Product Description

This novella and six stories are set in the same universe and time-line as the "Night's Dawn" trilogy.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9160 in Books
• Published on: 1999-10-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 512 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is Hamilton's first collection of short stories (including one novella), set in the same universe as the bestselling Night's Dawn trilogy. Actually, as Hamilton himself admits, the original versions of these stories had nothing to do with Night's Dawn, but he has used the opportunity of this collection to tweak (or almost completely rewrite) all his earlier works and bring them in line. This process seems to affect most sci-fi novelists at some point in their careers and is probably a cathartic milestone in the transition from new SF author to bestselling author.

The collection is chronological in sequence, starting with the early days when affinity is a cutting edge technology and taking the reader through it's rapid development as it forms a fundamental part of civilisation. For die-hard enthusiasts of Night's Dawn, "Escape Route" tells the intriguing story of the last flight of Joshua Calvert's father and his spacecraft, Lady Macbeth. And the novella "A Second Chance at Eden" is Hamilton's attempt at revenge; apparently when he wrote his second novel A Quantum Murder, too many of his friends solved the mystery and identified the murderer--this time he throws down the gauntlet to stunning effect. For fans or novices, this collection offers a diverse selection, all under-pinned by Hamilton's attention to detail and skill in storytelling. --Dave Mutton

Customer Reviews

Pick and Mix
There is not really a lot to add to what other reviewers have written - the stories are great and well written, (although perhaps not quite as well polished as Night's Dawn) and the characterisation is generally good: this is true of both those we might term heroes and those who could be villains, although in many places this becomes blurred. This is one of the best points, all the characters are human, with a mix of traits not just virtuously angelic or evilly demonic. Another good feature of this anthology, is that each story is truly distinct and individual. There are one or two links to the main work (Night's Dawn) but each story in Second Chance is written in slightly different styles and focuses on slightly different things, giving a full range between "Alien" at one extreme and "Caves of Steel" at the other.

thoroughly satisfying, an excellent introduction to Hamilton
This anthology provides an excellent introduction to Hamilton if you have never read him before. In particular, since it is set in the "Night's Dawn" universe it is a good taster for anyone comtemplating reading the trilogy.

All the stories are good. Well written original plots with good characterisation and (usually) a satisfying twist in the tail.

"A Second Chance at Eden" is a sci-fi whodunnit posing an Asimov style problem: In a world where every action by every person is observed and recorded by an omnipresent computer, how do you commit the perfect murder? Unlike Hamilton's other whodunnit (Quantum Murder) the solution is suprising and unguessable.

"Candy Buds" reads like a future fairy tale until you come to the nasty twist at the end. And what more intriguing puzzle could there be than the abandoned alien space ship in "Escape Route"?

Hamilton demonstrates in this book that he is a worthy successor to the best of the "golden age" hard SF writers (clarke, asimov, heinlein etc)- no fantasy sorcerers or spells here. He combines new ideas and speculative technology with good characterisation typical of the best of contemporary writing.

great
This is a wonderful collection of science fiction short stories. Each story is based on a good idea and the writing runs smoothly like a fresh little creek in the mountains. The characters are believable and mostly likeable. Thanks, Peter.