Fallen Dragon

Après avoir lu et adoré les 6 livres de la fameuse série, je me demandai ce que Hamilton pouvais nous réserver dans ce nouvel ouvrage, mais surtout si il pouvais innover. On retrouve dans Dragon déchu quelques éléments des livres précédents mais malgré cela on se laisse entraîner rapidement dans ce nouvel univers. Je le recommande fortement à tous les amateurs de science-fiction.

I bought "Fallen Dragon" on the strength of Hamilton's previous works, especially the Reality Dysfunction series. When Hamilton is writing at his peak he is superb, throwing off new ideas like a shower of sparks, and generating gripping plots and fascinating characters. Other times Hamilton will become a bit long-winded, or will paint himself into a corner which requires a deus ex machina to extricate things.I wasn't sure how "Fallen Dragon" would measure up, especially since interspersed flashbacks are not my favorite format for storytelling. But Hamilton was a good enough writer to pull me through the doubts I had early in the book. Pretty soon it turned into a "can't put it down" novel, costing me significant sleep time. I can't even complain too much about the deus ex machina aspect of "Fallen Dragon". It was carefully foreshadowed from the very beginning, and it made sense within the context of the story.The surprise ending caught me completely by surprise. It did a beautiful job of tying up all the loose ends, and it was very satisfying.My reaction upon finishing the book was, "Damn, that was good!" It was much better when viewed as a whole, which was pretty impressive considering how good the individual parts were. It far exceeded my expectations going in. It left me eager to read Hamilton's next new novel, and simultaneously apprehensive that he'll be able to maintain the high standards set by this and previous works.

I didn't know if this would be good, like the Reality Dysfunction, or bad like the sci-fi mysteries from Peter Hamilton. I was happy to see that he had continued with good technological science fiction. The technology in this book, as in the Reality Dysfunction is very well presented, and seems very believable. Also, the cultures and characters are very well developed and interesting. And if that wasn't enough, there is an interesting twist at the end that I didn't see coming.

I've waited some time to write my first "review" in this format - for the good reason I wanted to start off with a book I'd recommend to anyone. I've read other books in the past that make me race to the finish but this one I could start all over again immediately.Hamilton's characters are so well-rounded, so full of questions they're ready to explore about what could be termed the 'meaning of life' that it was damn near impossible to put the book down. "Fallen Dragon" has enough cutting edge science fiction to engage even the most widely-read SF fan. In addition, the flow of the book slips with a delicate ease between points of view / situations / decades that I found myself almost saying "thank you" out oud at times. Concepts are raised that are answered in what I can only describe as "well, of course he had to put the book together in that order - it's the RIGHT order." In that fashion it resembles DUNE (the original by Frank Herbert, not the current dregs). I don't want to spoil the plot - suffice it to say there are concepts of starflight, nanotechnology, biomorphing, neural interfaces, etc. enough to keep anyone happy and explained most thoroughly. What appealed to me even more were the journeys through philosophy by the characters that fairly leapt off the pages.Thank you, Mr. Hamilton.

I have read several other works by Peter Hamilton like the Reality Dysfunction, Neutronium Alchemist, et.al so I am very familar with his writing. I was very excited upon reading the dust jacket. I was prepared to read a ripsnorting tour de force of military sci-fi like Hammer's Slammers or Starship Troopers. Instead I got a very personal tale of one man's life journey to fulfill a dream. The main character Lawrence Newton gives up home, family and love to get the chance to become a starship pilot. Then years later, he discovers all that he gave up is all he ever really wanted in the first place. I also saw a repeat of a message that seems to recur throughout Hamilton's work - What is the good of technological advances, mastery of the physical world and exploring space if humanity's heart doesn't change and become better? Or as one character asks Newton 'You would sell your soul to go home?' He replies 'I left my soul at home'. This is a great book about shattered dreams and second chances.