Mindstar Rising

Portrait of a SciFi master as a novice

Relative to Hamilton's more recent work (the Commonwealth Saga), Mindstar Rising is clearly not in the same league. That said, this 1st book of the Greg Mandel trilogy demonstrates the talent that has emerged as one of preeminent contemporary scifi authors. Mindstar is simply not as ambitious, nor as sweeping in scope as his later work, but the story is masterfully done and a thoroughly enjoyable listen.

We are presented with the limits of a near future tale (still near future due to the identifiability with the characters' daily routines), set late in the 21st century. Both environmental (in the form of global warming) and political (in the form of economic upheaval leading to vicious UK socialism) changes have occurred. Greg Mandel is a former UK soldier, discharged by the new, anti-military government. The Mindstar unit was a special ops group that received early experimental bioimplants. Mandel has an "esp" sense to detect mental states in others close by. He does not "read" minds, but can sense emotional reactions.

Greg is hired by a wealthy, elderly businessman and his granddaughter to track down what is thought to be sabotage within their manufacturing facilities (some of which are space based). What appears as straightforward corporate espionage and hardball takeover tactics gradually evolves into a life or death struggle with national political ramifications. For the major scifi elements, biology and cyber dominate along the lines of a William Gibson / Richard K Morgan love child.

The characters are wonderfully developed with vile villains and endearing supporting characters. The narrator performs an admirable rendition for the range of characters.

35 of 36 people found this review helpful

Early career but well written

Obviously an "early" Hamilton. It reads smoothly and the narrator is pleasant, but he's still learning to develop his plots. This isn't the epic thriller you will come to love in the star flyer wars in the Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained series or the Void Series but you'll grow to like the characters and there's pretty good action mixed in to keep action junkies like me happy. If you like his style in his later books read this series and if you give it time it will grow on you, if you're not sure or a new reader of Peter F Hamilton, his later books are his best and these are simply good so whatever you do don't put these down and leave Hamilton until you've tasted the good stuff.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

Good Spy Thriller / Sci Fi

What did you love best about Mindstar Rising?

New sci fi approach, unconventional and dysotopian future world. Mixed genre of scifi and detective without one being more dominant.

What did you like best about this story?

The psi abilities opened quite a few possibilities strands. It was quite coherent and the narrative stayed true throughout. Despite being a triology, it could stand on itself as a single sci fi / detective novel.

What about Toby Longworth’s performance did you like?

His standard voice can be a bit grating, but overall was OK.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Psi mutant detective vs greed in a dysotopian world.

Any additional comments?

It's a good book, once you get past initial scene setting. The last 3rd of the book was stretched - but that's a minor fault, if at all.

10 of 11 people found this review helpful

The Psychic Detective of the Future

I remember reading an interview with Larry Niven where he explained that detective science fiction is hard to write due to how easy deus ex machina via technology is. When you consider this, Peter F. Hamilton does an incredible job. The main character has a gland that gives him a form of ESP, though it is more of an empathy enhancer that gives him insight into the emotional state of a person but also heightens his intuition. Another character can see the future. So the exploits are obvious but Hamilton does an incredible job of keeping these abilities realistic with clear boundaries so the story is not destroyed by technology. For instance, the character who can see into the future does not see future events but future possibilities. She determines likely outcomes by seeing how many versions of the future converge on a particular event.

This detective story focuses on industrial espionage and politics. There are some attempted murders with the most interesting attempt being on a computer that is essentially a downloaded human mind. The mystery, however, is a bit on the obvious side with me figuring out who the mole was long before the hero. Still, the future that is portrayed is very interesting and kind of scary when you look at the modern state of the world. Some people have described it as a dystopian future, but it is more of the beginning of a rebirth of the world after a dystopian age.

If you liked the other Peter F. Hamilton books available then you will probably enjoy this one, but I would recommend listening to Commonwealth series (Pandora's Star, Judas Unchained, and the Void trilogy) first if you have not already listened to them.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Like Drinking From a Sci-Firehose

Peter F. Hamilton has more sci-fi imagination in his little typing finger than most authors have in their whole body! At times, it was all I could do to keep up with all the ideas and jargon he was throwing at me. Listening to the audio version makes it even more difficult to digest everything, so you'd better not try to listen to this book while operating heavy machinery.

Just listen to the first chapter and you will know that Mr. Hamilton is a certified sci-fi genius. He brings along some of the "inventions" from his previous books, but just enough to make you recognize his fingerprint. In this book, the scope is more narrowly contained to a single planet, which must have been like trying to keep Robin Williams on a single topic, but he does cover much of the planet (and the space above it, and below the surface of the water). This book pulls a few pages from The Windup Girl and Daemon, very smart. I can't wait for Book 2!

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

A pretty standard story with a predictable plot

Is there anything you would change about this book?

A lot of time was wasted listening to endless descriptions of the surroundings into minute detail. I found myself zoning out from boredom, and had to rewind a few times as something important was missed.

The stereo types were just too much. It was like reading a short story from a womans magazine. The rich beautiful is evil to the bone, the hero is a rightous guy and the game between them and their alles is predictable. I like a book where there are grays and surprises. None here.

Would you be willing to try another book from Peter F. Hamilton? Why or why not?

Perhaps. This is my first, and even though the story was easy to see through, it was still entertaining.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

The narrator was easy to understand. Sometimes when they have to portray a tough guy, he ends up sounding dumb as a door. I was left with that impression of the hero, even though he was quite smart.

Was Mindstar Rising worth the listening time?

I actually do not know. I would have listened to another more interesting story, but I still wanted to know how it ended.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Another great Hamilton listen!

Would you listen to Mindstar Rising again? Why?

I don't think so. The book is great, and the narration is excellent, but it isn't the sort of book that makes you THINK. Several of the authors' other stories are worth listening to several times, because they're complex and layered, and you always hear something a little different the second and third times you listen.

This book isn't like that; it's satisfying as it is, but not complex enough to require a second listen.

What did you like best about this story?

The fact that this book was released in 1993, right around the time that cell phones first hit the retail market, and yet the technology in it feels very "now".

What does Toby Longworth bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Being that I'm not British, I'm not sure how authentic any of his accents are, but to my Canadian ear, they SOUND perfect, and every character is distinguishable from the others.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

A post-climate change sci-fi detective thriller

All three of these stories are great, fast moving stories set in a world it is easy to believe in that still has plenty of surprises. Peter Hamilton is a master and it is great to have these three stories online now also. Highly recommended, although I think the first one was the best one.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Near future scifi/spy intruige

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Absolutely. I've been a fan of Peter F. Hamilton after going through his later works, and wanted more of his style - which is deceptively subtle, fast paced, and very engaging.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Greg Mandell - He's a few years removed from military service and while still retaining his edge, more human. He appreciates the way of soldiers without being reduced to a simpleton military mindset. Adding psi empathic abilities to a solider makes for really good reading.

What does Toby Longworth bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I had to look this book up again just to make sure Toby Longworth was the only narrator - he's simply fantastic! He gives each character not only a distinct voice, but also personality. He is smashing! One of the best readers I've ever come-across.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

You can't hide the truth from him...

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Gritty Psy-cop takes on white collar CEO's

The key to my enjoying this PFH novel was to disassociate everything I’d previously read by the author in the Commonwealth Saga series. Here there are no alien threats or exotic stellar locations to explore. This story takes place in a far less optimistic, multi-point dystopian future where twin environmental and political disasters have stratified the class differences in society. The gritty tone is exemplified in the protagonist, psychic freelance mercenary Greg Mandel, a two-dimensional tough guy who uses the phrase “no messing” to end far too many sentences. The strength of this story is in the unraveling of a corporate mystery with turns and twists which explore most corners of Hamilton’s dark future. It’s a bit like watching a police procedural with psychic cops and some minor near-future SF tech peppered in. It compares quite similarly to Hamilton’s other, separate, story- Great Northern Road- which features a similar investigation but has the added element of off world alien settings and more examples of action scenes. Much of the crime and conspiracy here are strictly white-collar, and it was hard to identify with the Mandel character or even sympathize with him during the only truly high-stakes, dangerous moments he endures in the climactic ten percent of the story, no messing.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful