Customer Reviews

The Reality Dysfunction Part 1: Emergence

5 star:		(83)
4 star:		(43)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(21)
1 star:		(21)

 

 

I waited until I had read all six vols. of this marathon. Thus what I'm going to say relates to the entire series, not just this first part. As to the first part, it will suck you in with the hope that all of the following five long, long, long episodes are as good; they are not. Nothing about the final books is as good as the first, or even the second.

Marion Zimmer Bradley says (Why Stories Get Rejected) that one of the fatal errors of science fiction is resorting to some outside power to resolve the story rather than having the main character(s) do it on their own. This series has outside forces to spare. One is introduced in the first installment, but seems to be put in hibernation. But in each subsequent book more and more unexplainable outside forces, omipotent, all-intelligent, supra-normal, beings or forces come on the scene. And the end. . .well, let's just say the main characters DO NOT resolve the issues by themselves.

Another thing about this series that got my goat was the disappearance of primary characters at the drop of a word processor. The first two books and the middle two books (The Neutronium Alchemist) introduce a plot and characters that simply disappear on a single page toward the end of the fourth installment (oh, one of them comes back as a crew-member, but of no signifigance). This disregard for plot line and point-of-view really drove me crazy. I kept expecting them to come back right up to the end. For example, the main character has a brother suddenly show up and present a nice plot twist. Is the twist resolved? No, the brother just disappears into the background (as another crew member).

I realize that long, long, long series are all the rage in SF these days, but the last couple of books in this series don't make any sense. I was not only disappointed, I was down right ticked off that I'd been tricked into spending my money but worse, my time. I finished this series in Australia but hauled the final book back with me so that I could rail about it.

I probably should give this one or two stars, but in all fairness, the first two books, and maybe the third, were pretty good. Especially the action descriptions. But, if you are looking for this entire series to be of that quality, you will be very upset.

This is the first part of a 6 book (3 2-part books) series spanning over 3500 pages. It is not actually 6 books or even 3, but one incredibly long novel. The breaks at the end of each book are strictly for purposes of publishing and binding, and have little or nothing to do with natural break points in the story. None of the books stands on its own, so don't even think about starting this one unless you intend to read all 3500+ pages.

I cannot fathom why the book is so long. I seems to me that it could have been shortened by at least 50% with absolutely no loss of content or style. But this is consistent with what appears to be an overall complete lack of editorial input throughout all the volumes. There are tons of grammatical errors and typos that could have been fixed by a decent editor but weren't. But these aside Hamilton is still only a mediocre writer who lacks the ability possessed in spades by colleagues like Bear, Brin and Benford.

The main plot idea is great - souls of dead people returning from the "beyond" to "possess" living humans. The universe that Hamilton constructs, with nanobiotech playing a central role is also fascinating.

However, although sounding like a hard sf novel, there is actually very little in the way of mechanistic explanations for any of the really cool stuff like "affinity bonding", a form of telepathy, or the "neural nanonic" implants that lots of folks have. Instead we are supposed to basically take all these things and more on faith.

The last 100 pages of the last book wrap things up in a nice neat little package, but in a way that is ultimately not very satisfying.

All in all, a valiant effort but one that the author couldn't quite pull off.

I've read all four books released to date (two Dysfunctions and two Alchemists) and I hope the next two are the end. I hate the bloatedness that has crept into science fiction. Who needs 3600 pages to tell the story of "Intergalactic Night of the Living Dead?" This is even more annoying because Hamilton is a pretty good writer and he is wasting his time and his words on this decent but extremely thinly plotted epic of space opera. Chtorr, by way of comparison, *needs* thousands of pages, but this silly adventure could have been completed in a single volume. Its punch line is not going to improve with age, nor as a result of this story's incredible bulk. I'd rather be reading more Quantum Murders, thank you very much.

Peter F Hamilton paints vivid images with his stories. The characters are engaging, imaginative, and relatable. His worlds are logical (Spock would expect no less) and other worldly. The situations that the main characters find them selves in, and his story arcs are believable and entertaining. All his books are massive in concept and page count with this story coming in at 1200+ pages.

But reading his books are a pure escape and time just flies. Hamilton also combines science fiction with fantasy and does both genres justice in his books. As you have already guessed I am a huge fan.

In the beginning we find Dr Alkad Mzu aboard the attack cruiser Beezling when it is attacked by three blackhawks (superior fighting ships) from the Omuta. Dr Mzu had had the cruiser bring her and a device called the Alchemist, which is a star buster, to be hidden until required. The Confederation has adopted this as last resort type of weapon. The attack is successful in that they are now stranded 7 light years from the nearest planet. And we basically leave her there for most of the rest of the book.

We then move to the Ly-cilph home world. After a mere 800 million years the Ly-Cilph claimed a victory when they reached the pinnacle of their evolution - they became transcendent entities.

We then meet the Voidhawk Iasius who has returned to Saturn to die. Voidhawks are born and are affinity linked to their pilots and other Voidhawks.

We soon get into the meat of the book which is the over running of Lalonde. Quinn Dexter, just a punk if you will, is soon in the middle of taking over the planet of 20 million people. Having found the dark brother he starts taking over people by a type of possession, or sequestration as the off planet citizens call it.

The dark brother can allow souls to come back and inhabit the bodies of their hosts. According to the story there is no heaven or hell just purgatory where you are held. You are aware of what is happening but unable to do anything about it. So of course all the souls want to inhabit a body.

The souls have incredible powers including the ability to throw bolts of lightning, assume any shape, create illusions and of course take over other bodies so more souls can come through. They also interfere with anything electrical or electronic.

The news from Lalonde soon gets out and the Royal Fleet is sent to investigate as well as a fleet of mercenaries hired by Lalonde.

There are epic battles with the possessed on Lalonde and in fact some of the possessed escape the world to move out and take over other planets and settlements.

This is an epic theme to cover and there are many entertaining characters throughout the book.

This is the first book of a trilogy called The Night's Dawn Trilogy" with the second book being "The Neutronium Alchemist" and the final book being "The Naked God"

Having now read the first and second books in this trilogy; I HIGHLY RECOMMEND ALL THREE

Impossible to read only one of this series - you must read all 6 books and you will be hooked after this first one. Very complicated plot involving a huge range of characters which is a bit confusing at first but gradually all the threads draw together. The hard sci fi is very well done, some of the relationships are not as well done, but it does keep you interested. Other reviews have mentioned the graphic violence, which is at times hard to read, but Hamilton is attempting to get across the true nature of evil and the violence does indeed convey that. And lots of very creative characters such as the xenocs , as well as the sentient habitants and voidhawks. Overall, I think most sci fi fans will enjoy this immensely.

For hard core Sci-Fi, the "Night's Dawn" Trilogy has it ALL!!!He-Man heroes, classy heroines, nasty bad guys (not to Even forget THE DEAD RETURNING!!!) New Worlds and Old;Aliens, space battles, suspense, intergalactic conflict and politics; who could ask for MORE? Starships, living space habitats, Biotech, Neurotech, Cyborgs, Genetic Engineering; it's all here; just be prepared to read nothing else for the next couple of MONTHS, 'cause this one is IT!! I originally was hooked into this Epic in the Hardcover Sci-Fi Book Club Edition, buying "The Neutronium Alchemist" first (somehow, I missed "The Reality Disfunction" when first offered; then had to wait another two weeks for that delivery rather than read the story out of sequence. THEN was forced to go through several cowhides, chewing leather and making a complete nuisance of myself until "The Naked God" was finally published and released in Nov. '99. BOTTOM LINE: If you're going to dive into this Epic, Buy the complete Trilogy as a complete set and be prepared to be enthralled by a whole new universe of the caliber of Heinlein, Asimov, or Clarke (and to stay for awhile!!!)

Having just spent the best part of 6 weeks working my way through 3 volumes & the best part of 4000 pages, I can honestly say I have yet to read anything else like it in the SF genre. From astounding technologies & adventures, to a detailed examination of both the best & worst the human race has to offer, this series has it all.

I will not outline what this series is about - many other reviewers have done that more adroitly than I could possibly manage, but the journeys of Captain Joshua Calvert, intertwined with the people that he meets along the way, as well as the struggles of people such as Ione & Louise are incredibly detailed and offer you a realistic view of how the universe may unfold in 5-600 years time.

This, combined with Hamiltons insightful (& sometimes downright violent) views of human nature leave you wanting more.

You come out the other end of this series with a different perspective on "life, the universe & everything" to borrow a well known phrase.

Buy, Read & Enjoy. Just be prepared for many sleepless nights!

I liked the first part of this book, and part 2. It's too long, though. I'd say this book could be one third the size and be 10x more enjoyable. There are just too many very, very long descriptions of situations, people, places and items which are just plain boring. I found myself skipping over these long interludes.

Also, I was disappointed in the end. Not because it didn't wrap everything up in a tidy little bundle, but because the thread he chose to resolve was the least interesting, in my opinion. There were lots of other threads that were completely unexplored. Perhaps the rest of them will be tied up or discussed more in future novels? I won't be reading them.

The story develops in a very insteresting universe. It has high quality violence that includes great space battles. The main characters are interesting and likable. It mixes well sci-fi, horror, and historical figures.

In a future where humans are successfully colonizing the galaxy, something terrible begins to stir on the otherwise insignificant jungle planet Lalonde. Although this volume serves mainly to set the stage, it is clear that the known universe is about to be thrown into chaos.

This series has provoked very polarized responses. Many of the negative reviews come from reviewers who have read more of the series than I have, but based on this first installment I come down firmly on the positive side. Peter Hamilton has imagined a fascinating universe and relates it in amazingly intricate detail. Some have criticized the book for its sexuality and violence, but I would like to point out that this aspect of the book is far outweighed by pages and pages of material on the effect of technology on human society, the economies of interstellar colonies, the geographies of worlds both natural and artificial, and dozens of interesting characters, resulting in a truly impressive and plausible feat of universe-building. I can't recall another SF novel that so successfully underscores the importance of economics and commercial activity in conquering frontiers and establishing colonies; the result is a universe that believeably includes both bioengineered telepathic starships and primitive worlds that still rely largely on pre-20th-century technology. All of this explication has led some to criticize the series for getting off to a slow start, but I enjoyed this read immensely.

I did think that the publisher's way of splitting the volume in two parts was unfortunate. From the way events just seem to peter out instead of building to some kind of cliff-hanging moment of suspense, it is clear that Hamilton did not intend for his story to be presented in this way.