Pandora’s Star is the first book of Peter Hamilton’s 2-part epic space operatic saga. You may accuse me of making up words, but I assure you, there is no more appropriate term for it. Part 1, Pandora’s star, clocks in at a hefty 988 pages. And these are no light-reading-harry-potter-100-pph pages either. These are Tolkein-esque, chock full of environmental and technological descriptors and unique cultures and characters.
To set the stage, the year is 2380. Wormhole gateway technology has led to the colonization of hundreds of interstellar worlds. Biotechnology has also greatly altered society, allowing for bio-electrical implants, implantable memory recorders, and perhaps most importantly, rejuvenation and relife procedures. (They are exactly what they sound like). Society is stable, and our contacts with aliens have been benign. One day, two stars suddenly wink out of existence. Dyson Alpha and Beta. No lead-up, no supernova, nothing. Humans, being the insatiably curious species we are, send out a space ship to investigate. The first in hundreds of years. As you might deduce from the title of the book, what humankind finds there is not pretty.
The plot is perhaps not the most inventive of all time, but what makes Pandora’s Star impressive is it scope. Hamilton weaves together what feels like a dozen distinct threads into a central plot (evidently this is common to all his epics). Sure, it makes things complicated, but on the other hand, the multiple settings allow the reader to really be immersed in the world, neigh galaxy, that Hamilton has constructed. Instead of just reading about Wilson Kime jet-setting around in his FTL-spaceship, you get the sense that the unfolding events are of galactic consequence, and that yes, Virginia, mankind is truly in danger. (To make an unfair comparison, and pick on Ms. Rowling again, if Voldemort killed Harry Potter, did you really fear for the fate of the wizarding and human worlds? That said, I did enjoy HP. Really!)
To be honest, getting into the book is a bit of a chore. For the first two hundred pages or so, you’re constantly bombarded with new characters, new places, and new insights into the 24th century society. But if you keep reading. Eventually names will start to recur, places become familiar, and plotlines coalesce. Is it worth it? There’s still another book to go, but it’s been a fun ride so far.
