Every time
I read a new space opera by Hamilton I think this author has reached the
maximum of his expression and that the next book, especially considering that
this universe contains seven of them, cannot possibly be better than this.
Every time
I find out I was wrong.
“Night
Without Stars” is a wonderfully complex novel. It is the second part of the
duology titled “Chronicles of the Fallers”, yet, having read the first book
(“The Abyss Beyond Dreams”) more than a year ago and remembering very little of
it, I think you can almost read this last one as standalone (although I do not
recommend that), as it mostly has a narrative arc of its own, within which the
links to the previous volume of the series are quickly explained and what is
needed in relation to the entire Commonwealth Universe is mentioned.
Before
starting to read it, I wondered what Hamilton could have come up with, since
the story took place again on the planet Bienvenido. I feared a revival of the
themes already seen but, instead, I had really nothing to worry about.
The story,
after some introductory (but no less exciting) chapters, moves forward for two
and a half centuries, a period of time that determines significant changes on
Bienvenido, now that it has been expelled from the Void and can finally make
use of technology, including the aerospace one (so dear to me). And in this
renewed setting new characters come to life, around which parallel narrative
lines are created and in which it is natural to the reader to identify
themselves, despite often those characters are one against the other. Each
storyline is compelling even without having to look at the big picture and, in
this regard, I find the idea of dividing the work into books very apt.
There are
also some old characters, which I had to get acquainted with again because of
the time passed after reading the previous book (and the Void Trilogy), and
which allow the reader to accurately reconnect the threads of the general plot
and be led towards its complex development.
And it was
to this very complex story, which accompanied me for a few weeks of
(deliberate) slow reading, that I returned with interest every evening, and
then left it without regret for sleeping, certain that I would find it there
waiting for me the next day.
The rhythm
at the beginning is slow, to allow the reader to settle in (and what a
wonderful setting!), then it becomes a crescendo that in the last quarter of
the novel turns into a succession of twists tending towards an ending that is
almost impossible to predict.
Meanwhile,
Hamilton does not just make you live on Bienvenido, but also shows you other
unimaginable worlds (apart by him, of course), other more or less peaceful
alien species, introduces you to new aspects of the villains, the alien species
called Fallers (who “eggsum” their prey and replace it), and even manages to
make you like one of them (or at least he succeeded with me).
It is
difficult to tell anything else about this novel without revealing too much
about the plot. I can only say that, if you have come to consider the idea to
read it, a sign that you certainly already know and appreciate Hamilton at
least from the previous book, this time too you won’t be disappointed.
Night Without Stars on Amazon.
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