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A review by yevolem
Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton
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.