Fallen Dragon

This was a weird one. 80% of the novel is spent on a conflict between a pirate corporation and the revolutionary groups who try to stop the company from pilfering their planets resources. But the last 20% reveals what was truly at stake and the tone completely shifts. I liked the revolutionary characters the most, and really wanted them to wipe out the main character, who was a space marine who joined a space-faring corporation to explore the stars, but ended up enforcing the corporation's policy of forced resource accumulation on colonized planets, i.e. piracy, because this was the only way that space colonization was profitable. I did not identify with his character, but he was obviously written to be the protagonist, even though his show more ultimate character arc came so close to maturation and growth, he ended up chasing his past and his ending was just..uncomfortable. There were many interesting ideas here and the author tried as hard as possible to be even-handed about the philosophies that were being argued. I liked the themes and ultimate philosophy of the book but did not enjoy the military aspects of it. Probably won't read it again, but it was worth reading once. show less

Of the Peter F. Hamilton novels I've read (which is a large majority of them), this is my favourite. It avoids most of the problems I have come to associate with him and has one great merit absent from them: it is about something! As usual it is a fast-paced thriller but it stands alone, not linked to any other works in a series and the main protagonists total only two, rather than the dozen or more appearing in the bloated sagas Hamilton is renowned for. This allows one to actually start to care what happens to them without always distractingly wondering what is going on elsewhere.... The discussion of the purpose and merits or otherwise of interstellar colonisation is interesting and unexpected from a writer more associated with pure show more space-opera and who-dunnits. It reminded me of the last volume of the Hyperion Cantos by Dan Simmons which has a similar theme and conclusion. show less

As the novel states at the beginning, the fault of most things in the universe is money
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And money is the problem with space exploration in the mid-24th century. Space exploration and colonization just isn't paying for itself. Colonies take centuries to repay investors. To make matters worse, some declare themselves independent of their corporate founders on Earth. The solution? The "asset-recovery mission", legalized piracy where corporate armies swoop down on colonies to plunder them.

Lawrence Newton is a sergeant in such an army, and, when he gets word of an impending mission to the planet Thallspring, he starts to plan a little private asset realization of his own. On Thallspring, we get the story of a mission frustrated by local show more resistance headed up by Denise Ebourn who is much more than the simple storyteller and schoolteacher she appears to be.

Alternating with this plot is the story of how Newton, son of corporate elite on the colony Amethi, fled his home after a bitter betrayal. Spurred on by a beloved science fiction "i-drama", he dreams of becoming a starship explorer. Twenty years later, this exiled corporate prince is a corporate mercenary and still dreaming. Counterpointed to Newton's adventures are Ebourn's tales, for her students, of Prince Mozark of the long dead Ring Empire and the civilizations he finds in his quest for life's purpose and what course his people should adopt.

Thus the novel not only turns out to be filled with Hamilton's typically clear and exciting combat sequences and technological skullduggery but is also a look at the economic constraints on space travel and colonization, the spreading of corporate uniculture on Earth and on man's colonies, the purpose humans should find in their lives as technology advances, and the influence of science fiction's romances on our future.

This novel doesn't immerse you in a world as thoroughly as Hamilton's Night's Dawn series did simply because it has fewer pages, but Hamilton pays careful attention to his technology and economics.

And the last hundred pages of this novel will change your whole perception of what has gone before. show less

Fallen Dragon depicts a future where corporations have colonized distant solar systems - and extract dividends from these new worlds by raiding them for technology and resources every few decades.

Due to some bad choices in his past, Lawrence is a soldier for a large corporation. He hops inside a techno-organic suit and terrorizes (usually innocent) civilians for a living. Lawrence plans to get out of the soldiering business after the Thallspring campaign. Little did he know what was waiting for him on that world.

This book is a real gem. Peter Hamilton is known for his sprawling epics, but I think this stand-alone novel is his best work. It is quintessential Hamilton, so if you don't like deus ex machina endings then steer clear. show more Otherwise, I strongly recommend it. show less

"Fallen Dragon" had been called a synthesis of the ideas of the Night Dawn trilogy. In a way it can be looked at this way - but only on the surface. And then you can call that every novel that Hamilton wrote. But each of the novels and worlds is different from the previous ones - and this one is not an exception.

Lawrence Newton is born in the ruling elite of his planet (or better to say to the rulling board - as the planet is owned by a corporation, as is any other planet in the sky) and seemingly has everything - including a woman that he loves and believes to love him. But he dreams of the stars - interstellar ships and new worlds - and this is not what seems to be available in his world. So he leaves the world that grew up on, a show more world that is turning into a paradise slowly for the big corporations on Earth that still send people to the stars. Of course, it comes after he is betrayed by the people he loves the most.

20 years later he is a mercenary - because the trip to the stars is to collect the bounty from the worlds that the corporation owns. People on these worlds are not very happy about it of course - thus the need for the mercenaries. And now, when he lands on Thallspring, he has another plan - because he had been here before and something made him think that there is something really valuable hidden in the jungle.

But the invasion comes down to the matched mental powers of Simon Roderick (who is a lot more than he looks and is leading the fleet) and Denise Ebourn - a school teacher on the planet that is a lot more than that. What is expected to be an easy job starts getting complicated and turns into a nightmare. And in the jungle, something is waiting for all of them.

Hamilton builds his universe slowly, with a lot of details that make it alive and believable. The aliens, when they show up, are so different from humanity - and when the main characters expect them to believe as people, they get a nasty surprise.

If I had one problem with the book, it was Lawrence's change of reasoning - it comes way too... abrupt. Even the powers of the aliens do not explain that. But despite it, it is a great novel - worth the read. Too bad that Hamilton decided that he wants to write a short novel and stopped after about 800 pages. show less

(Alistair) This is the first actual Peter F. Hamilton novel I've read (previously having just read the novella/short story collection, A Second Chance At Eden), and having heard very mixed things about his books in the past, I wasn't entirely sure what to expect when I picked this one up.

Having read it, now, I'm still not entirely sure what to think.

In Fallen Dragon, we start out by getting multiple stories, none of them immediately connected to the fallen dragon, thus far unmentioned, of the title. In it, we follow Lawrence Newton, disillusioned interstellar mercenary (who isn't, quite), working for the hard-nosed corporation recovering some of the money pit of investing in interstellar colonies by sacking them every few years (that's show more not it, either); Denise Ebourn, schoolteacher on the about-to-be-raided by the fleetlet of director Simon Roderick (kind of) planet Thallspring (which actually is) who is creating wonderful fictional stories (which aren't) to tell the children, while simultaneously running the planet's fairly standard resistance movement (no, it's not either)...and if you think those are spoilers, well, I haven't yet ventured beyond the first fifty pages or so of the 800 in the book.

I think I like it. My only uncertainty comes from the sheer quantity of assorted more-than-they-seemness which the plot ladles out, coupled with some of the technologies involved - some of which are, admittedly, fairly necessary to make Lawrence's coming-of-age-then-recoming-of-age personal growth tale work, even if they do verge on deus ex, which twanged my suspension of disbelief right mightily in parts. Writing-wise, I'm sure some people would quibble with the amount of exposition and flashback used, especially since the payoff comes right at the end of the book, but what the hell. That usually works for me.

Yeah, I liked it. Better than decent spopera with a few rough spots here and there, I think is my verdict.
( http://weblog.siliconcerebrate.com/cerebrate/2008/06/fallen-dragon-peter-f-hamil... ) show less

I was confused and uninterested in this book until I was like 95% through it, but it was fantastic from there so I’m a little conflicted. My dad loves Peter F. Hamilton, specifically Fallen Dragon, and recommended it to me (see also: he was begging me to read it until I finally gave in). 800 pages of a book you never really wanted to read in the first place is a big commitment but I guess I love him. I am glad I read this in the end, but whether it’s because of the relief I feel from it being over with or the genius ending of the book I have no idea.

PS— please never tell my mom about this book my family has in common now because it was so full of sex. She would be appalled at this entire situation