Finally got to the third book in this trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton.
Like most of Peter F. Hamilton's work, it's a fusion of cyberpunk with space opera - uploads and downloads mingle with spaceships and everything is on a galactic scale.
His world is well realized and his politics are still human...even when dealing with entities that only *used* to be human. I love his aliens.
Sadly, the book is deeply flawed. At risk of spoilers, there is a distinct lack of an important element of story: Character development.
His major characters end the book essentially the same as they began the trilogy. Things happen to them, but there's no internal sense of change or growth. (Or if they did change and grow, then that turns out to be...well, that WOULD be a spoiler). Everyone goes home to live happily ever after...with things from their past.
Really. It's a shame...I wanted to like this book. I really did want to like it, but I like my protagonists to learn from what happens. Oh, and I also like my villains to have redeeming qualities...this isn't a CCA approved comic book. The bad guys don't all have to be inhuman monsters.
It's still enjoyable and it IS nice to find space opera these days, but it's not what it could be.
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