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yevolem's review against another edition
4.0
Judas Unchained is the second book of a single story, though considering their combined length, which approaches 750k words, this duology could've been several more books. That would read worse because few of the plotlines are able to stand alone. Each viewpoint character narrative relies on the others for support to become greater than they would be on their own, forming a gestalt narrative. If you didn't like that in the first book, then reading this would be an even more of a slog.
When I was more than halfway through, the plot reached a turning point and I wondered how there was so much more left. The answer was that there were many other perspectives to fill out before continuing. The bulk of its duration comes from the many viewpoint characters doing their own thing. One character hides inside a refrigerator for a few hundred pages before it returns to him. That isn't say I didn't enjoy it, I did, sometimes greatly, but surely there were better ways to present the story.
The greatest problem by far is how unoptimized it is. There's so much that could be removed, notably almost anything to do with Ozzy, or greatly reduced, especially its final few chapters. If it were entirely optimized, then I'd say without qualification that this was among the best space opera that I've ever read and that it ranks highly among all space opera.
Aside from its setting which I enjoyed to an absurd degree, the book's greatest strength is the relationships between its characters. Each of the ensemble cast has their own motivations, beliefs, and goals which conflict with that of other characters. Often I see this as written as problems caused by misunderstandings, so it's nice to see that it's because of conflicting values or a lack of trust.
If the web of their relations were visualized, it would be very tangled and regularly shifting. Characters that entirely oppose each other are often linked through intermediary characters who may be on good terms with both. The character behave in consistent and believable ways based on relevant circumstances, so it rarely felt contrived, except when a specific twist was overly used.
One of my personal complaints is that too many of the same and similar first names are used and not only for the characters. This is annoying when they're only referred by their first name, even if it's only for minor characters hundreds of pages apart. One example is Francis Rawlins and Francis Rowden.
There continued to be lots of sex, which was longer in duration with increased description, though the vast majority was from a single viewpoint character. She had sex with several men throughout the book multiple times and really enjoyed it.
Despite their inordinate length I'll be reading more from Hamilton, including the rest of those set in this universe. May I continue to not let my enjoyment be ruined by its flaws.
When I was more than halfway through, the plot reached a turning point and I wondered how there was so much more left. The answer was that there were many other perspectives to fill out before continuing. The bulk of its duration comes from the many viewpoint characters doing their own thing. One character hides inside a refrigerator for a few hundred pages before it returns to him. That isn't say I didn't enjoy it, I did, sometimes greatly, but surely there were better ways to present the story.
The greatest problem by far is how unoptimized it is. There's so much that could be removed, notably almost anything to do with Ozzy, or greatly reduced, especially its final few chapters. If it were entirely optimized, then I'd say without qualification that this was among the best space opera that I've ever read and that it ranks highly among all space opera.
Aside from its setting which I enjoyed to an absurd degree, the book's greatest strength is the relationships between its characters. Each of the ensemble cast has their own motivations, beliefs, and goals which conflict with that of other characters. Often I see this as written as problems caused by misunderstandings, so it's nice to see that it's because of conflicting values or a lack of trust.
If the web of their relations were visualized, it would be very tangled and regularly shifting. Characters that entirely oppose each other are often linked through intermediary characters who may be on good terms with both. The character behave in consistent and believable ways based on relevant circumstances, so it rarely felt contrived, except when a specific twist was overly used.
One of my personal complaints is that too many of the same and similar first names are used and not only for the characters. This is annoying when they're only referred by their first name, even if it's only for minor characters hundreds of pages apart. One example is Francis Rawlins and Francis Rowden.
There continued to be lots of sex, which was longer in duration with increased description, though the vast majority was from a single viewpoint character. She had sex with several men throughout the book multiple times and really enjoyed it.
Despite their inordinate length I'll be reading more from Hamilton, including the rest of those set in this universe. May I continue to not let my enjoyment be ruined by its flaws.
jp1138's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.25
talli_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
jruby0089's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Hamilton isn't bad, but he needs to put down the thesaurus and learn to edit himself down. I can't read another two full pages that just describe how a planet isn't earth. Also, the ending was a mess.
jgrummo42's review against another edition
5.0
Excellent sci fi. The ending dragged a bit, but you have to see it through.
bosstweed's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
A thrilling conclusion that wrapped things up fairly well and neatly. While i enjoyed the content of what was being told, with the continuation on the world building being fantastic, and some of the character work also being stellar, this book really could have used some editing. While i wouldn’t go so far as to say parts were boring (rather the opposite, things almost always felt engaging), certain sections or plot points felt unnecessary. While some dialogue was clunky or just did not really read well, the actual story made up for it, although it almost felt like meaningful character work and consequences were absent. Certainly for female characters, they werent done too well and mostly felt like literary pieces of meat, unfortunately.
agtgrif's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
It’s a really great sequel to the first book Pandora Star, and it’s mostly about seeing the characters discover themselves with the background plot involved. Just get ready, it’s a long book.
jeger's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
arukeni's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5