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Pandora's Star
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Read Pandora's Star
Commonwealth Saga: Book 1

Pandora's Star (2004) (edit title/settings)

by Peter F. Hamilton (Author) (edit contributors)

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Description edit see section history

The year is 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars some four hundred light-years in diameter, contains more than six hundred worlds, interconnected by a web of transport “tunnels” known as wormholes. At the farthest edge of the Commonwealth, astronomer Dudley Bose observes the... read more

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Summary edit see section history

The Saga begins in 2380, the human race has had wormhole technology for over 300 years thanks to the work of Nigel Sheldon and Ozzie Isaacs, and has colonized several planets across hundreds of light years. On a distant planet, Astronomer Dudley Bose performs the first detailed observations of... read more (warning: may contain spoilers)

The Saga begins in 2380, the human race has had wormhole technology for over 300 years thanks to the work of Nigel Sheldon and Ozzie Isaacs, and has colonized several planets across hundreds of light years. On a distant planet, Astronomer Dudley Bose performs the first detailed observations of an astronomical event known as the Dyson Pair Enclosure. Two stars, located roughly 1,000 light years from Earth (750 light years from the edge of Commonwealth space), seemingly disappeared some time earlier. The theory is that they have been enclosed inside Dyson spheres.

Bose's investigations reveal that the enclosing of Dyson Alpha and Dyson Beta (as the stars become known) occurred quickly and simultaneously. These facts mean that the technology of the Dyson aliens, or possibly other unknown aliens, surpasses that of the Commonwealth; furthermore, did the Dyson Aliens enclose themselves, or did some other force enclose them? Was it for protection or to protect those outside the spheres?

To investigate, the Commonwealth builds its first interstellar ship, the Second Chance. Commanded by Wilson Kime, one of the first men to walk on Mars, using a self-generating wormhole for propulsion, the Second Chance travels to Dyson Alpha.

As they arrive and begin to explore what appears to be an enclosure generator, it is shut down by an unknown mechanism and the barrier around the star disappears. Inside the first imprisoned star system is an incredibly warlike and aggressive species, a race that come to be called the Primes. They consist of intelligent immotiles that breed and control vast armies of sub-sentient 'motiles' via electronically extended neural interfaces. The few immotiles constantly vie with each other for territories and resources.

Primes had colonized Dyson Beta and enslaved its native inhabitants in the process. Beta's Primes started to routinely alter themselves through genetic manipulation and mechanical augmentation and therefore were referred to as alienPrimes by the Alpha Primes. They also broke away from the control of Alpha's Primes and thus a war began between two systems. The war continued until the barrier was erected around the stars.

After capturing two crew members of the Second Chance, one of whom was Dudley Bose, the Primes eventually discover the location of the Commonwealth. Upon learning of the Commonwealth's existence, the dominant immotile grouping, MorningLightMountain, makes it its primary objective to destroy the Commonwealth. MorningLightMountain believes that it is necessary to eliminate all other life in the Universe in order to secure its survival into the distant future, because it views all life that is not under its control as a potential threat.

Following the capture of the two crewmembers, MorningLightMountain discovers the concept of wormhole technology, and quickly creates its own generator. Using wormholes to transport and detonate nuclear weapons within the defenses of other immotiles, it secures its dominance over the Dyson Alpha solar system by becoming the only surviving sentient member of its species.

At the same time, an underground human organization known as the Guardians of Selfhood is determined to prove the existence of an alien known as the Starflyer, which originated in the crash of an ancient spacecraft (the Marie Celeste) on the planet Far Away. The Guardians of Selfhood have been declared a terrorist organization by the Commonwealth's government, and are pursued by famed investigator Paula Myo, working on behalf of the Commonwealth government. Throughout both books, Ms. Myo becomes gradually convinced that the Starflyer may be real and has organized the liberation of the hostile aliens for its own purposes.

The Prime attack on the Commonwealth is devastating, including widespread use of nuclear weapons to both subjugate and contaminate the human worlds, resulting in tens of millions of human deaths.
(from Wikipedia)

Characters/People edit see section history

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Quotes edit see section history

  • ““Only heroes are fearless,” Kazimir said. “And they die young.””
    Kazimir McFoster
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  • “Only heroes are fearless,” Kazimir said. “And they die young.”
    Highlighted by 16 Kindle customers
  • for wickedness to succeed all it takes is for decent people to do nothing.”
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  • Genuine scientific progress is a slow climb, which requires a stable society to support thinkers and theorists over many generations.
    Highlighted by 13 Kindle customers
  • much truth there was in the old saying that every conservative is another liberal who got mugged.
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  • That’s the thing with serious money, you can do so much that you never have time to do anything.”
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  • “Wherever you find human misery, you find lawyers, either causing it or making a profit from it.”
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  • Go up to a girl, and look at her collar, then when she asks what you’re doing you say: I was checking the label, and I was right, you are Made in Heaven.”
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  • This was where the real rot set in, the despair and dead ends, where human lives were wasted, sacrificed to the god of economics.
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  • He never did understand why people collected or even admired art; the greatest human artist could never hope to match what nature did with a single flower.
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  • “To forgotten youth,” Patricia said, and raised her glass. “May we always be reminded by envying those who have it.”
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Setting & Locations edit see section history

  • Anshun: Anshun is located in phase 2 space, 217 light years from Earth. The capital city of the planet is Treloar. CST have an exploratory division base here ready for the expansion into phase 3 space. Due to this facility, Nigel Sheldon decides to have the Second Chance built here. Anshun is also one of the Commonwealth's closest worlds to the Dyson Pair which gives more of a reason for the construction to be done here, although Nigel Sheldon has an ulterior motive: he remains in complete control of the project due to the facilities that CST have here.
  • Augusta: Augusta is located in phase 1, space 77 light years from Earth. The capital is New Costa, a megacity that stretches for 400 miles along the coast and up to 300 miles inland. Augusta's star is a blue dwarf named Alpha Leonis (commonly referred to as Regulus) and has a companion star, Little Leo, an orange dwarf which in turn has a companion called Micro Leo, a red dwarf. Discovered in 2097 just as the Intersolar Commonwealth was getting into full swing and many environment laws were being passed on Earth, Nigel Sheldon claimed the planet for CST and promptly moved all CST operations here. Once established, Nigel Sheldon invited any other company that was suffering from the restrictions on Earth to move to the planet, and in doing so created the first of what was to become the BIG15.
  • High Angel: A sentient alien starship, 230 light years from Anshun. There are many domes housing different alien species, although only the Raiel have agreed to contact with humans. Humans occupy three domes (New Glasgow, Moscow Star and Cracacol) in the High Angel although another two (New Auckland and Babuyan Atoll) are being created for human habitation.
  • Ice Citadel: Possibly some kind of old Silfen lodge, located on the ice planet that Ozzie and Orion end up on while walking the paths. The Silfen still use it when they visit the planet to hunt the Ice Whales. From the outside, the Ice Citadel is a basic pyramid shape, about 70 yards high, with the surface covered in quartz trees arranged into hexagons that are used as arrays and set out in a perfect honeycomb shape that in turn has cylindrical pillars rising from each hexagon. These are topped with large multifaceted stone that swells out and acts like a mirror system to bring light to the inside. The mirrors are also used to charge up a battery that runs the emerald light beacon so it can be used at night. The main part of the Ice Citadel is located underground. It has been built on hot springs that act as a heating system for the entire building. The main hall is a huge dome, at least 80 yards high with pillars curving up the walls. Between these there is carved marble with thousands of different creatures looking out. The residents’ rooms are located through corridors that lead off the main hall.
  • Silvergalde: Perhaps a regional capital of the Silfen as hundreds of thousands live here and possibly an artificial planet. It is 32 000 km in diameter but with gravity of only 0.89. Half of its surface is land (of which 60% of that is forest); the other half is mildly salty sea with thousands of picturesque islands. The axial tilt is less than half a degree, which in turn gives the planet an entirely stable environment and a predominately temperate climate. The interior composition is mainly silicate with no metals ever found in the crust and no fossils found at all. A small molten core creates the magnetic field but there are no volcanoes found on the planet. As well as this, there are no impact craters or any geological reason for the continents to be separated. Also, the vegetation and animal life live in equilibrium. Technology does not work on any Silfen world encountered by the Commonwealth – in fact, the more advanced the technology, the less likely it is to work. However, the CST works without any problems, but when questioned the Silfen gave no reason for this. The planet also has twin moons. The capital city is Lyddington.

Organizations edit see section history

  • Commonwealth: The group of planets under control of the commonwealth government. All linked via wormhole tunnels.
  • CST: Compression Space Technologies. Created and own/operate the Wormhole transporation systems
  • ExoProtectorate: Tasked of reviewing each sentient alien species discovered by CST, and evaluating the threat level it posed to human society.
  • Intersolar Serious Crimes Directorate: A commonwealth wide police department with a remit to work on the most serious crimes.
  • Guardians of Selfhood: The Guardians of Selfhood are based on Far Away and fight the Starflyer alien, an alien they believe is manipulating the human race. Led by Bradley Johansson, there are seven clans in the Guardians, made up of the seven families that Bradley Johansson freed from the Starflyer's influence. The Guardians say that the Starflyer will return to Far Away to escape in its spacecraft, the Marie Celeste. The Guardians claim that the Starflyer has engineered the mission to investigate the Dyson Pair. Declared a terrorist organisation by the Commonwealth government
  • Big15: 15 planets along the rim of phase 1 space, around 100 light years from Earth and founded, funded and run by companies. After Earth passed a series of strict environmental protection acts, major industrial manufacturing had to be moved off world. The Big15 were founded with no environmental laws and provide the majority of high tech gadgetry for most of the Commonwealth. * Augusta * Buta * Democratic Republic of New Germany * EdenBurg * Granada * Kerensk * Los Vada * Mito * Orleans * Piura * Shayoni * StLincoln * Verona * Wessex.
  • Primes: Spoilers Hidden

First Sentence edit see section history

Mars completely dominated space outside the Ulysses, the bloated dirty-ginger crescent of a planet that never quite made it as a world.

Table of Contents edit see section history

Prologue
Chapters 1-25

Glossary edit see section history

  • e-butler: Computer implant for system interfacing, communication. Similar to the older PCglass­es from Misspent Youth.
  • OCtattoo: Organic circuitry tattoo.
  • H-congruous: Human-congruous, habitable planet.
  • Niling d-sink: Power storage device, a zero-size sinkhole in spacetime that you can fill with energy.
  • SI: Sentient Intelligence. A full artificial intelligence with self-determination, interests and goals.
  • RI: Restricted Intelligence. Powerful system nearing SI status but with limiters written in to prevent outbreaks of self-determination.

Series & Lists edit see section history

This is book 1 of 2 in Commonwealth Saga. (standard series)

Followed by Judas Unchained.

This is book 2 of 7 in Commonwealth Universe. (universe)

Authors & Contributors edit see section history

  1. Peter F. Hamilton (Author)

First Edition edit see section history

Original Language: English
Publisher: Macmillan
Country: UK
Publication Date: 2004
ISBN: 1405000198
Page Count: 882

Classification edit see section history

  • Library of Congress: PR6058.A5536 P36 2004
  • Dewey: 813/.54 22

Notes for Parents edit see section history

Reading Level: Young Adults

Sexual Content and Strong Language

Links to Supplemental Material edit see section history

More Books Like This edit see section history

   
  • Altered Carbon

Books with Additional Background Information edit see section history

   
  • Misspent Youth

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