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Night's Dawn #2
The Neutronium Alchemist
The Neutronium Alchemist is the second novel in the Night's Dawn Trilogy from Peter F. Hamilton, an extraordinary feat of storytelling on a truly epic scale.
The ancient menace has finally escaped from Lalonde, shattering the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbed to it have acquired godlike powers, but now follow a far from divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world.
On planets and asteroids, individuals battle for survival against the strange and brutal forces unleashed upon the universe. Governments teeter on the brink of anarchy, the Confederation Navy is dangerously over-stretched, and a dark messiah prepares to invoke his own version of the final Night.
In such desperate times the last thing the galaxy needs is a new and terrifyingly powerful weapon. Yet Dr. Alkad Mzu is determined to retrieve the Alchemist — so she can complete her thirty-year-old vendetta to slay a star. But Joshua Calvert is not alone in the chase to find and stop her, and there are people on both sides who have their own ideas about how to use the ultimate doomsday device.
"A space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone." — Science Fiction Weekly
The Night’s Dawn Trilogy
The Reality Dysfunction
The Neutronium Alchemist
The Naked God
The ancient menace has finally escaped from Lalonde, shattering the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbed to it have acquired godlike powers, but now follow a far from divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world.
On planets and asteroids, individuals battle for survival against the strange and brutal forces unleashed upon the universe. Governments teeter on the brink of anarchy, the Confederation Navy is dangerously over-stretched, and a dark messiah prepares to invoke his own version of the final Night.
In such desperate times the last thing the galaxy needs is a new and terrifyingly powerful weapon. Yet Dr. Alkad Mzu is determined to retrieve the Alchemist — so she can complete her thirty-year-old vendetta to slay a star. But Joshua Calvert is not alone in the chase to find and stop her, and there are people on both sides who have their own ideas about how to use the ultimate doomsday device.
"A space opera that is big, boisterous, and has something for everyone." — Science Fiction Weekly
The Night’s Dawn Trilogy
The Reality Dysfunction
The Neutronium Alchemist
The Naked God
1137 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1997
675 people are currently reading
5753 people want to read
About the author
Peter F. Hamilton
198 books10.3k 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 493 reviews
April 25, 2021
So what are the secret ingredients and, even more important, the recipe Hamilton is using to create those amazing worlds? Ready to cook, let´s roll.
Worldbuilding in a new, not too hard sci-fi, but still complex enough dimension and with extreme detail: I keep referring to Brandersons´ law of magic a lot nowadays and it could be called Hamiltons´ law instead too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_an...
From time to time, there might be the rare case of character exposition without something related to the world or preparing a setting or increasing suspense in the next chapter or novel, but as a rule, characters, world, and plot are one and the same, everything is always in interconnection with the other parts. It´s one of the reasons why King and Pratchett are so great too, because they made it their main goal to fuse absolutely everything together so that there is no way to escape the magic or horror world for just one moment, no boring yada yada, no descriptions that make no sense and don´t prepare the ground for the coming escalation.
Fractions: Often, there are up to half a dozen of fractions in complex Sci-Fi, or at least 3 to 4, which leads to people avoiding the genre after such a subjective epic fail of having to kind of learn and remember too many constellations instead of having reading fun. But Hamilton finds a compromise between complexity and accessibility, no ultra-difficult to understand explanations of the happenings in the backgrounds, diplomatic interconnections, trade wars, everything smooth and always accelerating with exactly the balanced amount of opponents needed to tell a great story.
It´s as cool as possible. Similarities to badass action movies may occur and the style of it compensates for the one or other coincidence or improbability. The extremely long fighting and description scenes are manifestations of what is one of Hamiltons´ greatest strengths, but makes him too time-consuming for some readers who don´t want to read a few thousand pages. Come on, what do you want to do instead, go outside the house or what, meet people and stuff, come on, don´t be ridiculous. He writes in detail, in very specific and wordy detail, and while this may be not so confusing in not so complex, interwoven, other genres, it could be difficult for readers of better manageable and not so long works. But it´s totally worth it once one is beamed into the universe.
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order, although the series set closest to now, Salvation lost, is still unfinished, so better read before in the following order:
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
Worldbuilding in a new, not too hard sci-fi, but still complex enough dimension and with extreme detail: I keep referring to Brandersons´ law of magic a lot nowadays and it could be called Hamiltons´ law instead too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hard_an...
From time to time, there might be the rare case of character exposition without something related to the world or preparing a setting or increasing suspense in the next chapter or novel, but as a rule, characters, world, and plot are one and the same, everything is always in interconnection with the other parts. It´s one of the reasons why King and Pratchett are so great too, because they made it their main goal to fuse absolutely everything together so that there is no way to escape the magic or horror world for just one moment, no boring yada yada, no descriptions that make no sense and don´t prepare the ground for the coming escalation.
Fractions: Often, there are up to half a dozen of fractions in complex Sci-Fi, or at least 3 to 4, which leads to people avoiding the genre after such a subjective epic fail of having to kind of learn and remember too many constellations instead of having reading fun. But Hamilton finds a compromise between complexity and accessibility, no ultra-difficult to understand explanations of the happenings in the backgrounds, diplomatic interconnections, trade wars, everything smooth and always accelerating with exactly the balanced amount of opponents needed to tell a great story.
It´s as cool as possible. Similarities to badass action movies may occur and the style of it compensates for the one or other coincidence or improbability. The extremely long fighting and description scenes are manifestations of what is one of Hamiltons´ greatest strengths, but makes him too time-consuming for some readers who don´t want to read a few thousand pages. Come on, what do you want to do instead, go outside the house or what, meet people and stuff, come on, don´t be ridiculous. He writes in detail, in very specific and wordy detail, and while this may be not so confusing in not so complex, interwoven, other genres, it could be difficult for readers of better manageable and not so long works. But it´s totally worth it once one is beamed into the universe.
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order, although the series set closest to now, Salvation lost, is still unfinished, so better read before in the following order:
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
January 25, 2019
Unity infected them with strength
The Night’s Dawn trilogy is enormously ambitious. It’s a brobdingnagian story, to be sure, and the very fact that Hamilton even comes close to pulling it off is very, very impressive. I still have to read the final installment, but things look right cozy from here. On the other hand, I don’t care a whole lot for the way he holds his readers hostage: was that a cliffhanger or what?
Thematically, the story does strike a few weird chords, but it’s all cool. The dead coming back to life to battle the living? On an interstellar scale? Yes please! And it isn’t quite Night of the Living Dead either; these aren’t zombies we’re talking about.
As you would expect, from the events surrounding the Reality Dysfunction, there are some heavy religious and philosophical themes present. There are also a number of rather unsavory torture scenes, which, well... if you’ve read book 1 in the trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction) you’ll have an idea what I’m on about.
The Neutronium Alchemist deals with the different factions in the Confederacy, and how they attempt to deal with the Reality Dysfunction. Expect a lot of moral grey areas and a betrayal or ten. Oh, and of course, there is a little something on the device of the title as well...
I think just waiting passively for this problem to be resolved somewhere else would be a vast mistake. For our own peace of mind, if nothing else, we have to know that the possessed can be beaten, can be made to give up what they’ve taken.
Have I mentioned that there are a few stomach churning torture scenes?
There are also some awe-inspiring sequences. Such as the Edenists preparing for war:
Not even [he] really grasped the awesome potential of an entire civilization converted to a war footing, especially one with Edenism’s technological resources. How could he? It had never happened before.
Cons – as usual
I do have mixed feelings regarding Hamilton’s use of famous, or notorious, historical figures in the novel. Some of this seemed a bit awkward, and at times rightly annoying.
I also didn’t much care for the way Hamilton stretches the tension out over hundreds and hundreds of pages without any closure. There is often a tremendous sense of futility to the story, which does mar the reading experience, because you can’t help but feel that any relief that might be forthcoming may only be 1000 pages from now, or, even worse, only in the next book. Also, there are so many different events taking place parallel to each other, that it is often impossible to keep a coherent track of who’s who and what exactly is happening. In other words: the holistic picture is elusive, even though it’s still possible to follow the story in broad strokes.
However...
It's still pretty good. Space Opera on enhancement drugs.
3.5 stars
The story concludes in The Naked God.
update
I have now finished the whole trilogy, so I can take a step back and look at events from a different angle. If you didn’t like The Reality Dysfunction, don’t expect this book to change your mind in any significant fashion. It’s more of the same, and, segues seamlessly into the final book of the trilogy. Like other reviewers have mentioned: the three books really read like one single book, albeit a frigging MASSIVE one. If you’ve come this far, you might as well suck it up and go the distance!
The Night’s Dawn trilogy is enormously ambitious. It’s a brobdingnagian story, to be sure, and the very fact that Hamilton even comes close to pulling it off is very, very impressive. I still have to read the final installment, but things look right cozy from here. On the other hand, I don’t care a whole lot for the way he holds his readers hostage: was that a cliffhanger or what?
Thematically, the story does strike a few weird chords, but it’s all cool. The dead coming back to life to battle the living? On an interstellar scale? Yes please! And it isn’t quite Night of the Living Dead either; these aren’t zombies we’re talking about.
As you would expect, from the events surrounding the Reality Dysfunction, there are some heavy religious and philosophical themes present. There are also a number of rather unsavory torture scenes, which, well... if you’ve read book 1 in the trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction) you’ll have an idea what I’m on about.
The Neutronium Alchemist deals with the different factions in the Confederacy, and how they attempt to deal with the Reality Dysfunction. Expect a lot of moral grey areas and a betrayal or ten. Oh, and of course, there is a little something on the device of the title as well...
I think just waiting passively for this problem to be resolved somewhere else would be a vast mistake. For our own peace of mind, if nothing else, we have to know that the possessed can be beaten, can be made to give up what they’ve taken.
Have I mentioned that there are a few stomach churning torture scenes?
There are also some awe-inspiring sequences. Such as the Edenists preparing for war:
Not even [he] really grasped the awesome potential of an entire civilization converted to a war footing, especially one with Edenism’s technological resources. How could he? It had never happened before.
Cons – as usual
I do have mixed feelings regarding Hamilton’s use of famous, or notorious, historical figures in the novel. Some of this seemed a bit awkward, and at times rightly annoying.
I also didn’t much care for the way Hamilton stretches the tension out over hundreds and hundreds of pages without any closure. There is often a tremendous sense of futility to the story, which does mar the reading experience, because you can’t help but feel that any relief that might be forthcoming may only be 1000 pages from now, or, even worse, only in the next book. Also, there are so many different events taking place parallel to each other, that it is often impossible to keep a coherent track of who’s who and what exactly is happening. In other words: the holistic picture is elusive, even though it’s still possible to follow the story in broad strokes.
However...
It's still pretty good. Space Opera on enhancement drugs.
3.5 stars
The story concludes in The Naked God.
update
I have now finished the whole trilogy, so I can take a step back and look at events from a different angle. If you didn’t like The Reality Dysfunction, don’t expect this book to change your mind in any significant fashion. It’s more of the same, and, segues seamlessly into the final book of the trilogy. Like other reviewers have mentioned: the three books really read like one single book, albeit a frigging MASSIVE one. If you’ve come this far, you might as well suck it up and go the distance!
January 5, 2019
How is it even possible to review a book jammed with a future galactic civilization getting invaded by the dead of all history?
Succinctly, I suppose. ;)
... unlike the first and second books in the series, at 1000 pages for the first and just under 1,300 pages for the second and an even bigger page count for the third. Ah, well, at least the book is epic as hell. The invasion goes from one world to a vast swath of the galaxy. Just how often do we get epic space operas with living spaceships, high-tech alien races, a vast number of inhabited worlds, only to have it turn into a war of the Living versus the Dead?
With a tiny alteration, of course. These aren't the dead rising up from graves. The dead are rising up out of history and out of purgatory, taking over the bodies of the living in a vast way. Vast numbers. And now it's almost magic versus high-tech in a very unusual war.
With Al Capone. :) And anti-matter. :) Hippies and star-busters.
Very fun. I have to admit it took me a while to get into Hamilton's writing style, but once I finally got to this proper comfort level, things really took off. :)
Succinctly, I suppose. ;)
... unlike the first and second books in the series, at 1000 pages for the first and just under 1,300 pages for the second and an even bigger page count for the third. Ah, well, at least the book is epic as hell. The invasion goes from one world to a vast swath of the galaxy. Just how often do we get epic space operas with living spaceships, high-tech alien races, a vast number of inhabited worlds, only to have it turn into a war of the Living versus the Dead?
With a tiny alteration, of course. These aren't the dead rising up from graves. The dead are rising up out of history and out of purgatory, taking over the bodies of the living in a vast way. Vast numbers. And now it's almost magic versus high-tech in a very unusual war.
With Al Capone. :) And anti-matter. :) Hippies and star-busters.
Very fun. I have to admit it took me a while to get into Hamilton's writing style, but once I finally got to this proper comfort level, things really took off. :)
May 15, 2017
Continuând acțiunea din Disfuncția realității,
Alchimistul neutronic
dezvăluie un univers terifiant în care realitatea sufletelor ce revin din lumea de dincolo este acceptată atât la nivelul Confederației, cât și de către Consensul edenist. Aparent invincibili, posedații se împrăștie cu o viteză halucinantă pe mai multe planete adamiste, încercând să distorsioneze realitatea pentru a le muta în altă dimensiune. În același timp, ca și cum lupta înspăimântătoare a oamenilor împotriva posedaților precum și amenințarea reprezentată de miliardele de suflete ce nu și-au găsit pacea nu ar fi de ajuns, în scenă apare Alchimistul, o armă ce poate nărui și stelele, dorită atât de diversele organizații politice, cât și de posedați.
Explorând cu subtilitate atitudinea oamenilor față de moarte și confruntarea acestora cu certitudinea că existența umană nu ia sfârșit deodată cu dispariția fizică, Peter F. Hamilton strecoară niște întrebări interesante în ceea ce privește esența ființei umane: ce este sufletul? poate fi definit acesta prin amintiri și tipare de personalitate? Sau dincolo dincolo de toate acestea dăinuie ceva etern?
Încă mă minunează măiestria lui Peter F. Hamilton, abilitatea sa de a orchestra cu atâta lejeritate nenumărate personaje și zeci de cursuri narative. Aprofundând trăsăturile personajelor din prima parte a seriei, Alchimistul neutronic mi s-a părut mai echilibrată, păstrându-și totuși caracterul inedit și capacitatea de a-și surprinde cititorul ().
Mărturisesc că mă derutează aspectele religioase ale poveștii - lume de dincolo, sataniști, posedare, exorcizări, explicate încă prea puțin. Dar, cine știe... probabil că răspunsurile se află în Zeul adormit, voi vedea.
Explorând cu subtilitate atitudinea oamenilor față de moarte și confruntarea acestora cu certitudinea că existența umană nu ia sfârșit deodată cu dispariția fizică, Peter F. Hamilton strecoară niște întrebări interesante în ceea ce privește esența ființei umane: ce este sufletul? poate fi definit acesta prin amintiri și tipare de personalitate? Sau dincolo dincolo de toate acestea dăinuie ceva etern?
Încă mă minunează măiestria lui Peter F. Hamilton, abilitatea sa de a orchestra cu atâta lejeritate nenumărate personaje și zeci de cursuri narative. Aprofundând trăsăturile personajelor din prima parte a seriei, Alchimistul neutronic mi s-a părut mai echilibrată, păstrându-și totuși caracterul inedit și capacitatea de a-și surprinde cititorul ().
Mărturisesc că mă derutează aspectele religioase ale poveștii - lume de dincolo, sataniști, posedare, exorcizări, explicate încă prea puțin. Dar, cine știe... probabil că răspunsurile se află în Zeul adormit, voi vedea.
November 7, 2017
My laundry list:
1. This 2nd book (©1997) of the Nights Dawn trilogy suffers badly in it's first 1/4 by repeats of "fantasy" battles between humans and the magically-overpowered Possessed on the ground. (I do not like magic and fantasy mixed into my Sci-Fi at all)
2. The choice of the author to resurrect historical villains (and even heroes) of the past was a very bad one: Al Capone, Christian Fletcher, etc, are comedically overwritten and are simply slaps in the face of serious sci-fi readers. I mostly skipped over them.
3. The laughably evil "central" character Quinn Dexter reminds me of the ridiculously slimy (but amazingly well-played by Eric Roberts) boyfriend character in an old movie "Star 80" in which his character was so humanly repulsive that I finally got up and left the cinema, feeling I needed to take a shower! I also chose to skip over Quinn's sections of book #2.
4. At least in book #2 we are mostly spared the graphically depicted abuse and murder of children: HOLY CRAP Hamilton! Were you Possessed when you wrote this stuff? Shame on you....
5. The space action, technology and battles are superbly inventive and clever, if overwritten substantially in parts.
*6. I found myself using my Kindle search feature to skip ahead a lot to "Joshua" and "Ione". (A recommended practice for those of considering just abandoning this book, as I almost did)
7. Alkad Mzu could have been far more fully written (a surprise from Hamilton who usually describes his characters ad infinitum down to their preferences in underwear).
8. The last half of the book I found I needed to skip less material, and the last 1/4 was very good indeed, with surprises by the Kiint et al.
Overall, I am glad I stuck with (much) of the book. If I rated this book only for the last half, it would be 4-stars, with the first half 2-stars only.
WARNING: the first book in this series includes very graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children!)
1. This 2nd book (©1997) of the Nights Dawn trilogy suffers badly in it's first 1/4 by repeats of "fantasy" battles between humans and the magically-overpowered Possessed on the ground. (I do not like magic and fantasy mixed into my Sci-Fi at all)
2. The choice of the author to resurrect historical villains (and even heroes) of the past was a very bad one: Al Capone, Christian Fletcher, etc, are comedically overwritten and are simply slaps in the face of serious sci-fi readers. I mostly skipped over them.
3. The laughably evil "central" character Quinn Dexter reminds me of the ridiculously slimy (but amazingly well-played by Eric Roberts) boyfriend character in an old movie "Star 80" in which his character was so humanly repulsive that I finally got up and left the cinema, feeling I needed to take a shower! I also chose to skip over Quinn's sections of book #2.
4. At least in book #2 we are mostly spared the graphically depicted abuse and murder of children: HOLY CRAP Hamilton! Were you Possessed when you wrote this stuff? Shame on you....
5. The space action, technology and battles are superbly inventive and clever, if overwritten substantially in parts.
*6. I found myself using my Kindle search feature to skip ahead a lot to "Joshua" and "Ione". (A recommended practice for those of considering just abandoning this book, as I almost did)
7. Alkad Mzu could have been far more fully written (a surprise from Hamilton who usually describes his characters ad infinitum down to their preferences in underwear).
8. The last half of the book I found I needed to skip less material, and the last 1/4 was very good indeed, with surprises by the Kiint et al.
Overall, I am glad I stuck with (much) of the book. If I rated this book only for the last half, it would be 4-stars, with the first half 2-stars only.
WARNING: the first book in this series includes very graphically described torture and rape and mutilation (sometimes of teens and children!)
December 14, 2013
I read the The Reality Dysfunction, the first book of the Night's Dawn Trilogy in August 2012, I just finished this second volume The Neutronium Alchemist on December 13, 2013. So more than one year has elapsed since reading the first one. With a leaky memory like mine a lot of details have fallen by the wayside during the intervening period. Going back to reread the 1000+ pages of The Reality Dysfunction is out of the question. I considered reading up summaries in Wikipedia or some other web sites but then I decided to throw caution to the wind and just dive into this second book and see what happen. It is a testament to Peter F. Hamilton's writing skill that he manages to bring me back to speed without a prologue chapter that summarize what went on in the previous book. The little details and characters’ names gradually fell into place as I read on. Funny how the brain archives these details in some dusty storage places and they come out when the memory is jogged.
As with all the Peter F. Hamilton’s books that I have read so far The Neutronium Alchemist is a long book but a quick read. His prose is always clear, his pacing is good and never grind to a halt. Most of the main characters are fairly engaging and his “Confederation Universe” is always full of wonder. The only difficulty I tend to have is the large cast of characters, there are so many minor characters that I find it impossible to remember who they all are and whose side they are on. There is, however, a “Cast of Characters” appendix at the end of the book if you don’t mind jumping back and forth to that as you read. I personally could not be bothered so I just figure them out from the context of the chapters.
The Neutronium Alchemist of course continues where The Reality Dysfunction left off. In the first book we are introduced to the Confederation Universe and what happen when the souls of the dead start coming back to possess the living. Obviously that doesn’t sound very sci-fi, more like some ridiculous “exorcist in space” silliness you may get in an episode of Family Guy, but leave it to Hamilton to come up with some pseudo-science to make the concept somewhat believable within a sci-fi setting*. The major difference between this second volume and the previous one is that the return of the dead through possession is now and an established fact and the readers are spared the dull process of each character being skeptical to begin with until their jaws drop when the dead come calling. The struggle between the living and the dead was too uneven in the first book, in this one at least the living have found some way of coping but not defeating the enemy.
Characterization is also much more interesting in this book as many chapters are told from the possessed characters’ point of view, some of whom are even decent people. The usage of historical characters like Al Capone and Fletcher Christian as major characters also piles on the fun. Hamilton’s plotting skills is second to none, I cannot imagine how he manages to juggle all the numerous plot strands and gradually weave them into a cohesive story. He also has a great eye for minutiae, like this little scene from a possessed character’s view point: “Once he’d actually thrown up after transforming sachets of bread into chocolate gateau – he hadn't removed the foil wrapping first.”
The Neutronium Alchemist, like The Reality Dysfunction before it, is not a book to read for edification. It is just a fun romp. A book this length is bound to have themes you can glean from but why not just give yourself a well-earned break and just kick back and enjoy.
The final volume The Naked God is just as long as The Neutronium Alchemist. Damn you Peter F!
__________________________________
*There is a good discussion of whether The Night Dawn Trilogy is science fiction or science fantasy here
Note: I intended to mention the phrase “massive epic space opera” somewhere in the review, but I can’t find a place to shoehorn it in so I’ll just stick it here.
As with all the Peter F. Hamilton’s books that I have read so far The Neutronium Alchemist is a long book but a quick read. His prose is always clear, his pacing is good and never grind to a halt. Most of the main characters are fairly engaging and his “Confederation Universe” is always full of wonder. The only difficulty I tend to have is the large cast of characters, there are so many minor characters that I find it impossible to remember who they all are and whose side they are on. There is, however, a “Cast of Characters” appendix at the end of the book if you don’t mind jumping back and forth to that as you read. I personally could not be bothered so I just figure them out from the context of the chapters.
The Neutronium Alchemist of course continues where The Reality Dysfunction left off. In the first book we are introduced to the Confederation Universe and what happen when the souls of the dead start coming back to possess the living. Obviously that doesn’t sound very sci-fi, more like some ridiculous “exorcist in space” silliness you may get in an episode of Family Guy, but leave it to Hamilton to come up with some pseudo-science to make the concept somewhat believable within a sci-fi setting*. The major difference between this second volume and the previous one is that the return of the dead through possession is now and an established fact and the readers are spared the dull process of each character being skeptical to begin with until their jaws drop when the dead come calling. The struggle between the living and the dead was too uneven in the first book, in this one at least the living have found some way of coping but not defeating the enemy.
Characterization is also much more interesting in this book as many chapters are told from the possessed characters’ point of view, some of whom are even decent people. The usage of historical characters like Al Capone and Fletcher Christian as major characters also piles on the fun. Hamilton’s plotting skills is second to none, I cannot imagine how he manages to juggle all the numerous plot strands and gradually weave them into a cohesive story. He also has a great eye for minutiae, like this little scene from a possessed character’s view point: “Once he’d actually thrown up after transforming sachets of bread into chocolate gateau – he hadn't removed the foil wrapping first.”
The Neutronium Alchemist, like The Reality Dysfunction before it, is not a book to read for edification. It is just a fun romp. A book this length is bound to have themes you can glean from but why not just give yourself a well-earned break and just kick back and enjoy.
The final volume The Naked God is just as long as The Neutronium Alchemist. Damn you Peter F!
__________________________________
*There is a good discussion of whether The Night Dawn Trilogy is science fiction or science fantasy here
Note: I intended to mention the phrase “massive epic space opera” somewhere in the review, but I can’t find a place to shoehorn it in so I’ll just stick it here.
September 10, 2023
I really liked book 1 of this series and book 2 was even better. The pacing was improved, there was less weird horny parts, and the new plot elements were both weird and really intriguing.
Overall the plot was kind of simple for such a long book in that several different groups with competing interests were hunting the creator of a super weapon called the Alchemist. That kind of plot was pretty fun in and of itself, but there were so many interesting pieces overlaid on top of that. How is society going to combat an existential threat to which there seems to be no answer? Some people are going to lose all hope. Some people are going to try to take advantage. Some people are going to try to fight back. Some people are going to keep doing what they have always done. Hamilton shows you how people deal with having their whole ways of life and philosophies upended and how they deal with it. And oh yeah there's cool spaceships, tech, and space battles to boot. I need to know what happens next so I'll be picking up The Naked God pretty soon.
Overall the plot was kind of simple for such a long book in that several different groups with competing interests were hunting the creator of a super weapon called the Alchemist. That kind of plot was pretty fun in and of itself, but there were so many interesting pieces overlaid on top of that. How is society going to combat an existential threat to which there seems to be no answer? Some people are going to lose all hope. Some people are going to try to take advantage. Some people are going to try to fight back. Some people are going to keep doing what they have always done. Hamilton shows you how people deal with having their whole ways of life and philosophies upended and how they deal with it. And oh yeah there's cool spaceships, tech, and space battles to boot. I need to know what happens next so I'll be picking up The Naked God pretty soon.
April 20, 2024
I enjoyed this book more than the first Night's Dawn one, The Reality Dysfunction. I found that the story of the Adamists versus the Edenists was compelling and entertaining. I will admit that I got lost on occasion due to the vast number of actors in this massive space opera. I felt that Quinn is a despicable villain and my hate of this guy is a tribute to the writing of Hamilton. On the other hand, there is not really one particular protagonist that I am really enthralled with. I guess it is not really a preoccupation for Hamilton to create a few very strong heroes, but rather a multitude of well-drawn but not especially complex characters. The action is non-stop, so despite its doorstop weight of 1000 pages, it still reads relatively easily. The sequel, The Naked God is another 200 pages longer (Ouch!). The one criticism I have is that I feel that Hamilton himself is probably a little religious and this sometimes orients the storytelling in subtle ways (like Orson Scott Card's Mormonism influences the Ender/Bean stories sometimes).
This one ends on a major cliff-hanger, so I am moving on to the conclusion to this trilogy with trepidation.
This one ends on a major cliff-hanger, so I am moving on to the conclusion to this trilogy with trepidation.
October 20, 2015
After seeing this novel impressively attracting attention in most libraries and the impressive array of praise in the the first few pages, I read the preceding volume "The Reality Dysfunction" and was looking forward to finding out what happened after all the work that was put into creating the characters and the universe this series was set on.
"The Neutronium Alchemist" starts off more or less where "The Reality Dysfunction" ended with the spirits of long dead people rampantly seeking out living bodies to possess and the chaos that ensues on one planet at least.
Whereas the first novel had suspense and admirable world building, this second installment is disjointed in structure and actually really daft in an unenjoyable way with some really lazy recycled science-fiction cliches that have been done to death by many others many years ago.
The title is a misnomer. The super weapon "The Neutronium Alchemist" only appears at the end and even then, the novel is not threaded around the chase to find the fugitive scientist who wants to find it and reactivate it but rather the novel has several threads that don't join up at all.
The use of Al Capone as a villain character, his spirit taking over a live body and he then establishes a new empire is really a bad caricature at best. I'd think someone from his era would have a very difficult time understanding the concept of space flight never mind become the mini emperor of a planet and sending out a fleet of starships to fight his battles. Al Capone was a gangster in Chicago. He died in 1947 - he wouldn't have known the first rocket. He would more likely go mad in a future world with the changes that were around him. He has no experience of naval warfare at sea never mind in space. Suddenly, he is a space fleet commander?!
Plus, if he got resurrected, why not Elliot Ness and his Untouchables? This suggests that the author didn't want to create a new villain so decided to caricature a historical figure instead.
Another pointless resurrection of a historical figure is the use of Fletcher Christian who infamously mutinied against the Royal Navy ship he was on. Except in "The Neutronium Alchemist", he doesn't nothing of the sort. It is not clear why this man's memory was sullied in this way.
The author seems to have a great affection of his creation of the spaceships "voidhawk", "blackhawk" and the enemy equivalent "hellhawk". However, that is the extent that he goes into their descriptions.
The space combat sequences are repetitive and consistently involve the author writing that "combat wasps" were launched. Indeed, "combat wasps" are mentioned very frequently but more often than not, that is the extent of the space battle. If one side launches "combat wasps", the other side does that same and that is all the reader is left with. I didn't get the sense which side won or how except that "combat wasps" were launched. So? And? What happened?
The most annoying and most lazy science fiction I read in this novel was that the Roswell incident was used to suggest that humans had been abducted in the past to create a new race. Lazy. Lazy. Lazy. This has been done to death by so many other authors and TV shows like "The X-files", it is not even funny.
When Earth finally appears towards the end, space elevators were mentioned. Even more lazy. Arthur C Clarke invented this concept.
For a novelist praised in the front pages for having a massive imagination, all I've read were:
1) A more violent version of "Star Trek" (interstellar faster than light travel with space ships fighting each other.
2) Defamatory use of historical people (see above).
3) Lazy ripping off of other greater science fiction works.
As for the most evil villain in this novel, Quinn Dexter - he goes on and on how powerful he is and taunts Christian characters that there is not such thing as God while all the while he goes on about being a disciple of "God's Brother". If there no God, how come he has a brother?
In addition, if Quinn Dexter is so powerful, why does he need a star ship to travel in? Or to quote James T Kirk from "Star Trek 5":
"Umm, what does God need with a starship?" Indeed.
"The Neutronium Alchemist" is a very disappointing novel for experienced science fiction fans and a disappointing follow up to the first instalment.
"The Neutronium Alchemist" starts off more or less where "The Reality Dysfunction" ended with the spirits of long dead people rampantly seeking out living bodies to possess and the chaos that ensues on one planet at least.
Whereas the first novel had suspense and admirable world building, this second installment is disjointed in structure and actually really daft in an unenjoyable way with some really lazy recycled science-fiction cliches that have been done to death by many others many years ago.
The title is a misnomer. The super weapon "The Neutronium Alchemist" only appears at the end and even then, the novel is not threaded around the chase to find the fugitive scientist who wants to find it and reactivate it but rather the novel has several threads that don't join up at all.
The use of Al Capone as a villain character, his spirit taking over a live body and he then establishes a new empire is really a bad caricature at best. I'd think someone from his era would have a very difficult time understanding the concept of space flight never mind become the mini emperor of a planet and sending out a fleet of starships to fight his battles. Al Capone was a gangster in Chicago. He died in 1947 - he wouldn't have known the first rocket. He would more likely go mad in a future world with the changes that were around him. He has no experience of naval warfare at sea never mind in space. Suddenly, he is a space fleet commander?!
Plus, if he got resurrected, why not Elliot Ness and his Untouchables? This suggests that the author didn't want to create a new villain so decided to caricature a historical figure instead.
Another pointless resurrection of a historical figure is the use of Fletcher Christian who infamously mutinied against the Royal Navy ship he was on. Except in "The Neutronium Alchemist", he doesn't nothing of the sort. It is not clear why this man's memory was sullied in this way.
The author seems to have a great affection of his creation of the spaceships "voidhawk", "blackhawk" and the enemy equivalent "hellhawk". However, that is the extent that he goes into their descriptions.
The space combat sequences are repetitive and consistently involve the author writing that "combat wasps" were launched. Indeed, "combat wasps" are mentioned very frequently but more often than not, that is the extent of the space battle. If one side launches "combat wasps", the other side does that same and that is all the reader is left with. I didn't get the sense which side won or how except that "combat wasps" were launched. So? And? What happened?
The most annoying and most lazy science fiction I read in this novel was that the Roswell incident was used to suggest that humans had been abducted in the past to create a new race. Lazy. Lazy. Lazy. This has been done to death by so many other authors and TV shows like "The X-files", it is not even funny.
When Earth finally appears towards the end, space elevators were mentioned. Even more lazy. Arthur C Clarke invented this concept.
For a novelist praised in the front pages for having a massive imagination, all I've read were:
1) A more violent version of "Star Trek" (interstellar faster than light travel with space ships fighting each other.
2) Defamatory use of historical people (see above).
3) Lazy ripping off of other greater science fiction works.
As for the most evil villain in this novel, Quinn Dexter - he goes on and on how powerful he is and taunts Christian characters that there is not such thing as God while all the while he goes on about being a disciple of "God's Brother". If there no God, how come he has a brother?
In addition, if Quinn Dexter is so powerful, why does he need a star ship to travel in? Or to quote James T Kirk from "Star Trek 5":
"Umm, what does God need with a starship?" Indeed.
"The Neutronium Alchemist" is a very disappointing novel for experienced science fiction fans and a disappointing follow up to the first instalment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 20, 2013
I only finished this book because I took it on a s personal challenge having invested 1500+ pages into the series. I'm willing to put up with the extremely slow world building of book 1 if it pays off in books 2 and 3, but based on 2 I doubt that the conclusion will be satisfying.
This book is a very slog. It's way too much soap opera. I started reading Hamilton with the Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained followed by The Void trilogy. If I had started with the Night's Dawn I doubt I'd have stuck with him for his future books.
The core idea here is solid and fascinating. The execution, very weak. Too many characters. Too many unneeded side stories. In the end I stopped caring whenever a character appears whose name I can't remember. Even when I couldn't remember a character's previous appearance(s) and back story I just kept reading without going back. When I got bored I sometimes even skimmed.
Spoiler:
Capone. Hamilton might think he was a genius to bring back Al Capone as the main protagonist in sci-fi space opera set 500 years in the future. I don't think it was chutzpah. It's plain folly.
And now since I'm a masochist who's invested close to 2500 pages of reading into a series I didn't enjoy, I'm gonna spend the next month and a half reading the 1300 page conclusion.
This book is a very slog. It's way too much soap opera. I started reading Hamilton with the Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained followed by The Void trilogy. If I had started with the Night's Dawn I doubt I'd have stuck with him for his future books.
The core idea here is solid and fascinating. The execution, very weak. Too many characters. Too many unneeded side stories. In the end I stopped caring whenever a character appears whose name I can't remember. Even when I couldn't remember a character's previous appearance(s) and back story I just kept reading without going back. When I got bored I sometimes even skimmed.
Spoiler:
Capone. Hamilton might think he was a genius to bring back Al Capone as the main protagonist in sci-fi space opera set 500 years in the future. I don't think it was chutzpah. It's plain folly.
And now since I'm a masochist who's invested close to 2500 pages of reading into a series I didn't enjoy, I'm gonna spend the next month and a half reading the 1300 page conclusion.
November 9, 2009
The only book I have finished between the Canada marathon and now is The Neutronium Alchemist, the sequel to The Reality Dysfunction. The main reason I kept reading is that the price/time ratio of these books can’t be beat--they cost the same as a mass market paperback and each one kept me busy for weeks. That said, the entertainment value is debatable. The second volume of the series had all the problems of the first, but it lacked the novelty of introducing new worlds and technologies. Some of the new plot points were rather cringeworthy, such as when one planet is taken over by a cartoonlike reincarnation of Al Capone. Unless someone swears up and down that the third book is the best, I think I’m going to read the summary of it off Wikipedia and leave it at that.
February 22, 2024
Huge and epic in every way. A gripping plot that has a fantastic pace. Even towards the end, where I was getting confused and still juggling all the characters into their place, I was in awe of this book’s content. Definitely the best I have read from this author.
October 27, 2013
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Trilogy
I had some misgiving about the first book, The Reality Dysfunction, especially concerning the sexual politics in what was supposed to be, in some sense, utopian science fiction (see my review ).
Happily, a lot of the stuff I didn't like about the first one is absent or at least toned down a lot in the second one. I learned to accept that this universe isn't supposed to be utopian, and I've been much happier for it. Maybe that was more a marketing issue than anything. The second book focuses on dealing with some pretty serious threats (the possessed in their various factions, Alkad Mzu, Quinn Dexter, etc.), so there's not much time to dwell on the things I found annoying in the first one. The horror/hard sci fi/space opera mash up continues, mainly with great success. Also, we see more of the Edenists and the aliens in this one, which is awesome. I even thought the Al Capone story line was fun: Yes, Al Capone is among the possessed. Highjinks ensue. You also meet Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. I loved learning more about what's going on with the possessed and what some of their motivations might be. It's wild, crazy, and fun stuff.
While I liked this one better than the first, I hesitate to give it five stars for the simple reason that this is a beast of a tome, with so many characters and plot threads that you wonder if Hamilton himself is even keeping track of it all. The "Cast of Characters" in the back of my edition was helpful, but what you really need is a flow chart for each plot line that gives you some hints to jog your memory about who the hell all these people are and what they've done up to the specific point of the book you're reading. Or at least Hamilton could throw us a bone one in awhile - a simple "She remembered how she had arrived at so-and-so by doing such-and-such" would suffice. On several occasions (especially in the lagging middle of the book) I found that I had no idea who I was reading about, what they were doing, what star system they were in, etc. And the Wikipedia page for the book doesn't always help, or if it does, it tells the story out of order so that you get spoilers. Maybe it's just because this is the second in a trilogy, but I had less of a sense that this was all coming together than I did at the end of the first one.
Lastly, this one ends on some cliffhangers. After plowing through over 1,000 pages in the first one, and then over 1,100 pages in the second one, you need to get into the third one, the most beastly of the tomes at over 1,300 pages, to see much resolution. I can't decide if this is a criticism, or if Peter Hamilton is a magnificent bastard out to provide more hours of entertainment in one trilogy than most authors provide in 12 books. In any case, I will be picking up the third one after I catch my breath.
I had some misgiving about the first book, The Reality Dysfunction, especially concerning the sexual politics in what was supposed to be, in some sense, utopian science fiction (see my review ).
Happily, a lot of the stuff I didn't like about the first one is absent or at least toned down a lot in the second one. I learned to accept that this universe isn't supposed to be utopian, and I've been much happier for it. Maybe that was more a marketing issue than anything. The second book focuses on dealing with some pretty serious threats (the possessed in their various factions, Alkad Mzu, Quinn Dexter, etc.), so there's not much time to dwell on the things I found annoying in the first one. The horror/hard sci fi/space opera mash up continues, mainly with great success. Also, we see more of the Edenists and the aliens in this one, which is awesome. I even thought the Al Capone story line was fun: Yes, Al Capone is among the possessed. Highjinks ensue. You also meet Fletcher Christian of Mutiny on the Bounty fame. I loved learning more about what's going on with the possessed and what some of their motivations might be. It's wild, crazy, and fun stuff.
While I liked this one better than the first, I hesitate to give it five stars for the simple reason that this is a beast of a tome, with so many characters and plot threads that you wonder if Hamilton himself is even keeping track of it all. The "Cast of Characters" in the back of my edition was helpful, but what you really need is a flow chart for each plot line that gives you some hints to jog your memory about who the hell all these people are and what they've done up to the specific point of the book you're reading. Or at least Hamilton could throw us a bone one in awhile - a simple "She remembered how she had arrived at so-and-so by doing such-and-such" would suffice. On several occasions (especially in the lagging middle of the book) I found that I had no idea who I was reading about, what they were doing, what star system they were in, etc. And the Wikipedia page for the book doesn't always help, or if it does, it tells the story out of order so that you get spoilers. Maybe it's just because this is the second in a trilogy, but I had less of a sense that this was all coming together than I did at the end of the first one.
Lastly, this one ends on some cliffhangers. After plowing through over 1,000 pages in the first one, and then over 1,100 pages in the second one, you need to get into the third one, the most beastly of the tomes at over 1,300 pages, to see much resolution. I can't decide if this is a criticism, or if Peter Hamilton is a magnificent bastard out to provide more hours of entertainment in one trilogy than most authors provide in 12 books. In any case, I will be picking up the third one after I catch my breath.
May 28, 2015
I like Peter Hamilton's stuff, I really do. I didn't like The Neutronium Alchemist. It wasn't terrible...merely 'okay'. Which is terrible for a 1200 page book. Plus I felt I only picked up a few important developments in the storyline during the 2 months it took me to read it. After such a deathmarch, I retain only a sense of personal accomplishment, not admiration for the author. [Deep breath]. Okay, I feel better. Looking ahead, there is a very good story cooking in the Night's Dawn series. I step into The Naked God with excited apprehension. I'll report back in another 2 months.
May 21, 2017
...Hamilton raises the stakes in The Neutronium Alchemist, as a middle book is supposed to do. It does more or less suffer from the same problems as the previous novel though. Bloated, repetitive and not very demanding. Although Hamilton tries to make it a multi-faceted conflict, he avoids the really big issue in the story in favour of politics and battles. That might be fine with some readers. I would have liked a little more from this novel but after The Reality Dysfunction, that was hardly what one could expect....
Full Random Comments review
Full Random Comments review
October 15, 2019
“There is more to death than the beyond”. The dead are back and they’re pissed off. Book 2 of Peter F. Hamilton’s shelf-breaking Night’s Dawn trilogy and it must count for something that after 2,000 pages I am already itching for more. “Alchemist” delivers on all the juicy ideas of “The Reality Dysfunction”, seeds tantalising new elements no doubt to be pursued in Book 3 and serves up huge wodges of crazy-mad SF action to boot. This is SF as pure Saturday night entertainment written by a writer who can actually write.
For all the page count and the ideas and the set pieces Hamilton has a very specific, writerly, gift: control. The main question I had after “Dysfunction” – apart from what is Hamilton on and where can I get some – was “what about all the famous people?” and the author clearly anticipated this. However it’s to his great credit that he doesn’t turn “Alchemist” into an episode of “Red Dwarf” and go bananas with armies of the World’s Famous. To do so would be to totally bugger the exceptionally fine balancing act this novel achieves by asking the reader to go with some pretty rum concepts while maintaining suspension of disbelief and actual stakes. Hamilton certainly delivers on figures from history becoming corporeal once again but correctly illustrates that actual famous people – or notorious, in one case – are a vanishingly small percentage of the sum of all dead. So the ones who do become key players in “Alchemist” are carefully chosen; if, for instance, you’re up for Al Capone getting his hands on anti-matter and creating interstellar havoc come on in, the water is warm. Now, I know some poor deluded fools will airily dismiss this sort of stuff as hokum and other reviewers have certainly observed you need to “go with it” at certain stages of this novel but if you do so Hamilton works his socks off to to return the favour. My God, does he. The last five chapters or so of “Alchemist” are bravura, star-destroying, space opera.
Narratively “Alchemist” whips between multiple POVs while unleashing some real action scene corkers; the pursuit of multiple parties after Dr Alkad Mzu in the final chapters is rip-roaring stuff, the author figuratively handing the reader an enormous slice of cake for accompanying him through 1,000 pages of prose. Much of the story involves combating the implacable spread of the possessed – that’s living people acting as hosts for dead souls returning from the Beyond – across multiple worlds and the various factions that arise. Add to the mix religious nutball Quinn who stumbles upon a new flavour of possessed, a youth cult called the Deadnights, Joshua Calvert proving his metal but making a stupid mistake at a crucial moment, the pathetic Gerald Skibbow desperately trying to return to his daughter, red mists enveloping planets and taking them out of the Universe and Al Capone shacking up with a blatant Madonna proxy and tinkering with the trajectory of “ironbergs”. Sure, some characters disappear for hundreds of pages and note-taking helped me keep track of who was who but, by God, you’re never bored. Also, it’s a virtue that while I put “Alchemist” aside every five hundred pages or so for a restorative detour I had no difficulty orientating myself on my return.
Niggles? Minor. Jezzibelle seems to know a lot about anti-matter for a popstar. One of Capone’s gang comes back from 75 years in the Beyond but is still able to confidently hack modern electronics. Bonney changes herself into a bird late in her pursuit of Dariat and Tatiana, something she should have done beforehand. But whatever. There are also numerous elements I’m looking forward to seeing resolved in part 3 of this banquet. What’s with the “ghosts”? Who were those two guys who strongly hinted they’ve been watching events for a good few hundred years? When the hell are the Kiint going to explain everything and, of course, the cliff-hanger, delivered in the final line. It’s going to be a few months before I take a deep breath and plunge into “The Naked God” but I remain delighted to have discovered Hamilton’s work, a writer who seems to have been put on Planet Earth with the specific goal of thrilling the heck out of me. “I’m launching the biggest heist there’s ever been in all of history.”
For all the page count and the ideas and the set pieces Hamilton has a very specific, writerly, gift: control. The main question I had after “Dysfunction” – apart from what is Hamilton on and where can I get some – was “what about all the famous people?” and the author clearly anticipated this. However it’s to his great credit that he doesn’t turn “Alchemist” into an episode of “Red Dwarf” and go bananas with armies of the World’s Famous. To do so would be to totally bugger the exceptionally fine balancing act this novel achieves by asking the reader to go with some pretty rum concepts while maintaining suspension of disbelief and actual stakes. Hamilton certainly delivers on figures from history becoming corporeal once again but correctly illustrates that actual famous people – or notorious, in one case – are a vanishingly small percentage of the sum of all dead. So the ones who do become key players in “Alchemist” are carefully chosen; if, for instance, you’re up for Al Capone getting his hands on anti-matter and creating interstellar havoc come on in, the water is warm. Now, I know some poor deluded fools will airily dismiss this sort of stuff as hokum and other reviewers have certainly observed you need to “go with it” at certain stages of this novel but if you do so Hamilton works his socks off to to return the favour. My God, does he. The last five chapters or so of “Alchemist” are bravura, star-destroying, space opera.
Narratively “Alchemist” whips between multiple POVs while unleashing some real action scene corkers; the pursuit of multiple parties after Dr Alkad Mzu in the final chapters is rip-roaring stuff, the author figuratively handing the reader an enormous slice of cake for accompanying him through 1,000 pages of prose. Much of the story involves combating the implacable spread of the possessed – that’s living people acting as hosts for dead souls returning from the Beyond – across multiple worlds and the various factions that arise. Add to the mix religious nutball Quinn who stumbles upon a new flavour of possessed, a youth cult called the Deadnights, Joshua Calvert proving his metal but making a stupid mistake at a crucial moment, the pathetic Gerald Skibbow desperately trying to return to his daughter, red mists enveloping planets and taking them out of the Universe and Al Capone shacking up with a blatant Madonna proxy and tinkering with the trajectory of “ironbergs”. Sure, some characters disappear for hundreds of pages and note-taking helped me keep track of who was who but, by God, you’re never bored. Also, it’s a virtue that while I put “Alchemist” aside every five hundred pages or so for a restorative detour I had no difficulty orientating myself on my return.
Niggles? Minor. Jezzibelle seems to know a lot about anti-matter for a popstar. One of Capone’s gang comes back from 75 years in the Beyond but is still able to confidently hack modern electronics. Bonney changes herself into a bird late in her pursuit of Dariat and Tatiana, something she should have done beforehand. But whatever. There are also numerous elements I’m looking forward to seeing resolved in part 3 of this banquet. What’s with the “ghosts”? Who were those two guys who strongly hinted they’ve been watching events for a good few hundred years? When the hell are the Kiint going to explain everything and, of course, the cliff-hanger, delivered in the final line. It’s going to be a few months before I take a deep breath and plunge into “The Naked God” but I remain delighted to have discovered Hamilton’s work, a writer who seems to have been put on Planet Earth with the specific goal of thrilling the heck out of me. “I’m launching the biggest heist there’s ever been in all of history.”
December 19, 2015
I think I'm going to have to do a more thorough review later. At this point, I'm just going to focus on mechanics.
I like this book. And this series. Honestly, I do. However, I'm at the point where I really think that the whole Night's Dawn series was actually written as one big tome of an epic, and the publishers decided to break it into three (or six, as you decided to buy them) novels just for the sake of the spine. And geez, what a doorstopper a 3500 page book would be anyway. There are just limits.
But, when we hit the last chapter of The Neutronium Alchemist, I really didn't feel like we were building toward a climax. Nothing heart-wrenching, no amazing clincher that wraps the book up, not even a real cliffhanger to make people want to read the next one. There were a couple of mysteries, but not really a "OH HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HECK'S HAPPENING" sort of thing. And starting the next book, the first chapter felt like it was just the next chapter of the previous book.
I think that's the thing that's getting me the most, besides the outrageous number of POVs and locations. It's really taking a wiki for me to get through this without losing track of who's where and doing what. And the plot feels like it's ramping up at a steady pace, and in such a way that it feels more real to me than a typical epic. I feel like I could be reading a tome about WWII at this point, although I think an author would have selected fewer POVs for an actual history book to avoid confusing his reader.
I'm finding the meat of the series interesting in and of themselves; we don't often deal with religions in science fiction that are not utterly imaginary, unless it's a Christian Sci-Fi novel, which I steer clear of. Hamilton definitely handles it with the care of a historian -- no proselytizing, just reflecting the different beliefs of the systems and cultures he's working with. It's interesting, and something I'd like to write a review or an essay specifically addressing, but one that will take some significant research and thought on its own. I'm still curious about the implications of Father Horst's abilities, but it was mentioned in the first book and then never again.
As it stands, I'm continuing on in the slog. Not because it's particularly sloggy, as it t'were, but because the world building really is intricate and extensive. Not an easy series to read by any means, but if you're really looking for something TRULY EPIC in its story, this is definitely what to go for.
I like this book. And this series. Honestly, I do. However, I'm at the point where I really think that the whole Night's Dawn series was actually written as one big tome of an epic, and the publishers decided to break it into three (or six, as you decided to buy them) novels just for the sake of the spine. And geez, what a doorstopper a 3500 page book would be anyway. There are just limits.
But, when we hit the last chapter of The Neutronium Alchemist, I really didn't feel like we were building toward a climax. Nothing heart-wrenching, no amazing clincher that wraps the book up, not even a real cliffhanger to make people want to read the next one. There were a couple of mysteries, but not really a "OH HOLY CRAP WHAT THE HECK'S HAPPENING" sort of thing. And starting the next book, the first chapter felt like it was just the next chapter of the previous book.
I think that's the thing that's getting me the most, besides the outrageous number of POVs and locations. It's really taking a wiki for me to get through this without losing track of who's where and doing what. And the plot feels like it's ramping up at a steady pace, and in such a way that it feels more real to me than a typical epic. I feel like I could be reading a tome about WWII at this point, although I think an author would have selected fewer POVs for an actual history book to avoid confusing his reader.
I'm finding the meat of the series interesting in and of themselves; we don't often deal with religions in science fiction that are not utterly imaginary, unless it's a Christian Sci-Fi novel, which I steer clear of. Hamilton definitely handles it with the care of a historian -- no proselytizing, just reflecting the different beliefs of the systems and cultures he's working with. It's interesting, and something I'd like to write a review or an essay specifically addressing, but one that will take some significant research and thought on its own. I'm still curious about the implications of Father Horst's abilities, but it was mentioned in the first book and then never again.
As it stands, I'm continuing on in the slog. Not because it's particularly sloggy, as it t'were, but because the world building really is intricate and extensive. Not an easy series to read by any means, but if you're really looking for something TRULY EPIC in its story, this is definitely what to go for.
October 20, 2017
Man... I love this series. It's what got me into Sci-Fi, and Space Opera in the first place, and I am very happy to conclude that all my good memories have been vindicated and even improved upon. I'm sure this series isn't for everyone, and if I had come across it today and read the synopsis I'd have been very skeptical, but damn. It's such a entertaining adventure across space. I am hooked, and loving it
December 12, 2008
Too long, too slow, too many characters: There was just enough additional mystery added for me to want to read the final volume.
March 11, 2024
This one took me a while to get through. The first half was incredible. You get horror, sci-fi, and historical fiction all in one while exploring more of the characters besides Joshua. There are a couple historical figures in this book that are a blast to read.
The second half is when it takes a bit of a turn for me. It becomes serious hardcore sci-fi which is not a topic that I understand very well. I still don’t really understand the ending but oh well, this book still rocks and I’m sure I’ll understand everything better on a reread as I will most certainly read this again one day.
The second half is when it takes a bit of a turn for me. It becomes serious hardcore sci-fi which is not a topic that I understand very well. I still don’t really understand the ending but oh well, this book still rocks and I’m sure I’ll understand everything better on a reread as I will most certainly read this again one day.
May 6, 2019
Mini-Review:
Excellent Narration by John Lee!
Overall, I love the variety of characters, social structures & main plot lines that come together. Solid storytelling! Some of the phrasing comes off as dated but it's not enough of a detraction to shoo me off of the story.
I feel like the series was the end product of a fun thought experiment with a lot of moving parts. =)
Excellent Narration by John Lee!
Overall, I love the variety of characters, social structures & main plot lines that come together. Solid storytelling! Some of the phrasing comes off as dated but it's not enough of a detraction to shoo me off of the story.
I feel like the series was the end product of a fun thought experiment with a lot of moving parts. =)
May 10, 2019
Zombies in space! This is ridiculous but I'm still reading. One more to go.
January 12, 2019
Another decent novel, however a bit long-winding to my personal taste. I could not get rit of the idea that some character arcs could have been somewhat shorter than they were. The overall plot remains definitely interesting though.
I am probably not going to purchase the last book of the trilogy, however I do think I will check out "A Second Chance at Eden", the short story collection set in the same universe.
I am probably not going to purchase the last book of the trilogy, however I do think I will check out "A Second Chance at Eden", the short story collection set in the same universe.
January 1, 2012
An epic space opera about the here and the hereafter and what happens when souls from the hereafter (called the beyond in the book) come back and possess the bodies of the living.
The Kavanagh sisters, Louise and Genevieve, know they have to leave Norfolk after they narrowly miss being possessed like the rest of their family. With the help of Fletcher Christian (of Mutiny on the Bounty infamy) they do eventually get off the planet.
In New California most of the 40 million inhabitants are possessed however the main organizer soon realizes that they need some non possessed people to run the infrastructure. The possessed have an electrical charge that interferes with electronics and so they can’t operate anything that is electrical or electronic in nature. This includes spaceships and most modes of transportation.
Someone is controlling the rift between all the souls in the beyond and the here and now. How it is being done is one of the questions that need to be answered. The type of souls being released is rather surprising as it seems to be the worst of humanity.
As the possessed spread amongst the human populated worlds only Tranquility and Earth have been able to stop penetration by the possessed. Questions of how to deal with the possessed are not easy to come by. If they are killed then the bodies that they occupy cease to exist and the souls that were in the body just return to the beyond and wait to possess another human body somewhere else. In addition everyone dies eventually so you will also end up in the beyond at some time and souls keep grudges forever it seems.
Doctor Mzu (the M is silent) has created a doomsday device that the possessed are after in a big way. However, she is very elusive and multiple agencies chasing her whereabouts keeps her on the run. Thirty years ago she developed her weapon called the Alchemist but never had a chance to use it. If the possessed get it first it is not going to go well for humanity.
Another race called the Kiint have faced the possessed before and prevailed however they are adamant that each race that faces the possessed must defeat them in their own unique manner. So they are no help at all.
Quinn Dexter is the Messiah of the Light Bringer sect and the Messenger of Gods Brother who is going to bring the Night to humanity. As the most ruthless and skilled of the possessors he is a formidable adversary.
There is lots of adventure in the book, well developed characters and relationships, palpable terror and multiple plot twists and turns.
As the middle book of a trilogy (The Naked God and The Reality Dysfunction being the other two in the series) it can still stand on it’s own as an enjoyable read. The ending is a cliff hanger and you’ll just have to get the third book in the series to see how it all ends
The Kavanagh sisters, Louise and Genevieve, know they have to leave Norfolk after they narrowly miss being possessed like the rest of their family. With the help of Fletcher Christian (of Mutiny on the Bounty infamy) they do eventually get off the planet.
In New California most of the 40 million inhabitants are possessed however the main organizer soon realizes that they need some non possessed people to run the infrastructure. The possessed have an electrical charge that interferes with electronics and so they can’t operate anything that is electrical or electronic in nature. This includes spaceships and most modes of transportation.
Someone is controlling the rift between all the souls in the beyond and the here and now. How it is being done is one of the questions that need to be answered. The type of souls being released is rather surprising as it seems to be the worst of humanity.
As the possessed spread amongst the human populated worlds only Tranquility and Earth have been able to stop penetration by the possessed. Questions of how to deal with the possessed are not easy to come by. If they are killed then the bodies that they occupy cease to exist and the souls that were in the body just return to the beyond and wait to possess another human body somewhere else. In addition everyone dies eventually so you will also end up in the beyond at some time and souls keep grudges forever it seems.
Doctor Mzu (the M is silent) has created a doomsday device that the possessed are after in a big way. However, she is very elusive and multiple agencies chasing her whereabouts keeps her on the run. Thirty years ago she developed her weapon called the Alchemist but never had a chance to use it. If the possessed get it first it is not going to go well for humanity.
Another race called the Kiint have faced the possessed before and prevailed however they are adamant that each race that faces the possessed must defeat them in their own unique manner. So they are no help at all.
Quinn Dexter is the Messiah of the Light Bringer sect and the Messenger of Gods Brother who is going to bring the Night to humanity. As the most ruthless and skilled of the possessors he is a formidable adversary.
There is lots of adventure in the book, well developed characters and relationships, palpable terror and multiple plot twists and turns.
As the middle book of a trilogy (The Naked God and The Reality Dysfunction being the other two in the series) it can still stand on it’s own as an enjoyable read. The ending is a cliff hanger and you’ll just have to get the third book in the series to see how it all ends
July 4, 2013
If the second part of a trilogy is supposed to be the weakest link, this one is in no way disappointing. 1200 pages that didn't bring anything really new vs the first book of the serie, it just makes you long for the finale (which I just started reading) and hoping we're heading for a worthy conclusion. It might just be that the serie is too "high tech for the sake of high tech" for my taste, in which case I know I'll be disappointed by the third volume too - and then will have lost a loooooooooot of time.
Unless that third volume is a blast, we're pretty far from the quality of P K Dick or Simmons' work, whose stories can be read at so many different levels, combine so many different plots, are much more metaphorical, intertwine many more elements (love, religion, memories, imperfection of human nature, salvation...) whereas this is a one layered cake of big tech jimbo meets space travel meets action sequence meets the devil....it lacks of subtlety. Let's see how's "the naked god"...
Unless that third volume is a blast, we're pretty far from the quality of P K Dick or Simmons' work, whose stories can be read at so many different levels, combine so many different plots, are much more metaphorical, intertwine many more elements (love, religion, memories, imperfection of human nature, salvation...) whereas this is a one layered cake of big tech jimbo meets space travel meets action sequence meets the devil....it lacks of subtlety. Let's see how's "the naked god"...
July 21, 2013
This is book 2 of a trilogy (or books 3-4 of a hexology if you buy the paperbacks) and it continues the space opera starting with The Reality Dysfunction. I'm torn between giving it 2 stars or 3, because it was entertaining enough to keep reading, and I want to see what happens in the end, but wow this thing drags on. The book provides a handy "cast of characters" detailing exactly 150 names from the last book that you'll need to remember for this book. Call me simple, but I feel like the author is complicating my life.
August 9, 2022
Après un premier livre haut en couleur, Hamilton nous replonge dans sa fille histoire, ou les morts reviennent parmi les vivants, leurs forces décuplées, et capables de prendre de multiples apparences. Les différentes factions humaines, face à l’évidence, sont contraintes à se faire confiance et à travailler ensemble.
J’avais beaucoup aimé Reality Dysfunction, et Neutronium Alchemist est aussi très plaisant. Un peu plus subtil (avec les morts ne souhaitant pas forcément envahir les vivants), avec des passages franchement intéressants (notamment tous ceux touchant aux Edenistes). Maintenant, je reste sur ma faim pour certains points (notamment un certain personnage du passé revenant à la vie - j’ai trouvé ça mine de rien assez paresseux). Certains événements sont beaucoup trop étirés dans le temps, et Quinn et Joshua sont devenus trop caricaturaux à mon goût - mais a voir avec le dernier tome pour voir ou tout cela nous mène !
J’avais beaucoup aimé Reality Dysfunction, et Neutronium Alchemist est aussi très plaisant. Un peu plus subtil (avec les morts ne souhaitant pas forcément envahir les vivants), avec des passages franchement intéressants (notamment tous ceux touchant aux Edenistes). Maintenant, je reste sur ma faim pour certains points (notamment un certain personnage du passé revenant à la vie - j’ai trouvé ça mine de rien assez paresseux). Certains événements sont beaucoup trop étirés dans le temps, et Quinn et Joshua sont devenus trop caricaturaux à mon goût - mais a voir avec le dernier tome pour voir ou tout cela nous mène !
August 1, 2014
This series was very hard for me to read. I loved Greg Mandel and wanted to love this series but in the end it left me confused at times, frustrated here and there, bored, and finally angry with the conclusion of the series. In the end I will say I just barely liked this series. It almost went the other direction for me. I can't really recommend it. The characters and ideas are interesting but the story was incredibly slow and boring. Marrying Sci-Fi with paranormal just didn't need to be in there. If you wanted Star Wars/space opera this has that but it gets too caught up in the supernatural for my taste. I think Greg Mandel series did a much better job marrying the 2 than this series did. The ending was incredibly predictable and I feel is ruined the whole thing for me. So beware...
April 3, 2023
A solid second novel in a very chunky space opera trilogy.
Unlike some chunky fantasy series without a solid or planned ending point, at least the reader of a middle novel in a completed Peter F Hamilton trilogy knows that all the characters are going to "arrive"at the end of their journeys, either literally or figuratively.
Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #512.
https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/2088
In this special anniversary episode, Luke and Juliane continue their discussion of Peter F Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy with book 2; The Neutronium Alchemist.
Unlike some chunky fantasy series without a solid or planned ending point, at least the reader of a middle novel in a completed Peter F Hamilton trilogy knows that all the characters are going to "arrive"at the end of their journeys, either literally or figuratively.
Full review on my podcast, SFBRP episode #512.
https://www.sfbrp.com/archives/2088
In this special anniversary episode, Luke and Juliane continue their discussion of Peter F Hamilton’s Night’s Dawn trilogy with book 2; The Neutronium Alchemist.
August 19, 2014
As a novel, The Neutronium Alchemist was not satisfying. Essentially, it is a cliffhanger stretched to one thousand pages, little more than busywork necessary to advance through the trilogy. If I had not come to this series long after it was published--giving me the option to read all three one after the other--I doubt I would have bothered waiting for the third. The investment of time and effort necessary to read this tome pays nothing--it is just a pause between the first and third novels. It only warrants a second star because it was, generally, written well.
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