Judas Unchained

WALL STREET JOURNAL BESTSELLER • “An interstellar suspense thriller . . . sweeping in scope and emotional range.”—San Antonio Express-News In the star-spanning civilization known as the Intersolar Commonwealth, twenty-three planets have fallen victim to the Prime, a technologically advanced alien species genetically hardwired to exterminate all other forms of life. But the Prime is not the only threat. The Starflyer, an alien with mind-control abilities impossible to detect or resist, has secretly infiltrated the Commonwealth and is sabotaging the war effort. Is the Starflyer an ally of the Prime, or has it orchestrated a fight to the death between the two species for its own advantage? Caught between two deadly enemies, the fractious Commonwealth must unite as never before. This will be humanity’s finest hour—or its last gasp. Praise for Judas Unchained, the sequel to Pandora’s Star “Bristles with the energy of golden age SF, but the style and characterizations are polished and modern.”—SF Site “You’re in for quite a ride.”—The Santa Fe New Mexican “The reader is left breathless in amazement.”—SFRevu

Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years—and light-years—are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the first volume in a trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet. The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself. At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose. But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes. Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds. And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . . BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Peter F. Hamilton's The Temporal Void.

Pandora's Star is the first part of Peter F. Hamilton's epic Commonwealth Saga duology – a fantastic galaxy-spanning novel from the master of space opera. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Alastair Reynolds. At the edge of the galaxy something awakens – and it's coming for us . . . Earth AD 2329: Humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked by wormholes. For the first time in mankind's history there is peace. Then a star over a thousand light years away suddenly vanishes, imprisoned inside a force field of immense size. Yet who – or what – has that sort of technology? And what could this mean for us? Only a faster-than-light starship, captained by ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime, can reach that distance to investigate. For Wilson, getting inside the force field could be easy. It may be harder to stop something else from getting out. What if there was a very good reason to seal off an entire star system? The Commonwealth Saga duology concludes with Judas Unchained. 'The best book Hamilton has written in years' - Guardian 'Anyone who begins this won’t be able to put it down' - Publishers Weekly

A new world, no longer brave. It's the near future, a time of new technologies – "bodyware" implants having replaced most past means of communication – but also of climate change and dwindling resources. Francine is a luminary in her field of evolutionary science. She joins the Foundation to study a colony of bonobo apes: remarkable animals, and the perfect creatures to certify her revolutionary feminist theory of reproduction. When the terrible, dry winds rise up and cut off the Foundation, silencing all the devices and endangering the survival of animals and humans alike, Francine and the man she has grown to love make a decision that may determine the possibility of a premature ending or a chance to start life over. A literary novel with elements of dystopia and science fiction, Theory of Bastards is an absorbing, recognizable story that will keep readers turning the pages.

Long ago, the astrophysicist Inigo began dreaming scenes from the life of the remarkable Edeard, who lived within the Void, a self-contained microuniverse at the heart of the galaxy. Inigo’s inspirational dreams, shared by hundreds of millions throughout the galaxy, gave birth to a religion: Living Dream. But when the appearance of a Second Dreamer seems to trigger the expansion of the Void—which is devouring everything in its path—the Intersolar Commonwealth is thrown into turmoil. With time running out, the fate of humanity hinges on a handful of people: Araminta, now awakening to the unwelcome fact that she is the mysterious Second Dreamer; Inigo, whose private dreams hint at a darker truth; and Justine, whose desperate gamble places her within the Void, where the godlike Skylords hold the power to save the universe . . . or destroy it.

Earning comparisons to such sci-fi/fantasy greats as Frank Herbert, Isaac Asimov, and George R. R. Martin, Peter F. Hamilton is a one-of-a-kind voice in space opera. His interstellar adventures are hugely ambitious, wildly entertaining, and philosophically stimulating. Now Hamilton’s centuries-spanning Commonwealth Saga—the linked novels Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained—is available in one epic eBook bundle. Contains a thrilling preview of Peter F. Hamilton’s upcoming novel, The Abyss Beyond Dreams, set in the same universe as the Commonwealth Saga. PANDORA’S STAR JUDAS UNCHAINED 2380. The Intersolar Commonwealth, a sphere of stars, 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 impossible: over one thousand light-years away, a star . . . disappears. Since the location is too distant to reach by wormhole, the Second Chance, a faster-than-light starship commanded by Wilson Kime, a five-times-rejuvenated ex-NASA pilot, is dispatched to learn what has occurred and whether it represents a threat. Opposed to the mission are the Guardians of Selfhood. Shortly after the journey begins, Kime wonders if the crew of the Second Chance has been infiltrated. But soon enough he will have other worries. Halfway across the galaxy, something truly incredible is waiting: a deadly discovery whose unleashing will threaten to destroy the Commonwealth . . . and humanity itself. Praise for the Commonwealth Saga Pandora’s Star “Should be high on everyone’s reading list . . . You won’t be able to put it down.”—Nancy Pearl, NPR “An imaginative and stunning tale of the perfect future threatened . . . a book of epic proportions not unlike Frank Herbert’s Dune or Isaac Asimov’s Foundation trilogy.”—SFRevu “Recommended . . . A large cast of characters, each with his own story, brings depth and variety to this far-future saga.”—Library Journal Judas Unchained “An interstellar suspense thriller . . . sweeping in scope and emotional range.”—San Antonio Express-News “Hamilton tackles SF the way George R. R. Martin is tackling fantasy. . . . There’s a sense of wonder here that’s truly unchained.”—SF Reviews “Richly satisfying . . . wonderfully imagined . . . Hamilton adroitly leaps from the struggles of one engaging, quirky character to another.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A major collection of short fiction from Peter F. Hamilton, New York Times bestselling author of Pandora’s Star, The Dreaming Void, and many other epic science fiction novels—including a brand-new novella starring detective Paula Myo Fans of the Commonwealth Saga will enjoy the return of Paula Myo, the genetically engineered police investigator whose single-minded pursuit of justice runs up against a postwar citizenry eager to forget old crimes. In the all-new novella “Manhattan in Reverse,” Paula is dispatched to the backwoods planet of Menard after a docile, supposedly nonintelligent alien species attacks peaceful human settlers. Menard may have to be evacuated—something the planet’s corporate owners and human populace are prepared to resist . . . perhaps with targeted aggression. Violence hits closer to home in “The Demon Trap” in which Paula’s investigation of a gruesome act of terrorism leads into unexpected political, technological, and philosophical waters, threatening the course of human evolution. Time travel has never been so tricky—or so deadly—as it is in “If at First . . .,” in which Metropolitan Police detective David Lanson finds himself matching wits with a sociopath who might very well be from the future . . . or, at least, a future. “Blessed by an Angel” is set in the Commonwealth Universe of the Void trilogy and features an alien visitor who offers the local human population a chance at paradise. But one species’ paradise may be another’s hell. Three other thrilling pieces round out the collection—and showcase Peter F. Hamilton’s ability to weave scientific speculation into very human storytelling.