Exodus The Archimedes Engine by Peter F Hamilton

Book Review

Pauline Morgan

When a book is this long several questions spring to mind. The first is could it be edited to a shorter length – at six centimetres thick it is somewhat unwieldy. But – Peter Hamilton is one of those writers who don’t have redundancies in their work. Everything has a place and a purpose even if it is not obvious at the time. Then there is always the possibility of splitting a huge volume into smaller parts. The problem is where, and do you leave a cliff-hanger that frustrates the reader who has to wait a year for the next instalment? With a linear narrative that might be possible. Hamilton weaves together a number of different narrative strands that would have to reach a similar point to provide the cut-off. In a few cases, such as here, a huge volume seems the best option.

            Exodus is the first volume of a planned duology. The setting is the very far future and far far away. The humans who have settled this corner of the galaxy have travelled there by sub-light technology.  Ark ships set off from the solar system in many directions with a plan to send a signal to the others if a suitable planet was found.

            The Centauri Cluster, where the new civilisation has developed, Genetic engineering has resulted in several transhuman races. The Celestials are the ruling class and are governed by five Queens who take it in turns to be the Empress. There were six, but Zubari was defeated by an alliance of the others. The dynasties are continuous as a Queen will download all her memories into a daughter of her choosing and who has been groomed for the honour. Subordinate to the Celestials are the Uranic humans.

            Finn is a uranic human and young at only 25. He has no interest in family politics and craves adventure. He would like to be a Traveler, trading between worlds and deliberately sets out to join the wrong crowd. However he is rumbled as an entitled brat and thrown out of a plane. He is lucky to survive but the result is that he meets Ellie Aponi and her grandfather, Josias. He is the owner of the Diligent, an Arkship that has just arrived in the Cluster after having travelled 40,000 years from Earth to get there. Thus, Josias is the last person alive to have set foot of Earth.

            Finn concocts a plan that he hopes will take him closer to his goal of becoming a Traveler. He will give over land he owns to the occupants of the Arkship in return for ownership of the Diligent. All he will then need is a drive unit that will allow him to access the gates which can take him further and faster than the sublight speeds most interplanetary vessels have to go at. A deal – the Diligent’s now illegal engines for the capacity to use the gates is Finn’s ambition.

            The action is not confined to Finn’s exploits. Wherever there is power, there will always be individuals who want it, or strive to keep and control it. Helena-Chione is the current Empress of the Crown Dominions. Through her, we get an idea of the power structures and the measures the Queens taken to ensure continuity. A particular focus is Thyra, a daughter of Helene-Chione and her path to becoming a Princess Congregant. This means that if the Empress needs to change bodies to ensure continuity, Thyra is on hand to be a possible host. And there is revolution brewing.

            To add to the convolutions of the plot, a wandering planet has been detected. It is of an unusual construction, and when it arrives in the solar system it is on course for, the sun’s proximity will cause an ‘iron rain’ making it a valuable commodity for whichever faction can control it.

            There are many plot strands skilfully woven together in this book, each adding to the understanding of the society that has developed in this far future and distant extremes of the galaxy. However advanced these people seem to be, the arrival of the Arkship shows how little some of them have changed. While there are methods to get across space quickly, most of the journeys are sub-light and the passage of time in them is important as political changes can be affected quickly, upsetting the order of life. It also gives space for characters to develop, seemingly at a leisurely pace and making longevity a crucial element in a complex society.

            This is only the first part of a massive time and space covering set of events while being a small part of the evolving galaxy. Hamilton’s imagination is immense, formulating a complex society and for those who enjoy the idea that sometime, we will get out of our solar system, this is a must read book.