Judas Unchained: 2 (Commonwealth Saga) - Softcover

Peter F. Hamilton

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0345461673 ISBN 13: 9780345461674

Publisher: Del Rey Books, 2007

Synopsis

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER - "An interstellar suspense thriller . . . sweeping in scope and emotional range."--San Antonio Express-News

In the star-spanning civilization known as the Intersolar Commonwealth, twenty-three planets have fallen victim to the Prime, a technologically advanced alien species genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. But the Prime is not the only threat. The Starflyer, an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist, has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth and is sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage? Caught between two deadly enemies, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before. This will be humanity's finest hour--or its last gasp.

Praise for Judas Unchained, the sequel to Pandora's Star

"Bristles with the energy of golden age SF, but the style and characterizations are polished and modern."--SF Site

"You're in for quite a ride."--The Santa Fe New Mexican

"The reader is left breathless in amazement."--SFRevu

About this title

Review:

Peter F. Hamilton's flair for huge, star-spanning SF adventures continues with Judas Unchained. This concludes the single long novel--over 1,800 pages in all--whose first half is Pandora’s Star.

Humanity's interstellar Commonwealth is in serious trouble. Thirteen of its hundreds of worlds (linked by wormholes and high-speed trains) were lost to a first mass attack by the insanely hostile alien Primes. The controlling Prime intelligence, MorningLightMountain, can imagine no way of dealing with first contact but genocide--and has the resources to do it.

Amid political and personal chaos, it's becoming clear that the war was arranged by a third party. For centuries, only the fanatical, outlawed Guardians cult believed in this mysterious influence called the Starflyer. New evidence emerges, only to vanish again. Key figures are destroyed by near-invincible assassins crammed with inbuilt "wetwired" weaponry. One determined detective is on the track, but she faces massive political opposition.

The multi-stranded action follows many criss-crossing human stories, with fights, pursuits, quests, deaths, resurrections, exotic landscapes and armaments, good sex, and several interesting aliens. Betrayals are frequent, thanks to brainwashed Starflyer agents in positions of trust. Only the Guardians have a scheme to deal with the Starflyer itself--a grandiose strategy known as "the planet's revenge"--but no one trusts those crazy cultists...

In space, the arms race becomes dizzying, with Prime doomsday weapons used against suns while frantic human research leads to "quantumbusters" so appalling that there's serious moral debate about their use. Can we face the guilt of total genocide, even against a horror like MorningLightMountain? Or is there some way to force this psychopathic genie back into the bottle?

The action climaxes in a long, exhilarating chase sequence spiced with ultra-violent skirmishing as the Starflyer comes into the open at last. Stormgliding, an extreme sport introduced in book one, becomes vital to the race against time. Meanwhile, rival starships with different plans chase one another to the Prime system. Hamilton delivers the expected multiple payoffs with suitable pyrotechnics and a satisfying scatter of happy endings. A long, colourful, suspenseful example of modern British space opera. --David Langford

Review:

Advance praise for Judas Unchained

"For flat-out huge widescreen all-engines-at-full I-dare-you-not-to-believe-it space opera, there is no one quite like Peter F. Hamilton."
-Richard K. Morgan, author of Altered Carbon and Market Forces

Praise for Pandora's Star

"Should be high on everyone's reading list . . . You won't be able to put it down."
-Nancy Pearl, National Public Radio

"An imaginative and stunning tale of the perfect future threatened . . . a book of epic proportions not unlike Frank Herbert's Dune or Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy."
-SFRevu

"Recommended . . . A large cast of characters, each with his own story, brings depth and variety to this far-future saga."
-Library Journal

"Complex and engaging."
-Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: Del Rey Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0345461673
• ISBN 13: 9780345461674
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 1024