Salvation: A Novel

Peter F. Hamilton

Sept 2018 · The Salvation Sequence Book 1 · Sold by Del Rey

About this eBook

Humanity’s complex relationship with technology spirals out of control in this first book of an all-new series from “the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction” (Ken Follett).

“How far ‘space opera’ has come! The Old Masters of sci-fi would admire the scope and sweep of Salvation.”—The Wall Street Journal

In the year 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. Cutting-edge technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transportation—including starships—virtually obsolete. Every place on Earth, every distant planet humankind has settled, is now merely a step away from any other. All seems wonderful—until a crashed alien spaceship of unknown origin is found on a newly located world eighty-nine light-years from Earth, carrying a cargo as strange as it is horrifying. To assess the potential of the threat, a high-powered team is dispatched to investigate.  But one of them may not be all they seem. . . .

Bursting with tension and big ideas, Peter F. Hamilton’s Salvation is the first book of an all-new series that highlights the inventiveness of an author at the top of his game.

Praise for Salvation

“[A] vast, intricate sci-fi showstopper . . . The journey grips just as hard as the reveal.”—Daily Mail (U.K.)
 
“Exciting, wildly imaginative and quite possibly Hamilton’s best book to date.”—SFX

“Dynamic, multifaceted characters, strong mind-expanding concepts, and impressive flair for language [make Salvation a] rare celestial event. . . . One of Britain’s bestselling sci-fi authors has launched an addictive new book as the initial stage of what is sure to be an intriguing new series called the Salvation Sequence.”—SyFyWire 

“Peter Hamilton just keeps getting better and better with each book, more assured and more craftsmanly adroit, and more inventive. [Salvation is] a bravura performance from start to finish. . . . Hamilton is juggling chainsaws while simultaneously doing needlepoint over a shark tank. It’s a virtuoso treat, and I for one can hardly wait for Salvation Lost.”—Paul Di Filippo, Locus 

“Peter F. Hamilton is known as one of the world’s greatest sci-fi writers for a reason. . . . Salvation is well worth the effort and a great introduction to some good old-fashioned space opera.”—Fantasy Book Review

Ratings and reviews

a good beginning, but the series conclusion frankly stinks. the amount of effort to understand everything that happens is definitely not rewarded by the conclusion. save yourself the trouble, and don't even start.

The mixing of the sequence of the time lines take away from the enjoyment of the read. While I liked the story, the time jumps were problematic for me. I still don't understand how the "saints" came into being from the characters. There apparently a major time gap that goes unexplained where the "saints" do something or lead humanities fight.. At the end, you can assume but not really know what happens.

I'm halfway through the 1st book in this trilogy and I'm loving it as much as I loved the Commonwealth saga. Peter F. Hamilton has created worlds so real that the reader feels transported into the future with the characters and scenarios he so richly describes. I can't wait to get to the next two novels in this series. Definitely buy this book! ... Edited to add... In answer to another reviewer, I like the way he used enclosed stories from other times, within the book as a whole, to explain each character's motivation and history. This is much less clunky than the pages and pages of explanations, discriptives, and dry facts which other writers must add for the reader's comprehension. ... Instead it adds action and entertainment while learning about the characters' motivations and why they interact with each other as they do. Pardon the pun, but it's a novel way to avoid getting bogged down in details until the reader's eyes glaze over. Hamilton does it superbly, he makes it fun!

About the author

Peter F. Hamilton is the author of numerous novels, including A Night Without Stars, The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Great North Road, The Evolutionary Void, The Temporal Void, The Dreaming Void, Judas Unchained, Pandora’s Star, Misspent Youth, Fallen Dragon, and the acclaimed epic Night’s Dawn trilogy: The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, and The Naked God. He lives with his family in England.