What is really good about both the Commonwealth books (but I forgot to mention this before) is how Hamilton integrates non-SF stories into his SF universe. That is the right use of a sequel: you don’t have to introduce the world and you can build on the tension that was introduced in the first book. There is also the looming danger of the aliens and you’re just waiting for that to break through. So, the first positive reader experience in Judas Unchained is to feel like the story is becoming a more cohesive whole. But in Judas Unchained we see that the crime investigation set the background for a couple of characters who then emerged out of that plotline, changed to fulfill their eventual role in the larger story. You the reader might scratch your head and wonder why Hamilton put in this plot in the first place because it all seemed so unrelated to the larger story. For example, one of Pandora’s Star’s plot was about a crime investigation that went on through the whole book and in the end it was resolved. That means that some side plots and unrelated storylines from Pandora’s Star that at first seemed like an overload of characters and settings are now given a purpose in the story. In Judas Unchained, Hamilton’s plot finally starts to integrate the loose strands. It actually takes quite a while for the action to come back again. The threat hasn’t disappeared though, and through the first 250 pages we anxiously await the next move by the aliens. The threat of the Prime aliens has stopped for now and the story moves back into the human Commonwealth and the smaller tragedies unfolding there. Shit is hitting the fan, and then the pages stop.Īfter the destructive events at the end of Pandora’s Star, Judas Unchained first takes a step back and a deep breath. A massive epic of 2000 pages! Pandora’s Star didn’t end with a climax and a resolution, but with a cliffhanger. Together, Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained make a single story with a start, middle and end, also known as the Commonwealth Saga. It is not so much a sequel to the first book as the continuation of the story. After finishing Pandora’s Star (2004) I had basically no choice but to start Judas Unchained (2005).

Judas unchained by peter f hamilton