The Reality Dysfunction: Expansion - Part II

These three books (Reality Disfunction, Neutronium Alchemist, and the Naked God) are some of my favourite scifi ever. I generally consider myself to be quite discerning, and hate anything implausable in scifi that I read. Hamilton not only sticks to the laws of science, but within those laws creates a universe on the edge of human imagination. He describes ideas and concepts, each of which could be the fuel for a fascinating story in themselves, yet they are mere background to the actual story which will really challenge your imagination.

Without taking up a lot of everyone's time and space (One can read my basic review under the first volume) I merely post this Advisory and WARNING!!: Do Not begin reading this Epic anywhere except at the Beginning!! Acquire the ENTIRE "Night's Dawn Trilogy" before you begin to avoid the frustrations that I did (and be glad that you won't have to wait for the final Triad to be published, as I was forced to do) Have the entire work ready on your bookshelf, and be prepared for one of the best and WILDEST experiences of your life!!!

Imagine "Dawn of the dead"... in space. Not a bad concept and one which Hamilton uses to it's full potential. Set far in the future, this story tells of a time when man has achieved total dominance of space. Planets are colonized by big business, space stations are run by those always dependable A.I's and relative peace and harmony reigns. Sadly, this all ends when a freak occurrance allows a spirit from hell (or close to it) to possess the living. A move which opens the gates for mass possession on not only a global but universal scale. Cue the fight for survival between the dead and the living. Hamilton somehow manages to keep a consistent pace, forcing the reader to turn one more page then was intended. Nothing is left out, from the space cowboy to the vast galactic fleets and spce stations, all struggling to survive a terror that few can admit to. So all in all the best fun i've had since Varley's Steel Beech and roll on the sequels, which for once i support.

When I finished reading the first Reality Dysfunction book, I was left wondering what was going to happen next since Hamilton tends to end his books as abruptly as they begin. There was no decernable main character in the first book, but, about halfway in you realize that Josh Calvert is definetly the binding factor for most of the numerious storylines that wind their way throughout the book.Any writing issues that were in the first book were long gone in this one, leaving the writing much better and giving the story a much better scense of direction.As usual, the story is amazing, letting you get ahead of yourself saying "oh, that's easy, they're going to do bla bla bla next" and then it turns out they do something totally different, adding another layer to the story in the process.I'm very glad that Hamilton exended the Possesed's characters more, offering an interesting prospective of the human spirit, if you like to think that deep... =)Either way, if you were slightly disapointed by Emergence, read this before you form any opinions about Hamilton, you'll be pleasantly surprised of what Hamilton is capable of.