Commonwealth Saga
#651 of 2,654 all-time
Commonwealth Saga
Peter F. Hamilton
10 people recommended it in 7 threads, 2010–2025.
What people on Hacker News said
It's a very _big_ space opera with lots of engaging characters, interesting technology, exciting descriptions of interstellar war, and a good reminder of just how unlike humanity an alien species could be.
The trilogy can get a bit abstract, verging on the fantasy genre at times, but in the end the author manages to give an explanation that "makes sense" for everything, which is the thing I really like about his stories.
I've read Peter Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy and the Commonwealth Saga - the latter is much better but still suffers a lot, in my view, from poor characterization - something that Banks can be very good at (his bad guys can occasionally come from central casting though).
But I finished it and several conceptes have stayed with me since.
The Commonwealth Saga. A sci fi series by Peter F. Hamilton, it covers so many ideas that I'd stay up wondering about.
Peter F. Hamilton, "Commonwealth Saga" and "Void Trilogy". Among the best Sci-Fi I've ever read.
Where it comes up
- Ask HN: Best book you read in 2010 and briefly why 2010 · 3 recommendations
- Ask HN: What's the "best" book you've ever read? 2024 · 2 recommendations
- My favorite cult sci-fi and fantasy books you may not have heard of before 2025 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything? 2019 · 1 recommendation
- Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List? 2018 · 1 recommendation
- The Best Science Fiction Books (According to Reddit) 2011 · 1 recommendation