Misspent Youth cover art

Misspent Youth

 Preview
Try Standard free
Select 1 audiobook a month from our entire collection.
Listen to your selected audiobooks as long as you're a member.
Get unlimited access to bingeable podcasts.
Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Misspent Youth

By: Peter F. Hamilton
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
Try Standard free

Auto-renews at $8.99/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy Now for $21.66

Buy Now for $21.66

About this listen

A gripping introduction to the world of Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga, Misspent Youth is set in the near-future, over three hundred years before Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Stephen Baxter.

Read by Steven Crossley, narrator of C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.

Jeff Baker is granted the gift of eternal youth. However, it’s not all it seems . . .

It is 2040 and, after decades of research, we can finally rejuvenate a human being. At seventy-eight years old, Jeff Baker – renowned inventor and philanthropist – has given the world much of his creative genius. He’s therefore selected as first choice for this gift.

At first, rejuvenation feels like a miracle. Until the glow begins to fade. Personal relationships start to break down and the world waits for more brilliant new work. Living the dream will come at a cost, but can Jeff pay the price?

‘The owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction’ – Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the Earth

‘Hamilton handles massive ideas with enviable ease’ – Guardian

 Classics Fantasy Genetic Engineering Science Fiction

Critic Reviews

Peter F. Hamilton peoples his story with strong characters . . . clever and sharply observant
Incredibly real . . . highly recommended
The world created by Peter is once again full of ideas
All stars
Most relevant
Not the usual sci-fi story lines that we are used to, but awesome nonetheless

Very Profound story

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
Huge fan of the series. I listen to Pandora and Judas at least once a year. But this added no real value to the story.

Bit of a let down

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
finished it, most of the story was ok.. bit to sexual for me though

bit to sexual

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
The theme may become increasingly relevant to all of us as genetic science develops over the next decades.
Kudos for the author who has managed to write in such a way that the technological advances in the years since writing do not adversely affect the storyline.

Still very fresh even 18 years after publishing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
If you are familiar with the world created by Peter.F.Hamilton, you will understand the importance of this book as a prequel to the entire Commonwealth series. One of the major premises of the Commonwealth is REJUVINATION... this book explores it with gusto. How many times have we heard the following; "If I was only young again?" or "If I knew then what I know now...!" Misspent Youth explores those ideas against the backdrop of a changing world and disintegrating family.

Those critical of the inclusion of 'sex', must have been blind to the domination of the thought provoking geo-political backdrop of the book, which is particularly interesting since BREXIT.

I was pleasantly surprised by a chance meeting by the books main character with Gore Benelli...

I really enjoyed this book and hope for similar... OZZY and NIGEL?

Ignore the bad reviews...

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
See more reviews
In the spirit of reconciliation, Audible acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of country throughout Australia and their connections to land, sea and community. We pay our respect to their elders past and present and extend that respect to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples today.