Misspent Youth [Hardcover]

Peter F Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 8, 2002

From the author of the magnificent 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, a provocative look at the days not too long after tomorrow It is forty years into the future and, following decades of research and trillions of Euros spent on genetics, Europe is finally in a position to rejuvenate a human being. As the first subject for treatment, is chosen Jeff Baker - the father of the datasphere (which replaced the internet) and philanthropist extraordinaire. After eighteen months in a German medical facility, the seventy-eight-year-old patient returns home looking like a healthy twenty-year-old. MISSPENT YOUTH follows the effect his reappearance has on his family and friends -- his young ex-model wife Sue, his teenage son Tim, and also on his long-term pals who are now themselves all pensioners, and starting to resent what Jeff has become. Bestselling author Peter F. Hamilton has brought his unique story-telling skills to bear on an aspect of future living that is bound to increasingly fascinate.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British space opera author Hamilton (The Dreaming Void) isn't quite up to his usual standards in this cautionary tale about tinkering with the human body. Several decades in the future, life has been revolutionized by the datasphere, the Internet's successor, made possible by the memory crystal. Its inventor, Jeff Baker, has been universally lionized following his altruistic refusal to patent the design. Baker, now 77, is selected by the Eurohealth Council as the guinea pig for a new biotechnology that replaces his aged genes, giving him the body of a 20-year-old. Unfortunately, the goal of the experiment—to have Baker's genius applied to energy conservation—is derailed by his raging hormones, which lead him to hit on every attractive woman in sight, including his teenage son's girlfriend. The predictable ensuing scenes of passion and parent-child conflict are not particularly interesting, and the unconvincing sentimental ending likewise disappoints. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Review

Praise for Peter F. Hamilton

Misspent Youth

“[A] genuinely superb novel by any standards . . . Not to be missed.”
–Starburst

The Dreaming Void

“Peter F. Hamilton [is the] owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction.”
–Ken Follett, author The Pillars of the Earth

Judas Unchained

“For flat-out huge wide-screen all-engines-at-full I-dare-you-not-to-believe-it space opera, there is no one quite like Peter F. Hamilton.”
–Richard K. Morgan, author of Altered Carbon and Thirteen

Pandora’s Star

“Should be high on everyone’s reading list . . . You won’t be able to put it down.”
–Nancy Pearl, National Public Radio

“Imaginative and stunning . . . a book of epic proportions not unlike Frank Herbert’s Dune or Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.”
–SFRevu


From the Hardcover edition. --This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 368 pages
• Publisher: Macmillan (November 8, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0333900707
• ISBN-13: 978-0333900703
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 2.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,231,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland in 1960, and still lives near Rutland Water. His previous novels are the Greg Mandel series and the bestselling 'Night's Dawn' trilogy: The Reality Dysfunction , The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God. Also published by Macmillan (and Pan) is A Second Chance at Eden, a novella and six short stories, and The Confederation Handbook, a vital guide to the 'Night's Dawn' trilogy. His most recent novels were Fallen Dragon, Misspent Youth, Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 26 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Ok, but not what I've come to expect from Hamilton, September 27, 2004

By 

John Howard "jrh1972" (Jacksonville, Florida) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Misspent Youth (Paperback)

Peter Hamilton is probably my favorite author for his Night's Dawn Trilogy, Fallen Dragon, and the recent Pandora's Star, so I had high hopes for this book as well. While this book isn't bad, it just doesn't live up to the standard set in Hamilton's other books.

First of all, this book is much more driven by the characters than the story or the setting, which is somewhat different than the other books I mentioned where Hamilton does a great job of creating a complicated believable setting for the stories to take place. This story is set much closer to the present, so he does not have as much leeway to mold the setting which is what he really seems to excel at. Despite this, however, I really thought that it would be interesting to see one of the technologies Hamilton uses so well to shape his stories in its infant stages instead of when it is already perfected and widespread. And that part of the story was pretty good. But the characters, while likeable and interesting, just weren't all that believable, which is more important in this story as it is driven mainly by the characters.

The first part of the story is spent painting Jeff as one kind of person, then throughout the story we see that he isn't that at all, but is something much different than we have been led to believe, and that also is pretty well done. The problem comes in towards the end of the story when we're again led to believe that he is the kind of person that we started with, despite the bulk of the story which assures us that he isn't. It just isn't very well done.

If you're a fan of Hamilton, this is probably worth reading, but just don't expect the same quality, or the same epic feel of some of his other work.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Missed opportunity but entertaining nonetheless, September 4, 2005

By 

PaulusdeBKB (Amsterdam, NL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Misspent Youth (Hardcover)

Being a fan of Peter F. Hamilton I would have bought this book blind, but the theme of rejuvenation and its implications for morality caught my interest as well. However, I'm sorry to say this book does not live up to the high standard I've come to expect from Hamilton. Perhaps Hamilton elected to write a novel that can finally be produced as a single movie?

In Misspent Youth, one man is given the opportunity to undergo an experimental rejuvenation treatment, with the tab picked up by the EU. Jeff Baker is chosen because of his enormous contribution to innovation by inventing the memory chrystals that are essential to the successor of the Internet. His elderly mind is given the body of his former twentyfive-ish self, with the understanding that he will apply his considerable intellectual powers to helping figure out a room temperature superconductor.

It all sounds pretty scifi so far, but in reality the book is a family drama more than anything else. What's an old man in a young body to do? Party, Drinks and Nookie of course! Preferably with his son's friends. However, the way that Baker strays seems, well, a bit mundane. The real questions, like how to determine the age of someone rejuvenated (by memories or by appearance) are only touched upon, but not fleshed out.

The story quickly degenerates into a tale of love, lust and jealousy, with Jeff and his son Tim as the main antagonists. Of course by the end of the book everything is neatly wrapped up but it takes a lot of increasingly unrealistic sex scenes to get there.

That said, I did have a very good time reading the book. Hamilton has a knack for portraying girls and women we would all like to fall in love with (or be like). As a holiday novel, this should easily get you through a long tedious flight or a few days at the beach. Bring sunscreen!

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Choose any other Hamilton title, October 6, 2005

By 

Alan Islandglade - See all my reviews

This review is from: Misspent Youth (Paperback)

What utter crap.

After reading the Night's Dawn trilogy and Fallen Dragon, I eagerly snatched and bought this one. While the concept of rejuvenation hasn't been explored fully, and the way in which Hamilton deals with EU politics of the future is entertaining enough, the novel's degeneration into bad character development and description, lousy ending and all-too-predictable scenes made me wonder if it was the same author.

All in all, one star for the steamy scenes - just because you don't get much of those in mature SF - and one star for the well-developed world - because after all my ranting, it is still a good setting. But the book as a complete work is bad. Very bad.