... Remember what happened with "Dune"?
The Reality Dysfunction is the first part of a space opera on the grandest possible scale. Peter F. Hamilton shows the same careful thought and consideration of consequence that was evident in his debut novel, "Mindstar Rising", only this time he has ... Read review
The term "space opera" has evolved over the decades. Originally it meant "hacky, ... more
grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn" (Wilson Tucker), but since then it has come to be (slightly) less pejorative, encompassing any sci-fi action story on an in...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
The term "space opera" has evolved over the decades. Originally it meant "hacky, ... more
grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn" (Wilson Tucker), but since then it has come to be (slightly) less pejorative, encompassing any sci-fi action story on an in...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
In AD 2600 the human race is finally beginning to realize its full potential. Hundreds of ... more
colonized planets scattered across the galaxy host a multitude of prosperous and wildly diverse cultures. Genetic engineering has pushed evolution far beyond nat...
Postage & Packaging: £0.00 Availability: 3-5 working days
The term "space opera" has evolved over the decades. Originally it meant "hacky, ... more
grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn" (Wilson Tucker), but since then it has come to be (slightly) less pejorative, encompassing any sci-fi action story on an interplanetary or interstellar scale. The Reality Dysfunction rests firmly in the space- opera camp with its intense starship combat, roguish space captains and raw frontier planets, but Peter Hamilton keeps the formula fresh and up-to-date with an infusion of "modern" science fiction technology. His universe is digitally and nanotechnologically savvy, which opens up plenty of possibilities for new perils and plot twists. It is the late 26th century and humanity's thriving culture spans 200 planets. The usual squabbles and disagreements continue, but generally everyone gets along and lives well as humanity's outward expansion continues apace. On newly colonized Lalonde, though, a strange force emerges from the jungle, lobotomizing people and turning them into super-powered soldiers. At the same time, the story of Joshua Calvert emerges. He's the young captain of a trading ship, who innocently travels to Lalonde and becomes embroiled in the mysteries there. Both threads have plenty of action and exotic scenery. Peter Hamilton's descriptive prose, particularly in action sequences, is breathtaking (and scientifically accurate), creating a dramatic backdrop for a story where the stakes keep getting higher, the villains keep growing more evil and the heroes keep surviving--but only just. Space-opera fans will enjoy this deftly written and engaging novel. Those who feel they don't like the genre might give this example a try to see just how unhacky, ungrinding, sweet-smelling, and robust it can be. --Brooks Peck
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:Check Site.
The term "space opera" has evolved over the decades. Originally it meant "hacky, ... more
grinding, stinking, outworn, spaceship yarn" (Wilson Tucker), but since then it has come to be (slightly) less pejorative, encompassing any sci-fi action story on an interplanetary or interstellar scale. The Reality Dysfunction rests firmly in the space- opera camp with its intense starship combat, roguish space captains and raw frontier planets, but Peter Hamilton keeps the formula fresh and up-to-date with an infusion of "modern" science fiction technology. His universe is digitally and nanotechnologically savvy, which opens up plenty of possibilities for new perils and plot twists. It is the late 26th century and humanity's thriving culture spans 200 planets. The usual squabbles and disagreements continue, but generally everyone gets along and lives well as humanity's outward expansion continues apace. On newly colonized Lalonde, though, a strange force emerges from the jungle, lobotomizing people and turning them into super-powered soldiers. At the same time, the story of Joshua Calvert emerges. He's the young captain of a trading ship, who innocently travels to Lalonde and becomes embroiled in the mysteries there. Both threads have plenty of action and exotic scenery. Peter Hamilton's descriptive prose, particularly in action sequences, is breathtaking (and scientifically accurate), creating a dramatic backdrop for a story where the stakes keep getting higher, the villains keep growing more evil and the heroes keep surviving--but only just. Space-opera fans will enjoy this deftly written and engaging novel. Those who feel they don't like the genre might give this example a try to see just how unhacky, ungrinding, sweet-smelling, and robust it can be. --Brooks Peck
Postage & Packaging:refer to website Availability:Check Site.
Reviews of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton »
1-5 of 6 reviews of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
Welcome To A Dark Future
Advantages: Long and complex – and only the first part of the trilogy Disadvantages: Long and complex – and only the first part of the trilogy
...would be impossible to compress the contents of its 1,221 pages into two hours, and still tell a coherent story. Remember what happened with "Dune"?
The Reality Dysfunction is the first part of a space opera on the grandest possible scale. Peter F. Hamilton shows the same careful thought and consideration of consequence that was evident in his debut novel, "Mindstar Rising", only this time he has extrapolated all ... ...Earth is barren, sterilised by the effects of global warming; great storms torture the surface, and Man lives under protective domes that cover whole cities, linked by a rapid transit system that can cross the Atlantic in 45 minutes. But Earth is not the setting for the first part of the "Night's Dawn" trilogy, merely the psychological background. The main plot follows the events that unfold on Lalonde, a recently opened colony world orbiting ... more
I hope they never turn this book into a film. Not because I think it wouldn't translate well, or that special effects technology isn't up to it, but because it would be impossible to compress the contents of its 1,221 pages into two hours, and still tell a coherent story. Remember what happened with "Dune"?
The Reality Dysfunction is the first part of a space opera on the grandest possible scale. Peter F. Hamilton shows the same careful thought and consideration of consequence that was evident in his debut novel, "Mindstar Rising", only this time he has extrapolated all the way out to the beginning of the twenty-seventh century. Planet Earth is barren, sterilised by the effects of global warming; great storms torture the surface, and Man lives under protective domes that cover whole cities, linked by a rapid transit system that can cross the Atlantic in 45 minutes. But Earth is not the setting for the first part of the "Night's Dawn" trilogy, merely the psychological background. The main plot follows the events that unfold on Lalonde, a recently opened colony world orbiting a far distant star.
One of Hamilton's greatest strengths is his ability to create seemingly endless numbers of entirely believable characters; while re-reading the book I was shocked to discover quite how many I had forgotten about. However, there is no forgetting Quinn Dexter. Introduced as a "waster kid" sold down the river by his sect leader, my initial sympathy for his position as little more than a slave labourer was gradually replaced by a cold fury that one man could be so utterly inhuman. Dexter is a highly intelligent Satanist who, through the chance presence of a transcendent entity at one of his rituals, opens the gateway to Hell, allowing damned souls, craved of sensation, a return to the mortal plane through possession of the living. The discovery that such a place exists precipitates a Confederation-wide crisis - not least because the returned souls have the power to manipulate raw energy.
Another central character is Joshua Calvert. A space-faring jack-the-lad, he is aided in his carefree attitude to life by an innate lucky streak. It his discovery of an electronics stack in the ruins of a long-dead alien race that under intense analysis reveals that Mankind is not the only race to have discovered the Reality Dysfunction now spreading across Lalonde. Calvert and his ship the “Lady Mac”, along with its remarkable crew, feature in several of the book’s key events. It is probably worth mentioning at this point that the starships of Hamilton’s imagination traverse interstellar gulfs through wormholes that they themselves create, a method similar to that employed by Frank Herbert’s space-folding Guild Navigators. However, in a chain of events originating with the splicing of an affinity gene into human DNA (allowing telepathic communication between all those with the gene) and the subsequent excommunication from the Unified Christian Church by the Pope in 2090, there are two very different kinds of starship. The first kind, of which “Lady Mac” is one, are those created by the Adamists (those who do not have the affinity gene), and need to align themselves precisely on the target star before powering up their patterning nodes to create the energy needed to force open a wormhole. The second kind, created by the Edenists (those that have the affinity gene), are products of biological technology – bitek. These ships, conceived in a mad chase to oblivion by their mother at the end of her life with their predestined captains as embryos safe within, are living creatures of the void between worlds, and have highly developed spatial senses that allow much quicker navigation.
Peter F. Hamilton has created a masterpiece worthy of far wider attention than that of the science-fiction devotee. The Reality Dysfunction is a gritty examination of the possible consequences of discovering an answer to one of life’s deepest questions – what comes next? Are you ready to deal with the issues?
Advantages: Food for much, much thought Disadvantages: Will give withdrawal pains
...one. One would also expect the action in a 3600 page trilogy to be rather slow for the first 4 or 5 hundred pages. Incorrect. You are thrown directly into the mayhem from page one, and it keeps getting bigger.
I can't heap too much praise on these books - all I can say is that they are so convincing and gripping as to seem like a small, more interesting reality by the time you reach the end of them. I am not an emotional thing as a rule, but by ... ...again read of the characters whom for countless days I had watched the actions of.
That is the beuty of the trilogy - unlike much sci-fi, they are books about people, not hardware, and the fantastic setting is merely a way of putting these people in more interesting situations. ...
megamarine 07.08.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
Advantages: Excellent storytelling and ideas Disadvantages: Very Long
...really will have missed out. The reality dysfunction is the first book in the nights dawn trilogy and really sets the scene for a huge epic tale. The author manages to mix elements of horror, suspense and mystery along with the traditional space opera themes and throws in a huge amountof ideas. The storytelling is also excellent with the first six hundred pages feeling like the first hundred of some books with the author having a talent for exciting ...
dom00 12.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
Advantages: One of the best books I've ever read. Disadvantages: 1200 pages makes for a very thick book....
...thousand pages, and it's only the first part of the trilogy? Is he serious?
It turns out that yes, he is indeed serious, and yes, it is indeed worthwhile. This is probably one of the finest hard SF books I've ever read, and re-read... It's reached the 'old favourite' stage now, where I'll reach for it if there's nothing on TV on a Sunday evening.
The plot? Can I really summarise the plot in just a few words? I can but try... On a colony world, ... ...knows what it is, but the possessed have incredible power, and are almost unstoppable.
Well, that's just scratched the surface. I don't know what else to say, really - there are literally dozens of well drawn characters here, plus pages on background - history, technology, everything. The universe in which this book is set is utterly believable - the months of background writing that Hamilton did paid off no end (and indeed in more ways than one ...
andrewsi 15.04.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
Advantages: A cracking good read Disadvantages: None
...from a huge selection in the book shop. It actually sat on my table for a couple of weeks before I got round to picking it up. Well, what can I say? Why did I delay?...what a fantastic book! I am an avid reader - I read at least a book per week, more if they are only small, and I read anything. Sci-Fi, Drama, poetry, novels , mills and boon, famous five, you name it, I've probably read it.
Anyway, I digress....not only are the characters well rounded ... ...easily visualise it due to the evocative and interesting language Hamilton uses. And, hey we've all seen StarWars?! So it becomes full of the classic space stuff, you know, lots of colonised planets, genetically engineered life, and then it happens....empathy. I guarantee you will find a character YOU empahise with in this story. I even dreamt about some of the charaters - Only Jordan and Tolkien have done that to me. Fantastic. Hats off to Hamilton.
...
Macaroon 14.08.2001
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
Advantages: Compelling, exciting, fantastic characters, excellent story, original Disadvantages: The books are huge!
...they were unfeasably thick! The Reality Dysfunction I thought was a pretty good book, although difficult to get into at first - there are many characters and it's tricky to keep track of them all. The books get even better as the series progresses though, the third one is by far the best, I was reading it at any given free moment for a few days when I was getting near the end.
Peter Hamilton is an excellent author, his writing style is brilliant, ...
Athena 27.07.2000
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: helpful Review of The Reality Dysfunction - Peter F. Hamilton
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Advantages: Very well constructed and quite imaginative Disadvantages: Long and maybe a bit too detailed
Pandora's Star is the next offering from one of the UK's best modern sci-fi writers, PeterF. Hamilton, the same author who brought us The RealityDysfunction.
Very aptly named, as what is released in this book is very much like one of the plagues that the mythical Pandora's box is purported to contain.
Set in the "not too" distant future, humankind has spread out amongst the stars courtesy of Wormholes. "True" death has been almost eradicated thanks to modern science, and there are no significant conflicts (read as no wars) to speak of, other than the Guardians of Selfhood (a cult that believe humankind is being manipulated by a sinister Alien called the Starflyer).
The Confederation is governed by a senate and a duly elected president, and this futuristic universe seems terribly similar to our own, where terrorist ...
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