The Naked God, Part 2: Faith [Mass Market Paperback]

Peter F. Hamilton (Author)

Book Description

Series: Naked God | Publication Date: December 1, 2000

The long-awaited epic finale to "The Reality Dysfunction" and "The Neutronium Alchemist" is now here. On Earth, satanist Quinn Dexter possesses a new army of the damned, using them to initiate the annihilation of all Creation. At the same time, Joshua Calvert and Syrinx take their ships in search of an alien god which may hold the solution to the current crisis.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland in 1960, and still lives near Rutland Water with his wife and daughter. He began writing in 1987, and sold his first short story to Fear magazine in 1988. He has also been published in Interzone and the In Dreams and New Worlds anthologies, and several small-press publications. His previous novels include the Greg Mandel series: Mindstar Rising, A Quantum Murder and The Nano Flower and the 'Night's Dawn' trilogy: The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God, which established him as Britain's bestselling writer of science fiction and a major name in global science fiction writing. His ten novels and one handbook (a vital guide to the 'Night's Dawn' trilogy) have sold almost two million copies worldwide.

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 778 pages
• Publisher: Aspect (December 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0446605182
• ISBN-13: 978-0446605182
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (33 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #618,215 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Series, But Not For Everyone, February 24, 2005

By 

David A. Lessnau (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Naked God, Part 2: Faith (Mass Market Paperback)

There are six books in Peter F. Hamilton's "Night's Dawn" series:

- "The Reality Dysfunction - Part 1: Emergence,"
- "The Reality Dysfunction - Part 2: Expansion,"
- "The Neutronium Alchemist - Part 1: Consolidation,"
- "The Neutronium Alchemist - Part 2: Conflict,"
- "The Naked God - Part 1: Flight," and
- "The Naked God - Part 2: Faith."

Be warned: you CANNOT read these books individually. They are, essentially, chapters in one whopping great book. If you like the first book, then you'll have to read the other five books in order. There's no tie-up of any sort between any of the books. The publisher just broke the story up because it totals over 3,000 pages. If you pick up a book before you've read all the previous books (in order), put it down. It won't mean anything to you. Since these books are entirely dependent on each other, I'm writing this review on the series as a whole, not on the individual books.

This is one of the greatest science fiction sagas written. It ranks up there with David Brin's "Uplift Saga." It is literally a story of good vs evil and shows some of the potential (and pitfalls) of the human race. Over the years, I've read the whole series five times, and I still love it. I really only have two gripes with the book. First, and this is unavoidable in what Hamilton is doing, the evil in the series is definitely, graphically evil. This is not a book where the villain twists his mustache and laughs "nyah hah hah" as he forecloses on the orphanage or ties the heroine to the railroad tracks. The writing is fairly graphic in a lot of places. After five readings, this gets a bit wearing. My second gripe is one which somewhat limits the audience of the series (even more so than the evilness presented, and it's why I've given the series four stars instead of five): there's too much sex and the writing about it is too graphic. This is a problem with all of Hamilton's books, but it seems more prevalent in this series. Because of this, I wouldn't recommend the book for your children to read. But, as long as you're aware of that, I highly recommend the series and give it 4 stars out of five.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Deus Ex Machina That Wasn't, January 16, 2005

By 

Pop Culture Dropout - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Naked God, Part 2: Faith (Mass Market Paperback)

Warning: This review contains spoilers.

As other reviewers have said, Hamilton's 27th century is a fascinating place. I haven't felt this excited about a future history since I first encountered Iain M. Banks's Culture novels. I did find the ethnic-streaming colonization policy rather ridiculous, based as it is on contemporary racial stereotypes; the female characters can also be somewhat annoying. However, these are just cavils. I got tremendous pleasure out of this space opera. Hamilton's mingling of SF and horror is visionary in scale and potential. Imagine Banks possessed by the soul of Stephen King. Breathtaking.

It could have been so much more.

Few and far between are hard SF authors who tackle theological issues dead on. For the first 4000 pages of his opus, Hamilton seems to break the mould. He manipulates points of view with virtuosic skill, introducing ghosts, souls in what looks like purgatory, otherdimensional entities that look like demons, and an exorcism that actually works, and in the process he manages to make the question "Does God exist?" one of burning importance to reader and characters alike. In "The Naked God: Faith," the last sixth of the "trilogy," he leads us towards an encounter with something called the "Sleeping God." It turns out to be basically a xenoc Tardis, solves all the characters' outstanding problems in one go, and fixes our hero's commitment issues to boot. In the last few pages of the book, which celebrate the human race's potential for growth and greatness, the gospel according to Hamilton becomes quite clear: 1) Believe in yourself. 2) If you are an educated atheist you have a good chance of "transcending" the dimension that equates to purgatory. Why? Because educated atheists believe in themselves, apparently.

Shame on you, Hamilton, for taking the coward's way out. I feel as if I'd climbed Everest and found nothing but an empty crisp packet at the top.

It was extremely good fun on the way up, though, so I'm still going to give this four stars.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Stop nagging and tell people to buy this book!, February 1, 2001

By 

E. Schizas (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Naked God, Part 2: Faith (Mass Market Paperback)

...>1st and foremost: The Night's Dawn is one of the most ambitious series ever written. Compared to most of the latest articles in the science fiction and fantasy genres, it whips bottom. Simple as that. It is an ingenious masterpiece.

You would have expected, for example, a brilliant beginning as the 27th century universe is unfurled (which you got in the previous volumes), then a slowing of the world-making and an increase in focused action and character-building. This is not the case with Naked God. It carries you deeper into the world of the Galaxy-spanning Confederation than any of the other volumes, and it provides one with insights into the future which tiptoe on the edge of prophesy. At the same time, the action (and tension) just keeps on building, and the characters are not only fleshed out, but allowed to evovle and become more complex, as well. Therefore, the two stars I usually reserve for writing strategy and technique are mr Hamilton's by right.

On to the prose, which is absolutely wonderful in the sense that Hamilton can juggle the roles of in-the-character's-head narrator, the character's thoughts tinging his prose, and the superior Gods-eye-view narrator who knows all and sees all. He can juggle that seamlessly. It is simply as natural as one could hope for, throughout all three novels. Three stars.

As for genre-capability, the ability of giving the genre reader what he/she has been looking for, in this case very plausible high-powered gadgetry, aliens and all the essentials of a 27th century setting, Hamilton simply excels. I fail to see how it could possibly get better. The Naked God brings even more obscure actual and fictitious science into the series than its predecessors. Unbeleivers, read his account of the Mosdva. Four stars.

So far, Naked God and the other Night's Dawn books are so perfect, there's no sense of proportion to the whole series. It is too good.

Now let's talk about the much discussed deus ex machina ending. It's a very bad ending. in fact, I'd say it is pathetic. Too wishy-washily magical. Too good to be true, and too short. OK, satisfied? But, first of all it IS an ending. How many series have I read that just go on and on (ring a bell?) while the author becomes fabulously rich and his readers start going into comas... And even if some of those supra-genial reviewers don't think it challenges their intellect sufficiently, it wraps everything up in a way that is INTERNALLY plausible. Which is to say, it is not contradictory or unsuitable. It's just too hurried and clumsy. I will still indulge these people and hold back my fifth star which, up to page 1200, I would have given away gladly.

Now, does the bad ending mar a good series? I don't think so. For 30 pages of disappointment, Hamilton has written 3000 pages of pure genious! Compare it to Robert Jordan's 100 pages of action for thousands of pages of drawn-out bore, and you'll see what this guy Hamilton is worth.

Reviewers such as mr. Eftychiou (reviewing Naked God: Flight) should not mistake bile for style. Giving extreme ratings for minor failings is not an indication of character.

Buy these books, everyone. You stand to lose nothing at all.