Night Without Stars (Chronicle of the Fallers, 2) Paperback – 24 Jun. 2021

5-Stars for the colossal, exciting, and very poignant final ending of the Commonwealth Saga. Over so many years, we have loved these characters, brought them into our families, lived with them, strived and hurt and were heroic with them. Now they are "grown children" and Peter's parenting of them is over. I know this loss must be deeply sad, as are all good parents when their children leave the nest. <i>We do feel for you, Peter.</i>The Commonwealth Universe is an extraordinary creation, so carefully planned and realised, so full of joy and surprise and wonder of the universe.<b>Novels</b> (Kindle length)Misspent Youth, 439 pages, 3 ***Pandora's Star, 992 pages, 5*****Judas Unchaind, 848 pages, 5*****The Dreaming Void, 641 pages, 5*****The Temporal Void, 737 pages, 5*****The Evolutionary Void, 694 pages, 5*****The Abyss Beyond Dreams, 672 pages, 3 ***A Night without Stars, 720 pages, 5 *****<b>Short Stories</b>Blessed by an AngelThe Demon TrapManhattan in ReverseThis is a truly unequalled accomplishment in a science fiction series. The authors C.J. Cherryh, James S.A. Corey, and Alastair Reynolds come very close, but<b> Peter's work is The Best</b>You may note that I award only 3 stars to Abyss. This is due to most of the last half of the book. <spoiler>I found Slvasta's psychosis and ruination of Bienvenido to be depressing, long-winded, almost a diatribe against communism and/or socialism.</spoiler><b> A Night without Stars</b>Foremost, I must say that in A Night without Stars, I am extraorinarily pleased that the beautiful Faustina, <spoiler>previously Bethaneve, did not die in the yellowcake mines of Bienvenido</spoiler>. Thank you, Peter.This book begins 200-250 years after the end of The Abyss Beyond Dreams, and shows what the 1960s level technology is able to do against The Fallers. The main focus of the book reminds me of Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith (5-stars, extraordinary!), as one of the protagonists is a policeman in the socialist/communist political system now firmly established on Bienvenido. Chaing is struggling with a political mystery, which becomes ever more complex and threatening. The detective aspects of the book are mostly very good, and Chaing and his assistant/lover work through the clues with zeal.One parallel story concerns the Eliters, who still have some functioning biononics and live secret lives in fear of Slvasta's police state. Several somewhat disjointed strands do come together in the second half of the book quite nicely.Another parallel story concerns the Soyuz/Mercury-level astronaut program aimed at attacking the Fallers in high orbit. Ry and Anala are terrific characters.Most of the action sequences are good, but not all of them. There is quite a bit more (tasteful) sex in this Commonwealth book that any of the others, but these support the character development extremely well. (Not solely for titillation).The book really shines when it's focused on Commonwealth characters and technology, particularly when <spoiler>Paula Myo is ressurected</spoiler> and begins her campaign to save Bienvenido, in spite of the political police hatred of the Eliters. The emotional and pscyhological battles within the police is well handled, with well-developed characters (as always by Peter!)The final few chapters (Book 7) are superb, the action intense and full of Commonwealth magic, and particularly the political and technological leadership of a familiar character from previous Commonwealth stories.All Peter's characters are truly human and well-developed, fully realised and not clowns or cliches. In particular, the raising of a young baby to adulthood was clever, poignant and Very funny!And, of course the last two chapters, the final view of our Commonwealth families and their new members, is touching, sweetly nostalgic, and <b>full of names and events which will surely drive me helplessly back to Pandora's Star to start the saga again. HURRAY !A Triumph! Thank you, Peter, for sharing your gifts with us.

Night without stars is brilliant. I felt it was a step up from the first book. A big step up. I never realised it until now but the first book laid down such a strong foundation for this excellent second part.Book two is quite different to book one in a number of way I felt. The pace and story are much more rapid throughout here.As usual with Hamilton there are some excellent characters and interweaving story arcs that come together really well.There is also a lot more elements of classic sci-fi in this second part. More space, more technology, more aliens, more mysteries and more action. It really is a brilliant read.Despite it being a sequel, there are surprisingly a large cast of new characters. Very well thought out. And builds upon the initial premise with mind bending new direction and purpose. If you read the first book and found it hard going, then I think you will love book two. It has everything book one may have lacked for some readers! I must have gone though it in less than a week or thereabouts. For a book this size it is not something I do often in such a short space of time. Really good page turner.Some great characters throughout, Chaing, Ry, Florian, Roxwolf, Matthieu, Stonal, to name a few. And many more.

This is the second of a duology (The Chronicle of the Fallers) which started with 'The Abyss Beyond Dreams'. It's also the latest (and possibly last) in the Commonwealth saga, Book 8 in terms of novels at least. It is such a rich and wonderful future world that the author has created, if you like long detailed space opera then these books are definitely for you. But start at the beginning, Pandora's Star.So what was this one like? I enjoyed it, it was a good end to the series. It wasn't much about the Commonwealth however, they were all in a different galaxy and known only as legends, though one or two Commonwealth characters do feature in this book, particularly investigator Paula Myo. In a way this was a shame because I do so love the Commonwealth, however I understand why he's done this. The Commonwealth are so all-powerful now, that it's difficult coming up with a plausible enemy to cause them any problems. So this is a different sort of story, set on a different world, but it is an enjoyable one. The last couple of chapters wrap up the whole Commonwealth sage nicely.

Having read the prequel to this book (The Abyss Beyond Dreams) I just had to read this one. Bit of a slow start but now I can’t put it down, in places it’s really exciting with unexpected twists and turns in the plot.

What a great book! After reading the latest tepid work from the formerly great Mr Reynolds, and some half decent sci-fi from semi-self published authors, I'd almost forgotten what it was like to be totally engrossed by the quality of Peter's writing. He has the ability to turn tomes that you think would better act as doorstops as they're so thick (if you bought them on paper, anyway) into massive page turners that you can't put down, but last for weeks! I so often come away from any story (in any medium, book, film, TV) thinking "that character's actions don't make sense", but with this writer's work, it all makes sense. He takes the time to give the characters motives that feel real, and never cheats you with unbelievable twists. It always amazes me that after a massive 600-1000 pages of story the last rites (or 10% in kindle terms) can seem rushed, but they actually are a perfect stage to bring you down from the rush of what you have read. I salute Mr Hamilton for his quality longevity, and for offering twice or three times the reading pleasure of other great sci-fi writers of this isle (nods to Asher, Stross and Baxter). Did I mention the plot? Nah, it's great, you can find out for yourself...

Classic Hamilton. Captivating storyline and future tech so well described that you can barely wait for it to be invented !This author is truly gifted !!!

Ogni volta che leggo una nuova space opera di Hamilton penso che l’autore abbia raggiunto il massimo della propria espressione e che il libro successivo, soprattutto considerando che questo ciclo in tutto ne contiene sette, non potrà mai essere migliore di così.Ogni volta mi sbaglio.“Night Without Stars” è un romanzo meravigliosamente complesso. Costituisce la seconda parte della dilogia intitolata “Chronicles of the Fallers” (cronache dei Faller), eppure, avendo io letto il primo libro (“The Abyss Beyond Dreams”) più di un anno fa e ricordandone davvero poco, ritengo che si possa quasi leggere da solo (anche se lo sconsiglio), poiché ha perlopiù un arco narrativo proprio, all’interno del quale vengono rapidamente spiegati i collegamenti col volume precedente della serie e si accenna ciò che serve in relazione all’intero ciclo del Commonwealth.Prima di iniziarne la lettura, mi sono chiesta cosa Hamilton avrebbe potuto inventarsi, visto che la storia si svolgeva di nuovo sul pianeta Bienvenido. Temevo il riproporsi dei temi già visti e invece non avevo proprio nulla di cui preoccuparmi.La storia, dopo alcuni capitoli introduttivi (ma non per questo meno emozionanti), si sposta avanti di due secolo e mezzo, un lasso di tempo che determina notevoli mutamenti su Bienvenido, ora che è stato espulso dal Vuoto e può finalmente far uso della tecnologia, inclusa quella aerospaziale (a me tanto cara). E in questa rinnovata ambientazione prendono vita nuovi personaggi, intorno ai quali vengono create delle linee narrative parallele e nei quali viene spontaneo immedesimarsi, nonostante spesso si ritrovino l’uno contro l’altro. Ognuna di esse sa essere avvincente anche senza dover guardare al quadro generale e, a questo proposito, trovo il fatto di aver suddiviso l’opera in libri molto azzeccata.Ci sono anche alcuni vecchi personaggi, che ho dovuto reimparare a conoscere a causa del tempo passato dalla lettura del libro precedente (e della trilogia del Vuoto), e che permettono di ricollegare con precisione i fili della trama generale e di condurre il lettore verso il suo articolato sviluppo.E proprio a questa storia così articolata, che mi ha accompagnato per alcune settimane di (voluta) lettura lenta, ritornavo con interesse ogni sera, e poi la lasciavo senza rimpianto per dormire, certa che l’avrei ritrovata lì ad attendermi il giorno dopo.Il ritmo all’inizio lento, per permettere al lettore di ambientarsi (e che meravigliosa ambientazione!), va incontro a un crescendo che nell’ultimo quarto di romanzo si trasforma in un susseguirsi di colpi di scena tendenti verso un finale quasi impossibile da prevedere.Nel frattempo, Hamilton non si limita a farci vivere su Bienvenido, ma ci mostra altri mondi inimmaginabili (a parte da lui, ovviamente), altre specie aliene più o meno pacifiche, ci fa conoscere nuovi aspetti dei “cattivi”, la specie aliena dei Faller (che assorbono la propria preda e si sostituiscono a essa), e riesce persino a farcene piacere uno (o perlomeno ci è riuscito con me).È difficile raccontare altro su questo romanzo senza rivelare troppo sulla trama. Posso solo dire che, se siete arrivati a considerare la sua lettura, segno che di certo conoscete e apprezzate già Hamilton almeno dal libro precedente, anche questa volta non rimarrete delusi.Rita Carla Francesca Monticelli, autrice di  Deserto rossoDeserto rosso

I discovered Peter F. Hamilton books back in 1998 and since then I have read all his books and none have let me down. One of the best and most inventive Sci-fi with big volume of action. Not only do I recommend this book but all of them.

One of Hamilton's best in my humble opinion. Perhaps 4th after the commonwealth books. The again the night's dawn trilogy and new salvation books are very good too.

I have read all of Peter Hamilton’s work, after having first been exposed to him through his magnum space opera opus, Night’s Dawn trilogy, a 3,500 page, door stop of a work. His blend of originality, especially as applied to alien constructs, and hard science fiction is unmatched in my opinion. Sure, he tends to be a little long winded, but I can overlook that in the presence of excellence.Unfortunately, Mr. Hamilton’s latest work, A Night Without Stars had the bad fortune to follow up Cixin Liu’s trilogy of science fiction excellence, Remembrance of Earth’s Past. While Hamilton writes outstanding science fiction, Liu’s work was one of the best reading experiences I’ve ever encountered, regardless of genre.This novel is the second of a two part sequel to the Commonwealth series (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained) and the Void trilogy. I read these five novels (about 4,000 pages worth) several years ago and it took me a little time to become re-familiar with the underlying story and landscape. Do not let anyone tell you that this novel can be appreciated as a stand-alone work; don’t even try it. The world that Hamilton has created cannot possibly be appreciated by starting in the middle of the story.In this follow up to The Abyss Beyond Dreams, the world of Beinvenido has been expelled from the Void, millions of light years from Commonwealth space. Beset by orbiting alien constructs which produce Fallers that seek to destroy the humans, Bienvenido has developed into an autocratic, repressive state. The only hope for survival rests with a handful of Commonwealth citizens that possess technology sufficient to not only rescue the Bienvenido citizens from the Fallers, but return them to Commonwealth space. Good story line, interesting characters and rock solid hard science fiction.As an aside, Hamilton repeats what has become a pet peeve of mine among science fiction writers in general and Hamilton in particular; the need to create a new epithet to be used by future humans, and repeat it ad nauseam throughout the work. In earlier Commonwealth and Void novels, we were repeatedly assaulted with such terms as "Dreaming Heavens!", “TANJ” (There ain't no justice) and “TANSTAAFL” (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch).In this work, the word “crud” has replaced the perfectly functional “f” word in all its many forms. On some pages, the word “crud” or a form of it may be used up to half a dozen times. Uracus (the Bienvenido parallel to Hell) is also used ad nauseum. Far from contributing to the originality of the story, it instead is annoying and comes across as silly. By the end of the novel, it had become a serious distraction.