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Two books in one.

The first one is a bit bumpy read, a rough ride, although not bad overall, not on the level I am used from Peter F. Hamilton. So 2/5

But, the second book is way better, with a compelling story line, thought nothing really over the top, but enough to get a 4/5

Overall I give a 4/5, especially because for the second book ( )

Near future after climate change, Greg Mandel detective psy perceptive helping some big company....not bad, good readnot exceptional! ( )

Really well written science fiction set in the not too distant future.Surprisingly well written considering this is his early work. After I got started on this dual novel volume I picked up some more recent titles and will be interested to see how they read as well. Believe I am in for a treat! The characters are well developed and the plot is engaging from the start and moves along at brisk clip. ( )

My first exposure to Hamilton was his magnum opus, Night’s Dawn trilogy. Initially, I was absolutely blown away. About midway through this 3,500 page door stop, I began to lose interest, primarily because the novelty of many of Hamilton’s brilliant alien and technological constructs simply became second nature. I followed up with Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained, another 2,000 page monster. Much like Night’s Dawn, it simply carried on too long. The Void trilogy, actually a sequel to Judas Unchained, was another 2,000+ pages, but actually kept my attention throughout.

I recently read Fallen Dragon and was very pleased with the shorter, one volume work (only in Hamilton’s world could a 800+ page novel be deemed short). I then read The Great North Road which contained many of the same technologies and constructs as the Void Trilogy and perhaps this lack of originality contributed to my disappointment with this work.

Having read roughly 12,000 pages worth of Hamilton “space opera”, I backtracked to some of his earlier work, hence this review of Mindstar Rising and A Quantum Murder, two of his earlier efforts featuring Greg Mandel as the protagonist. These novels, while still science fiction, do not fit into the same template as the space operas mentioned above. In an introduction to this edition (which I purchased as Volume 1 of the Mandel Files, containing both books), Hamilton sets out the differences and dangers of writing science fiction of the distant future and that, as in the present case, only forty years from being published (and only fifteen years from today). When the present catches the future, and they don’t look anything alike, the author can be made to look quite foolish (see as an example Connie Wills’s The Doomsday Book, which utterly fails to account for any meaningful advances in communication as basic as the cell phone, though early generation of the device already existed at the time the book was published).

In this case, I can’t say that Hamilton has made any glaring errors. His world has suffered numerous financial and environmental catastrophes generating both political unrest and captivating economic warfare. Technology has certainly advanced, especially in the field of bio-technology, as many of the characters in this novel sport implants, including our hero Mr. Mandel, who has the power to judge a person’s emotional and involuntary responses to stimuli and interrogation. In effect, he is a human lie detector and as a result, quite an effective private investigator.

I found these to be very entertaining and thought provoking novels. They have political overtones which are well thought out and presented. At only a fraction of the size of his space operas, they can easily be read in under a week. I can highly recommend it. ( )