5-Stars! Completely, utterly brilliant!
Wow! So nice to be immersed again in Peter's wonderful, flowing prose and extraordinary narrative precision. No one considers and plans every aspect of their books like Hamilton, and it shows.
This first book is an introduction to the characters and situations of the series, presented along two timelines with the first (The Assessment Team) about 150-200 years in the future, around the time of the alien Olyix ship arrival in 2144, and another (Juloss) about 580-600 years after the arrival.
These two timelines are extraordinarily well-written, as you would expect from Hamilton, and interleaved perfectly. The switch between the narrative timelines occurs only 6 times in the 550 page book, at natural points in the story. Perfect.
The main timeline, "The Assessment Team", is presented as a kind of Canterbury Tales, a series of novellas, one for each main character showing their present time with the team, and their recent pasts as pertinent to the mystery of the crashed, unknown alien ship.
Between each Tale we see the characters of Juloss in the more distant future. In all there are perhaps 50 characters in the story tapestry, but perhaps only 20 are of real importance. They are introduced gradually throughout the book (no overload!).
Salvation cover
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Interleaved with (1) "Assessment Team" meetings and actions, the "tales" are from the viewpoints of (2) Callum and Yuri (corporate moguls) when they were young men, (3) Alik (an FBI agent extraordinaire), (4) Kandara (a dark-ops super-mercenary), and (5) Feriton Kayne's corporate spy mission to the Olyix mothership. Each character is beautifully portrayed, with their own individual voices and histories.
Gradually, as each superb tale is told, the pieces of the central mystery become clear. Clues and events are woven brilliantly into a five-star tapestry. The book has the feel of five or six novellas, but perfectly tying into each other as we proceed.
My favourite aspect of Peter's writing is his foundation in the most advanced thoughts in current scientific thinking, and his incredible attention to world-building and plot development. Every page shows his care and love of his craft, like no other author I know. So many elements of the story are not only plausible, but probable (within the story), as well as truly fascinating. Wow.
For example: At one point, he mentions the thickness of rock needed to protect the Olyix from cosmic rays, in their journey of millions of years. So many scientists today ignore this deadly aspect when considering trips to Mars. (To wit: Cosmic radiation is so unstoppable and so deadly that most astronauts would get cancer within a 6 month one-way trip to Mars!)
For myself, I am extremely well-read in current science and technology. I say that "I am a modern renaissance man", as in … I know everything that I "don't know" …, and Peter is right there, too. I love his love of science, and his love of the mysteries of the universe and our place in it.
Peter's invention of portable quantum "entangled portals" of varying sizes, allowing instantaneous travel anywhere, is far advanced from the staid wormhole-and-trains systems of The Commonwealth series, and is far more plot-flexible and liberating for the action of the story.
Impression: The twisted interlinking quantum portals
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As the first in a series of books, Peter has produced not only a fascinating introduction to his new universe, but also shown us how a very complicated set of characters and events can be presented without confusion, and with genuine love of his creation.
The ending is not a cliffhanger, but a natural breakpoint in the stories. We've been guided wonderfully through Peter's vision, and left wholly satisfied yet eager to continue with this extraordinary new world.
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Notes and quotes:
An Olyix says:
Sentient species are the children of this universe, the reason it exists.
Alexandre says:
"Trust is at the core of human nature, one of our greatest curses –and blessings."
Monomolecule filaments as weapons
(homage: John Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar, 1968)
‘Buzz gun,’ Alik said. The gun itself was nothing special, just an electromagnetic barrel to ensure the projectile accelerated smoothly. But the buzz rounds it fired were mildly unstable. They were made from incredibly tightly wound coils of monomolecule filament, which expanded outwards on impact, so the target got to experience what it was like to be sliced apart by ten thousand razor blades, all travelling in different directions.
Alik discussing a murder
"There were two crews hit that apartment, and they ripped each other apart like sharks on acid."
The advent of portals makes roads obsolete...
New York City streets transformed into ribbon parks ...
As Alik stood in the biting cold, listening to Bietzk, his gaze tracked along [street] Van Wyck’s trees with their mantle of thin prickly ice, as if they’d grown thorns to protect themselves through the winter. A mirror of the citizens who walked among them, bristling with hostility and rooted in the structure of the past.
I've been here on the beach, at sunrise in Rio... Magical.
Early morning on Copacabana beach, before the gold-skinned body gods began strutting their glistening physiques for the tourists and lovelorn to envy, the horizontal rays of the sun were playing across the water to create a dazzling shimmer.
Jessika compares jungle capitalism to more advanced societies
In any decent civilization, healthcare is a right, not a privilege.
Kandara talks about fanatics/terrorists
Ideology is a sick soul-meme; it gnaws basic decency away until you can self-justify the most extreme acts as worthwhile to further the cause. Any cause.’
Tyle says
More organic equivalence. ‘Real Utopial von Nueman-ism,’
Tyle to Kandara, on self-replicating spaceships for Utopial existence
The industrial stations will have engulfed Bremble, at which point they won’t bother replicating themselves. They’ll just consume the remaining rock to build habitats. After another fifty years, there’ll be nothing left, and they’ll fly to new asteroids and begin again.’
‘That seems almost . . . dangerous.’
Kandara
‘It never starts with jackboots and black uniforms,’ Kandara said. ‘Just good intentions. But that’s how it always ends.’
Grand Homage to other sci-fi masters
The Juloss battleships mentioned in this volume are named the (Paul J.) McAuley, the (Richard K.) Morgan, and the (Neal) Asher.
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‘It never starts with jackboots and black uniforms,’ Kandara said. ‘Just good intentions. But that’s how it always ends.’Highlighted by 93 Kindle readers- ‘Opportunity is equal. People are not. In our society, you can progress as far as your talent and enthusiasm can reach.’Highlighted by 91 Kindle readers
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From the Publisher
Salvation (Book 1)
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Salvation Lost (Book 2)
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The Saints of Salvation (Book 3)
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Exodus (New series)
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| Customer Reviews |
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| Price | £9.99 | £9.99 | £9.19 | £18.45 |
About the author
Best writer of his time.
Hamilton has done it again with this epic story which catches you from the start. This trilogy of books will keep you entertained for months ,reading about tales of the future and war, love, faith, hope and some of the best writing around. If you want a year of brilliant reading buy all of Peter H. Books. You will not be sorry.
Top reviews from United Kingdom
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- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2018
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 8 October 2018
- Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 July 2021
Top reviews from other countries
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WinstonReviewed in Spain on 11 August 2021
Este libro solo es bueno si se lee la trilogía completa
- Anthony ValenzanoReviewed in the United States on 30 September 2018
Not what I expected
- ChrisReviewed in Canada on 21 September 2018
A more mature Hamilton, possibly better than Pandora's Star
