Pandora's Star question

I am of the camp who really enjoys PFH's overly descriptive writing style. It really helps immerse me in his universes although some people that I've recommended the book to feel differently and seem to have a problem with his work.

In Pandora's Star, the universe is so big and the characters are able to travel so quickly through it, the descriptiveness really helps differentiate the worlds, explains the current human condition for his timeline, and keeps things fresh.

Is it worth the 1000 plus pages? I think so. It's a big part of PFH's writing magic!

The story has a lot of redundancy built-in, you won't be lost if you skip a few pages. However, the plot, as engaging as it is (just trust me on that!), is not everything: Hamilton's incredibly detailed descriptions are meant to immerse the readers in the environment of the novel and better position them to share in the feelings and motivations of the characters.

That said, I have to admit that I listened to the audio version instead of reading it, so maybe I would have skipped a few pages as well had I opted for the text.

Enjoy the book, I envy you for what you're about to experience!

Depends on what your interes are. Peter Hamilton builds wonderfully detailed Universes for his stories, which is (personally) something I really dig.

Pandora's Star is no different and is devoted to setting up the confrontation that plays out in Judus Unchained, which (as Meelis said) is a much faster paced book.

Plus, I feel, some of the character development this series is important in the Void series (a followup trilogy set some centuries after Judus Unchained)...not neccessary but gives some further understanding to character motivations.

But, as I said, I like detailed universes.

It really does build up in the story. Since there is also an element of a criminal-story involved (as in who is mr. X) it is worthy to read the slower and descriptive chapters aswell.
I am amazed though, that so many people skip pages or chapters that they find "too backgroundish/detailed".
It's really kind of wasting the best parts of Peter F. Hamilton's books. The two books are easily the most "casual" ones compared to the Void trilogy and the alchemist one. And the action comes harder and more fast paced at about 80% of book 1 if I am remembering correctly. And it's sooo worth it :-)

While I love Hamilton's stories, he has gotten worse with the technobabble descriptions as time has gone on. People nickname stuff...he forgets that when he continually describes things with monikers like the delta 443-TA 'blah blah'. Its a shuttle...or a knife, or a pocket fisherman. Of course many writers do this...the most notorious being George R.R. Martin and S.M. Stirling who go all Hawthorne on food descriptions and how many birds just banged their jewels on the fourth branch of the third tree in the second meadow causing the readers' stomach to rumble, or their heads to shake in exasperation at being led off the narrative trail yet again.

Pandora's Star is an excellent story...ESPECIALLY when you get going with Paul Mayo....the most interesting character in many ways that I've read in a looooong time. :-)

Skip the pages if you must to continue reading, but expect to miss out at least partially on the opportunity for total emersion. Even though I am a skimmer myself, I think the reason to choose Hamilton is to find a story that will consume your imagination and processing capacity. Patience will be rewarded, in my opinion.

I found it difficult to understand where all the characters fitted in to the overall plot, but skipping them might make you miss the reasons that they reappear later on. 400 pages in with Peter Hamilton's books is mostly just background setting, there's 600 pages to go and another thousand page book. I really enjoyed these two books and thought they were well worth the perseverance of getting through the beginnings.

Hamilton's books Always start like an old diesel engine but, after the first harsh reading it slowly evolves into an roaring V12. Keep reading, it's worth it.

I do not know if I'd be tempted to skim if I were reading the book, but I loved the audiobook. It was well-suited for very long walks. I did find myself having to back up occasionally because I was momentarily distracted. The book requires full attention since it is not always immediately obvious why or how a character or event will become integrated into the overall story.

ive been thoroughly put off reading anymore by this author after Pandora's Star.

At times it felt like a chapter had ended but would continue on for a few pages or there would be so much unnecessary detail.

I felt like i was reading one of these huge epic fantasy books except it was sci-fi. Not for me.

I finished Pandora's Star a few months ago and found that I really enjoyed it! I also skipped a lot of the overly descriptive passages and felt like I still groked the entire storyline and didn't feel like I was missing anything huge. If you're enjoying the read at the pace you're going then keep on reading! It really is a great read, albeit overly descriptive at times :)

When I first started my first Hamilton book (this book) I did indeed feel a little like Scott . The bouncing from one seemingly unrelated story-line to another was annoying, and (strangely) seemed to happen right at a point where I was getting interested in that particular thread.

But have faith! The story-lines do start to come together, and suddenly all of that back-story becomes important. That was the tipping point for me, and by the end I was just glad there was a bookstore nearby so I could get stuck in to part 2 (Judas Unchained).

Like Mike, I love that the books conjure up such a detailed mental image of the people and places that I am essentially watching the book-made-movie play out in my head.

The two books in this series are also a great introduction to the Commonwealth - the location for another two or three series.

I agree very much with both Meelis and Ben; in most of his books (other than his early Mindstar books possibly) Hamilton writes lovingly detailed descriptions of the environments he dreams up. For some he gives too much detail for others it's fine. I love it; I have a clearer mental picture of his worlds than just about any other author. However it is true that many find he gives too much detail and his books could be edited by 50%. Personally I would be sad to see his prose put on a diet like that!

First part of the story, that is first book (Pandora's Star) is slower paced, and does a lot of stage setting, though it spans longer time period.
Second part of the story, second book (Judas Unchained) is faster paced and has lot more action.
Characters are very important in this story though, so reading through it all is recommended.

This series is classified as space opera for a reason, principally the depth and detail. If you read all the story in its minute detail, you will be rewarded with a depth rarely achieved in any novel.
Is it worth it? IMHO - yes, without a doubt.
If your skipping pages, I recommend not picking up another space opera from any author.

The best thing with Pandora is that you can easily skip 1000+ pages and still understand the plot. As the world imagined by Peter Hamilton is almost exactly like ours (except that people live 500 years), you'll miss nothing.