Mindstar Rising: The Greg Mandel Trilogy, Book 1

Given was written in the early 90s, the setting is eerily apt and poignant right now. Near future sci-fi, elements of cyberpunk, corporate scandal and detective story to boot and Toby Longworth's performance (because that's what it is) is first class. Highly recommended!

I have had a print edition of this book since the late nineties. It is one of those books we all have that are the equivalent of comfort eating for the mind. I must admit I was sceptical about an audio edition as I had some definite ( or so I thought ) ideas as to how the characters sounded. These thoughts were blown away by Toby's performance. It is like listening to an ensemble reading but from one man. This should be a recording that they give to all budding readers and say .... Like That One Please.

Hamilton is always good value and the narration from Toby Longworth was top-notch and has prompted me to look for other books he has narrated.

An early Peter Hamilton novel which lacks his later polish but enjoyable never the less. Toby Longworth's excellent narration was worth an extra star.

I listen to audio books on long car journeys - if they are any good then the journey appears to take no time at all. Listening to this, the first of the Mindstar trilogy, caused me to enter a time-space vortex in which I was transported nearly 200 K without any sensation of movement, time or other reality. My esper sense clearly helped me to drive while the gland secretions enabled me to do so safely - either that or the other road users just gave me a wide berth. I cannot believe this was narrated by one person; awesome is the only real reaction. I particularly liked the evocation of one of the evil characters who sounded remarkably like a former UK prime minister!!! I think you either love sci-fi or just don't get it. If you love it - you will definitely get this. My feeling about what makes a really good audio book (or any book come to that) is - are the characters believable, do you care about the characters and what is/will happen to them, is the plot immersive and does it make you want to guess? I would answer yes to all those points and just say that the creation of England post global-warming is intelligent and very well articulated. I loved the idea of Peterborough becoming a major sea port and a kool place to live - now that really is science fantasy.

This is an excellent read if you are into "not too distant future" sci fi. Present day politics, companies etc, but with twists. The story doesn't hold you by the hand, from the get go it used terms (mimox crystals etc) I wasn't sure on, I thought had I missed something from another one of Peter Hamiltons books. But things are revealed bit by bit and I have to say, I rather liked it like that. Not explaining everything as soon as it appears, the story lets you piece this world together yourself, but does expand on it later. A great story, excellent world and Greg Mandel is now number 3 in my list of top main characters, after Jack Reacher (Lee Child) and John Clarke (Tom Clancy). I am definitely getting the second and third parts of the trilogy, and will probably get the rest of Peter Hamiltons books, on the back of this great story.

Well I did enjoy this and am going to listen to the rest of the trilogy. It is early work and quite amusing. By setting it in the near future - the future we are now in - he is very close to reality in some respects and miles away in others. His references to obsolete trade names for example is amusing but irritating. If we write a book now about 5 years in the future will we talk about Apple i products? I am sure there will be a icommunicator watch for example..... but do enjoy guys!

This story was very well read by the narrator. Prefer the longer stories from Peter F Hamilton.

After listening to the void trilogy I was looking for something else from Peter Hamilton but these didn't appeal to me, I think the near future bit and name put me off. However when I decided to give this a go I was hooked. I still prefer the distant future novels but this was very enjoyable and have since purchased the remaining 2 books. Would definitely recommend no messing.

bought this as a reduced price audio book liking sci-fi detective/thriller type books, the narrator is absolutely brilliant with a great range of voices and great character portrayal the pace of the story is easy and i found myself stopping what i was doing to listen as this book totally absorbed me, I have bought books 2 and 3 and have enjoyed the whole series. this is the first time I have felt compelled to write a review