charlibirb's review against another edition
3.0
Like...I liked it in a lot of ways - I want to give it 3.5 - but I felt like it was missing something. I was kind of bummed out by the women in the book, I guess. People in this book felt a bit 2-D. And the first ~200 pages or so were so confusing, I had to start over.
aronr's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Based on the plot description alone, I did not think I would enjoy this one. That being said, Hamilton's writing style really shines and this was alot of fun to read. His normal themes/issues are present...rich people/corporations know better than governments, hot sex craved woman that like the main character, great themes related to transhumanism advanced technology, super humans, a bit of what can only be called smut.
This is not Hamilton's best, but it's definitely not his worst. Totally worth a read if you are into his stuff.
This is not Hamilton's best, but it's definitely not his worst. Totally worth a read if you are into his stuff.
cjblandford's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This was a weird one. 80% of the novel is spent on a conflict between a pirate corporation and the revolutionary groups who try to stop the company from pilfering their planets resources. But the last 20% reveals what was truly at stake and the tone completely shifts. I liked the revolutionary characters the most, and really wanted them to wipe out the main character, who was a space marine who joined a space-faring corporation to explore the stars, but ended up enforcing the corporation's policy of forced resource accumulation on colonized planets, i.e. piracy, because this was the only way that space colonization was profitable. I did not identify with his character, but he was obviously written to be the protagonist, even though his ultimate character arc came so close to maturation and growth, he ended up chasing his past and his ending was just..uncomfortable. There were many interesting ideas here and the author tried as hard as possible to be even-handed about the philosophies that were being argued. I liked the themes and ultimate philosophy of the book but did not enjoy the military aspects of it. Probably won't read it again, but it was worth reading once.
cassie_b's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
If only Hamilton could write endings. I usually enjoy his books despite the ropy final acts & as usual the majority of Fallen Dragon was good fun but the total lack of character development was underlined at the very end & spoiled it by diving headfirst into power imbalance / inappropriate age gap / markedly differing maturity levels relationship territory. I’m relieved to see the publication dates of Fallen Dragon vs Salvation because both reminded me of Dan Simmons, though for different reasons. I’m glad Hamilton moved away from Endymion towards Hyperion during the 20 year gap!
ekfmef's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
5.0
How much easier it is to move and start anew than to rectify the institutional, even constitutional, mistakes of a monolithic social system.
A great book that explores this question in a very engaging way.
A great book that explores this question in a very engaging way.
peter_xxx's review against another edition
4.0
I read this book because I wanted to give Peter F Hamilton a try. I had become interessted in him by listening to the SFBRP. And I choose this book, because it is a standalone novel unlike most of his other books.
I really liked this book. It is fast paced, gripping, action packed and thought provoking. The book might be a bit to long and the main character makes some debateable choices in the end, but other than that this is an awesome book.
I highly recommand this.
I really liked this book. It is fast paced, gripping, action packed and thought provoking. The book might be a bit to long and the main character makes some debateable choices in the end, but other than that this is an awesome book.
I highly recommand this.
disorderlydaydreams's review against another edition
4.0
I found this book a bit difficult to follow along on audiobook. There's no clear transition when time jumping or switching character perspective. That's okay though, I sorta figured it out and by the half way mark, we were chugging along fine. Then I got to the 85% and it completely lost me. I had to stop listening and pick up my hardcover copy. I mean the book went from something I could understand to dragons. Dragons but space dragons? After reading the last 15% though, I was able to put together what was going on in a way that was satisfactory for me.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
I can't say I liked Lawrence much, he was a gross little pervy neckbeard until he met Rosalyn. Then after a lot of teenaged sex (some of it rather graphic, gross), and some dishonesty, Lawrence literally ran away from home only to deeply regret it 20 years later. The other characters were okay but no one really stuck out as amazing to me.
I did like the sci parts of the story with all the descriptions (even though there was way too much descriptive penis talk) and the places that Hamilton created were interesting. I especially liked the explanations on how the planets were terraformed.
I wish we could have seen some kind of wrap up of Lawrence's 20 year obsession with Rosalyn. Like a 'where is she now?' type of epilogue.
Overall, I'd say this was a mostly fun read with lots of interesting bits although maybe not a ton of character interactions that I enjoyed. I will try some other Peter F Hamilton books in the future.
jessring's review against another edition
4.0
3.5 Starts slow and very science heavy like most other Hamilton books but comes together in an in a fun story with some interesting characters. I would've liked a more developed ending.
zolama's review against another edition
1.0
I guess i needed to be reminded that i don't actually like hamilton these days. It's full with his typical technobabble and weird characters and i should have dropped it after chapter 5. I didn't though, so i had to slog through too a lot of stuff that ultimately felt entirely irrelevant and too verbose to be "mindless fun"
let_the_wookie_read's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5