Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1)

by Peter F. Hamilton

In AD 2339, humanity has colonised over 400 planets, all of them interlinked by wormholes. However, when 2 stars, over 2000 light years distant disappear, it is up to the Commonwealth to discover what happened to them. Was it some kind of galactic conflict? Aliens?

• ISBN10: 1405000201
• ISBN13: 9781405000208
• Publish Date: 20 February 2004 (first published 1 January 2004)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 30 August 2005
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Tor
• Format: Paperback (UK Trade)
• Pages: 896
• Language: English

Reviews

[smartflutist661]

4.5 stars. The beginning was a bit slow, which seems to be a common issue with space opera. About two-thirds of the way through the book all of the threads get pulled together, and things really get rolling. The beginning serves to set up an interesting near-ish future, and highlights the author's ability to make a world that feels lived-in that I remember from the [b:Night's Dawn|45245|The Reality Dysfunction (Night's Dawn, #1)|Peter F. Hamilton|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1331274659l/45245._SY75_.jpg|747250] trilogy. The aliens we meet feel truly alien, too, not just like oddly-shaped humans. A worthwhile read, will definitely continue with the Commonwealth books.

Also, holy comma-spliced run-on sentences and out-of-place sentence fragments, Batman.

[adamfortuna]

Pandora's Star is one of the few books that I've heard glowing reviews about by people with similar interests only to read it and not enjoy it. What's funny is I think the story is amazing. Similar to "The Mote an God's Eye", it focuses on a far flung star system. In this case, the system, and it's neighbor, are encased in a Dyson Sphere. Did they erect it, or did someone else? What distanced me from enjoying this book was my lack of ability to connect with the characters. It was much more situation focused than character or major plot focused, leading to discussions of things I had no interest in when so much else was happening in the world. Some of my lower rating is also because I gave up on it a few times, which lead to a disjointed reading experience.