Memory is not always reliable. Now, no comments about my age. A few years back I was reading three separate science-fiction trilogies, jumping from one series to another. I enjoyed them all, and continue to read what each author releases. However, jumping from one brilliantly conceived universe to another, back and forth, over three series was a little too much for my tiny little mind. Therefore, and that brings me to the point of this paragraph, if I know an author is writing a trilogy, I will wait until I have all three books and binge them.
My current binge is the Salvation Sequence trilogy by Peter F Hamilton. I am a big fan of his epic space opera, and this trilogy promised more of what I like. This nerd can’t resist, aliens, FTL travel and books that include a timeline for clarity. I have just finished book one; Salvation, and before I get too far into book two wanted to write a quick review.
Talking of book series, I began reading Salvation after a difficult journey through books five and six of The Expanse. I found both of those, especially book six, tough going. I hate to admit it, but by the end of that book, I had almost lost the ‘joy’ of sitting down and picking up a book. That isn’t to say I dislike The Expanse, and I will return to the series, I just struggled. However, all that was quickly forgotten as I was launched into the Salvation Sequence.
In the nearish future, the earth has been visited by what appears to be two alien species. The predominant alien race has stopped by during a religious pilgrimage to meet their god at the end of the universe. They are friendly and offer to share their medical advances with humanity in return for energy to create their antimatter fuel to continue their journey. All very friendly. Meanwhile, in the far future, another group of genetically modified humans are training. Their mission is to continue their fight for survival against an aggressive alien race who have chased humanity across the stars.
Meanwhile, back on earth, or actually on a planet that earth people hang out on, an of unknown origin alien spaceship has been found. In it are a group of humans in suspended animation, but no aliens. A group of interested parties go and check it out. We learn more about these interested parties and a lot more, through lengthy flashbacks. We also learn about the visiting aliens, the two distinct cultures that humanity has divided itself into and all the technology that is now commonplace, along with some interesting social commentary.
Salvation jumps between the far future and near future timelines until… well, no spoilers, but there was a nice twist in the final few chapters. Setting things up nicely for book two; Salvation Lost.
So, an enjoyable read and if you want to read it yourself here’s an affiliate link to Amazon UK and Amazon US. Back to book two for me…
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