4.0
A Night Without Stars
ByPublisher Description
Bestselling author Peter F. Hamilton returns to his acclaimed Commonwealth series in this thrilling follow-up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams. Featuring Hamilton’s trademark blend of intricate plotting, riveting suspense, high-concept science, and vivid characters, A Night Without Stars brings the story to a fully satisfying finish.
After centuries trapped inside the Void, the planet Bienvenido—along with its inhabitants, both human and Faller—has been expelled into normal space. But the survivors are millions of light-years from the Commonwealth, which knows nothing of their existence. As the two races plunge into mortal conflict for sole possession of the planet, the humans seem destined to lose—despite the assistance of the mysterious Warrior Angel, who possesses forbidden Commonwealth technology.
With the Fallers’ numbers growing, and their ability to mimic humans allowing them to infiltrate all levels of society, it’s only a matter of time before they surge to victory. Then, on a routine space flight, Major Ry Evine inadvertently frees a captive vessel that crash-lands on Bienvenido carrying the last, best hope for human survival: a baby. But a far from ordinary one.
The child not only ages at a remarkable rate but demonstrates knowledge and abilities far beyond those of Bienvenido’s humans. Hunted by Fallers and humans alike, she is a crucial link to humanity’s lost past—and a glorious future already almost out of reach.
Praise for A Night Without Stars
“Roars relentlessly along in utterly mesmerizing style, with edge-of-the-seat plotting, thrilling action, and knife-edge tension that will leave readers gasping. An atomic blast of a yarn. Hamilton in peak form and absolutely not to be missed.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[An] interstellar adventure with espionage, old-style space exploration, and the story of a fugitive who carries the hope of salvation.”—Publishers Weekly
“An action-packed page-turner . . . It’s a joy to witness such a master of science fiction at work.”—SFFWorld
Praise for Peter F. Hamilton’s The Abyss Beyond Dreams
“Incredibly robust and exciting and rousing, sharing flavors of Jack Vance, John Wright, China Miéville, Orson Scott Card, and A. E. van Vogt . . . Hamilton’s deployment of lots of grand super-science is utterly deft and convincing.”—Locus
“Engrossing . . . The characters, always Hamilton’s strength, remain as distinctive as ever.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Everything one wants in sf—great characters, mind bending stuff, adventure, politics, romance, revolution . . . just superb.”—Fantasy Book Critic
“The work of an author at the top of his game.”—SFFWorld
After centuries trapped inside the Void, the planet Bienvenido—along with its inhabitants, both human and Faller—has been expelled into normal space. But the survivors are millions of light-years from the Commonwealth, which knows nothing of their existence. As the two races plunge into mortal conflict for sole possession of the planet, the humans seem destined to lose—despite the assistance of the mysterious Warrior Angel, who possesses forbidden Commonwealth technology.
With the Fallers’ numbers growing, and their ability to mimic humans allowing them to infiltrate all levels of society, it’s only a matter of time before they surge to victory. Then, on a routine space flight, Major Ry Evine inadvertently frees a captive vessel that crash-lands on Bienvenido carrying the last, best hope for human survival: a baby. But a far from ordinary one.
The child not only ages at a remarkable rate but demonstrates knowledge and abilities far beyond those of Bienvenido’s humans. Hunted by Fallers and humans alike, she is a crucial link to humanity’s lost past—and a glorious future already almost out of reach.
Praise for A Night Without Stars
“Roars relentlessly along in utterly mesmerizing style, with edge-of-the-seat plotting, thrilling action, and knife-edge tension that will leave readers gasping. An atomic blast of a yarn. Hamilton in peak form and absolutely not to be missed.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[An] interstellar adventure with espionage, old-style space exploration, and the story of a fugitive who carries the hope of salvation.”—Publishers Weekly
“An action-packed page-turner . . . It’s a joy to witness such a master of science fiction at work.”—SFFWorld
Praise for Peter F. Hamilton’s The Abyss Beyond Dreams
“Incredibly robust and exciting and rousing, sharing flavors of Jack Vance, John Wright, China Miéville, Orson Scott Card, and A. E. van Vogt . . . Hamilton’s deployment of lots of grand super-science is utterly deft and convincing.”—Locus
“Engrossing . . . The characters, always Hamilton’s strength, remain as distinctive as ever.”—Kirkus Reviews
“Everything one wants in sf—great characters, mind bending stuff, adventure, politics, romance, revolution . . . just superb.”—Fantasy Book Critic
“The work of an author at the top of his game.”—SFFWorld
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesA Night Without Stars Reviews
4.0
David Sasik
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“Oof. Not gonna lie, this one was hard to get through. It seemed like there was a really cool, sci-fi story of survival trapped inside of a story about a paranoid government that finds time to subjugate half of its population even in the face of imminent destruction. I'm talking, of course, about the PSR storyline. There were parts of A Night Without Stars that reeeeaally dragged thanks to the PSR, Chaing, and Jenifa storylines. It was very bureaucratic and relied heavily on investigative procedure (which we know Peter F Hamilton LOVES). The PSR part of this book had the same problems as the Slvasta storyline from The Abyss Beyond Dreams in that it didn't really feel like it mattered to the overall story. It also didn't have nearly enough sci-fi elements to it for my taste (imagine America in the 1950s/60s with a McCarthy-level paranoia toward anything advanced or technological).
That being said, there were a lot of good parts of A Night Without Stars. Florian is a highlight for me and all of his chapters where he takes care of Essie were really cute. The Warrior Angel and Ry were a lot of fun too. My personal favorite part of the book is the section that takes place in the "arctic" of Bienvenido. It felt like the plot picked up some momentum right around there.
I wish that the Fallers had been more present in this book. Instead, it seemed like the PSR government was the enemy. The Fallers were terrifying in the first 100 pages of The Abyss Beyond Dreams and I wish we could've had more altercations with such a badass, monster-y villain.
Overall, the two Faller books feel like a coda to the overall Commonwealth saga and I'm definitely glad that I read them. I do wish there had been more emphasis on the sci-fi elements of the book and much less emphasis on politics and bureaucracy.
Was going to give A Night Without Stars 3.5⭐️, but I'll give 3.75⭐️ for the nicely wrapped up ending, nostalgia fix, and fan service Hamilton gives us at the end.
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Phew! Now, that I'm done with the Commonwealth Saga, here is my ranking of all the books, most favorite to least:
- Judas Unchained
- Pandora's Star
- The Temporal Void
- The Evolutionary Void
- The Dreaming Void
- A Night Without Stars
- The Abyss Beyond Dreams
Definitely worth reading but not for the faint of heart!”
Ben Joels
Created 9 months agoShare
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alex blewett
Created 9 months agoShare
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Shadow Reading
Created 10 months agoShare
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“Fan Service in the form of a novel.
Being a fan of Peter Hamilton I enjoyed some of the service but I hope he goes back to telling interesting stories and doesn’t repeat this weird and hollow form of fan service.
Commonwealth I loved you, but it’s time to die already.”
About Peter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton is the author of numerous novels, including The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Great North Road, The Evolutionary Void, The Temporal Void, The Dreaming Void, Judas Unchained, Pandora’s Star, Misspent Youth, Fallen Dragon, and the acclaimed epic Night’s Dawn trilogy (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God). He lives with his family in England.
Other books by Peter F. Hamilton
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