Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The nano flower


Peter F. Hamilton
Pan Books, 1995 (my copy is from Pan Books, 1995)
Size: Average (my copy has 566 pages)
Theme: Futuristic mystery
Narrative: third-person
Main character: Greg Mandel
Recommended minimum age: Teenager
Would purchase as a gift to any sci-fi reader: YES



In this final of three books in the Greg Mandel series, several years have passed, and the retired psychic operative is again brought back to active duty as a favor to Julia Evans, since her husband Royan (an old friend and comrade of Greg) has been missing for several months. With his empathy and - particularly - his intuition, Greg is the perfect detective to follow the small clues that Royan has been leaving in an apparent attempt to lead Julia to his current location. Everything is triggered by a particular and very special flower secretly sent by Royan to Julia. This time, the story revolves around more personal issues than the previous essentially corporative-driven problems.

Unlike the two previous books, set exclusively on Earth (with very minor descriptions of space activities involving satellites), this time a significant part of the plot takes place in the New London asteroid, brought to Earth orbit by Event Horizon. Also, there is plenty more combat and destruction by hardliners and tekmercs, including by Event Horizon’s crash team, compared to the preceding two books.

The novel follows the pace, style, depth and narration of previous books. The cast is not too extensive, which allows characters to be adequately explored; furthermore, many readers will already be familiar with most of them. The plot works fairly well as a detective story, despite the fact that it is predictable and almost everything is given away in advance. While on the upside I enjoyed revisiting the characters in the Greg Mandel universe, this third book failed to fully meet my expectations. I was not particularly impressed with the part of the novel concerning the origin of the new technology, and until very late in the book I hoped there would be a twist and that there was a different explanation for the nano flower and for the new technology that Royan kept hinting at. Unfortunately, the explanation was the expected one that Hamilton had been laying out through the entire book. The ending also seemed too commonplace. Still, I continue a great fan of Hamilton’s work, and although I did not find this story to be up to par to his other books, I highly recommend this entire series.

Related work:

This is the final of 3 books in the Greg Mandel series (Hamilton’s first); it was preceded by “Mindstar rising” and "A quantum murder". As the previous books, it can be read as a single novel, although you will greatly benefit from having read the previous books first.


Monday, August 13, 2012

A quantum murder

Peter F. Hamilton
Pan Books, 1994 (my copy is from Pan Books, 1994)
Size: Average (my copy has 376 pages)
Theme: Futuristic mystery
Narrative: third-person
Main character: Greg Mandel
Recommended minimum age: Teenager
Would purchase as a gift to any sci-fi reader: YES



As the second of three books in the Greg Mandel series, this novel follows again the adventures of Greg Mandel, an ex-mindstar operative, bolstering an ‘espersense’ through an implanted gland that enables him to sense other people’s feelings and emotions. After having retired after the storyline of the previous book, and trying to lead a quiet life with Elaine, he is brought back to active status to help Julia with problems at Event Horizon.

This time, the plot revolves around the brutal murder of a reclusive and very rich quantum cosmology scientist, double Nobel laureate for his discoveries which paved the way for technology such as the giga-conductor cells, and who was now working secretly on basics of stardrive technology for Event Horizon. The ritualistic assassination leaves everyone baffled as the isolated mansion was sealed tight and a heavy storm was blowing outside. The 6 resident young research assistants are all suspects, but are quickly cleared by Greg. Curiously, the murder setup has uncanny similarities with the technique of a mass murder psychopath who has been incarcerated for years.

As one could expect, the literary style, the fast plot pace, and the attention to detail are similar to those in the previous story. I greatly enjoyed reading through this book, as it brings detective stories into a futuristic perspective. I also found it to have a little more gore and sexual references than the previous novel. I was hardly able to put the book down each night and have already started reading through the third and final installment.

Related work:

This is book 2 of 3 in the Greg Mandel series (Hamilton’s first); it was preceded by “Mindstar rising” and is followed by "The nano flower". As the previous book, it can be read as a single novel, although here I would clearly suggest having read the preceding book first.


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Mindstar rising

Peter F. Hamilton
Pan Books, 1993 (my copy is from Pan Books, 1993)
Size: Average (my copy has 438 pages)
Theme: Futuristic mystery
Narrative: third-person
Main character: Greg Mandel
Recommended minimum age: Teenager
Would purchase as a gift to any sci-fi reader: YES



This novel follows the adventures of Greg Mandel, an ex-mindstar operative, who now works as a private detective. Hired by the company Event Horizon, Greg is tasked with finding out who was responsible for tampering with a manufacturing operation, causing a huge loss for the company. As with all mindstar operatives, Greg has a gland implant, which in his case, enhances his psychological abilities, allowing him to sense people's feelings. Obviously, this makes him the perfect person to interview potential moles or saboteurs. However, the case will reveal itself to be much more complicated than suspected, and a plot of worldwide consequence will be unraveled.

The story takes places in a reasonably near future, after some quasi-apocalyptic societal revolution, due to major events such as global warming. The most obvious technological innovations are in biotechnology, military gear, and space exploration. Greg's military background provides fuel for his current activities and, simultaneously, seamlessly brings in other ex-military as well as rebels whenever required by the plot.

This is a great sci-fi detective thriller, with plenty of action and romance, and with a complex enough plot to keep it interesting throughout. Although only a few characters exhibit some depth, and a few others could have been better explored, the cast is varied enough to allow multiple stories to develop simultaneously (although not even close to space operas such as his Night's Dawn trilogy). As you would expect, Greg is a really likeable character, with few flaws and an impeccable character; and, as you would also expect, adequate villains are provided in the mix. Like other Peter Hamilton's books, I enjoyed the level of technical detail provided, and the rich plot, even though his later works are - in my opinion - superior. Particularly, since this book follows a very traditional honorable detective storyline. Nevertheless, it is well written and the approach taken is novel enough to make it worth your time.

Related work:
This is book 1 of 3 in the Greg Mandel series and is followed by "A quantum murder" and "The nano flower". However, it can be read as a single novel, providing a conclusive end. It was Hamilton's first major story, and one of his best known works.