Judas Unchained Peter Hamilton

[Spirit Wandering]

This novel is the sequel to Pandora's Star and you really need to read that one first or you will be completely lost with this book.

Overall, I was somewhat disappointed in the ending. After such a lengthy time investment, the wow ending I hoped for turned out to be a whimper. The last quarter of the book was mostly scenes of vehicle chases and weapons fire. The high point of the drawn out conclusion was an interesting revelation about one of the major characters. However, little time was spent in exploring that revelation or the events that led up to it.

A major plot point in both novels is a rejuvenation process that is a form of cloning. All of your memories are transferred from your old physical body into a younger new body. Your personality traits are basically unchanged and the context of your experiences likely don’t vary much between lifetimes. The author does not address the question of soul energy evolving over lifetimes, which falls into the realm of karma and reincarnation as outlined in Eastern philosophy. Having had a chance to ponder it I much prefer the concept of reincarnation to that of cloning. The latter would seem to becoming boring over time.

However, the ending did leave me with one interesting moment. A Sylvan named Cloud Dancer is having a conversation with one of the major "human" characters. He asks: “Is this real?” Cloud Dancer responds: “Man, when you find out what reality is, let me know.”

[verg70]

I think with most of his work, it also helps if you have read other stories, because of the universe that he has created.

I recently read 'The Abyss Beyond' and felt the ending of that was a bit weak and a little disappointing. I wonder if endings are not his strong point or do they just seem a little rushed?

[Spirit Wandering]

Yes, they do seem rushed which is unfortunate as he has some good plot concepts. Do the events in The Abyss Beyond take place before or after Judas Unchained?

[verg70]

It's the first of a two book set and is 1200 years after Judas Unchained, about a character called Nigel Sheldon who goes into the void. The series is called 'Chronicles of the Fallen'.

Not read the second one yet, but it did feel a little rushed at the end and left me a little disappointed.

[Spirit Wandering]

Thanks for info hope you enjoy the rest of the series

[LivreAmour217]

This sounds like an interesting story, and I like that quote from Cloud Dancer! Thanks for sharing!

[Spirit Wandering]

Thanks. I like the Einstein quote.

[NetMassimo]

Basically this the second part of a long novel. Fascinating but after 2,000 pages the ending seemed a bit anticlimatic. Besides the Chronicles of the Fallen, already mentioned, in the same fictional universe there's the Void trilogy, another case of a very long novel split in different books.