being Nigel Farage on a one-night stand with Starship Troopers.
Elite white people execute God's will in any way they choose, because they are chosen. A world queen made to dominate the globe through capitalist industrial might is char ...more
Elite white people execute God's will in any way they choose, because they are chosen. A world queen made to dominate the globe through capitalist industrial might is char ...more
At the risk of revealing myself as the dunderheaded intellectual lummox that I am, I'm going to confess that Hamilton is one of those authors whose books would be a lot more palatable to me if they were a good deal shorter. Not because they need to be shorter, or would be better if they were shorter, but merely because on a purely selfish level I'm too thick to grasp much of the technobabble and could do without it.
Reading Hamiltons descriptions of space flight or genetic engineering or whateve ...more
Reading Hamiltons descriptions of space flight or genetic engineering or whateve ...more
The last in the Greg Mandel trilogy, a perfect place to stop at the peak.
From the first Novel (which was Hamilton's first) that was a little weak, the development both of the storyline and Hamiltons's skills as a writer, has progressed steadily, up to this novel that clearly shows the Hamilton we know from The Void Trilogy 3-Book Bundle: The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void and Pandora's Star.
Greg are, yet again, called upon from Julia Ewans, this time to locate her miss ...more
From the first Novel (which was Hamilton's first) that was a little weak, the development both of the storyline and Hamiltons's skills as a writer, has progressed steadily, up to this novel that clearly shows the Hamilton we know from The Void Trilogy 3-Book Bundle: The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, The Evolutionary Void and Pandora's Star.
Greg are, yet again, called upon from Julia Ewans, this time to locate her miss ...more
Fair conclusion to the trilogy.
About 15 years have passed, and the gang are all back together for one last adventure...
As in the previous books, I feel like the author is trying to say something wise about politics and economics, but having the uber uber rich say it as one of his main characters grates on me.
This book also felt a bit long, and the shift from cyber-punk with a hint of psychic powers to hard-edged sci-fi didn't work for me.
There was also the (nigh inevitable) power escalation tha ...more
About 15 years have passed, and the gang are all back together for one last adventure...
As in the previous books, I feel like the author is trying to say something wise about politics and economics, but having the uber uber rich say it as one of his main characters grates on me.
This book also felt a bit long, and the shift from cyber-punk with a hint of psychic powers to hard-edged sci-fi didn't work for me.
There was also the (nigh inevitable) power escalation tha ...more
The Nano Flower is comfortably my favourite book in the Greg Mandel series. It tackles much bigger, more cosmic, themes than the first two and you can start to see where Hamilton was starting to get into his stride for The Night's Dawn in many ways. Not only does Nano Flower succeed in the exploration of galactic-level concepts, there is some excellent character development going on here too. Setting this third book several years after the others is the key to its success as we get to see a much
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
A great story by Peter F Hamilton. One I thoroughly enjoyed. A final adventure in the Mindstar series and thrilling to read.
I liked the characters, some of them are getting to the age of retirement, how they are adapting to the world they forged. I especially loved that there wasn't as much interpersonal drama which so many stories hold today as precious. The story was intriguing and the ending wasn't one that I saw coming. ...more
I liked the characters, some of them are getting to the age of retirement, how they are adapting to the world they forged. I especially loved that there wasn't as much interpersonal drama which so many stories hold today as precious. The story was intriguing and the ending wasn't one that I saw coming. ...more
Classic Hamilton
This novel takes the mind star series from sci fi crime to pure sci-fi. A self contained story, although good to have read the previous books to know the characters. Fast paced with sufficient plot twists to keep things interesting and stop you thinking too hard about the gaps.
This novel takes the mind star series from sci fi crime to pure sci-fi. A self contained story, although good to have read the previous books to know the characters. Fast paced with sufficient plot twists to keep things interesting and stop you thinking too hard about the gaps.
Have read only #2 and 3. I believe this also would stand well as a solo book, like book 2, but perhaps not quite as well.
A very rich person hires a psychic detective and some war criminals to find her husband (view spoiler). Explosions and stilted drama ensue. ...more
A very rich person hires a psychic detective and some war criminals to find her husband (view spoiler). Explosions and stilted drama ensue. ...more
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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.
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