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Confederation Universe
A Second Chance at Eden
A collection of short stories set in the Confederation universe, but unrelated to the trilogy.
SONNIE'S EDGE. The popular sport of 'beastie-baiting' involves contests to the death between artificial monsters controlled via human affinity bonds. Sonnie's team is particularly successful...but then her monster, 'Khanivore', has one special advantage.
A SECOND CHANCE AT EDEN. A bitek habitat which orbits Jupiter, mining the fusion fuel on which Earth is dependent, Eden is a mini-nation of radical politics -- and even more radical technology. Then its creator is murdered in full view of the whole population, but nobody can identify the perpetrator -- or the motive.
NEW DAYS OLD TIMES. Settlers came to the planet Nyvan hoping for a lifestyle free of Earthbound hatreds. Alas, though environments may change, human nature does not.
CANDY BUDS. The crime-lord Laurus rules Kariwak with an iron fist, jealously guarding control of the bitek trade. But when an astonishing new substance appears on the streets, virtual reality takes on an entirely new dimension.
DEATHDAY. On a desolate planet, a man wages an obsessive campaign of retribution against the last survivor of an alien race. But vengeance can cut both ways.
THE LIVES AND LOVES OF TIARELLA ROSA. A passion that spans two generations of women...and endures beyond.
ESCAPE ROUTE. The starship LADY MACBETH encounters a long-abandoned alien spacecraft, with its escape route still intact -- but leading where? And is the craft as empty as it seems?
SONNIE'S EDGE. The popular sport of 'beastie-baiting' involves contests to the death between artificial monsters controlled via human affinity bonds. Sonnie's team is particularly successful...but then her monster, 'Khanivore', has one special advantage.
A SECOND CHANCE AT EDEN. A bitek habitat which orbits Jupiter, mining the fusion fuel on which Earth is dependent, Eden is a mini-nation of radical politics -- and even more radical technology. Then its creator is murdered in full view of the whole population, but nobody can identify the perpetrator -- or the motive.
NEW DAYS OLD TIMES. Settlers came to the planet Nyvan hoping for a lifestyle free of Earthbound hatreds. Alas, though environments may change, human nature does not.
CANDY BUDS. The crime-lord Laurus rules Kariwak with an iron fist, jealously guarding control of the bitek trade. But when an astonishing new substance appears on the streets, virtual reality takes on an entirely new dimension.
DEATHDAY. On a desolate planet, a man wages an obsessive campaign of retribution against the last survivor of an alien race. But vengeance can cut both ways.
THE LIVES AND LOVES OF TIARELLA ROSA. A passion that spans two generations of women...and endures beyond.
ESCAPE ROUTE. The starship LADY MACBETH encounters a long-abandoned alien spacecraft, with its escape route still intact -- but leading where? And is the craft as empty as it seems?
509 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 9, 1998
162 people are currently reading
2556 people want to read
About the author
Peter F. Hamilton
208 books10.2k followersPeter F. Hamilton is a British science fiction author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide, making him Britain's biggest-selling science fiction author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 126 reviews
March 15, 2019
Extraordinary - Peter's Finest Work
This collection of one novella and six short stories is truly extraordinary, wonderful, marvellous.
Update: I now have an inscribed copy of this book from Peter! See below.
1. Sonnie's Edge - a short tale - clever, visceral, courageous, and tragic. Now streaming! Featured in the Netflix original series, "Love, Death and Robots"
2. A Second Chance at Eden - novella - an achingly beautiful vision of who we might be, a return to the garden, full of life and joy and humanity and magic, presented and stitched together through a murder mystery. A triumph. A joy. Beautiful.
Full size here
3. New Days Old Times - a rending of the fabric of good people's lives through old prejudices, a warning to us all to mature or suffer.
4. Candy Buds - a re-telling of Silas Marner, beautifully and powerfully rendered, full of life and magic.
5. Deathday - a story of agonising loss and revenge, of hatred which, as always, destroys both the hater and the hated.
6. The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa - a wonderful tale of lives interwoven in the past and future, of redemption and love, seasoned with just a touch of the supernatural.
7. Escape Route - a straight sci-fi, space opera, cleverly constructed and a prequel in some ways to the Night's Dawn cast of characters.
In these stories, their variety and humanity, I am reminded of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
In my opinion, this is a masterpiece, Mr Hamilton's finest work to date.
This collection of one novella and six short stories is truly extraordinary, wonderful, marvellous.
Update: I now have an inscribed copy of this book from Peter! See below.
1. Sonnie's Edge - a short tale - clever, visceral, courageous, and tragic. Now streaming! Featured in the Netflix original series, "Love, Death and Robots"
2. A Second Chance at Eden - novella - an achingly beautiful vision of who we might be, a return to the garden, full of life and joy and humanity and magic, presented and stitched together through a murder mystery. A triumph. A joy. Beautiful.
Full size here
3. New Days Old Times - a rending of the fabric of good people's lives through old prejudices, a warning to us all to mature or suffer.
4. Candy Buds - a re-telling of Silas Marner, beautifully and powerfully rendered, full of life and magic.
5. Deathday - a story of agonising loss and revenge, of hatred which, as always, destroys both the hater and the hated.
6. The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa - a wonderful tale of lives interwoven in the past and future, of redemption and love, seasoned with just a touch of the supernatural.
7. Escape Route - a straight sci-fi, space opera, cleverly constructed and a prequel in some ways to the Night's Dawn cast of characters.
In these stories, their variety and humanity, I am reminded of The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury.
In my opinion, this is a masterpiece, Mr Hamilton's finest work to date.
January 17, 2023
Condensed ingenuity for true hardcore fans who can´t get enough of the wonderful, unique Nights´ Dawn universe.
This has to come with a high subjectivity warning, because I couldn´t fanboy enough about Hamilton. I am very close to calling him the best, and one of the easiest to enter if one is interested in the subject, or can skim and scan the extreme lengths of his unbelievable series, space opera authors of all times. So for objective, rational, and not fully immersed readers these are just some good short stories, but for me, they are expansions of one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time.
I´ve got so much out of these stories, because I am very nerdy regarding any aspect of his worldbuilding, and adding these to the mind games and wonderworlds helps reaching new levels of sci fi euphoria. Maybe consider reading these after having read the Nights´ Dawn trilogy, because with reading it before, the bonus effect is gone.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
This has to come with a high subjectivity warning, because I couldn´t fanboy enough about Hamilton. I am very close to calling him the best, and one of the easiest to enter if one is interested in the subject, or can skim and scan the extreme lengths of his unbelievable series, space opera authors of all times. So for objective, rational, and not fully immersed readers these are just some good short stories, but for me, they are expansions of one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time.
I´ve got so much out of these stories, because I am very nerdy regarding any aspect of his worldbuilding, and adding these to the mind games and wonderworlds helps reaching new levels of sci fi euphoria. Maybe consider reading these after having read the Nights´ Dawn trilogy, because with reading it before, the bonus effect is gone.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
April 23, 2022
Another amazing piece of Hamilton's infinite imagination. Or better said 7 amazing pieces - 3 of them are directly related to the Night's Dawn series (through events or characters), the others are just set in the same universe.
Candy Buds was the seed from which emerged Night's Dawn, as Hamilton tells:
A must for fans.
Candy Buds was the seed from which emerged Night's Dawn, as Hamilton tells:
"During the early nineties I wrote several short stories centered around the affinity technology. They didn’t belong to any particular hard and fast version of future history, I was just interested in the potential of the idea. Then along came David Garnett, who had just bought “Candy Buds” for his New Worlds anthology, and said: You should turn this into a novel. Impossible, I told him. That was back in the days of my foolish youth, before I learned the hard way that the editor is always right. He convinced me to go away and think about it. “Night’s Dawn” was the result. OK, so I didn’t get the last laugh, but at least I managed to frighten him with the size of volume one, The Reality Dysfunction, all 374,000 words of it."
A must for fans.
November 16, 2012
Having read and loved the Night's Dawn Trilogy (as well as Fallen Dragon and the Mandell trilogy) it was only natural that I wanted to read Hamilton's collection of short story 'prequels' set in the confederation universe; the same universe that sets the backdrop for the NDT.
A handful of short stories that spans about 500 or so years of history leading up to the Night's Dawn Trilogy, this book paints and interesting picture of the years leading up to the sci fi epic. We get to see the growing pains of colonized worlds, the actual birth of Edenism (and an interesting look into the founder of it...who isn't exactly everything we were lead to beleive he was during the telling of the NDT)...not to mention, perhaps the coolest aspect was reading about Lady Mac original owner and pilot, Joshua's father, Marcus Calvert one one of his missions that was only hinted at by Joshua in the Reality Dysfunction..
There really isn't a bad story in the bunch and I found myself tearing through it quickly. I think the highlights were A Second Chance at Eden, The Lives And Loves Of Tiarella Rosa, and Escape Route. Those were my favorites.
It's interesting that while the backdrop is sci fi, these stories aren't just about science fiction. There's some horror elements, fantasy elements, adventure elements. Just overall great stuff.
My only issue however is that the editing or transfer or whatever you want to call it in the kindle edition is pretty awful. Usually when speaking via affinity the passages are in bold type. This is missing more than half the time in the story A Second Chance at Eden. Also, the stories are rife with missing periods. Sometimes it makes it hard to follow who is speaking to whom.
In any event, that didn't take away from the great writing and fantastic story telling. A must for any Peter F Hamilton fan.
A handful of short stories that spans about 500 or so years of history leading up to the Night's Dawn Trilogy, this book paints and interesting picture of the years leading up to the sci fi epic. We get to see the growing pains of colonized worlds, the actual birth of Edenism (and an interesting look into the founder of it...who isn't exactly everything we were lead to beleive he was during the telling of the NDT)...not to mention, perhaps the coolest aspect was reading about Lady Mac original owner and pilot, Joshua's father, Marcus Calvert one one of his missions that was only hinted at by Joshua in the Reality Dysfunction..
There really isn't a bad story in the bunch and I found myself tearing through it quickly. I think the highlights were A Second Chance at Eden, The Lives And Loves Of Tiarella Rosa, and Escape Route. Those were my favorites.
It's interesting that while the backdrop is sci fi, these stories aren't just about science fiction. There's some horror elements, fantasy elements, adventure elements. Just overall great stuff.
My only issue however is that the editing or transfer or whatever you want to call it in the kindle edition is pretty awful. Usually when speaking via affinity the passages are in bold type. This is missing more than half the time in the story A Second Chance at Eden. Also, the stories are rife with missing periods. Sometimes it makes it hard to follow who is speaking to whom.
In any event, that didn't take away from the great writing and fantastic story telling. A must for any Peter F Hamilton fan.
March 25, 2019
This rating is for Sonnie's Story
May 25, 2014
I first read this one when I was 20, and it doesn't hold up at all. Hamilton the literary cheat is firing on all cylinders here, inventing circumstances and actions and motivations all because they are necessary for the narrative, and never because they make a lick of sense to the characters involved.
There was one short story here that was more interesting than the rest, a kind of psychosexual drama on an isolated island that seemed poised to be a cool little treatise on the nature of personal and sexual power. But in the end, it was all explained away in the least interesting way possible. Gah.
Oh! And you know what grates on me the most? Hamilton's insistent notion that culture-uniform settlements are inherently stable, while multicultural settlements are inherently unstable. As if there's no crime and instability in racially/culturally uniform societies.
Can not recommend.
There was one short story here that was more interesting than the rest, a kind of psychosexual drama on an isolated island that seemed poised to be a cool little treatise on the nature of personal and sexual power. But in the end, it was all explained away in the least interesting way possible. Gah.
Oh! And you know what grates on me the most? Hamilton's insistent notion that culture-uniform settlements are inherently stable, while multicultural settlements are inherently unstable. As if there's no crime and instability in racially/culturally uniform societies.
Can not recommend.
November 23, 2020
I start by saying that I never read anything from Peter F. Hamilton before and I'm not the biggest fan of short stories anthologies, but since it's almost impossible to find anything "short" written by Peter Hamilton I decided to give this one a try to see if I liked his writing and if it'll be worth moving to one of his more famous (and huge) books.
A Second Chance At Eden is one of Hamilton's earliest works and can be considered a prequel to the Night Dawn's trilogy. The writing could have been more refined in some parts but honestly it's the only complain I have because everything else I loved, every one of the 7 stories included on this book. The characters, the rich settings, the plot twists, the finales, basically how he was able to give us so much in so few pages. A pleasant surprise, it's really good stuff and I recommended it for any sci-fi fan.
I was sold to the confederation universe and my next stop is definitely The Reality Dysfunction the first book of Night Dawn's trilogy.
A Second Chance At Eden is one of Hamilton's earliest works and can be considered a prequel to the Night Dawn's trilogy. The writing could have been more refined in some parts but honestly it's the only complain I have because everything else I loved, every one of the 7 stories included on this book. The characters, the rich settings, the plot twists, the finales, basically how he was able to give us so much in so few pages. A pleasant surprise, it's really good stuff and I recommended it for any sci-fi fan.
I was sold to the confederation universe and my next stop is definitely The Reality Dysfunction the first book of Night Dawn's trilogy.
September 30, 2023
Really solid short story collection set in the Confederation universe of the Night's Dawn trilogy. All the stories were pretty solid except for one. A couple felt like they could have been Black Mirror episodes which I really enjoyed. In fact one of those, Sonnie's Edge, was adapted into a Love, Death, and Robots episode for Netflix. Also these stories provide a cool insight into some of the worldbuilding and history of the timeline leading up to The Reality Dysfunction. You get some cool background but these stories stand on there own and spoil nothing in The Night's Dawn trilogy nor are they key to understanding it. They're just fun stories where you get to see Hamilton use some different creative skills. I would recommend it to anyone who is a fan of Night's Dawn or his writing generally.
June 4, 2024
I enjoyed these short stories set in the Confederation universe of Hamilton's Night's Dawn. They illuminate various parts of the rich world-building of the Edenists and Adamists. I thought the title story was the strongest. I also felt that some of Hamilton's greatest weaknesses as a writer (impossible page counts, plethora of characters, sexism in his portrayal of women) were far less present here allowing me to focus on the narrative and appreciate the setup each time. This book is rather similar to Galactic North from Alastair Reynolds actually where both give some fascinating backstory to incidents and sub-cultures in the respective universes.
January 20, 2011
This collection of stories, one of which is a novel by 1960-1970s standards, is set in the universe of the bizarrely popular Night's Dawn Trilogy. All of the stories here are better than any of or all of the volumes in that trilogy. The novel is a murder-mystery, something that Hamilton does well. One of the stories features the crew of the Lady MacBeth,, familiar to all Night's Dawn readers. Other stories have disparate settings and themes and that is what makes this book much better than most of Hamilton's other works; some of these stories are actually about something more than either space operatic adventure or whodunnit. Some of them have a classic sting-in-the-tail SF short story construction. If you liked any Hamilton at all, you should enjoy this collection.
November 11, 2014
Six stories and a novella set in the Night's Dawn Trilogy universe. These stories prove that while Hamilton is a master of the 1200 page epics he can also write beautifully crafted short fiction. Recommended reading after finishing the Night's Dawn Trilogy.
June 24, 2020
“A Second Chance at Eden” is a short story collection by SF author Peter F. Hamilton.
There is a chance you might understand more of it after reading Night’s Dawn trilogy, I did not read it prior to this, so I can’t tell if either I missed something or some stories simply didn’t appeal to me as much as I would have expected from something written by Mr. Hamilton.
Sonnie’s Edge – The story that made me want to read this book after watching an animated version of it on Netflix’s “Love, Death and Robotts” show. Nice plot twist at the end. 8/10
A Second Chance at Eden – The one that gives the name to the collection. To sum it up, it’s a detective story set in a SF environment. Pretty solid, but not extraordinary. 7/10
New Days, Old Times – Story about settlers/farmers on an off-world colony. Doesn’t particularly shine, but it’s easier to read than most stories in this collection. 7/10
Candy Buds – A druglord’s reaction to a new drug on the market. Lots of plot twists with this one, pretty weird story. 7/10
Deathday – A story about revenge of a human on an alien entity. Probably the weirdest story of the bunch, the ending is as creepy as it is cool. 8/10
The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa – “A passion that spans two generations of women… and endures beyond.” Best description ever. It’s hard to describe it without spoiling it, so I’ll let you discover it when you’ll read. I give it 8/10
Escape Route – This is a slow burner at the beginning, but the final 10 pages are all worth it! Loved reading it’s ending! 9/10
Overall 8/10, meaning 4 stars.
There is a chance you might understand more of it after reading Night’s Dawn trilogy, I did not read it prior to this, so I can’t tell if either I missed something or some stories simply didn’t appeal to me as much as I would have expected from something written by Mr. Hamilton.
Sonnie’s Edge – The story that made me want to read this book after watching an animated version of it on Netflix’s “Love, Death and Robotts” show. Nice plot twist at the end. 8/10
A Second Chance at Eden – The one that gives the name to the collection. To sum it up, it’s a detective story set in a SF environment. Pretty solid, but not extraordinary. 7/10
New Days, Old Times – Story about settlers/farmers on an off-world colony. Doesn’t particularly shine, but it’s easier to read than most stories in this collection. 7/10
Candy Buds – A druglord’s reaction to a new drug on the market. Lots of plot twists with this one, pretty weird story. 7/10
Deathday – A story about revenge of a human on an alien entity. Probably the weirdest story of the bunch, the ending is as creepy as it is cool. 8/10
The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa – “A passion that spans two generations of women… and endures beyond.” Best description ever. It’s hard to describe it without spoiling it, so I’ll let you discover it when you’ll read. I give it 8/10
Escape Route – This is a slow burner at the beginning, but the final 10 pages are all worth it! Loved reading it’s ending! 9/10
Overall 8/10, meaning 4 stars.
September 1, 2015
This being the first Confederation book – and, more to the point, the first Peter F. Hamilton book – that I have read, I went into it completely unable to see the significance of particular events, or the references to later stories. I do intend to read The Night's Dawn trilogy at some point in the near future, and it will be interesting to see how these short stories affect my reading experience of that trilogy. One of the things I really like in short stories of this kind is the ability of an author to infuse a sense of historical weightiness to each story as well as simply offering up a good story. Asimov's Robot short stories spring to mind as a great example of this. Some of the stories in this collection did a very good job of this. A Second Chance at Eden, the collection's novella, certainly felt significant, and was referenced in the later short stories. Escape Hatch also had a feeling of importance. Apart from these, there were some stories that were simply clever, well-written narratives – of these, the two set on Tropicana – Candy Buds, and The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rose were the best. These four stories make the collection worth reading. The other stories are ok, but lack the feeling of significance or the clever stories of those I have mentioned by name. The collection is worth reading just for those four stories, though.
February 5, 2017
A captivating collection of short stories and novellas from the Confederation Universe. Very interesting to see how the concept of affinity and the impact on the culture changes and evolves over time. Hamilton plays expertly with science fiction tropes and twist and turns them in interesting, unusual ways without ever losing the human experience at its core.
March 22, 2020
A set of short stories that progressively get farther into the future. The story sharing the name of the book was my favorite because of the clash between old and new views on biotechnology affecting life. The characters were also more likeable than in the rest of the stories.
January 3, 2025
"Сквозь горизонт событий" 2024
"Преимущество Сонни" 2025
"Преимущество Сонни" 2025
February 5, 2018
“A Second Chance at Eden” is written by Peter F. Hamilton and is a compilation of 7 short stories. ISB number 978-0-330-35182-9, first published in 1998 by Mcmillan.
According to the introduction of Hamilton, the stories of this collection are set in the universe of the “Night’s Dawn Trilogy”. They form a series of snapshot glimpses into the history of the Confederation leading up to the time of Joshua Calvert and Quinn Dexter.
According to Peter Hamilton, some stories are new and some have already appeared in magazines and altered slightly to fit in the Confederation timeline.
Each short story begins with a timeline indication the major events in that time era which gives a very good framework of the story.
If you are interested in the books of Peter F. Hamilton and you want an overview of the universe of the Night Dawn Trilogy, get a taste of all the high tech development and possibilities, affinity and much more of the stunning topics of Hamilton-SF, this book is a must read.
First Story: Sonnie’s Edge Earth the year 2070
Short story of about 25 pages set in London 2070 giving the reader more insight in the Affinity Bond between engineered animals and humans. In 2069 the Affinity bond gene was spliced into the human DNA. The story has a nice plot twist at the end.
Below an abstract of the personages of the story revolving around the group Sonnie’s Predators:
Jacob, driver if the 20 wheeler lorry of Sonnie’s Predators and former Biotechnology student of Leicester University. Responsible for Beastie’s body design.
Sonnie, fighter of Beastie.
Karran, also former Biotechnology student of Leicester University and responsible for the nervous system and circular network.
Irvina, ex surgical nurse.
Wes, hardware specialist.
Dicko, London area owner.
Jennifer, Dicko’s gril toy.
Second short story: A Second Chance at Eden, Jupiter 2090. Also the title of the book and the main events are 2075, JSKP geminates Eden, a bitek habitat in orbit around Jupiter, with UN protectorate status. Although crime is ruled out at Eden (the habitat is aware of everything going on during all times), a murder is committed and the newly appointed Chief Security officer has to deal with the investigation. At the same time Chief Parfitt has another problem: his wife is strongly against affinity bonding and he is in de middle of what his children want and what his wife is completely against.
Below an abstract of the personages of the story which is set in the Eden Habitat:
Eden habitat in 2090, 8 km long and 2,8 km diameter orbiting Jupiter. Eden will grow to 11 km long and has hundreds of 80 km long organic conductor cables trailing for generating electrical power.
Chief Harvey Parfitt, newly appointed security officer at Eden.
Jocelyn, Harvey’s wife.
Nicolette and Nathaniel, 15 year old twins.
Jess, one of Nathaniel’s friends.
Micheal Zimmels, former Chief security officer.
Sally-Ann, Micheal’s wife.
Rolf Kümmel, Lieutenant detective.
Nyberg, police officer.
Coogan, police officer.
Shannon Kershaw, programming expert.
Pieter Zernov, geneticist of the Jovian Sky Power Cooperation (JSPC).
Penny Maokavitz, JSKP Genetics division director.
Davis Caldarola, Astrophysicist and Penny’s partner.
Corrine Arberry, Penny’s doctor.
Antony Harwood, owner of Quantum Soft.
Wallace Steinbauer, SPKP Manufacturing Division Manager.
Fasholé Nocord, Eden’s Governor.
Father Leon Cook, reverend of the small Unified Christian Church at Eden.
Lynette Mendelson, soil chemistry specialist and Parfitt’s informant.
Eric MacDonald, former cybernetic manager and now in charge of the cloud scoop.
Win-Tsit-Chong, inventor of the affinity gen.
Hoi Yin, Win-Tsit-Chong’s right hand.
Maokowitz Trust trustees:
Pieter Zernov.
Antony Harwood.
Bob Parkinson, (former) student of Win-Tsit-Chong.
Third story: New days Old times, Nyvan 2245.
The most important development of the given time line is the Great Dispersal between the years 2131 and 2205. During this timeframe, 130 terra compatible planets are discovered. This story shows you the dilemmas of a multi ethnic society on a colonist world where minority groups are treated with little respect.
Amanda Foxton, owner of three orchards.
Arthur, Amanda’s husband who died 19 moths ago.
Guy, Amanda’s 9 year old son.
Blake, Amanda’s partner.
Abdul Mustaf (Fakhud), attacked by an affinity bonded police dog.
Sergeant Derry, leader of the police group.
The fruit pickers are mostly Jews and discriminated:
Jane
Lenny
Fourth story: Candy Buds, Tropicana 2393.
In the year 2271 The Human Confederation is founded and a start is made with the construction of the Confederation Navy. At the same time antimatter bombs are banned. This story shows the thin line between reality and dreams and how this affects people.
Tropicana, Adamist planet with a large industrial production of bitek.
Laurus, runs the Kariwak Harbour and has an affinity bonded Eagle named Ryker.
Camassia and Abelia, Laurus’ escorts.
Iberis, Laurus’ son.
Silene, a beggar and thief and she has an affinity bonded seagull.
Erigeron, enforcer’s squad lieautenant.
Torreya, little girl who sells memory (bitek) buds.
Nemisia, mother of Torreya and Jante.
Rubus, Torreya’s father.
Jante, Torreya’s half brother.
Fifth story: Deathday, Jubara 2405.
In the year 2395 Tyrathca world is discovered and in 2402, the Tyrathca join the Confederation. Jubarra, a colonist planet subject to unexpected ice age cycles due to an unstable sun. Before colonization, genocide was conducted to two types of indigenous animal species. This story tells about the harsh situation where colonists try to settle in a strange environment and dreams do not always come true.
Miran, colonist Jubara Development Corporation.
Candice, Miran’s late wife.
Slitherskins, xenoc of Jubura, some kind of shapeshifter night creature chameleon.
Sixth story: The lives and loves of Tiarella Rosa, Tropicana, 2447.
A short story which tells the first steps of the possibilities of cloning and insight in the use of zero-tau fields.
Eason, Astroid freedom fighter.
Ashley Hanson, Space plane pilot of the Lord Fitzroy and Time Hopper.
Tiarella Rosa, owner of the island Charmaine on Tropicana.
Vanstone, Tiarella’s partner.
Althea, Tiarella’s daughter.
Rosseau (Ross), Tiaralla’s help on the island.
The Orphée, Tiarella’s affinity bonded sailing boat.
Fernoy and Whitley from Boscobel.
Lucius, deacon from Tropicana’s Orthodox church.
Mullen, 17 year old friend of Althea.
Cuissico development Company, main investor in de asteroid.
The Kulu cooperation is one of the main investors in Cuissico.
Vaughan Teuvis, Kulu security liaison officer.
Dr. Kengai, Torreya Memorial Clinic.
Seventh story: Escape Route, Sonora asteroid and the year is 2586.
The seventh and last story tells about the possibilities of neuro nanonics, memory cells, high tech detection methods and time travel. And we meet Marcus Calvert!
Marcus Calvert, owner of the Lady MacBeth (star ship).
Roman Zucker, fushion engineer.
Katharine Maddox, ships node specialist.
Waichoi, pilot.
Karl Jordan, system specialist.
Schutz, Cosmonik and engineer.
Antonia Ribero and Victoria Keef.
Jorge Leon, hardware technician and companion of Antonio and Victoria.
Norfolk Tears, expensive and precious alcoholic drink.
According to the introduction of Hamilton, the stories of this collection are set in the universe of the “Night’s Dawn Trilogy”. They form a series of snapshot glimpses into the history of the Confederation leading up to the time of Joshua Calvert and Quinn Dexter.
According to Peter Hamilton, some stories are new and some have already appeared in magazines and altered slightly to fit in the Confederation timeline.
Each short story begins with a timeline indication the major events in that time era which gives a very good framework of the story.
If you are interested in the books of Peter F. Hamilton and you want an overview of the universe of the Night Dawn Trilogy, get a taste of all the high tech development and possibilities, affinity and much more of the stunning topics of Hamilton-SF, this book is a must read.
First Story: Sonnie’s Edge Earth the year 2070
Short story of about 25 pages set in London 2070 giving the reader more insight in the Affinity Bond between engineered animals and humans. In 2069 the Affinity bond gene was spliced into the human DNA. The story has a nice plot twist at the end.
Below an abstract of the personages of the story revolving around the group Sonnie’s Predators:
Jacob, driver if the 20 wheeler lorry of Sonnie’s Predators and former Biotechnology student of Leicester University. Responsible for Beastie’s body design.
Sonnie, fighter of Beastie.
Karran, also former Biotechnology student of Leicester University and responsible for the nervous system and circular network.
Irvina, ex surgical nurse.
Wes, hardware specialist.
Dicko, London area owner.
Jennifer, Dicko’s gril toy.
Second short story: A Second Chance at Eden, Jupiter 2090. Also the title of the book and the main events are 2075, JSKP geminates Eden, a bitek habitat in orbit around Jupiter, with UN protectorate status. Although crime is ruled out at Eden (the habitat is aware of everything going on during all times), a murder is committed and the newly appointed Chief Security officer has to deal with the investigation. At the same time Chief Parfitt has another problem: his wife is strongly against affinity bonding and he is in de middle of what his children want and what his wife is completely against.
Below an abstract of the personages of the story which is set in the Eden Habitat:
Eden habitat in 2090, 8 km long and 2,8 km diameter orbiting Jupiter. Eden will grow to 11 km long and has hundreds of 80 km long organic conductor cables trailing for generating electrical power.
Chief Harvey Parfitt, newly appointed security officer at Eden.
Jocelyn, Harvey’s wife.
Nicolette and Nathaniel, 15 year old twins.
Jess, one of Nathaniel’s friends.
Micheal Zimmels, former Chief security officer.
Sally-Ann, Micheal’s wife.
Rolf Kümmel, Lieutenant detective.
Nyberg, police officer.
Coogan, police officer.
Shannon Kershaw, programming expert.
Pieter Zernov, geneticist of the Jovian Sky Power Cooperation (JSPC).
Penny Maokavitz, JSKP Genetics division director.
Davis Caldarola, Astrophysicist and Penny’s partner.
Corrine Arberry, Penny’s doctor.
Antony Harwood, owner of Quantum Soft.
Wallace Steinbauer, SPKP Manufacturing Division Manager.
Fasholé Nocord, Eden’s Governor.
Father Leon Cook, reverend of the small Unified Christian Church at Eden.
Lynette Mendelson, soil chemistry specialist and Parfitt’s informant.
Eric MacDonald, former cybernetic manager and now in charge of the cloud scoop.
Win-Tsit-Chong, inventor of the affinity gen.
Hoi Yin, Win-Tsit-Chong’s right hand.
Maokowitz Trust trustees:
Pieter Zernov.
Antony Harwood.
Bob Parkinson, (former) student of Win-Tsit-Chong.
Third story: New days Old times, Nyvan 2245.
The most important development of the given time line is the Great Dispersal between the years 2131 and 2205. During this timeframe, 130 terra compatible planets are discovered. This story shows you the dilemmas of a multi ethnic society on a colonist world where minority groups are treated with little respect.
Amanda Foxton, owner of three orchards.
Arthur, Amanda’s husband who died 19 moths ago.
Guy, Amanda’s 9 year old son.
Blake, Amanda’s partner.
Abdul Mustaf (Fakhud), attacked by an affinity bonded police dog.
Sergeant Derry, leader of the police group.
The fruit pickers are mostly Jews and discriminated:
Jane
Lenny
Fourth story: Candy Buds, Tropicana 2393.
In the year 2271 The Human Confederation is founded and a start is made with the construction of the Confederation Navy. At the same time antimatter bombs are banned. This story shows the thin line between reality and dreams and how this affects people.
Tropicana, Adamist planet with a large industrial production of bitek.
Laurus, runs the Kariwak Harbour and has an affinity bonded Eagle named Ryker.
Camassia and Abelia, Laurus’ escorts.
Iberis, Laurus’ son.
Silene, a beggar and thief and she has an affinity bonded seagull.
Erigeron, enforcer’s squad lieautenant.
Torreya, little girl who sells memory (bitek) buds.
Nemisia, mother of Torreya and Jante.
Rubus, Torreya’s father.
Jante, Torreya’s half brother.
Fifth story: Deathday, Jubara 2405.
In the year 2395 Tyrathca world is discovered and in 2402, the Tyrathca join the Confederation. Jubarra, a colonist planet subject to unexpected ice age cycles due to an unstable sun. Before colonization, genocide was conducted to two types of indigenous animal species. This story tells about the harsh situation where colonists try to settle in a strange environment and dreams do not always come true.
Miran, colonist Jubara Development Corporation.
Candice, Miran’s late wife.
Slitherskins, xenoc of Jubura, some kind of shapeshifter night creature chameleon.
Sixth story: The lives and loves of Tiarella Rosa, Tropicana, 2447.
A short story which tells the first steps of the possibilities of cloning and insight in the use of zero-tau fields.
Eason, Astroid freedom fighter.
Ashley Hanson, Space plane pilot of the Lord Fitzroy and Time Hopper.
Tiarella Rosa, owner of the island Charmaine on Tropicana.
Vanstone, Tiarella’s partner.
Althea, Tiarella’s daughter.
Rosseau (Ross), Tiaralla’s help on the island.
The Orphée, Tiarella’s affinity bonded sailing boat.
Fernoy and Whitley from Boscobel.
Lucius, deacon from Tropicana’s Orthodox church.
Mullen, 17 year old friend of Althea.
Cuissico development Company, main investor in de asteroid.
The Kulu cooperation is one of the main investors in Cuissico.
Vaughan Teuvis, Kulu security liaison officer.
Dr. Kengai, Torreya Memorial Clinic.
Seventh story: Escape Route, Sonora asteroid and the year is 2586.
The seventh and last story tells about the possibilities of neuro nanonics, memory cells, high tech detection methods and time travel. And we meet Marcus Calvert!
Marcus Calvert, owner of the Lady MacBeth (star ship).
Roman Zucker, fushion engineer.
Katharine Maddox, ships node specialist.
Waichoi, pilot.
Karl Jordan, system specialist.
Schutz, Cosmonik and engineer.
Antonia Ribero and Victoria Keef.
Jorge Leon, hardware technician and companion of Antonio and Victoria.
Norfolk Tears, expensive and precious alcoholic drink.
September 17, 2021
Ever since "Sonnie's Edge" had shaken us all via that 'Love, Death and Robots' episode, Peter F. Hamilton's name has been coming up in sci-fi discussions repeatedly. Usually he writes massive novels. But that single and singular story had suddenly made all of us curious about his shorter pieces. Hence this collection!
It contains one short novel— the titular work "A Second Chance at Eden", and six stories beginning with "Sonnie's Edge." These two works were highlights of this book.
"Candy Buds" was lyrical, slow-burning, and eventually quite stunning with its twist.
"New Days Old Times" was depressing.
"Deathday" and "The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa" were depressing and somewhat creepy.
"Escape Route" is linked to Hamilton's trilogy, and is not much of a stand-alone work.
Overall, this is a very good collection of sci-fi with a strong foundation of biotech and the eternal human conflicts prevailing over space & time.
Recommended.
It contains one short novel— the titular work "A Second Chance at Eden", and six stories beginning with "Sonnie's Edge." These two works were highlights of this book.
"Candy Buds" was lyrical, slow-burning, and eventually quite stunning with its twist.
"New Days Old Times" was depressing.
"Deathday" and "The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa" were depressing and somewhat creepy.
"Escape Route" is linked to Hamilton's trilogy, and is not much of a stand-alone work.
Overall, this is a very good collection of sci-fi with a strong foundation of biotech and the eternal human conflicts prevailing over space & time.
Recommended.
June 26, 2019
Like most short story collections, not all of the stories work as well as they should. Won't get into specifics, as to which stories worked for me and which didn't quite work in my opinion -- I suspect folks reading this review have pretty much already decided to either read this book or take a pass on it.
But even still, this collection is perfect enough for what it is: a collection of Confederation Universe stories that help fill in the gaps and expand the viewpoints far beyond the usual Confederation Universe characters.
But even still, this collection is perfect enough for what it is: a collection of Confederation Universe stories that help fill in the gaps and expand the viewpoints far beyond the usual Confederation Universe characters.
July 22, 2019
A series of short stories in the Night's Dawn Universe. They are all well done and show different aspects of his world as he developed the ideas. I really enjoyed it.
May 4, 2019
A mixed group of stories - some very good - some less so.
November 12, 2022
Was introduced to Peter Hamilton by a friend and found out he specialised in space operas, which wasn't very appealing to me, so I read this collection of short stories instead. While the writing and language were average as to be expected of any hard scifi writer, I liked the ideas Hamilton depicted through his stories.
Hamilton's pet idea is the affinity bond, which is a sort of telepathic connection between humans and other animals (including humans) which allows them to communicate non-verbally and even see things as one another. This idea has the potential to raise lots of interesting questions, about the connection between individual humans, and the type of society which might emerge (and that's skipping past questions about the 'rules' governing the use of such technology - who gets to use it, is it mandatory, are there certain thoughts/parts of the mind which are off-limits etc.?). His (smaller) pet idea is the idea of 'biological technology' which is more about genetic engineering than hardware, and kind of a combination with software.
The big twist of "Sonnie's Edge" is that what we thought was a fight between animals controlled by humans with affinity bonds to then, actually features a human mind within the body of the animal itself, and that it is the fear of the human mind facing an aggressive beast and fighting for survival which is giving our protagonist an "edge". The twist works particularly well and has great shock value in the context of this story - if I recall correctly, Sonnie is described as a slim young woman, and to imagine that this woman (or indeed any human) is one with a grotesque beast is a 'visually' shocking one for our human sensibilities. Makes us realise/question how much of our humanity is tied to our physical form.
This story also reflects the oft-featured theme of the ultimate 'superiority' (though in this case it is perhaps more of an 'advantage') of human nature/emotions against technology - ironically , despite all the biological technology ("bitek") put into the beasts, it is the very human emotion of fear which drives the string of victories.
[One issue I have with this story is that Sonnie's fake 'edge' which she initially shares with a rival is her hatred of men stemming from a sexual assault, which makes it seem as though this could not be as 'strong' a driver of Sonnie's battlefield performance as fear . First of all, this justification sucks because then she could be easily beaten by any other woman? Second of all, this reason is basically the same as the real one, is it not? The prevailing emotion is still fear. To me, comparing them implicitly in this way trivialises the experience of a sexual assault.]
"A second chance at Eden" is rather longer and more convoluted. It's a typical space detective story, with typical characters - the competent and principled male detective who manages to figure out the mystery, the genius inventor(s in this case), the attractive and intelligent young woman who somehow manages to fall for (or in this case, had sex with) the middle-aged protagonist (bonus: she gets pregnant too but she doesn't want commitment from the man!!), down to the luddite wife - as well as a rather typical plot with the motive being less about profits/business and more about personal issues/principles and the detective figuring out the plot in the end. In short, nothing particularly interesting. What interested me in this story was the motive of the murderer - the other genius inventor, who wanted to prevent the murdered genius inventor from dying after him and being the first to access his new invention, a neural network which would allow human consciousness to live on after the death of the physical body (i.e. immortality), because he judged that she had a streak of the dictator in her and he didn't want her to dominate the network (in my mind this is rather thin as a reason, considering there's probably loads of other smart people out there who also have a dictatorial streak). It made me wonder if the end justified the means, and also raised the question about who has the (moral?) authority to gatekeep access to a new technology. Afterall, it was one man alone who made the judgment that the victim was too dangerous to be allowed on this technology. While arguably he was the inventor and should have the right to decide who got to use his technology, what happens when the technology is revolutionary enough to affect the entire human race (and decide life and death matters essentially)? Should he still have the sole right to that?
Felt that there were a bit too many things going on in the story, from the detective's luddite wife who refused to get affinity-bonded (though she did bring up interesting questions about the impact of such a technology on society as a whole - generally in the book it's portrayed that society is much better because everyone understands one another better and can empathise more, but the 'religious' view is that this is making us lose touch with the divine), to the attractive young woman being a clone of the murdered genius inventor and having this backstory of being a glorified escort (although for some reason her creator decided she needed to be super smart??).
(Also, what I consider a loophole - if everyone on the planet is affinity-bonded, and the planet knows everything that happens on it, then how can there be any mystery at all on the planet...)
I also really liked Candy Buds and The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa. I noticed that these two stories had the same trope of an attractive young woman dooming a powerful older man. Feel a bit put-off by the femme fatale trope, but at the same time, enjoy seeing women being active players driving the plots (although they still don't get the chance to have stories told from their point of view).
For Candy Buds, the idea of what is basically a drug which is so strong that it can literally alter memories is interesting, but I actually enjoyed the plot quite a bit for this story. The twist of the girl turning out to have taken Laerus on a ride was interesting, but I think the entire story had small twists at every turn which kept it interesting. From a more crime thriller-like focus on Laerus getting his hands on the new drug, to an exploration of the wonder of scientific discovery (or even an exploration of sensation, given Hamilton's in-depth description of the experience of taking the candy buds), to a family dynasty sort of story, then the twist back to the crime thriller. I enjoyed the twist in our perception of the girl as well, from an innocently-attractive young child to a master plotter.
For The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa, I was quite captivated (and honestly a bit horrified) by the reveal that Tiarella had literally bred clones of herself and her deceased husband so that their romance can keep on going (even though she won't experience it herself!!). On one hand I was awed by how strong her emotion was? On the other hand, it seemed a bit obsessive, and also very unfair to the clones whose lives she basically directed from the start (and of course, unfair to the protagonist whom she had basically used to create certain conditions in what was essentially her self-directed film). Story-wise, I liked how the protagonist was initially an important member of a group of political rebels and the story was shaping up to be a bit of a space opera, but then it turned into a more personal story and the protagonist basically ditched that whole plot and the questions which came up turned more personal.
Overall, I enjoyed Hamilton's ideas, which were a bit more different from the usual male authors (though not as different as Ursula Le Guin), but would not read Hamilton's long novels which I think would be more space opera-ish.
Hamilton's pet idea is the affinity bond, which is a sort of telepathic connection between humans and other animals (including humans) which allows them to communicate non-verbally and even see things as one another. This idea has the potential to raise lots of interesting questions, about the connection between individual humans, and the type of society which might emerge (and that's skipping past questions about the 'rules' governing the use of such technology - who gets to use it, is it mandatory, are there certain thoughts/parts of the mind which are off-limits etc.?). His (smaller) pet idea is the idea of 'biological technology' which is more about genetic engineering than hardware, and kind of a combination with software.
The big twist of "Sonnie's Edge" is that what we thought was a fight between animals controlled by humans with affinity bonds to then, actually features a human mind within the body of the animal itself, and that it is the fear of the human mind facing an aggressive beast and fighting for survival which is giving our protagonist an "edge". The twist works particularly well and has great shock value in the context of this story - if I recall correctly, Sonnie is described as a slim young woman, and to imagine that this woman (or indeed any human) is one with a grotesque beast is a 'visually' shocking one for our human sensibilities. Makes us realise/question how much of our humanity is tied to our physical form.
This story also reflects the oft-featured theme of the ultimate 'superiority' (though in this case it is perhaps more of an 'advantage') of human nature/emotions against technology - ironically , despite all the biological technology ("bitek") put into the beasts, it is the very human emotion of fear which drives the string of victories.
[One issue I have with this story is that Sonnie's fake 'edge' which she initially shares with a rival is her hatred of men stemming from a sexual assault, which makes it seem as though this could not be as 'strong' a driver of Sonnie's battlefield performance as fear . First of all, this justification sucks because then she could be easily beaten by any other woman? Second of all, this reason is basically the same as the real one, is it not? The prevailing emotion is still fear. To me, comparing them implicitly in this way trivialises the experience of a sexual assault.]
"A second chance at Eden" is rather longer and more convoluted. It's a typical space detective story, with typical characters - the competent and principled male detective who manages to figure out the mystery, the genius inventor(s in this case), the attractive and intelligent young woman who somehow manages to fall for (or in this case, had sex with) the middle-aged protagonist (bonus: she gets pregnant too but she doesn't want commitment from the man!!), down to the luddite wife - as well as a rather typical plot with the motive being less about profits/business and more about personal issues/principles and the detective figuring out the plot in the end. In short, nothing particularly interesting. What interested me in this story was the motive of the murderer - the other genius inventor, who wanted to prevent the murdered genius inventor from dying after him and being the first to access his new invention, a neural network which would allow human consciousness to live on after the death of the physical body (i.e. immortality), because he judged that she had a streak of the dictator in her and he didn't want her to dominate the network (in my mind this is rather thin as a reason, considering there's probably loads of other smart people out there who also have a dictatorial streak). It made me wonder if the end justified the means, and also raised the question about who has the (moral?) authority to gatekeep access to a new technology. Afterall, it was one man alone who made the judgment that the victim was too dangerous to be allowed on this technology. While arguably he was the inventor and should have the right to decide who got to use his technology, what happens when the technology is revolutionary enough to affect the entire human race (and decide life and death matters essentially)? Should he still have the sole right to that?
Felt that there were a bit too many things going on in the story, from the detective's luddite wife who refused to get affinity-bonded (though she did bring up interesting questions about the impact of such a technology on society as a whole - generally in the book it's portrayed that society is much better because everyone understands one another better and can empathise more, but the 'religious' view is that this is making us lose touch with the divine), to the attractive young woman being a clone of the murdered genius inventor and having this backstory of being a glorified escort (although for some reason her creator decided she needed to be super smart??).
(Also, what I consider a loophole - if everyone on the planet is affinity-bonded, and the planet knows everything that happens on it, then how can there be any mystery at all on the planet...)
I also really liked Candy Buds and The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa. I noticed that these two stories had the same trope of an attractive young woman dooming a powerful older man. Feel a bit put-off by the femme fatale trope, but at the same time, enjoy seeing women being active players driving the plots (although they still don't get the chance to have stories told from their point of view).
For Candy Buds, the idea of what is basically a drug which is so strong that it can literally alter memories is interesting, but I actually enjoyed the plot quite a bit for this story. The twist of the girl turning out to have taken Laerus on a ride was interesting, but I think the entire story had small twists at every turn which kept it interesting. From a more crime thriller-like focus on Laerus getting his hands on the new drug, to an exploration of the wonder of scientific discovery (or even an exploration of sensation, given Hamilton's in-depth description of the experience of taking the candy buds), to a family dynasty sort of story, then the twist back to the crime thriller. I enjoyed the twist in our perception of the girl as well, from an innocently-attractive young child to a master plotter.
For The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa, I was quite captivated (and honestly a bit horrified) by the reveal that Tiarella had literally bred clones of herself and her deceased husband so that their romance can keep on going (even though she won't experience it herself!!). On one hand I was awed by how strong her emotion was? On the other hand, it seemed a bit obsessive, and also very unfair to the clones whose lives she basically directed from the start (and of course, unfair to the protagonist whom she had basically used to create certain conditions in what was essentially her self-directed film). Story-wise, I liked how the protagonist was initially an important member of a group of political rebels and the story was shaping up to be a bit of a space opera, but then it turned into a more personal story and the protagonist basically ditched that whole plot and the questions which came up turned more personal.
Overall, I enjoyed Hamilton's ideas, which were a bit more different from the usual male authors (though not as different as Ursula Le Guin), but would not read Hamilton's long novels which I think would be more space opera-ish.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 5, 2013
This is a book of short stories aimed at providing the social and technological background of the The Night's Dawn trilogy. The stories stand well by themselves, although they are at different levels, thus I will provide my ratings for each one separately:
Sonnie's Edge: 3/5
An introductory story that indirectly describes the initial steps in the development of the bio technologies core to this fictional universe. As in most other stories, Sonnie's Edge applies the current human mentality and social organization to a world with advanced technology with somewhat predictable results.
A Second Chance at Eden: 5/5
This story is excellent in a number of aspects. The mystery, the human interactions, the moral dilemmas, the social (re-)organization as a result of technology providing emotional communication, the technological ideas and predictions (e.g. what would happen if there is excessive energy use on the planet), etc. This is the crown jewel in the collection and the book is worth buying if only because of it.
New Days Old Times: 2/5
As the title suggests, the plot line can be summarised simply: people are people, their prejudices remain, even if on another planet. The conclusion became clear immediately after the initial paragraphs and the story was essentially rehashing current social issues like a history novel, but in a future environment. Nevertheless, the story did provide some more background about the exploration and colonization of the universe.
Candy Buds: 4/5
An interesting story with relatively unexpected and satisfying conclusion. It builds on another favourite theme of the author: memories effectively define who people are.
Deathday: 2/5
This story also provides background about exploration and colonization of the universe. The plot was not very appealing to me -- the conclusion was again was unfulfilling and expected from the very beginning. The details did not compensate for that.
The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa: 4/5
Another great story with interesting and unexpected twists. Good interactions and character development. There are several highly entertaining moments (e.g. the Kulu Embassy) and a good conclusion.
Escape Route: 3/5
This story is probably better viewed in the context of the The Night's Dawn trilogy. While interesting, the deus ex machina resolution leaves something to be desired.
Sonnie's Edge: 3/5
An introductory story that indirectly describes the initial steps in the development of the bio technologies core to this fictional universe. As in most other stories, Sonnie's Edge applies the current human mentality and social organization to a world with advanced technology with somewhat predictable results.
A Second Chance at Eden: 5/5
This story is excellent in a number of aspects. The mystery, the human interactions, the moral dilemmas, the social (re-)organization as a result of technology providing emotional communication, the technological ideas and predictions (e.g. what would happen if there is excessive energy use on the planet), etc. This is the crown jewel in the collection and the book is worth buying if only because of it.
New Days Old Times: 2/5
As the title suggests, the plot line can be summarised simply: people are people, their prejudices remain, even if on another planet. The conclusion became clear immediately after the initial paragraphs and the story was essentially rehashing current social issues like a history novel, but in a future environment. Nevertheless, the story did provide some more background about the exploration and colonization of the universe.
Candy Buds: 4/5
An interesting story with relatively unexpected and satisfying conclusion. It builds on another favourite theme of the author: memories effectively define who people are.
Deathday: 2/5
This story also provides background about exploration and colonization of the universe. The plot was not very appealing to me -- the conclusion was again was unfulfilling and expected from the very beginning. The details did not compensate for that.
The Lives and Loves of Tiarella Rosa: 4/5
Another great story with interesting and unexpected twists. Good interactions and character development. There are several highly entertaining moments (e.g. the Kulu Embassy) and a good conclusion.
Escape Route: 3/5
This story is probably better viewed in the context of the The Night's Dawn trilogy. While interesting, the deus ex machina resolution leaves something to be desired.
January 11, 2023
⭐️⭐️⭐️ IT WAS GOOD BUT NOT GREAT -- This book was enjoyable, but I didn't LOVE it. I may have had some small issues with things like the plot or characterisation, or it may have just been a bit slow occasionally which led to my attention wandering. I'll also probably not remember this book distinctly in a few months time. Still, I would recommend this book to people who like other similar works.
----------
My ranking criteria (✅= Yes, ❌= No, ➖= Kind of/a little bit):
*Bonus points if I can't put the book down, it makes me feel strong emotion, or genuinely surprises me in some way.
*Penalty points for editing errors (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.), for children who act too mature or too young for their age (this is a bugbear of mine), or if there is something in the book that just really pisses me off for any reason.
1. I was sucked into the story from the beginning ➖
2. The story had a proper beginning, middle, and end ✅
3. The writing evoked a feeling of suspense ➖
4. I was engaged the whole way through/didn't get bored ✅
5. The characters were interesting ✅
6. There was some form of character development ➖
7. The book wasn't predictable in terms of relying on tired tropes, clichés, themes, stereotypes, etc. ➖
8. I cared about the outcome of the story ➖
9. I didn't work out the ending/the ending surprised me ➖
10. The ending was satisfying ➖
🌟 Bonus points: None.
☠️ Penalty points: None.
🏅 OVERALL RANKING: 6.5/10 (3.25/5 stars)
----------
Thoughts, Conclusion, and Recommendation:
Seven short stories make up this Peter F. Hamilton book that is set in the Confederation Universe. Each story is unique in its setting and the journey that the characters go on. I read this book in preparation to read the Night's Dawn trilogy. I don't have much to say here. I enjoyed all of the stories, it's worth a read if you like Peter F. Hamilton's writing. 3.25 stars (rounded down to 3 for the purposes of Goodreads).
----------
My ranking criteria (✅= Yes, ❌= No, ➖= Kind of/a little bit):
*Bonus points if I can't put the book down, it makes me feel strong emotion, or genuinely surprises me in some way.
*Penalty points for editing errors (spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc.), for children who act too mature or too young for their age (this is a bugbear of mine), or if there is something in the book that just really pisses me off for any reason.
1. I was sucked into the story from the beginning ➖
2. The story had a proper beginning, middle, and end ✅
3. The writing evoked a feeling of suspense ➖
4. I was engaged the whole way through/didn't get bored ✅
5. The characters were interesting ✅
6. There was some form of character development ➖
7. The book wasn't predictable in terms of relying on tired tropes, clichés, themes, stereotypes, etc. ➖
8. I cared about the outcome of the story ➖
9. I didn't work out the ending/the ending surprised me ➖
10. The ending was satisfying ➖
🌟 Bonus points: None.
☠️ Penalty points: None.
🏅 OVERALL RANKING: 6.5/10 (3.25/5 stars)
----------
Thoughts, Conclusion, and Recommendation:
Seven short stories make up this Peter F. Hamilton book that is set in the Confederation Universe. Each story is unique in its setting and the journey that the characters go on. I read this book in preparation to read the Night's Dawn trilogy. I don't have much to say here. I enjoyed all of the stories, it's worth a read if you like Peter F. Hamilton's writing. 3.25 stars (rounded down to 3 for the purposes of Goodreads).
August 18, 2014
So, I've had these massive doorstep sized books: the The Night's Dawn Trilogy sat in a box in the attic for the longest time and I really enjoyed Fallen Dragon, and I'm ahead on my quota of books read for the year, and so I thought to myself that I have enough bandwidth to work my way through this epic and not fall behind on my overall books read count. But then I realise that there are 2 companion volumes, this being one and The Confederation Handbook being the other.
I looked it up on the interweb and determined that these two books don't contain spoilers for the trilogy, so to cut a long story short (too late huh!) I started here.
These are short stories set in the same universe that purport to give the backstory to later events. Whether they do that or not, I can't really say because I've only just started the forwardstory. Taken by themselves they are pleasant enough stories and each one is satisfying within itself so you don't need to know which universe they are set in to be able to enjoy them.
Mr. Hamilton writes in a nice enough fashion and his stuff is easy to follow. There is a lot of technology involved, but (a) it's all set in the future and so you gotta expect that and (b) I like it that way, so no complaints there.
The characters are nicely rounded and believable and the scenery is well rendered so that you can get immersed very easily. I imagine that this will be even more so in the wider canvas of the trilogy, so that's looking good.
I really liked the first story, and particularly the way it ended, but I won't say more than that, otherwise it'll spoil it for you.
Well, go on then, get reading!
I looked it up on the interweb and determined that these two books don't contain spoilers for the trilogy, so to cut a long story short (too late huh!) I started here.
These are short stories set in the same universe that purport to give the backstory to later events. Whether they do that or not, I can't really say because I've only just started the forwardstory. Taken by themselves they are pleasant enough stories and each one is satisfying within itself so you don't need to know which universe they are set in to be able to enjoy them.
Mr. Hamilton writes in a nice enough fashion and his stuff is easy to follow. There is a lot of technology involved, but (a) it's all set in the future and so you gotta expect that and (b) I like it that way, so no complaints there.
The characters are nicely rounded and believable and the scenery is well rendered so that you can get immersed very easily. I imagine that this will be even more so in the wider canvas of the trilogy, so that's looking good.
I really liked the first story, and particularly the way it ended, but I won't say more than that, otherwise it'll spoil it for you.
Well, go on then, get reading!
March 27, 2011
The trilogy itself consists of:
* The Reality Dysfunction
* The Neutronium Alchemist
* The Naked God
There are also two ancillary volumes:
* A Second Chance at Eden – short story collection
* The Confederation Handbook – reference volume
In the USA, each volume of the trilogy was published in two parts, as evidenced by the thumbnails.
The Night’s Dawn trilogy is a huge story spanning over 4000 pages, in truth one massive multi-volume novel. It tells of a great evil that befalls the otherwise mostly peaceful but very interesting and multifaceted Federation. Everything changes as mankind faces its true self. As the external threat starts to seriously damage the foundations of civilization, the large differences between various human and alien factions make for an interesting backdrop to the struggle. Actually it is very difficult to describe Night’s Dawn in a few short sentences. The scope is quite breathtaking, there are many characters and the writing is impeccable. The only nagging complaint is the far too rapid conclusion. Hamilton seems to have been in a hurry to tie things up. Some might feel the ending is a bit of a cop-out. But in my opinion whatever you think of the ending, the journey is certainly worth it.
“The Confederation Handbook” reference can be practical to have lying around since there is a lot to keep track of.
The short story collection ”A Second Chance at Eden” is a fine companion to the trilogy. Although only a few of the stories are in the same universe, all of them are gems in their own right. Importantly, though, the title story gives some valuable background on how the Edenist Culture was founded.
These books have particularly gorgeous covers, thought US editions marred this a bit by darkening and altering the colors.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=204
* The Reality Dysfunction
* The Neutronium Alchemist
* The Naked God
There are also two ancillary volumes:
* A Second Chance at Eden – short story collection
* The Confederation Handbook – reference volume
In the USA, each volume of the trilogy was published in two parts, as evidenced by the thumbnails.
The Night’s Dawn trilogy is a huge story spanning over 4000 pages, in truth one massive multi-volume novel. It tells of a great evil that befalls the otherwise mostly peaceful but very interesting and multifaceted Federation. Everything changes as mankind faces its true self. As the external threat starts to seriously damage the foundations of civilization, the large differences between various human and alien factions make for an interesting backdrop to the struggle. Actually it is very difficult to describe Night’s Dawn in a few short sentences. The scope is quite breathtaking, there are many characters and the writing is impeccable. The only nagging complaint is the far too rapid conclusion. Hamilton seems to have been in a hurry to tie things up. Some might feel the ending is a bit of a cop-out. But in my opinion whatever you think of the ending, the journey is certainly worth it.
“The Confederation Handbook” reference can be practical to have lying around since there is a lot to keep track of.
The short story collection ”A Second Chance at Eden” is a fine companion to the trilogy. Although only a few of the stories are in the same universe, all of them are gems in their own right. Importantly, though, the title story gives some valuable background on how the Edenist Culture was founded.
These books have particularly gorgeous covers, thought US editions marred this a bit by darkening and altering the colors.
http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=204
April 16, 2017
A truly superb collection of shorter works from an equally superb author. This is one of those books which took me a long time to getting round to reading. It's been literally sitting on my bookshelf alongside my other Peter F Hamilton volumes for a couple of years. Each story adds a little extra to the awesome spectacle that is the Night's Dawn trilogy, whether it's to further explain a particular facet of the Confederation universe, or to give background to a certain plot element. I was forced by circumstance to read this compilation in a rather start-stop fashion, but this proved to be no problem due to the quality of the stories, and I was always eager to get back to it. Any fan of Hamilton and/or the Confederation universe will totally adore this, and I reckon it could be read with no problem at all by a reader with no previous experience of the series or the author. The Confederation universe is a masterful science fiction creation that will go down in sci-fi literary history as one of the best (well it should do!) and this collection is integral and wonderfully complimentary to it. I hugely recommend it.
To save space here on Goodreads, I've posted reviews of the individual stories within the collection over on my blog HERE.
To save space here on Goodreads, I've posted reviews of the individual stories within the collection over on my blog HERE.
February 6, 2016
This second "taste" of Peter F. Hamilton's short works was even more intriguing than the first, and since it introduces many of the elements of his massive novels - in particular the Night's Dawn trilogy - it encouraged me even more to take the jump or, as some of my fellow bloggers defined it, to overcome author intimidation.
A Second Chance at Eden is a collection of short stories, but the one that truly fascinated me is the one from which the book draws its title: once more I encountered a murder mystery, as was the case with Watching Trees Grow, but it was completely different, starting with the background in which the investigation takes place.
Full review at SPACE AND SORCERY BLOG
A Second Chance at Eden is a collection of short stories, but the one that truly fascinated me is the one from which the book draws its title: once more I encountered a murder mystery, as was the case with Watching Trees Grow, but it was completely different, starting with the background in which the investigation takes place.
Full review at SPACE AND SORCERY BLOG
May 19, 2015
I liked it overall.
Its a collection of some short stories and a novella. Sci-fi stuff set in the next couple of centuries, mostly centering around a basic idea of an 'affinity bond' between two life forms.
The general sci fi stuff is there, colonizing new places, lot of bio tech, space travel etc, but what I really enjoyed was the way the stories were written. Loved the twist at the end of most of them, and liked the way the story would develop. What I didn't care for much was the very artificial way the stories had to be stitched together with timelines in between stories.. I guess old fans of his works are probably familiar with the 'confederation universe', but for a first time reader, it was overkill.
Still, definitely worth a read!
Its a collection of some short stories and a novella. Sci-fi stuff set in the next couple of centuries, mostly centering around a basic idea of an 'affinity bond' between two life forms.
The general sci fi stuff is there, colonizing new places, lot of bio tech, space travel etc, but what I really enjoyed was the way the stories were written. Loved the twist at the end of most of them, and liked the way the story would develop. What I didn't care for much was the very artificial way the stories had to be stitched together with timelines in between stories.. I guess old fans of his works are probably familiar with the 'confederation universe', but for a first time reader, it was overkill.
Still, definitely worth a read!
November 5, 2012
The Night's Dawn universe is so rich that Hamilton likely has an unlimited number of possible stories he can set there. This collection of stories is laid out chronologically with some of them taking place at key historic moments that eventually led to the complex universe where the novels are set. It was nice to meet important historic characters such as Wing-Tsit Chong and Marcus Calvert. I also enjoyed that some of the stories targeted the pivotal periods and cultural upheavals over developments such as the affinity gene and bitech.
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