Pandora's Star cover art

Pandora's Star

Commonwealth Saga, Book 1

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Pandora's Star

By: Peter F. Hamilton
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

Pandora's Star is the first part of Peter F. Hamilton's epic Commonwealth Saga duology – a fantastic galaxy-spanning novel from the master of space opera. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Alastair Reynolds.

At the edge of the galaxy something awakens – and it's coming for us . . .

Earth AD 2329: Humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked by wormholes. For the first time in mankind's history there is peace. Then a star over a thousand light years away suddenly vanishes, imprisoned inside a force field of immense size. Yet who – or what – has that sort of technology? And what could this mean for us? Only a faster-than-light starship, captained by ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime, can reach that distance to investigate.

For Wilson, getting inside the force field could be easy. It may be harder to stop something else from getting out.

What if there was a very good reason to seal off an entire star system?

The Commonwealth Saga duology concludes with Judas Unchained.

©2004 Peter F Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor Media Inc Adventure Genetic Engineering Military Science Fiction Space Opera Fiction Interstellar

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Critic reviews

The best book Hamilton has written in years (Guardian)
Anyone who begins this won’t be able to put it down (Publishers Weekly)
Compelling (SFX)
All stars
Most relevant
I read this in print some time ago but when I recently listened to it on audio it seems to have lost some of its magic. What struck me most this time was Hamilton's long-winded explorations of trivia and his excruciating fixation on teenage girls. Almost every female character has a body age of under 19 and Hamilton describes them in detail, normally starting with the breasts. It's a wonder he can write so many books using only one hand.

That aside I do still like the universe he creates and the way he integrates believable future tech into the story. As a creator of believable far-future worlds he's one of the best.

And the narration? No. Just, no. John Lee would make a great newsreader but for a story like this, not a chance. He sounds like a cross between Rising Damp's Rigsby and the host at a spelling bee. He pronounces every syllable with such clarity you can almost hear him winding up before each word, the individual sounds clattering off his tongue like the noise of malfunctioning farm machinery. If he could do this whilst retaining the emotive content directed by the text then maybe I could live with it, but he can't, and I can't.

The good just about outweighs the bad

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I haven't read any sci-fi for a long time, but based upon its star rating I decided I would give this a go. what a pleasant surprise. The character development and story delivered something quite enthralling. I am already looking forward to the next book.

Unexpectedly superb sci-fi

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This (together with its part 2 ) is a LONG book… over 70 hours… longer than the hobbit and loth1,2 and 3 combined…

Yet he somehow manages to maintain the story arc…

That is a very impressive feat…

Properly written, decent quality sci-fi. Nothing too new but certainly interesting.

The narrator is perfect

One downside is the way women are written. The story is very much a “heterosexual mans eye view” of the cosmos… i found it just about bearable but if this especially triggers you… don’t start this 70+ hour journey…

Don’t understand how he pulled this off

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If you could sum up Pandora's Star in three words, what would they be?

Complex, Detailed and Beautiful

What did you like best about this story?

It’s a mix between the paths and the Politics within the commonwealth.

Which character – as performed by John Lee – was your favourite?

Aussie!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

One sitting would be too long but listened to it over 5 days well worth it.

Any additional comments?

An outstanding story and performance with the need for more each time you pause.

An amazing story that only leads to wanting more

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the story ranges from slow orbit to light speed in places with a good depth of worlds. The narrator ruins the book though and I wouldn't honestly recommend it to a friend which is disappointing. All the characters are hard to differentiate from one another making the e book hard to follow at places. shame because I feel it is well written.

depth of story is excellent

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