This massive, densely plotted novel is the conclusion to last year’s Pandora’s Star and while there are cases where I complain about authors and publishers splitting single stories into multiple volumes for purely economic reasons, this is not one of them. Judas Unchained weighs in at 825 pages in the hardbound edition and my paperback copy of Star has 988. No doubt this is one story but at over 1800 pages I think Hamilton and Ballantine Books have earned their fee (though of course I read this courtesy of the MV Public Library).
Judas picks up immediately where Star left off: At the LA Galactic terminal, with Naval Security persuing the assassin of a Guardians of Selfhood courier. Without immediate success but the political repercussions–the courier was the lover of higly-placed Commonwealth senator–trigger actions that are key to staving off humanity’s extinction.
The two threads of plot from the first book, Inspector Paula Myo working to bring down the Guardians (who are themselves dedicated to bringing down the Starflyer alien) and the battle lead by Wilson Kime and Nigel Sheldon to save humanity from the Dyson Alpha Primes, run parallel for a while longer and then mash together in the race to the climax. I think I understood the connection some time before it was revealed but even so its very smart and well-fitted.
I really do prefer not to spoil plot points in my writeups but I don’t think anything mentioned in the previous paragraph will surprise anyone reading these novels. Hamilton, who I really do believe is vastly underrated in the list of science fiction authors, brings a huge amount of future tech creativity and thoughtful analysis of how they’ll impact behavior.
For example: Despite vast wealth and advanced medical technology, crime and criminals based on mental illness and greed are still around, albeit adapted to account for most everyone being pervasively connected to the network and able to physically defend themselves through inserts literally under the skin. There are no phones, one simply thinks about calling and the integral tech makes the connection through the uniquitous Unisphere, an internet that spans the scores of Human-settled worlds via always-on wormholes.
He doesn’t skimp on the characters either. Myo, genetically engineered for a law enforcement career, gets physically sick if she’s close enough to a criminal but not allowed (for reasons good or bad) to make an arrest, and progressively worse the longer the situation persists.
I’m getting a bad cold today, head feels so stuffy, so while I want to write more I’ll leave off here and encourage you to head to the library or bookstore and pick up these books so you can see for yourself.
absolutely recommended
BillSaysThis 