Pandora's Star - Hardcover

Hamilton, Peter F.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1405000198 ISBN 13: 9781405000192

Publisher: Macmillan, 2004

Synopsis

In AD 2329, humanity has colonised over four hundred planets, all of them interlinked by wormholes. With Earth at its centre, the Intersolar Commonwealth now occupies a sphere of space approximately four hundred light years across. When an astronomer on the outermost world of Gralmond, observes a star 2000 light years distant - and then a neighbouring one - vanish, it is time for the Commonwealth to discover what happened to them. For what if their disappearance indicates some kind of galactic conflict? Since a conventional wormhole cannot be used to reach these vanished stars, for the first time humans need to build a faster-than-light starship, the Second Chance. But it arrives to find each 'vanished' star encased in a giant force field -- and within one of them resides a massive alien civilisation.

About this title

From the Inside Flap:

Critics have compared the engrossing space operas of Peter F. Hamilton to the classic sagas of such sf giants as Isaac Asimov and Frank Herbert. But Hamilton's bestselling fiction--powered by a fearless imagination and world-class storytelling skills--has also earned him comparison to Tolstoy and Dickens. Hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, philosophically stimulating: the novels of Peter F. Hamilton will change the way you think about science fiction. Now, with "Pandora's Star, he begins a new multivolume adventure, one that promises to be his most mind-blowing yet.
The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport "tunnels" known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the impossible: Over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . vanishes. It does not go supernova. It does not collapse into a black hole. It simply "disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, a faster-than-light starship, the "Second Chance, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. In command is Wilson Kime, a five-time rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot whose glory days are centuries behind him.
Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood, a cult that believes the human race is being manipulated by an alien entity they call the Starflyer. Bradley Johansson, leader of the Guardians, warns of sabotage, fearing the Starflyer means to use the starship's mission for its own ends, .
Pursued by a Commonwealth special agent convinced the Guardians are crazy butdangerous, Johansson flees. But the danger is not averted. Aboard the "Second Chance, Kime wonders if his crew has been infiltrated. Soon enough, he will have other worries. A thousand light-years away, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself.
"Could it be that Johansson was right?

"From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author:

Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland in 1960, and still lives near Rutland Water. He began writing in 1987, and sold his first short story to Fear magazine in 1988. He has also been published in Interzone and the In Dreams and New Worlds anthologies, and several small press publications. His previous novels are the Greg Mandel series: Mindstar Rising (1993), A Quantum Murder (1994) and The Nano Flower (1995); and the bestselling 'Night's Dawn Trilogy': The Reality Dysfunction , The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God. Also published by Macmillan (and Pan) is A Second Chance at Eden, a novella and six short stories set in the same brilliantly realized universe, and The Confederation Handbook, a vital guide to the 'Night's Dawn Trilogy'. His most recent two novels were Fallen Dragon and Misspent Youth.

About this edition

• Publisher: Macmillan
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 1405000198
• ISBN 13: 9781405000192
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 896