Interview with Peter F. Hamilton

Night Without Stars is Peter F Hamilton’s follow-up to his hugely successful The Abyss Beyond Dreams and the conclusion to his Chronicle of the Fallers duology. (Read Mark C’s review here)

When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

I had the notion that writing was something I’d like to try when I was in my teens. However, I didn’t act on that until I was in my mid-twenties. But actually wanting to be a writer didn’t occur until my thirties, when I was already published.

The characters you’ve created through out your career, a some very memorable characters I’ve ever read, how do you consistently develop such well rounded characters and which one is your favorite?

How? is a tricky one. They just seem obvious to me, put together at the start to fill the requirements of the plot, then they seem to grow and develop as the story progresses and they come to life as I grow familiar with them. As to a single favorite, that’s impossible to answer. But some of those I’m very fond of would be Joshua Calvert, Syrinx, Gore Burnelli Ozzie, Paula, Troblum, Kysandra, Angela…

Several of your latest novels, A Night Without Stars included, feature a main character in some kind of law enforcement capacity, is this because you like to have a “cop” character or is it simply a necessity of the story you’re trying to tell?

Partly necessity. A cop is also a good way of taking the reader down into the society and universe I’ve created, and give it some depth, exploring how it fits together in detail, which in turn hopefully makes it more believable, and real.

Did you know the Fallers were going to be a significant part of the Void story when you started Pandora’s Star?

No, they came about later when I was putting the Void Trilogy together. I didn’t work them out completely until I started plotting The Abyss Beyond Dreams.

You’ve said A Night Without Stars is the final novel in the Commonwealth series, are you sad to be leaving the universe behind?

Final for now. I’ve written a lot about the Commonwealth, so I felt it was time to take a break. I may go back after a few years when I’ve finished the current project.

You’ve said that you sometimes dedicate 6 months to a year to planning your novels, what generally takes longer, world building or story development?

The two are complimentary. Once I have a rough idea of plot I start the worldbuilding process which in turn helps flesh out the plot to a degree that I can start making individual chapter notes.

Does world building affect your story development?

Not after the initial work has been done, no. The arc of the characters is designed to fit into the world/universe that I’ve already put together. It’s a stage, if you like, which I place the various scenes into.

Given the choice, would you be Advancer or Higher?

Advancer. They seem a bit more wilder, with more energy, and have more fun. Having said that they also get into more trouble.

Have we seen the rest of the Primes?

I think so. Though it might be interesting to see what happened to Morninglightmountain a thousand years after the Void Trilogy.

Salvation is your next project, what can you tell us about this story?

It’s a trilogy set in a completely new universe, featuring some strange aliens who have arrived in the solar system on a huge arkship. They’re on their way to the end of the universe where they believe their god awaits.

There has been some rumors about a Pandora’s Star TV show, can you share any details?

I’m in discussion with a production company and have been for some time. If anything happens I’ll announce it, but certainly nothing yet.

Thank you so much for your time!

You’re welcome.

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