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61 of 63 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Three-Hundred-Page Climax, October 30, 2007
"Judas Unchained" is the third volume in Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga, following immediately upon the events detailed in "Pandora's Star". (The earlier "Misspent Youth" is set much earlier in this universe's timeline.) In fact, the reader is plunged immediately into this volume without the slightest recap of what has gone before. Under no circumstances should you read this without picking up the prequel, and if you expect the author to refresh your memory upon any point whatsoever, you will be sadly disappointed. You had best be equipped with a phenomenal memory, since Hamilton is not above referring to events that were mentioned once some seventeen hundred pages ago and which now come to be seen as absolutely critical. Yes, these books are massive, and possibly hundreds of pages could've easily been trimmed. The author is a little too fond of turning a simple sentence such as "The road climbed to the top of the hill" into "The glittering ribbon of enzyme-bonded concrete, laid down 175 years ago by automated Tarmac Master 3170 roadbots imported from the Big15 world of Cyborgia, wound its way upward to the crest of the ancient hill, which was composed of an agglomerate of metamorphic gneiss and basalt and which had been puked up by a volcanic eruption geologic epochs ago in the planet's tormented evolutionary past." Indeed, I can assure you that you will very soon be sick of the phrase "enzyme-bonded concrete", which I can only conclude must be set up on a macro on Hamilton's keyboard. I also hate the amateurish cover, which is an abomination. With that said, this is a worthy if bloated conclusion to the tale of humanity's struggle for survival against the Primes and the manipulative Starflyer. Can the Commonwealth stop MorningLightMountain? Will the fabulously wealthy and brilliant but amusingly dude-like Ozzie ever escape from the Silfen paths? Who are the Starflyer's agents, and can the Starflyer itself be stopped from escaping into the interstellar void? Will Mellanie find true love? There are dozens of characters, a few of them sketched out in some depth, and many introduced with a few quick descriptive strokes so that they serve the same purpose as the Fat Guy, the Country Bumpkin, and the Brooklyn Hustler in old WWII movies--which is to say, so that you feel a minor twinge of regret when they take a hyper-rifle shot to the head during the epic battle at the end. By "the end", I mean roughly the last third of the book, which becomes an ultra-supra-mega-extended climax, sort of like the final chase scene in "The Road Warrior", but spanning thousands of miles, multiple worlds, and several weeks, and with 100% less Feral Kid. (In my opinion it's a bit ludicrous that in over a century, the Starflyer never bothered itself to import a flippin' plane to Far Away so that it could get back to the "Marie Celeste" in a couple of hours instead of two weeks.) Basically every form of transport gets involved, except for tuk-tuks and rollerblades. And enough firepower is unleashed to blast opponents so hard that not only are they atomized, but all of their parallel universe incarnations get wuss-slapped as well. It's actually fairly gripping stuff and there's plenty of variety for everyone and a truly gigantic cast. As others have noted, the key figure of Paula Myo gets short shrift, and to the end she remains a cypher, and almost literally genetically incapable of real growth. Others get their opportunity for change, particularly Wilson Kime, Oscar Monroe, and Alic Hogan. Still others just drop out well before the end, particularly Justine Burnelli, and despite anvil-like hints dropped left and right, there's ultimately no wrap-up for Tiger Pansy and Qatux. And plenty of characters just get exploded into a fine red mist. Others that seemed quite minor originally end up seizing center stage, such as Mark Vernon and Morton. Overall, I rather liked it, although I'm disappointed that the author was so exhausted at the end that we get only 20 pages or so to see what happened to everyone in the wake of Armageddon. I also had a bit of a problem with Ozzie's insistence that Nigel Sheldon's plan to eradicate the Primes was a horrifying crime that would destroy the soul of humanity for all of eternity. Let's see...MorningLightMountain has occupied and devastated dozens of planets, killed millions, and has refused all negotiation and compromise, and his only goal is literally killing every single form of non-Prime life in the entire galaxy. His race, which has already obliterated an entire alien species centuries ago, is so feared that they'd been forcibly quarantined by some now-vanished self-appointed galactic guardians, and everyone admits that if MLM is not stopped, he'll completely destroy every man, woman, and child. I dunno...I guess under those circumstances, I'd...fight back? And try to kill this implacable enemy? Ozzie's insistence that we should risk our own extermination on a long-shot alternative does nothing more than boggle the mind. However, he's Ozzie, and therefore probably right. At any rate...the story continues, 1,500 years or so later, in the Void trilogy, the first volume of which, "The Dreaming Void", is now available. From what I've heard, some beloved characters from this present duology are just mentioned in passing, while some are still around and active, and there are surprising revelations about the Raiel. I'll probably run the risk of serious back injury in picking up the latest titanic tome, but I'll be there nonetheless.
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32 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The opposing view to Arthur C. Clarke's short story "Superiority", July 2, 2006
Before you read this review, consider my prior review of James Hamilton's superb "Pandora's Star" to which I awarded five stars. "Pandora's Star" blew me away with its deft juggling of numerous plots and sub-plots, and creation of a universe consisting of near-immortality, stable wormholes, hundreds of human populated planets, the "Silfen Paths," the released "Primes," and numerous other relatively sophisticated sci-fi concepts. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same way -- not even close -- about the ponderous "Judas Unchained," though I still think its worthy of 3 stars since Hamilton is such a talented writer in the space opera genre. First, I have to say that it took me about 100 pages to get back into this universe since Hamilton decided to begin the book with sub-plots even in the face of alien invasion and potential human extinction. Second, well over 100 tedious pages towards the end are devoted to a bizarre futuristic "Road Warriors" sequence, where the Navy and Guardians in vehicles (Toyotas and Volvos no less!) are chasing down the Starflyer and its entourage. Third, even though I wanted the book to end already, I thought that the concluding chapter felt sought of like Hamilton was trying to meet a deadline, and to conclude everything on an optimistic note. Along the way, I was puzzled over the following [spoilers!!!]: 1. While Hamilton thankfully provided a "Dramatis Personae," why not also give us a glossary with locations, technology, space ships, etc. ala Tolkien or Robert Jordan? I found the jumping around of locations was especially confusing. 2. Hamilton should read Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority." In that short story, an alien race, way behind humans in military space technology, nevertheless win the war, because while the aliens kept making multitudes of small mobile spaceships, the human leaders insisted on developing increasingly elaborate weapons. Clarke's point seemingly was that you can't always rely on developing futuristic technology -- there's no substitute for brute manpower. You might say that "Judas Unchained" is the anti-"Superiority." 3. Why in the world would Ozzie, or anyone else, think that restoring the Barrier around Alpha Prime would solve anything? The Barrier was opened once, and it could be easily opened again, especially with all those Primes on the loose. Remember, MorningLightMountain's technological know-how continues to grow, especially with humans around who all have implanted memory chips (all that has to happen is an advanced weapons human scientist falls into the hands of the Primes). Wasn't it the Starflyer who figured out how to shut the barrier down? So tell me why Ozzie thinks that this won't happen again sooner rather than later? 4. If a train or a truck, protected by a force-field, is carrying your enemy, why not bomb the track or road in front of it? Or, for that matter, bury some bombs in the ground (i.e. powerful land mines) where the train or truck is headed, wait until it passes over, then KABOOM!! (The force field can't cover the entire bottom because the wheels are in contact with the ground). 5. Why exactly couldn't a wormhole be opened near Far Away, and a serious weapon be used on The Institute and/or the Marie Celeste? What was all that nonsense about the weather and "The Planet's Revenge?" What exactly did Wilson accomplish when he reached the top of that tall mountain on Far Away in the hyperglider? Did he have some sort of special equipment that Oscar and Anna also must have had? None of this really made any sense to me. 6. What did we learn about the SI in "Judas Unchained?" How about Tochee or the Barsoomians, or the aliens who built the High Angel? O.K. I guess Hamilton isn't obligated to explain everything. 7. When Bradley finally gets near the Starflyer, did Hamilton really have to so closely rip off the scene where Captain Janeway and co. infiltrated the Borg, from Star Trek Voyager? 8. Does the gorgeous, intelligent, talented, SI-protected Mellanie have to fall in love with every man she sleeps with? I guess this isn't so important, I just want to know. In conclusion: "Pandora's Star" was excellent; "Judas Unchained" not nearly as good. But, if you're like me, you really need to see how everything from the first book turns out.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great in parts, but overlong and uneven, November 26, 2007
"Judas Unchained" is the sequel to "Pandora's Star" and make no mistake, the two of these novels are really one big story. Don't even think about trying to read "Judas Unchained" before reading "Pandora's Star." It is nearly impossible to review "Judas Unchained" without the risk of spoiling "Pandora's Star" for those who have not read it; if you have not yet read the latter novel, do not continue on reading this review. These novels are essentially a prognostication of mankind's future starting about 70 years from now, at which time humanity discovers cheap and practical interstellar travel. This is accomplished both by means of "wormholes" (instantaneous gateways to distant locations) or by faster-than-light starships which are powered by the same wormhole principle. The gateways are so practical that mankind initially builds no starships, but quickly colonizes hundreds of planets that are linked electronically and physically by wormholes, and the Intersolar Commonwealth comes into being, which is a loose government comprised of Earth and most of the colonized worlds. The strength of these novels is that author Hamilton's speculations along these lines is ingenious, mostly not implausible, and really does represent an optimistic and indeed dazzling vision of the future. The Commonwealth really does behave about the way a modern technological republican (small "r") society would behave, and Hamilton's speculations about technology are for the most part fascinating even if the reader is skeptical about some of them. "Pandora's Star" is about the Commonwealth's discovery of a distant star that is suddenly enveloped in a force field (i.e. a "Dyson Sphere") which contains--something. "Judas Unchained" is about the Commonwealth's conflict with this intelligence, (the "Prime" entity) and how it is resolved. Hamilton's approach to writing these stories is to have numerous, seemingly disconnected, storylines and characters, which gradually come together as the story reaches its climax in "Judas Unchained." This approach both succeeds and fails. It succeeds because this technique really does acquaint the reader with the Intersolar Commonwealth and the technology and society that it represents, and this is a fascinating trip for the reader. This approach was probably essential in "Pandora's Star" which, after all, sets the stage for the conclusion in "Judas Unchained." Unfortunately, "Judas Unchained" does not seek to profit from the reader's familiarity (after reading "Pandora's Star") with this setting. Instead, it continues the disconnected storyline approach, and in my opinion Hamilton's writing in most of the novel becomes jumbled, and downright hard to follow at times--a tedious hard slog. In fact, in "Judas Unchained" rarely has a good writer (and Hamilton is that) needed a ruthless editor more. Much of this novel should have been cut, condensed, or thrown out as overlong, wordy, and unnecessary. Hamilton is quite capable of writing in a clearer and more engaging style--this is shown repeatedly in the novel; for example, the second big space battle where the Prime entity seeks to overrun the second group of Commonwealth planets. This battle makes for fascinating reading, and was quite interesting. My other main criticism of this novel is that in parts it degenerates into slapstick. There are parts where Hamilton is not taking his own story seriously, and I have no idea why he suddenly resorts to this kind of humor. This is a story about man's expansion into the galaxy, and what we find there (prosperity, conflict, and friends, among other things) and it stands very well on that basis. My attitude in reading "Judas Unchained" was that once the unserious humor started (mostly unlike "Pandora's Star") my commitment to the novel waned. And this is a long, wordy, complicated story that requires commitment on the part of the reader, and Hamilton's humor is much less skillful than his speculations as to future technology and its effect on mankind and our society. Overall, this is worth reading, essential, really, if you read and enjoy "Pandora's Star" but it could have been much better.
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