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Exodus: The Archimedes Engine

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Exodus: The Archimedes Engine

By: Peter F. Hamilton
Narrated by: John Lee
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About this listen

Explore EXODUS, a new sci-fi action-adventure RPG coming soon from Archetype Entertainment featured in this epic novel from legendary author Peter F. Hamilton.

A fight for freedom among the stars . . .

In a past age, humanity fled a dying Earth in massive ark ships. These searched the galaxy to find a new home. Then one fleet found Centauri, a dense cluster of stars teeming with habitable planets. Now, thousands of years later, Centauri’s settlers have evolved into advanced beings known as Celestials – and their great houses rule vast star systems.

As they vie for supremacy, Earth’s ark ships continue to arrive, and humans must serve these repressive masters. But is there a better life beyond the empire? Finn is a Centauri-born human and yearns for a brighter future. So, when another ark ship arrives, previously thought lost, Finn seizes the chance to become a Traveler. These heroes explore the vast unknowns of distant space, dedicated to humanity’s survival. And they hope – one day – to find freedom.

EXODUS is an action-adventure roleplaying game from Archetype Entertainment, led by industry veterans from BioWare (Mass Effect), 343 (Halo), Electronic Arts, Naughty Dog (The Last of Us) and other AAA studios.

Exodus: The Archimedes Engine is the first book in a duology by legendary author Peter F. Hamilton. It’s an original novel set in the universe of EXODUS and explores Hamilton’s richly-imagined worlds.

 Adventure Movie, TV & Video Game Tie-Ins Space Exploration Space Opera
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While the start was a bit disorienting, I quickly got hooked on the story as I often do with Peter Hamilton's books. This is a really different setting from his previous writing and I really enjoyed it as a space opera fan. I thought the character development was subtle but present, you get a bit stuck in who to support as the 'good guys' and the world building is great. Very much looking forward to the second installment and John Lee does an excellent job of narrating as always.

Another great Peter Hamilton novel

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Gritted my teeth through the first half as my ears rebelled against the narrator's cadence.

Enjoyable world building. Gripping battles and escapes. Delicious plotting and betrayal.

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Takes a little while to understand… but entirely worth it. Of course it’s always great being caressed by John Lee’s dulcet tones.

Wonderfully complex story

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Another classic sci fi from Peter. An amazing story and world. I'm loving this series so far.

Although I wasnt before now I'm really looking forward to the game.

Peter is back!

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really intriguing story, hooked me from the very start. Amazing characters and so much detail

great book

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As ever with PFH it’s a huge, mind bending universe full of extraordinary characters. I loved it and can’t wait for Book 2.

Epic

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One of Peter F Hamilton’s best yet. Can’t wait for the next book and yes, excited for the game too

Fantastically imagined adventure expertly narrated

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Loved the character development and world building. Sometimes got a bit hard to follow due to the number of characters at the start.

Sweeping story in wild far set future

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Sci-fi with a bit of a dective novel thrown in, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Bring on the next book.

Another great book by Hamilton

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Like most of Hamilton’s work, the world building is well done. The concept of being ruled by your own time-dilated descendants is interesting, and I think it’s helpful maybe for those of us in the colonial West who are fragile about our treatment of indigenous peoples, because it may invoke some empathy. Obviously these rulers are not actually superior other than in their technology - and in their social customs, they are more cruel to each other as much as to their human subjects. Something that is analogous to how settlers have treated and continue to treat their subjugated people in the present day.

That said, is it a good story? It does draw on Hamilton’s signature murder mystery style, which I have found enthralling in other series, but not as much in this case. I think there is a bit too much telling the story where there ought to be showing the story. Quite a few reveals that would have been more satisfying for the reader had they felt like discoveries.

I actually don’t care enough to buy the sequel. Maybe I’m just getting old but life’s too short.

A few points of breaking the fourth wall which I believe were unintentional on the author’s part, sadly. These had to do with how Hamilton portrays interactions between men and women in intimate relationships. Firstly the apparently independently minded babe characters weren’t deep enough - a bit lacking in dimension. The leading woman hardly exists before the leading man meets her. There’s no lead up with her experience of life on the ark ship, I mean is she just a very articulate Ewok or something, a primitive he meets in the forest lol? (And I don’t buy that the arc shippers get into the system undetected!)

Secondly the couple dialogue is just showing the boomer in Hamilton a bit. I respect his efforts throughout his writing career to not be like that - the gay villain was great in the Night’s Dawn trilogy, and I say this as a gay man. Loved that break from gay best friend stereotypes. Was a hoot. But… a few moments in this book where there was a very gendered ‘putting up with each other in a loving eye roll kind of way’. Bordering on ‘i hate my spouse joke’. Uncomfortable and took me out of the moment at least.

Maybe I’m just naive and straight couples are still like that in real life? But why would she be like that even if he was? She came from a planet Earth culture, which we as the reader are not given any reason to believe has not continued to progress on the same trajectory as we irl are progressing along now. That said, Night’s Dawn is basically sex in space; with an unrealistically virile yet compassionate leading man who is a hair’s breadth away from being a swashbuckling pirate in a Mills and Boon romance novel. Then why did I enjoy that so much more than this? Maybe the story made up for it in a way that this story doesn’t.

The lack of deviance on the part of the ruling species is not believable either. Nobody in that entire society has some empathy? No ‘society for the protection against cruelty to humans’?

Ultimately I think this had the makings of greatness had Hamilton let it cook longer. Or, it’s possible he was never capable of that and it’s only my tastes that have become more discerning over time. In which case if yours have not changed, you may like this book as much as the Commonwealth saga or Reality Dysfunction.

Enjoyable but not groundbreaking

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