Is the Night's Dawn trilogy overrated?

The Nomad · Post by **The Nomad** » 2008-02-26 05:42pm

After reading some positive reviews of Hamilton's trilogy, I bought it in pocket format all at once. That was over a year and a half ago. I painfully read most of slow-paced The Reality Dysfunction, manage to enjoy the ending, and drop the whole thing for months. Skip to the beginning of 2008, and I get more and more frustrated with seeing the two last tomes unread on my bookshelf. I decide to give it another try, and lo and behold, despite a good start, I dropped The Neutronium Alchemist after a few hundred pages, to re-read Erikson's Memories of Ice. I can't seem to get a hold of the saga, despite it teeming with fun stuff (reincarnated exotic energy wielding Al Capone becoming Da Boss of the Galaxy? yay!) and biotech wank.

Anyone else been seemingly disappointed?

Gustav32Vasa · Post by **Gustav32Vasa** » 2008-02-27 10:39am

Nope. I think it was good.

Not as good as The Commonwealth trilogy but still good.

aerius · Post by **aerius** » 2008-02-27 10:55am

I gave up halfway through The Reality Dysfunction and ended up doing the read a page skip 5 pages routine, it just dragged too much for my tastes. Quite a disappointment for me after reading and greatly enjoying Fallen Dragon.

The Grim Squeaker · Post by **The Grim Squeaker** » 2008-02-27 11:13am

aerius wrote:I gave up halfway through The Reality Dysfunction and ended up doing the read a page skip 5 pages routine, it just dragged too much for my tastes. Quite a disappointment for me after reading and greatly enjoying Fallen Dragon.

I really wish this thread had appeared before I purchased a single hamilton book in the uk. The Reality Dysfunction . Ah bugger

Kane Starkiller · Post by **Kane Starkiller** » 2008-02-27 05:50pm

The series is excellent in my opinion. Al Capone kicks ass.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » 2008-02-27 06:25pm

The Reality Dysfunction is not a fantastic book. I never really got into the main characters of the book (Joshua and that Edenist chick), though I was fond of lots of the supporting cast (particularly Laton. He was awesome). Hamilton really should have learnt to indicate when a character is thinking, because having it in normal text at the end of an otherwise narrative paragraph is disorientating.

If anything, the series deserves kudos for integrating super organic ships with reactionless drives with an otherwise fairly plausible set of normal spacecraft.

Sriad · Post by **Sriad** » 2008-02-27 09:19pm

I enjoyed it, but when I picked up the series I wasn't expecting greatness.

I agree that the Commonwealth duology and first book of the Void Trilogy have both been much better.

White Haven · Post by **White Haven** » 2008-02-27 11:52pm

I must be wierder than I thought...for some reason, slow-paced books don't bother me. I don't even register them as slower-paced until and unless people complain after the fact. I tend to read quickly, and fast-paced books feel rushed to me, whereas slower, more thoughtful ones feel 'normal.' In that light, I quite enjoyed the Night's Dawn books, and I'd recommend them to anyone, easily.

Master Arachnos · Post by **Master Arachnos** » 2008-02-28 12:22pm

I liked it, altho i agree with the comments that its probably a little too slow paced (apart from the last 100 pages of the naked god which is ridiculously fast-paced).

It's also slightly confusing (or at least i think it would be to younger readers) in the way it jumps from character to character and location to location..altho in this sense it's still a gazillion times better than KJA's seven suns dross

Lazarus · Post by **Lazarus** » 2008-02-28 05:19pm

The Night's Dawn trilogy is one of my favourite series of books. I thought they were brilliantly crafted with the attention to detail that I have only ever found in Hamilton's novels. I make it a rule to never judge a series by its component parts, only as a whole, so while Reality Dysfunction may have been slow it was the beginning of the story, and if everything just suddenly kicked off it would seem strained. Sure, the trilogy is a marathon, but you can't buy a 3500-ish page book and expect it to be short and sweet. If you're finding it long-winded, don't buy long stories, it's that simple. Try Fallen Dragon, which is as well crafted, but shorter and with a fantastic ending.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2008-02-28 10:29pm

I've read the Reality Dysfunction duology and I loved it, but before I could move on to The Neutronium Alchemist Harry Potter 7 came out, so I put the series on hold to read HP7 and just never picked it up again.

But it was seriously awesome on a bunch of levels. Besides the obvious Space Opera fun of it, and the total win that was Laton (also Dexter), the series throws in just about every kind of action and nerd-service you could want. Hell, it's like a snapshot of pulp sci-fi of the nineties: organic technology, nano technology, non-newtonian drives, advanced energy beings, other dimensions, psionics, genetech eugenics, dystopian governments, corporate fascism, ultraviolence, crazy fundies and crazier satanists, talking dolphins, mind-computer linkups, etc., etc.. Even if I wasn't digging the characters and the epic story arc, which I was, I would have totally enjoyed the books with the same part of my brain that loves the Lensmen series, and for many of the same reasons.

It may not be the easiest series to read, but overrated? Nah.

Bob the Gunslinger · Post by **Bob the Gunslinger** » 2008-02-28 10:30pm

I should probably mention that I will definitely read the rest of the books as soon as I find where I put them.

Lord Woodlouse · Post by **Lord Woodlouse** » 2008-02-29 08:15am

I really enjoyed the trilogy, though I thought the ending was rather cheap. It was a little slow to get into, but after about halfway into The Reality Dysfunction it goes at a fast enough pace to keep me hooked.

He improved a lot with the Commonwealth Saga though.