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Commonwealth Universe #0.5
Misspent Youth
Readers have learned to expect the unexpected from Peter F. Hamilton. Now the master of space opera focuses on near-future Earth and one most unusual family. The result is a coming-of-age tale like no other. By turns comic, erotic, and tragic, Misspent Youth is a profound and timely exploration of all that divides and unites fathers and sons, men and women, the young and the old.
2040. After decades of concentrated research and experimentation in the field of genetic engineering, scientists of the European Union believe they have at last conquered humankind’s most pernicious old age. For the first time, technology holds out the promise of not merely slowing the aging process but actually reversing it. The ancient dream of the Fountain of Youth seems at hand.
The first subject for treatment is seventy-eight-year-old philanthropist Jeff Baker. After eighteen months in a rejuvenation tank, Jeff emerges looking like a twenty-year-old. And the change is more than skin deep. From his hair cells down to his DNA, Jeff is twenty–with a breadth of life experience.
But while possessing the wisdom of a septuagenarian at age twenty is one thing, raging testosterone is another, as Jeff discovers when he attempts to pick up his life where he left off. Suddenly his oldest friends seem, well, old. Jeff’s trophy wife looks better than she ever did. His teenage son, Tim, is more like a younger brother. And Tim’s nubile girlfriend is a conquest too tempting to resist.
Jeff’s rejuvenated libido wreaks havoc on the lives of his friends and family, straining his relationship with Tim to the breaking point. It’s as if youth is a drug and Jeff is wasted on it. But if so, it’s an addiction he has no interest in kicking.
As Jeff’s personal life spirals out of control, the European Union undergoes a parallel meltdown, attacked by shadowy separatist groups whose violent actions earn both condemnation and applause. Now, in one terrifying instant, the personal and the political will intersect, and neither Jeff nor Tim–or the Union itself–will ever be the same again.
2040. After decades of concentrated research and experimentation in the field of genetic engineering, scientists of the European Union believe they have at last conquered humankind’s most pernicious old age. For the first time, technology holds out the promise of not merely slowing the aging process but actually reversing it. The ancient dream of the Fountain of Youth seems at hand.
The first subject for treatment is seventy-eight-year-old philanthropist Jeff Baker. After eighteen months in a rejuvenation tank, Jeff emerges looking like a twenty-year-old. And the change is more than skin deep. From his hair cells down to his DNA, Jeff is twenty–with a breadth of life experience.
But while possessing the wisdom of a septuagenarian at age twenty is one thing, raging testosterone is another, as Jeff discovers when he attempts to pick up his life where he left off. Suddenly his oldest friends seem, well, old. Jeff’s trophy wife looks better than she ever did. His teenage son, Tim, is more like a younger brother. And Tim’s nubile girlfriend is a conquest too tempting to resist.
Jeff’s rejuvenated libido wreaks havoc on the lives of his friends and family, straining his relationship with Tim to the breaking point. It’s as if youth is a drug and Jeff is wasted on it. But if so, it’s an addiction he has no interest in kicking.
As Jeff’s personal life spirals out of control, the European Union undergoes a parallel meltdown, attacked by shadowy separatist groups whose violent actions earn both condemnation and applause. Now, in one terrifying instant, the personal and the political will intersect, and neither Jeff nor Tim–or the Union itself–will ever be the same again.
416 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2002
119 people are currently reading
5383 people want to read
About the author
Peter F. Hamilton
198 books10.3k followersPeter 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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Displaying 1 - 30 of 298 reviews
August 26, 2018
It might be best going into this novel not expecting anything. I've only read a couple of Hamilton's novels and this time period or the ones following it directly is relatively unknown to me.
Fortunately, that doesn't mean a dime to my enjoyment.
As a matter of fact, this is pretty much a kind of family soap opera in a slightly more futuristic time than ours. It's soft-SF rather than hard-SF. And by that I mean we have two techs put on a pedestal here. The first is a global networking platform that has turned pretty much the whole world into the same architecture used by torrents today. Swarming data fields where tons of individual users make up a whole of some kind of information platform funneling at the end user.
The man who made it possible gave the tech away instead of getting filthy rich. And so he became a massive celebrity... who is eventually made the recipient of the first real fountain of life treatment, turning his old body into that of a man in his early 20's.
So far, so good. The premise of many a great and not so great trope, right here.
Now, where Hamilton makes it good is his characters and the interpersonal stuff. The focus is nowhere else.
In the end, it's a treatise on young man's follies (when he's actually an old man) in love and family. He's almost the same age as his son. His sex drive is driving him crazy. His wife, all his friends, everything is a mismatch.
The conflicts are great and the soap opera really unfolds in delicious and tragic ways, tempting us with a redemption arc ... or perhaps not. :)
Again, it's soft-SF. And where it shines is the characters.
For some reason, this novel kinda hit me harder than the previous two I had read, even though the official ratings on the other two were quite high. It may just be a case of right tale, right time, or perhaps I'm just getting used to the author's style.
Or perhaps he just meant this to be a bit more than a light tale and more a tale of growth and family. For that, I just happen to be in the right place to appreciate it. :)
Fortunately, that doesn't mean a dime to my enjoyment.
As a matter of fact, this is pretty much a kind of family soap opera in a slightly more futuristic time than ours. It's soft-SF rather than hard-SF. And by that I mean we have two techs put on a pedestal here. The first is a global networking platform that has turned pretty much the whole world into the same architecture used by torrents today. Swarming data fields where tons of individual users make up a whole of some kind of information platform funneling at the end user.
The man who made it possible gave the tech away instead of getting filthy rich. And so he became a massive celebrity... who is eventually made the recipient of the first real fountain of life treatment, turning his old body into that of a man in his early 20's.
So far, so good. The premise of many a great and not so great trope, right here.
Now, where Hamilton makes it good is his characters and the interpersonal stuff. The focus is nowhere else.
In the end, it's a treatise on young man's follies (when he's actually an old man) in love and family. He's almost the same age as his son. His sex drive is driving him crazy. His wife, all his friends, everything is a mismatch.
The conflicts are great and the soap opera really unfolds in delicious and tragic ways, tempting us with a redemption arc ... or perhaps not. :)
Again, it's soft-SF. And where it shines is the characters.
For some reason, this novel kinda hit me harder than the previous two I had read, even though the official ratings on the other two were quite high. It may just be a case of right tale, right time, or perhaps I'm just getting used to the author's style.
Or perhaps he just meant this to be a bit more than a light tale and more a tale of growth and family. For that, I just happen to be in the right place to appreciate it. :)
March 14, 2013
I really did not get the point of this book, it started off well creating a futuristic society that has undergone dramatic changes as a result of necessity and intriguing new technologies. But then it rapidly descends into a torrid family drama where Jeff has been rejuvenated and returns to his old life to find his body over-riding his mind as he makes one insanely bad decision after another. The glimpses of the political and scientific worlds is really intriguing but sadly these take a distant back seat to Jeff's urges. None of the questions raised by the events in the book are addressed at any level other than to suggest that no matter how mature a person, if you give them back their physical youth they will behave as such and all the wisdom just goes out the window. While the writing is very good and is thoroughly engrossing when not demeaning the characters or attempting sordid liaisons this isn't enough to make this any thing than a disappointment. This is a book that was really not for me.
January 3, 2023
Update - I tried to re-read this book as a lead-in to re-reading the whole series (there are new books!) and I just couldn't get through it. Maybe it's my age now versus when I originally read it, or maybe it's something else, but this time around I got about half way through before deciding it wouldn't get any less cringey and I put it down.
As other reviewers have stated, this book reads a bit like a mid-life crisis sex fantasy. It feels like there's almost no internal monologue or character interaction that isn't describing, judging, or imagining someone based on their looks or sexual veracity, with many of those characters being still in high school. Giving Hamilton the benefit of the doubt, I think those characters may very-well be that randy/narcissistic and their unfiltered thoughts are probably not too far from teenagers and similar people in real life, but it was just too much for me as a reader.
----- Original Review:
I was almost scared away by the 2 star review this book seems to carry with it, but I'm glad I picked it up anyway.
Misspent Youth was a departure(albeit a pleasant one)from the space operas I expect from Hamilton. A core group of three or four characters all interacting to form a fairly dysfunctional family experience character development and individual changes that his stories don't usually get the opportunity to delve too deeply into considering how much is always going on with as many characters as are usually involved in a typical Hamilton plot.
You will love and hate all of the characters at some point, and by the end, you'll really come to appreciate how important they all are to one another.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the focus on the characters living their lives through the short window the story covers. Typically in most Sci-fi I've read, certainly in most of Hamilton's books, the story is one of heroes accomplishing extraordinary things in a high tech world; here is a story that just took a family, put them in the not-too-distant future, and looked at how life would be different. Even the main character's major lifetime accomplishment, the one which garners all his current status, occurs before we meet him. To be sure, there are some out of the norm things happening to this group, but for the most part, it's not their doing. They are just normal people who have found themselves in fairly understandable circumstances in a different, but not un-relatable world.
As other reviewers have stated, this book reads a bit like a mid-life crisis sex fantasy. It feels like there's almost no internal monologue or character interaction that isn't describing, judging, or imagining someone based on their looks or sexual veracity, with many of those characters being still in high school. Giving Hamilton the benefit of the doubt, I think those characters may very-well be that randy/narcissistic and their unfiltered thoughts are probably not too far from teenagers and similar people in real life, but it was just too much for me as a reader.
----- Original Review:
I was almost scared away by the 2 star review this book seems to carry with it, but I'm glad I picked it up anyway.
Misspent Youth was a departure(albeit a pleasant one)from the space operas I expect from Hamilton. A core group of three or four characters all interacting to form a fairly dysfunctional family experience character development and individual changes that his stories don't usually get the opportunity to delve too deeply into considering how much is always going on with as many characters as are usually involved in a typical Hamilton plot.
You will love and hate all of the characters at some point, and by the end, you'll really come to appreciate how important they all are to one another.
What I really enjoyed about this book was the focus on the characters living their lives through the short window the story covers. Typically in most Sci-fi I've read, certainly in most of Hamilton's books, the story is one of heroes accomplishing extraordinary things in a high tech world; here is a story that just took a family, put them in the not-too-distant future, and looked at how life would be different. Even the main character's major lifetime accomplishment, the one which garners all his current status, occurs before we meet him. To be sure, there are some out of the norm things happening to this group, but for the most part, it's not their doing. They are just normal people who have found themselves in fairly understandable circumstances in a different, but not un-relatable world.
September 21, 2025
2.75 stars
This is a prequel to Hamilton’s Commonwealth novels. Set in the relatively near future: around 2040 (written in 2002). It is one of his less well reviewed novels as he recognises:
"I could see why it didn't appeal to a lot of people. It was an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. With hindsight, it was never going to be as popular as my other works."
At times this reads like a Jilly Cooper “bonkbuster”. The internet has developed into the dataverse where everything is free and available. Copyright has disappeared and the music and publishing industries have collapsed. Jeff Baker developed a revolutionary way of storing data and then didn’t patent it, so the technology was free. He therefore becomes something of an icon. At the start of the novel he undergoes a new, experimental and very expensive rejuvenation process. He is 78, but wakes up with the body of a 20 year old and testosterone to go with it. His 18 year old son Tim finds this difficult to cope with, especially when dad starts to sleep with various of his college friends.
The political backdrop is a much more integrated European Union and a very isolationist US. There are separatist movements in most European countries and the beginnings of civil unrest.
This is the backdrop, but there are way too many hormones and it’s more like Love Island than sci-fi, but apparently one or two of the characters are referenced later in the series.
This is a prequel to Hamilton’s Commonwealth novels. Set in the relatively near future: around 2040 (written in 2002). It is one of his less well reviewed novels as he recognises:
"I could see why it didn't appeal to a lot of people. It was an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. With hindsight, it was never going to be as popular as my other works."
At times this reads like a Jilly Cooper “bonkbuster”. The internet has developed into the dataverse where everything is free and available. Copyright has disappeared and the music and publishing industries have collapsed. Jeff Baker developed a revolutionary way of storing data and then didn’t patent it, so the technology was free. He therefore becomes something of an icon. At the start of the novel he undergoes a new, experimental and very expensive rejuvenation process. He is 78, but wakes up with the body of a 20 year old and testosterone to go with it. His 18 year old son Tim finds this difficult to cope with, especially when dad starts to sleep with various of his college friends.
The political backdrop is a much more integrated European Union and a very isolationist US. There are separatist movements in most European countries and the beginnings of civil unrest.
This is the backdrop, but there are way too many hormones and it’s more like Love Island than sci-fi, but apparently one or two of the characters are referenced later in the series.
August 19, 2011
Set in 2040, Misspent Youth portrays a fairly bleak future. It centers on Jeff Baker, inventor of the ultimate data storage system and thus chosen as the worlds first recipitent of Rejuvination.
Jeff returns to his wife and teenage son as a 25 year old man. Understandably this causes breakdowns in his marriage and relationship with his son Tim, particularly after Jeff takes an interest in his son's attractive girlfriend Annabel.
Jeff and Annabel begin a torrid affair, then later after being caught in the act by Tim, embark on a trip around the world, seemingly to bonk one another senseless and experiment in group sex.
And that's about it, at some point this story becomes some sort of erotic romance novel, graphically depicting the sex between Jeff and Annabel. At times it's downright creepy with Annabel drawing comparisons between Jeff and his son's sexual performace.
The futuristic concepts put forward in this book were intriguing, particularly the collapse of the film and tv industry, due to unstoppable Internet piracy.
This could have been a great book, but it gets mired in smut and never manages to free itself.
Avoid it
Jeff returns to his wife and teenage son as a 25 year old man. Understandably this causes breakdowns in his marriage and relationship with his son Tim, particularly after Jeff takes an interest in his son's attractive girlfriend Annabel.
Jeff and Annabel begin a torrid affair, then later after being caught in the act by Tim, embark on a trip around the world, seemingly to bonk one another senseless and experiment in group sex.
And that's about it, at some point this story becomes some sort of erotic romance novel, graphically depicting the sex between Jeff and Annabel. At times it's downright creepy with Annabel drawing comparisons between Jeff and his son's sexual performace.
The futuristic concepts put forward in this book were intriguing, particularly the collapse of the film and tv industry, due to unstoppable Internet piracy.
This could have been a great book, but it gets mired in smut and never manages to free itself.
Avoid it
May 1, 2016
Very disappointing book - no plot whatsoever. The story was very shallow - man gets rejuvenated and becomes a sex crazed 20 year old. Some cool technology and interesting social processes. Writing was pretty good (but I expected much more since it's Hamilton) yet no depth. Lots of glimpses of cool story threads but never executes on them.
November 11, 2017
The first Hamilton book I didn’t love.....
When you remove the big space opera background, it’s like what’s left seems a little weak and pointless, Hamilton’s force has never been deep character development and in a novel that evolves around family relationships that’s a clear weakness.
And then there’s the general sexist description of women, which is not uncommon in Hamilton’s books, but seems more pronounced and unpleasant in this novel.
When you remove the big space opera background, it’s like what’s left seems a little weak and pointless, Hamilton’s force has never been deep character development and in a novel that evolves around family relationships that’s a clear weakness.
And then there’s the general sexist description of women, which is not uncommon in Hamilton’s books, but seems more pronounced and unpleasant in this novel.
June 16, 2009
This book is one I borrowed from my local library, but is one that I will be adding to my personal collection very soon.
That said, this book is fantastic, which to be candid is what I have come to expect from Mr. Hamilton. I have read and enjoyed most of the other works he is known for such as the Commonwealth Saga and the Night's Dawn trilogy. His work tends to be like George RR Martin's work in that it is long (without being long-winded) and full of rich detail, big doings, and many, many characters. In fact, if Robert Jordan had had the skill these two authors possess, the Wheel of Time wouldn't have been so horrible, causing many people to drop out after the third or fourth book.
I digress.
Misspent Youth is a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of sometime in the fairly near future. Characters ride around on electric motorbikes, and European society has changed somewhat drastically, politically speaking. The two main characters in the story are Tim, and his father Jeff. Jeff undergoes a brand new technological breakthrough that renders him young again. He is stuck in a machine that basically "de-ages" him from an elderly man back to his early twenties. The rest of the book following Jeff's emergence from the technological cocoon focuses on how he and his son (now only physically a few years younger than he is) Tim interact, as well as how Jeff has to learn to see the world differently now that he is vastly younger than the friends he had before when he was an old man. Trouble invariably erupts as his newly-minted hormones have him chasing every young woman around him, to include a girl that Tim had been very much in love with. Tim's reaction to their relationship forces him to do some growing and maturing of his own as he's forced to come to terms with everything that's happened to his family as a result of Jeff undergoing this procedure. To some extent, the idea of a young man with an older man's wealth, knowledge, and experience exploring a new lust for life (among other things) is the main overall plot.
I am thirty two years old this month myself, and reading this book, and in the way it was written, really made me consider how I might feel if my own father were suddenly my age again, and we were peers instead of the normal close father and son relationship we have. How might that be different, or similar to what happens in this book?
In closing, this book is only somewhat like Hamilton's other works, because technology plays more of a backdrop rather than this overall fabric the story is weaved onto. Yes, things like computers with limitless storage capacity, electric cars, and house computers you speak to are very much in evidence. But the real story is a sort of parallel coming of age (and in Jeff's stance, a "re" coming of age) story that is very poignant and compelling.
I highly recommend this book.
That said, this book is fantastic, which to be candid is what I have come to expect from Mr. Hamilton. I have read and enjoyed most of the other works he is known for such as the Commonwealth Saga and the Night's Dawn trilogy. His work tends to be like George RR Martin's work in that it is long (without being long-winded) and full of rich detail, big doings, and many, many characters. In fact, if Robert Jordan had had the skill these two authors possess, the Wheel of Time wouldn't have been so horrible, causing many people to drop out after the third or fourth book.
I digress.
Misspent Youth is a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of sometime in the fairly near future. Characters ride around on electric motorbikes, and European society has changed somewhat drastically, politically speaking. The two main characters in the story are Tim, and his father Jeff. Jeff undergoes a brand new technological breakthrough that renders him young again. He is stuck in a machine that basically "de-ages" him from an elderly man back to his early twenties. The rest of the book following Jeff's emergence from the technological cocoon focuses on how he and his son (now only physically a few years younger than he is) Tim interact, as well as how Jeff has to learn to see the world differently now that he is vastly younger than the friends he had before when he was an old man. Trouble invariably erupts as his newly-minted hormones have him chasing every young woman around him, to include a girl that Tim had been very much in love with. Tim's reaction to their relationship forces him to do some growing and maturing of his own as he's forced to come to terms with everything that's happened to his family as a result of Jeff undergoing this procedure. To some extent, the idea of a young man with an older man's wealth, knowledge, and experience exploring a new lust for life (among other things) is the main overall plot.
I am thirty two years old this month myself, and reading this book, and in the way it was written, really made me consider how I might feel if my own father were suddenly my age again, and we were peers instead of the normal close father and son relationship we have. How might that be different, or similar to what happens in this book?
In closing, this book is only somewhat like Hamilton's other works, because technology plays more of a backdrop rather than this overall fabric the story is weaved onto. Yes, things like computers with limitless storage capacity, electric cars, and house computers you speak to are very much in evidence. But the real story is a sort of parallel coming of age (and in Jeff's stance, a "re" coming of age) story that is very poignant and compelling.
I highly recommend this book.
January 8, 2012
Jeff Baker, founder of the datasphere, is the first person to be chosen for a new and highly expensive rejuvenation treatment, which completely reverses the aging process in almost every way. 78 years old, and after the treatment he looks, feels and effectively is, 20 again. He just has more memories. Misspent Youth follows the effect his has on him, his wife and son, and society at large.[return][return]This book is a great concept, has a lot of potential, and in the hands of Peter F. Hamilton, one of my favourite SF authors, I had high hopes. These hopes were dashed on the cold hard rock of reality. Not wanting to put it too badly, but this book is dire. It s all about sex. I kid you not. I like sex, I like occasionally reading about it, but it s on practically every page here. Basic plot. Jeff Baker, pensioner, gets rejuvenated so he s young again, gets really randy and just has sex all the time. All the potential, wasted. This book hasn t been thought through, concepts haven t been developed hardly at all. It s just bad. Reading customer reviews on Amazon, and 19 out of 20 of them completely agree with my assessment. Lets just hope Hamilton can get back on form with his next book.
August 28, 2016
The book jacket description led me to believe this would be my kind of science fiction - the kind that uses the sci-fi element to explore human psychology and sociology, rather than just being an adventure story set in space or the future (though those can be enjoyable too). And it could have done that, if it hadn't gotten sidetracked by male hormones. Apparently the author feels that the only thing a man suddenly made young again will want to do is have sex with as many women and girls as possible. Admittedly, this could be true in many cases (though I like to think that while wanting lots of sex may be universal, some men would at least be monogamous in such a situation). The patchwork attempt to lend the story some larger overarching purpose or message via the European Union/Brussels/independence protests storyline seems more like an afterthought, a thin attempt to put a more sophisticated veneer on what is basically a catalog of sexual conquests by the protaganist. Maybe I dislike this book so much because it has more realism regarding humanity's darker tendencies (lying, cheating, gratuitous/meaningless sex, violence), but I've read plenty of books with those elements before that I still enjoyed. The difference is that they at least had some redeeming factor, usually in the form of a protaganist I could actually like or relate to. Overall, this was a disappointing read - I kept waiting for the payoff that would make reading it worthwhile, but it never came.
July 7, 2016
This is billed as a Commonwealth novel, but it really isn't. It's set 'now' or as near to now as makes no difference. Near future history that is already obsolete with Brexit. One Europe keen to show the world it leads the way in scientific advancement, and so picks a famous scientist to undergo DNA resequencing, turning back the clock on ageing.
So far, so good, early Commonwealth tech in it's infancy.
Yet not really, there's less about the tech, and more about the newly rejuvenated shagging anything in a skirt, including, eventually, his own son's girlfriend.
A lot of this reads like a mans idea of a sexy romance novel, and it suffers for obvious reasons.
The characters too are utterly unlikeable, so much so that it took me a while to even get into this.
The whiny teenage son, the trophy wife, the slutty girls and the newly nympho scientist all make for hard going. The only likeable character is an aunt who makes a few appearances.
If you enjoy the space opera he writes, there's nothing here for you, no foundations that the Commonwealth is later built on, just a bit of a grubby sex romp.
So far, so good, early Commonwealth tech in it's infancy.
Yet not really, there's less about the tech, and more about the newly rejuvenated shagging anything in a skirt, including, eventually, his own son's girlfriend.
A lot of this reads like a mans idea of a sexy romance novel, and it suffers for obvious reasons.
The characters too are utterly unlikeable, so much so that it took me a while to even get into this.
The whiny teenage son, the trophy wife, the slutty girls and the newly nympho scientist all make for hard going. The only likeable character is an aunt who makes a few appearances.
If you enjoy the space opera he writes, there's nothing here for you, no foundations that the Commonwealth is later built on, just a bit of a grubby sex romp.
November 11, 2022
I love the Commonwealth Saga so against my better judgement I decided to read this to be a completionist but I wish I didn't. Other than being set in the same universe this book doesn't do anything that those books do. There was so much potential to tell all kinds of cool sci fi stories that could serve as a prequel to Pandora's Star. Instead this book barely touches on tech and tells a story of an 80 year old man who makes himself physically younger to bang his son's 17 year old girlfriend. Seriously. That's it. I'm not kidding.
I thought it was going to touch on some cool ideas about rejuvenation technology or memory crystals and open source tech, but it skates by that stuff and leaves it on the periphery to tell a family drama about awful people. There's also some poorly done EU politics in here in case you want a break from all the high school girlfriend stealing.
In short read Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained, and the Void Trilogy. Don't bother with this garbage fire.
I thought it was going to touch on some cool ideas about rejuvenation technology or memory crystals and open source tech, but it skates by that stuff and leaves it on the periphery to tell a family drama about awful people. There's also some poorly done EU politics in here in case you want a break from all the high school girlfriend stealing.
In short read Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained, and the Void Trilogy. Don't bother with this garbage fire.
September 19, 2017
I started reading this one first to catch a glimpse of the Commonwealth Universe, as it takes place 300 years before the events in Pandora's Star. Well, not the best choice. It does explain indeed, the first attempt in rejuvenation experiment, but that's the only thing that relates the story to the main Commonwealth Universe novels.
The story is a presentation of the social and political environment of an United Europe around year 2040 and the relationship between the man who was the subject of the experiment (which transformed him into a late adolescent) and his adolescent son. No plot, no sci-fi part other than rejuvenation thing, just lots and lots of sex.
If you are looking from the young-again-man perspective, the story is more than plausible. It is just not what I'd expected...
The story is a presentation of the social and political environment of an United Europe around year 2040 and the relationship between the man who was the subject of the experiment (which transformed him into a late adolescent) and his adolescent son. No plot, no sci-fi part other than rejuvenation thing, just lots and lots of sex.
If you are looking from the young-again-man perspective, the story is more than plausible. It is just not what I'd expected...
September 19, 2017
This is the first book that I read by Peter F. Hamilton.
Initially, I wanted to give it only three (3) stars. The beginning is somewhat fascinating, but most of it after that seems like a cheap telenovela.
That is until the final quarter, where it starts getting real interesting. Actually, the last 25% of the book is what saved it for me. It certainly set an interesting premise for the Commonwealth Universe, which I'm very interested in. Especially since I've heard a lot of good things about "Pandora's Star", the first book of the series ("Misspent Youth" is meant to be a prequel).
But in regards to the book at hand, I think the ending alone is worth going through all the weakest parts, which aren't necessarily weak in a literary sense, but in a Science Fiction way. It still captivates you as a story, it only lacks the Science Fiction part, and this is not exactly something you look for when you pick up a Science Fiction book. You want your Science Fiction book to have mostly Science Fiction parts.
For the sake of continuity and the Commonwealth Universe, I recommend reading it. If you dislike Peter F. Hamilton for any reason, or SF as a whole, you can safely avoid it.
Initially, I wanted to give it only three (3) stars. The beginning is somewhat fascinating, but most of it after that seems like a cheap telenovela.
That is until the final quarter, where it starts getting real interesting. Actually, the last 25% of the book is what saved it for me. It certainly set an interesting premise for the Commonwealth Universe, which I'm very interested in. Especially since I've heard a lot of good things about "Pandora's Star", the first book of the series ("Misspent Youth" is meant to be a prequel).
But in regards to the book at hand, I think the ending alone is worth going through all the weakest parts, which aren't necessarily weak in a literary sense, but in a Science Fiction way. It still captivates you as a story, it only lacks the Science Fiction part, and this is not exactly something you look for when you pick up a Science Fiction book. You want your Science Fiction book to have mostly Science Fiction parts.
For the sake of continuity and the Commonwealth Universe, I recommend reading it. If you dislike Peter F. Hamilton for any reason, or SF as a whole, you can safely avoid it.
June 25, 2022
Τράτζικ. Το χειρότερο του Hamilton από όσα έχω διαβάσει. Εντάξει ο άνθρωπος πάντα έγραφε το 99% των γυναικείων χαρακτήρων σα να να ήταν κούκλες του σεξ, αλλά σε αυτό απλά έγραψε τις φαντασιώσεις του ξέρω γω. Τουλάχιστον στα άλλα έργα του υπάρχουν ενδιαφέροντες χαρακτήρες και πλοκή που σε κρατάει, σε αυτό έχουμε σεξ και αντι-ευρωπαϊκή προπαγάνδα κάθε δυο σελίδες. (Το βιβλίο γράφτηκε το 2002 και διαδραματίζεται σε μια, με το στανιό, oppressive γραφειοκρατική Ευρώπη που καταπιέζει τους κακόμοιρους Άγγλους οι οποίοι απλά θέλουν να είναι λεύτεροι και δε τους αφήνει να κάνουν δημοψήφισμα για να ανεξαρτητοποιηθούν. Φαντάζομαι ότι πλέον ο Hamilton είναι ένας ευτυχισμένος Άγγλος.)
December 15, 2009
A commonplace of recent "hard" SF is the idea of very long lifespans and rejuvenation of the body. Hamilton has used it himself in his space-opera series. Here he decides to make it the focus of a stand-alone novel, examining the impact on the very first recipient and his family.
My usual complaint about Hamilton is that his stories have no subtext at all but that cannot be said of this novel of loose morals and really bad behaviour. Unfortunately the message seems rather underwhelming; if you behaved badly when you were twenty and you suddenly go from being 70 to being twenty again - you'll behave badly again. The type of behaviour is not unrealistic in that similar disasters do occur in step-families.
The characters spend so much time having sex that it gets tedious but there are some other things going on; one is a theme of a Federal Europe that has become a target of multiple terrorist seperatist groups from various formerly independent states. The society is shown as repressive and only nominally democratic. This could be merely a projection of current European trends for the sake of background and plot but it feels more like a Dystopian Warning.
These days when an SF novel focuses centrally on a Major Medical Breakthrough I expect that near the end it will unravel, either killing the recipient or leaving him exactly where he started. These seem like just a Deus Ex Machina that allows the author to quit once bored and the predictability is greatly detrimental to the overall impact of the book. This one is not an exception.
My usual complaint about Hamilton is that his stories have no subtext at all but that cannot be said of this novel of loose morals and really bad behaviour. Unfortunately the message seems rather underwhelming; if you behaved badly when you were twenty and you suddenly go from being 70 to being twenty again - you'll behave badly again. The type of behaviour is not unrealistic in that similar disasters do occur in step-families.
The characters spend so much time having sex that it gets tedious but there are some other things going on; one is a theme of a Federal Europe that has become a target of multiple terrorist seperatist groups from various formerly independent states. The society is shown as repressive and only nominally democratic. This could be merely a projection of current European trends for the sake of background and plot but it feels more like a Dystopian Warning.
These days when an SF novel focuses centrally on a Major Medical Breakthrough I expect that near the end it will unravel, either killing the recipient or leaving him exactly where he started. These seem like just a Deus Ex Machina that allows the author to quit once bored and the predictability is greatly detrimental to the overall impact of the book. This one is not an exception.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 16, 2015
When I'm 70, I want to marry my son's smoking hot girlfriend and screw her in my ex wife's home with both of them present. <- That is pretty much the tone of the entire book, but with a British accent ;). Sure, there are some bits about interesting technology but it's mostly about rich families being awful people.
Several times there were characters that call out the protagonists for the a-holes they actually are and the response is: "Yeah, I'm flawed, and there's no reason for me to change."
There is an exciting moment where the characters are in real peril. The situation is set up masterfully by the author and it becomes a real page turner and then an absolutely laughable outcome wraps things up nicely.
The moral of the story is actually pretty true to real life: In the face of adversary and calamity, privileged people will land on their feet.
If you are a creepy old guy that's into little girls and think boundaries are for people that can't throw money at problems, then you are stoked with this book.
If you've ever worn a bomber jacket at an 18 and over dance club and think women need to shut their mouths and work on staying hot; buy this in hard cover.
If you wanted to read the Void Trilogy and your OCD forced you to read this book, then you're probably me.
Several times there were characters that call out the protagonists for the a-holes they actually are and the response is: "Yeah, I'm flawed, and there's no reason for me to change."
There is an exciting moment where the characters are in real peril. The situation is set up masterfully by the author and it becomes a real page turner and then an absolutely laughable outcome wraps things up nicely.
The moral of the story is actually pretty true to real life: In the face of adversary and calamity, privileged people will land on their feet.
If you are a creepy old guy that's into little girls and think boundaries are for people that can't throw money at problems, then you are stoked with this book.
If you've ever worn a bomber jacket at an 18 and over dance club and think women need to shut their mouths and work on staying hot; buy this in hard cover.
If you wanted to read the Void Trilogy and your OCD forced you to read this book, then you're probably me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 25, 2018
"The novel has received mixed reviews, with Hamilton himself best describing why: "I could see why it didn't appeal to a lot of people. It was an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. With hindsight, it was never going to be as popular as my other works." [...]
Kirkus Reviews described the novel as "Flowers for Algernon, centering on sex instead of brains.""
I guess it was OK, I would even go so far and say better than expected after reading all the negative reviews.
I'm a big fan of the Commonwealth Saga. "Misspent Youth" is a sort of precursor to the Commonwealth Saga but there is no need to read it since it doesn't add anything to the Commonwealth Saga. If you want to read the Commonwealth Saga don't start with "Misspent Youth".
Kirkus Reviews described the novel as "Flowers for Algernon, centering on sex instead of brains.""
I guess it was OK, I would even go so far and say better than expected after reading all the negative reviews.
I'm a big fan of the Commonwealth Saga. "Misspent Youth" is a sort of precursor to the Commonwealth Saga but there is no need to read it since it doesn't add anything to the Commonwealth Saga. If you want to read the Commonwealth Saga don't start with "Misspent Youth".
March 23, 2018
More soap opera than space opera. I am reading it because I have some completist bug for Hamilton.
Terrible way of writing women and treats them as objects but written long enough ago to give him a pass on it. It should not be the first book of his you read. Readable though.
Terrible way of writing women and treats them as objects but written long enough ago to give him a pass on it. It should not be the first book of his you read. Readable though.
March 21, 2024
I believe that it would be much better not to go into this book blind, or read it before Pandora's Star. The former is because you'll most likely have the wrong expectations, especially if you believe that the science fiction will be the focus, because it isn't. This is a coming of age family psychodrama with a lot of sex. By comparison to the following two books, I was surprised to find that Hamilton had toned it down relative to this prior book. I advise against reading it before Pandora's Star because it isn't a suitable introduction to the series. Reading this first may even discourage you from reading further even they have very little in common, as this one takes place in England in 2040.
The content of this book may offend a wide spectrum of sensibilities. Some examples are: teenagers having sex, age gap sex, graphically described sex, infidelity, women as sex objects, misogynistic attitudes and behaviors, dysfunctional families, severe emotional damage, English separatist domestic terrorists who proudly boast to be worse than the IRA during The Troubles, and several characters who support the aforementioned. It's often so melodramatic about it though like in a soap opera that it was difficult for me to take any of it seriously. On a different note, piracy won and copyright laws were abolished in 2010. Now that's fantastical.
There are four viewpoint characters, three of whom are members of the Baker family. Tim, the 18 year old son, Jeff, the 77 year old father, Sue, the ~37 year old mother, and Annabelle, Tim's 17 year old girlfriend. None of them are likeable, which seems intentional, and most of the other characters aren't much better. It's a lot of people who are in bad situations, whether because of their bad choices or not, or are fortunate and believe that behaving badly is their right. All four viewpoint characters are mentioned by name in the following two books, as are at least four others, though there are possibly several more if you allow for speculation based on first names alone. It's interesting, but their origins don't matter in terms of the story. I appreciate how it demonstrates continuity though.
Tim is the primary viewpoint character, and the bulk of the story follows him, though it's his father Jeff, who undergoes the first rejuvenation treatment to become young again. The central question is, how does that affect someone? When someone has a second coming of age, would they do anything differently from the first time? How does it affect the friendships of those who were your friends of a similar biological age, let alone becoming roughly the same apparent age as your son? What is allowable behavior and what isn't? Suffice to say, the title itself is a condemnation. Maybe this was intended to be a cautionary tale, but if it was, then that certainly didn't carry over to the next books.
Rating: 3.5/5
The content of this book may offend a wide spectrum of sensibilities. Some examples are: teenagers having sex, age gap sex, graphically described sex, infidelity, women as sex objects, misogynistic attitudes and behaviors, dysfunctional families, severe emotional damage, English separatist domestic terrorists who proudly boast to be worse than the IRA during The Troubles, and several characters who support the aforementioned. It's often so melodramatic about it though like in a soap opera that it was difficult for me to take any of it seriously. On a different note, piracy won and copyright laws were abolished in 2010. Now that's fantastical.
There are four viewpoint characters, three of whom are members of the Baker family. Tim, the 18 year old son, Jeff, the 77 year old father, Sue, the ~37 year old mother, and Annabelle, Tim's 17 year old girlfriend. None of them are likeable, which seems intentional, and most of the other characters aren't much better. It's a lot of people who are in bad situations, whether because of their bad choices or not, or are fortunate and believe that behaving badly is their right. All four viewpoint characters are mentioned by name in the following two books, as are at least four others, though there are possibly several more if you allow for speculation based on first names alone. It's interesting, but their origins don't matter in terms of the story. I appreciate how it demonstrates continuity though.
Tim is the primary viewpoint character, and the bulk of the story follows him, though it's his father Jeff, who undergoes the first rejuvenation treatment to become young again. The central question is, how does that affect someone? When someone has a second coming of age, would they do anything differently from the first time? How does it affect the friendships of those who were your friends of a similar biological age, let alone becoming roughly the same apparent age as your son? What is allowable behavior and what isn't? Suffice to say, the title itself is a condemnation. Maybe this was intended to be a cautionary tale, but if it was, then that certainly didn't carry over to the next books.
Rating: 3.5/5
December 23, 2020
Well... There’s a lot about this book I didn’t like, however, by the last 50-75 pages I wanted the story to continue. I only read this because it is, technically, the first in Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga, though relatively unconnected to the series, being only a story about the beginning of the life-extending science that I understand is prominent in Pandora’s Star and beyond.
My main issue with this book is that many chapters begin with a great idea, and the possibility of a serious look at socio-political issues in a changing world, but then just end up being, literally, about sex. All good and fun, but nothing overly interesting. Further, until near the end I found nearly all the characters very unlikeable. On top of all that, there isn’t much of the descriptive prose that Hamilton is so good at. In his defence, as this is really a one-off novel, there’s not much reason for Hamilton to have done much more with this story than he did.
It’s a fun novel, with a very dramatic ending, but feels full of half-thoughts, none of which are really drawn out enough, in my opinion. I still give it 4 stars, because it is a pretty fun story, and it’s Peter F. Hamilton!
My main issue with this book is that many chapters begin with a great idea, and the possibility of a serious look at socio-political issues in a changing world, but then just end up being, literally, about sex. All good and fun, but nothing overly interesting. Further, until near the end I found nearly all the characters very unlikeable. On top of all that, there isn’t much of the descriptive prose that Hamilton is so good at. In his defence, as this is really a one-off novel, there’s not much reason for Hamilton to have done much more with this story than he did.
It’s a fun novel, with a very dramatic ending, but feels full of half-thoughts, none of which are really drawn out enough, in my opinion. I still give it 4 stars, because it is a pretty fun story, and it’s Peter F. Hamilton!
Read
February 20, 2019This is set in the Commonwealth universe by the smallest of direct links; a single character name mentioned in passing. I have read almost everything by Hamilton at this point and can say without question this is the weakest book he has written. I'm a big fan of his so would only recommend this if you also like his writing and just want to experience everything he's done. This is not space opera but I do not really know what to call it. Meandering and pointless for the most part. It only really felt like Hamilton within the last 15 or so pages. This may be harsh but at this point I have high expectations from him and this didn't meet any of them.
The plot is about the advent of a technology that is significant in all the Commonwealth books. The focus is barely on that at all however and the focus is about the sex drive of certain major characters.
Every other book by Hamilton I've found excellent and really fun. Start anywhere but here.
The plot is about the advent of a technology that is significant in all the Commonwealth books. The focus is barely on that at all however and the focus is about the sex drive of certain major characters.
Every other book by Hamilton I've found excellent and really fun. Start anywhere but here.
July 26, 2023
Meh. Meh.
I am a HUGE Peter F Hamilton fan and read all his work with the exception of his most recent YA series, but this seems like it was written by somebody aping his writing style. Instead of the deep concepts, plot twists and myriad sub-plots of his other work, this novel seems to be written by a pursuant teenage Peter F Hamilton. The story barely serves to add texture to the rest of his Commonwealth Saga, and by skipping this novel you wouldn’t enjoy the Commonwealth Saga any less. I will give him credit in that despite being written in 2002, he predicted the Zeitgeist in the UK and disillusionment with the European Union that led to Brexit in the real world. Other than that one prescient aspect, this book is unremarkable.
I am a HUGE Peter F Hamilton fan and read all his work with the exception of his most recent YA series, but this seems like it was written by somebody aping his writing style. Instead of the deep concepts, plot twists and myriad sub-plots of his other work, this novel seems to be written by a pursuant teenage Peter F Hamilton. The story barely serves to add texture to the rest of his Commonwealth Saga, and by skipping this novel you wouldn’t enjoy the Commonwealth Saga any less. I will give him credit in that despite being written in 2002, he predicted the Zeitgeist in the UK and disillusionment with the European Union that led to Brexit in the real world. Other than that one prescient aspect, this book is unremarkable.
April 17, 2018
Weaker than the other Commonwealth books. I was disappointed when the story of a man given a new life devolved into a drama about his son. Other impacts on society were ignored or glossed over. Essentially the story would be the same if the father had been his true age and done the same things.
December 7, 2017
Jajajaja, este libro explica de manera indirecta para que fueron creadas las clinicas de "rehabilitacion" para los rejuvenecidos durante la saga Commonwealth xD jajajajajaja
January 2, 2022
Read Dec 2021/Jan 2022
OK, admittedly, I SHOULD have paid more attention to existing reviews of this novel. Had I even bothered to read the Wikipedia entry I would have realised that the author himself admits it's not great: "I could see why it didn't appeal to a lot of people. It was an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. With hindsight, it was never going to be as popular as my other works."
But, I've loved every Hamilton book I've read to date. I've even read the Night's Dawn trilogy twice. I read Great North Road a couple of months ago, and Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained not long before that. So, before tackling the Void trilogy, I thought I'd read Misspent Youth, the first book (timeline-wise) set in the Commonwealth universe.
Which was a mistake, as I now realise. My fault. The warnings were there.
It's set in the near future. Jeff Baker, a 78-year-old inventor, is chosen as the first person in the world to undergo rejuvenation treatment. He's away for 18 months, then returns with the body/health of a man in his mid 20s, but the mind/wisdom/experience (more or less) he had before.
Which is an interesting concept, which could have been explored in many different interesting ways.
Unfortunately, Hamilton elects to explore the ramifications of rejuvenation from the point of view of Jeff Baker's penis. Which, as interesting as that might be if handled by someone with a defter touch when writing about sex, with Hamilton (whose sex scenes I've always found clumsy, embarrassing, and often puerile), it's all rather boring.
Although 'only' written 20 years ago, so much has changed in the sexual political landscape in those 20 years, that the long, repetitive passages about Jeff's sexual adventures really seem like something from a bygone age, the misogynistic 1970s, perhaps? We get extensive descriptions about nubile teenage bodies bursting from flimsy/skin-tight clothing. We learn how 'expert' these teenage girls are at doing what Jeff needs/wants. Etc etc etc.
You might think I'm banging on (pun intended) about the sex too much, but if you've not read this book (and I don't recommend you do), I'm not exaggerating. I had to skim read whole pages. Yeah, I get it, Pete. This 18-year-old girl has curves in all the right places, know exactly what to do, and can do it for days on end. Oh, and then she can rope in some other girl she's never met before for a five-day, three-in-a-bed sex romp.
The other mis-step in the book is the European/English political situation. Now, this WAS a little more interesting, read five years after the Brexit referendum. It was fascination to note how Hamilton had picked up back in 2002 that such a split in society would occur. The last 20% of the book concerns riots in London. And also interesting to see that Hamilton got things the wrong way around. (Can't blame him for that – it's just noteworthy, not a complaint). In Misspent Youth, it's the young people driving the movement for England to separate from the UK. In reality, in 2016, the youth were overwhelmingly in favour of the UK staying in the EU.
Oh, and the ending was a disappointment. As though Hamilton, too, had become fed up with the story and just decided to bring things swiftly to a close.
I love Hamilton's world-building skills. I've often become lost in his imagined societies, cities, landscapes. Months/years after reading his books, I often find myself thinking about a character, or a situation, or a setting. But he does tend to over-write things (everything). And I often think that, with the right co-author, he could produce something for the ages, something that would resonate for generations to come. Misspent youth – a normal-length novel for most authors – should really be considered a (bloated) short story. And, sadly, a bad one at that.
I've got another couple of books lined up, but then I'll tackle the Void trilogy, and I've every expectation that I will LOVE it!
2/10
OK, admittedly, I SHOULD have paid more attention to existing reviews of this novel. Had I even bothered to read the Wikipedia entry I would have realised that the author himself admits it's not great: "I could see why it didn't appeal to a lot of people. It was an unpleasant story about unpleasant people. With hindsight, it was never going to be as popular as my other works."
But, I've loved every Hamilton book I've read to date. I've even read the Night's Dawn trilogy twice. I read Great North Road a couple of months ago, and Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained not long before that. So, before tackling the Void trilogy, I thought I'd read Misspent Youth, the first book (timeline-wise) set in the Commonwealth universe.
Which was a mistake, as I now realise. My fault. The warnings were there.
It's set in the near future. Jeff Baker, a 78-year-old inventor, is chosen as the first person in the world to undergo rejuvenation treatment. He's away for 18 months, then returns with the body/health of a man in his mid 20s, but the mind/wisdom/experience (more or less) he had before.
Which is an interesting concept, which could have been explored in many different interesting ways.
Unfortunately, Hamilton elects to explore the ramifications of rejuvenation from the point of view of Jeff Baker's penis. Which, as interesting as that might be if handled by someone with a defter touch when writing about sex, with Hamilton (whose sex scenes I've always found clumsy, embarrassing, and often puerile), it's all rather boring.
Although 'only' written 20 years ago, so much has changed in the sexual political landscape in those 20 years, that the long, repetitive passages about Jeff's sexual adventures really seem like something from a bygone age, the misogynistic 1970s, perhaps? We get extensive descriptions about nubile teenage bodies bursting from flimsy/skin-tight clothing. We learn how 'expert' these teenage girls are at doing what Jeff needs/wants. Etc etc etc.
You might think I'm banging on (pun intended) about the sex too much, but if you've not read this book (and I don't recommend you do), I'm not exaggerating. I had to skim read whole pages. Yeah, I get it, Pete. This 18-year-old girl has curves in all the right places, know exactly what to do, and can do it for days on end. Oh, and then she can rope in some other girl she's never met before for a five-day, three-in-a-bed sex romp.
The other mis-step in the book is the European/English political situation. Now, this WAS a little more interesting, read five years after the Brexit referendum. It was fascination to note how Hamilton had picked up back in 2002 that such a split in society would occur. The last 20% of the book concerns riots in London. And also interesting to see that Hamilton got things the wrong way around. (Can't blame him for that – it's just noteworthy, not a complaint). In Misspent Youth, it's the young people driving the movement for England to separate from the UK. In reality, in 2016, the youth were overwhelmingly in favour of the UK staying in the EU.
Oh, and the ending was a disappointment. As though Hamilton, too, had become fed up with the story and just decided to bring things swiftly to a close.
I love Hamilton's world-building skills. I've often become lost in his imagined societies, cities, landscapes. Months/years after reading his books, I often find myself thinking about a character, or a situation, or a setting. But he does tend to over-write things (everything). And I often think that, with the right co-author, he could produce something for the ages, something that would resonate for generations to come. Misspent youth – a normal-length novel for most authors – should really be considered a (bloated) short story. And, sadly, a bad one at that.
I've got another couple of books lined up, but then I'll tackle the Void trilogy, and I've every expectation that I will LOVE it!
2/10
May 3, 2014
‘It is forty years into the future and, following decades of research and trillions of euros spent on genetics, Europe is finally in a position to rejuvenate a human being. the first subject chosen for treatment is Jeff Baker, the creator of the Datasphere [which replaced the internet] and philanthropist extraordinaire. After eighteen months in a German medical facility, the seventy-eight-year-old patient returns home looking like a healthy twenty-year-old.
Misspent Youth follows the effect his reappearance has on his family and friends – his considerably younger ex-model wife Sue, his teenage son Tim, and his long-term pals, now themselves all pensioners, who start resenting what Jeff has become.’
Blurb from the 2003 Pan paperback edition
I can’t quite work out why this novel doesn’t work. It doesn’t. That is clear. I find it quite surprising that Hamilton, having successfully produced two really good trilogies, should then produce this singular and rather dull piece of work. Admittedly, it is well-written in Hamilton’s usual page-turning style. There are his ubiquitous uberbabes, bursting out of every conceivable piece of erotic fashion on every other page. There are some interesting political developments, and the action is set very solidly in Hamilton’s beloved Rutland, now part of a Federal Europe where the Separatists are on the rise against the unification of Europe.
Jeff Baker is the inventor of a crystal data technology which produced the Datasphere, an enhanced internet where any information is accessible.
Brussells has now rewarded the seventy-eight-year-old scientist with rejuvenation treatment which leaves him with the body and libido of a twenty-year old.
Some way into the novel one can be forgiven for thinking that Hamilton was working on a modern twist on Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ since the rejuvenated Jeff, far from acting with the wisdom and maturity of his years, abandons all morals and goes on a viagra-crazed rampage through the female population, beginning with his best friend’s grand-daughter and ending up with his son’s girlfriend. Hamilton may have had something if he continued the Dorian Grey theme through to Jeff’s destruction of himself and his family, but alas, that does not happen. Alas, because I suspect the reader would not give a damn about Jeff’s family.
And here is where the problem lies. There is no one to like in this novel, apart from Jeff’s sister Alison, who is written as a kind of elderly rebel, and whose character seems far more real than the selection of cardboard cut-outs who share the novel with her.
There is also a real problem with dialogue here, and the ending is pure schmaltz. One might almost suspect that this was an early Hamilton novel that didn’t make the grade at the time it was written and was released only to cash in on the now best-selling author’s name. Or is that just my cynicism kicking in?
Misspent Youth follows the effect his reappearance has on his family and friends – his considerably younger ex-model wife Sue, his teenage son Tim, and his long-term pals, now themselves all pensioners, who start resenting what Jeff has become.’
Blurb from the 2003 Pan paperback edition
I can’t quite work out why this novel doesn’t work. It doesn’t. That is clear. I find it quite surprising that Hamilton, having successfully produced two really good trilogies, should then produce this singular and rather dull piece of work. Admittedly, it is well-written in Hamilton’s usual page-turning style. There are his ubiquitous uberbabes, bursting out of every conceivable piece of erotic fashion on every other page. There are some interesting political developments, and the action is set very solidly in Hamilton’s beloved Rutland, now part of a Federal Europe where the Separatists are on the rise against the unification of Europe.
Jeff Baker is the inventor of a crystal data technology which produced the Datasphere, an enhanced internet where any information is accessible.
Brussells has now rewarded the seventy-eight-year-old scientist with rejuvenation treatment which leaves him with the body and libido of a twenty-year old.
Some way into the novel one can be forgiven for thinking that Hamilton was working on a modern twist on Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Grey’ since the rejuvenated Jeff, far from acting with the wisdom and maturity of his years, abandons all morals and goes on a viagra-crazed rampage through the female population, beginning with his best friend’s grand-daughter and ending up with his son’s girlfriend. Hamilton may have had something if he continued the Dorian Grey theme through to Jeff’s destruction of himself and his family, but alas, that does not happen. Alas, because I suspect the reader would not give a damn about Jeff’s family.
And here is where the problem lies. There is no one to like in this novel, apart from Jeff’s sister Alison, who is written as a kind of elderly rebel, and whose character seems far more real than the selection of cardboard cut-outs who share the novel with her.
There is also a real problem with dialogue here, and the ending is pure schmaltz. One might almost suspect that this was an early Hamilton novel that didn’t make the grade at the time it was written and was released only to cash in on the now best-selling author’s name. Or is that just my cynicism kicking in?
March 31, 2016
Jeff Baker is granted the gift of eternal youth. However, it's not all it seems...
Set around 2040, Seventy-eight-year-old Jeff Baker has revolutionized the world by inventing the ultimate method of information storage and allowing free use of it with no profits going into his own pocket. Because of this generous act, he is chosen by the European Union to be the first recipient for rejuvenation technology, which will leave him with the body of a young man. As part of the deal, he will support the re-election of the EU president.
I’ve noticed some after reading and reviewing more books now than ever. The story plot can be amazing and the writing terrible or the other way round. In this case, Misspent Youth had an interesting idea, with great writing, but the story progression just went down the drain.
I’ll start with what I like because I don’t actually hate this story, I just felt dissatisfied.
It’s essential a story about a father, his son and their struggle to connect again after the intrusion of advanced (medical) technology in their lives. It deals with the physical, but mental psychological after Jeff undergoes.
The start was great, creating a futuristic England with an uptight Sue, a tired out Jeff and a young Tim. From the very start, I can tell that these characters weren’t the epitome of good and that’s what makes the character realistic, promising character progression. Hamilton’s style of writing is descriptive, something that I’m not used to reading, but done in a way that’s not long-winded.
The reason why I got this book out was because of the title, and when someone old is given a second chance at life in a younger body, the hope would be not to screw up! (And low and behold Jeff royally screws up).
I wasn’t too keen with the whole EU, the separatists, and the development of technology aspects but he wrote it with interest that sets up the Commonwealth Universe.
BUT - I wish I could have picked any other book by Hamilton to read, but this one is a mistake. If I wanted to read a book about sex, I would have picked some other book, but this one was just so URGH! The characters were pretty much a ‘you love them or plain right hate them’ and in my case they turned unpleasant; Jeff just wants to have sex with anyone, Tim is the average moody teenager with no redeeming quality. The women like Sue and Annabelle didn’t have a personality, other than sex objects or gold diggers. The only science fiction element was the whole rejuvenation aspect. Cut that out and this was like a soap drama ending in disaster.
And the ending was terrible because it suddenly ended on a soppy note, leaving me with a ‘WTF did I actually read!’
Oh man, I wish wholeheartedly that I read another book by Hamilton. Misspent Youth is not the book you should read first if you’ve just started reading anything by Hamilton. Although I do like his style of writing, sadly the way the story progressed was dreadful with an unsatisfied ending.
Set around 2040, Seventy-eight-year-old Jeff Baker has revolutionized the world by inventing the ultimate method of information storage and allowing free use of it with no profits going into his own pocket. Because of this generous act, he is chosen by the European Union to be the first recipient for rejuvenation technology, which will leave him with the body of a young man. As part of the deal, he will support the re-election of the EU president.
I’ve noticed some after reading and reviewing more books now than ever. The story plot can be amazing and the writing terrible or the other way round. In this case, Misspent Youth had an interesting idea, with great writing, but the story progression just went down the drain.
I’ll start with what I like because I don’t actually hate this story, I just felt dissatisfied.
It’s essential a story about a father, his son and their struggle to connect again after the intrusion of advanced (medical) technology in their lives. It deals with the physical, but mental psychological after Jeff undergoes.
The start was great, creating a futuristic England with an uptight Sue, a tired out Jeff and a young Tim. From the very start, I can tell that these characters weren’t the epitome of good and that’s what makes the character realistic, promising character progression. Hamilton’s style of writing is descriptive, something that I’m not used to reading, but done in a way that’s not long-winded.
The reason why I got this book out was because of the title, and when someone old is given a second chance at life in a younger body, the hope would be not to screw up! (And low and behold Jeff royally screws up).
I wasn’t too keen with the whole EU, the separatists, and the development of technology aspects but he wrote it with interest that sets up the Commonwealth Universe.
BUT - I wish I could have picked any other book by Hamilton to read, but this one is a mistake. If I wanted to read a book about sex, I would have picked some other book, but this one was just so URGH! The characters were pretty much a ‘you love them or plain right hate them’ and in my case they turned unpleasant; Jeff just wants to have sex with anyone, Tim is the average moody teenager with no redeeming quality. The women like Sue and Annabelle didn’t have a personality, other than sex objects or gold diggers. The only science fiction element was the whole rejuvenation aspect. Cut that out and this was like a soap drama ending in disaster.
And the ending was terrible because it suddenly ended on a soppy note, leaving me with a ‘WTF did I actually read!’
Oh man, I wish wholeheartedly that I read another book by Hamilton. Misspent Youth is not the book you should read first if you’ve just started reading anything by Hamilton. Although I do like his style of writing, sadly the way the story progressed was dreadful with an unsatisfied ending.
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December 23, 2025http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1273054.html
This book is about a rich old man who gets rejuvenation treatment in a future Britain subordinated to a federal Europe. Hamilton has a pretty good reputation, but I think that must be based on other works than this. It is an odd mixture of bits which work very well and bits which don't, sometimes both at the same time.
To start with the less political: this is one of the best treatments I have read of rejuvenation. This is a rather low bar; I am comparing it with Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback and John Scalzi's Old Man's War, and a bunch of recent terrible Hugo nominees mostly in the short fiction categories. But I thought Hamilton's account rang very true: Jeff Baker's newfound youth totally disrupts his existing relationships, makes him even more of a celebrity than he already was, and enables him to shag every woman he wants to, particularly including his teenage son's girlfriend, who ends the book impregnated with their genetically engineered embryo. The biggest narrative flaw - and it is a big one - is that none of the characters is particularly nice.
On the political front, the book combines impressive forward thinking with a lazy Europhobia. Hamilton's depiction of how the internet might be used for political marketing and grassroots mobilisation is very impressive: this was starting in 2001, when he was writing, but that was still several years before YouTube, never mind Twitter. His description of the organisation of the anti-Europe demonstration at the end of the book is reminiscent of this year's events in Iran and Moldova (and like those, it doesn't actually achieve the desired result).
Hamilton's depiction of European politics is repugnant. His near-future Britain uses the euro as currency and has a Blair-like prime minister who is running to be president of Europe. But the restive population is chafing under the yoke of Brussels rule, and is finally invaded from the continent by shock troops arriving via Eurostar. The end of the book has the dying Jeff Baker in a live webcast (reminiscent of Princess Diana's famous 1995 interview) blaming Europe per se for his demise, without any apparent challenge from other characters or the author. As I said above, this is lazy stuff, barely more advanced than the paranoid fantasies of Andrew Roberts; it's a shame that Hamilton's interesting thoughts about the internal wiring of future politics are combined with a cardboard concept of the bigger picture.
This book is about a rich old man who gets rejuvenation treatment in a future Britain subordinated to a federal Europe. Hamilton has a pretty good reputation, but I think that must be based on other works than this. It is an odd mixture of bits which work very well and bits which don't, sometimes both at the same time.
To start with the less political: this is one of the best treatments I have read of rejuvenation. This is a rather low bar; I am comparing it with Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback and John Scalzi's Old Man's War, and a bunch of recent terrible Hugo nominees mostly in the short fiction categories. But I thought Hamilton's account rang very true: Jeff Baker's newfound youth totally disrupts his existing relationships, makes him even more of a celebrity than he already was, and enables him to shag every woman he wants to, particularly including his teenage son's girlfriend, who ends the book impregnated with their genetically engineered embryo. The biggest narrative flaw - and it is a big one - is that none of the characters is particularly nice.
On the political front, the book combines impressive forward thinking with a lazy Europhobia. Hamilton's depiction of how the internet might be used for political marketing and grassroots mobilisation is very impressive: this was starting in 2001, when he was writing, but that was still several years before YouTube, never mind Twitter. His description of the organisation of the anti-Europe demonstration at the end of the book is reminiscent of this year's events in Iran and Moldova (and like those, it doesn't actually achieve the desired result).
Hamilton's depiction of European politics is repugnant. His near-future Britain uses the euro as currency and has a Blair-like prime minister who is running to be president of Europe. But the restive population is chafing under the yoke of Brussels rule, and is finally invaded from the continent by shock troops arriving via Eurostar. The end of the book has the dying Jeff Baker in a live webcast (reminiscent of Princess Diana's famous 1995 interview) blaming Europe per se for his demise, without any apparent challenge from other characters or the author. As I said above, this is lazy stuff, barely more advanced than the paranoid fantasies of Andrew Roberts; it's a shame that Hamilton's interesting thoughts about the internal wiring of future politics are combined with a cardboard concept of the bigger picture.
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