[DurzoBlint]

I apologize if it is posted elsewhere but a quick search turned nothing up.

My question is where do you start? Do I start at Misspent Youth or do I charge right into Pandora's Star. I have been told that I should read Pandora's Star first but that doesn't seem all that logical to me. Was hoping those that have read the series could give me a hand and sort this out.

Thanks in advance.

[Werthead]

I apologize if it is posted elsewhere but a quick search turned nothing up.

My question is where do you start? Do I start at Misspent Youth or do I charge right into Pandora's Star. I have been told that I should read Pandora's Star first but that doesn't seem all that logical to me. Was hoping those that have read the series could give me a hand and sort this out.

Thanks in advance.

Misspent Youth is set in the same universe, but its' impact on Pandora's Star is minimal. The prologue to PS basically tells you that some guy called Jeff Baker created a revolutionary data-crystal technology and was the first human to get the 'rejeuvenation' treatment that effectively gives people immortality. That's literally all you need to know from MY, as Pandora's Star kicks off about 340 years later. There's one little in-joke in Judas Unchained that you might get if you've read MY, but otherwise it is totally disposable. I would probably recommend starting with Pandora's Star, to be honest, as MY is Hamilton's weakest and worst novel. There's some good ideas in it and a very interesting commentary on what happens to the creative arts when everything is available for free on the internet, but it's mostly just a bunch of unpleasent people screwing one over one way or another, with a ridiculous number of sex scenes.

OTOH, Pandora's Star is widescreen, blockbuster space opera in the finest PFH tradition.

[DurzoBlint]

Misspent Youth is set in the same universe, but its' impact on Pandora's Star is minimal. The prologue to PS basically tells you that some guy called Jeff Baker created a revolutionary data-crystal technology and was the first human to get the 'rejeuvenation' treatment that effectively gives people immortality. That's literally all you need to know from MY, as Pandora's Star kicks off about 340 years later. There's one little in-joke in Judas Unchained that you might get if you've read MY, but otherwise it is totally disposable. I would probably recommend starting with Pandora's Star, to be honest, as MY is Hamilton's weakest and worst novel. There's some good ideas in it and a very interesting commentary on what happens to the creative arts when everything is available for free on the internet, but it's mostly just a bunch of unpleasent people screwing one over one way or another, with a ridiculous number of sex scenes.

OTOH, Pandora's Star is widescreen, blockbuster space opera in the finest PFH tradition.

Thank you sir, that is exactly what I wanted to know. I'll order the books and add them to an already outrageous sized to-read-pile.

[PeterWilliam]

DB,
Thanks for the thread. I was thinking the same thing yesterday while wondering where to start buying for this series.

Wert,
Thanks again for being one of the resident encyclopedias for sf&f fandom. :)

[livens]

Like the others, I would say go ahead and skip MY. I read it after finishing the other books just out of curiosity, but it doesnt really add much to the rest of the series. It reads like a soap opera, but is kind of fun.

As for the other 2 books you wont be disappointed. Years after reading it my mind still wanders around the story on occasion.