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Alf M. - Reviews

1 to 4 of 4
Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga, Bk 2)
Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga, Bk 2)
Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
 54
Review Date: 7/26/2008
Helpful Score: 1


Almost as good as the first book, Pandora's Star, this book wraps up the story of the human Commonwealth's war with an extremely powerful alien threat. Peter F. Hamilton has an amazing imagination, and weaves a complex tapestry of intrigue, punctuated with brilliantly tense and powerful battles. His vision of how technology may change human society is both fascinating and compelling.


Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, Bk 1)
Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, Bk 1)
Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Book Type: Paperback
  • Currently 3.9/5 Stars.
 91
Review Date: 7/4/2008
Helpful Score: 3


I loved this book! I have read a lot of reviews from people who can't get through this book, but it's definitely worth slogging through some of the wordier sections to get to the meat of the story. This is an excellent story of first encounter with an alien species, set against a background of intrigue and human politics. The range of characters and scientific possibilities in this book is astounding, and the alien "menace" in the story is a very fascinating concept.

I'm reading Judas Unchained right now, the next book after this story. I can't wait to find out who incited these two species to fight one another, and why...


Spin State
Spin State
Author: Chris Moriarty
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 3.4/5 Stars.
 40
Review Date: 8/9/2008
Helpful Score: 3


I found this story so uninteresting it made me break my long-running rule that I had to finish every book I started. From the first few pages describing the "raid on Metz" to page 278, where I abandoned the story almost halfway through the book, the transitions between scenes were jarring in spite of the fact that the entire story is told from the viewpoint of a single character, and the author dances around innuendo about sexuality, intelligent crystals being mined for profit, a cybersphere that is barely identifiable from physical reality, and an AI that uses brain shunts in specially wired humans, to roam the physical world. It's a slow dance that hints at truth but delivers so slowly that by the time the author begrudgingly hands you the secrets you've stopped caring about 20 pages ago.

All of this serves as the backdrop of a murder mystery that takes place in what is essentially a coal mine.


Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories
Three-Ten to Yuma and Other Stories
Author: Elmore Leonard
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
  • Currently 4/5 Stars.
 12
Review Date: 8/13/2008


A good collection of short stories from Elmore Leonard. "Jugged" is a great story, and the rest are pretty good.


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