Fallen Dragon

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 26 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

In the distant future, corporations have become sustainable communities with their own militaries, and corporate goals have essentially replaced political ideology. On a youthful, rebellious impulse, Lawrence joined the military of a corporation that he now recognizes to be ruthless and exploitative. His only hope for escape is to earn enough money to buy his place in a better corporation. When his platoon is sent to a distant colony to quell a local resistance effort, it seems like a stroke of amazing fortune, and Lawrence plans to rob the colony of their fabled gemstone, the Fallen Dragon, to get the money he needs. However, he soon discovers that the Fallen Dragon is not a gemstone at all but an alien life form that the local colonists have been protecting since it crashed in their area. Now Lawrence has to decide if he will steal the alien to exploit the use of its inherent biotechnical processes - which far exceed anything humans are capable of - or if he will help the Resistance get the alien home.

©2002 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"A fascinating, compulsively readable clash of hardware and ideals." ( Kirkus)

A unique take on human expansion to other planets.

Peter F. Hamilton offers up a different perspective on human colonization of space this time around and instead of unbridled success humanity quickly finds the concept to be financially non-viable after the first wave of colony planets are established. With the companies behind the initial expansion going heavily into debt a new form of corporate terrorism begins to arise. Financially failing colonies are purchased by investors on Earth who then send military forces there to conduct "asset realization" missions where they take by force anything that will have value back on Earth. This is a completely legal thing to do from an Earth based perspective but the colony inhabitants don't take too kindly to these "invading" forces and it is one such asset realization mission that acts as the main backdrop for the story of Fallen Dragon.

The story is told from 3 main point of view characters all with very different backgrounds and perspectives. One being a teenage boy growing up on a colony world who dreams of space exploration in an era where the concept is dying quickly, a second being a clone that hold a key role in one of the asset realization military forces, and the third being a colony inhabitant that is part of a resistance cell fighting back against the asset realization forces. Eventually circumstances lead all 3 of these individuals to the crux of the story when it builds to a resolution in typical Hamilton fashion. I don't want to spoil the plot but the real story doesn't actually surface until you understand why the book is titled Fallen Dragon and by that point it is quickly driving to a conclusion.

This is a typical Hamilton novel with a story that explores what it means to be human as the story traverses multiple detailed worlds with lots of interesting future technologies. If you are a fan of his work then you should not hesitate to pick this one up. As is typical for Hamilton's sci-fi audiobooks, John Lee is the narrator and he does his usual excellent job bringing all the characters to life, making this a worthy listen all around.

I never connected

This book had some very interesting ideas and parts of it I liked a great deal. However, I never really connected with the story. It seemed segmented and at times hard to follow. It took about half the book for me to start enjoying it at all.

Another great work by Hamilton/Lee.

Nice story with a surprise ending. The plot and character depth keeps you waiting for what's around the next corner.

An interesting look at the future.

A highly plausible idea of corporate society. Hamilton takes a look at what would happen if the colonization of other planets was financed by corporations who expect a return on their investment even if it means forcibly extracting goods and ideas. A rollicking adventure.

Great character development

Excellent book. Lots of character development. Unpredictable ending! This one will keep you entertained for hours.

I liked it

for the most part it inept me interested in hour it would end.. more a thought experiment than an epic tale.. but it was worth listening to.

The narrator is fantastic

A deep story, perhaps a bit belabored at times, but worth it. And the narrator brings it to life.

great scifi with a good narrator

the narrator is good. the book explores a lot of fun ideas and the main character gives us a good look at our human nature and our possible futures.

Don't start with this book

I'm glad I didn't start with this book. Peter F. Hamilton has written several fantastic novels, but I would not count this as one. There is nothing to get behind here and not much to relate to.

Brilliant dreamscape.

This is the second of Hamilton’s works to which I’ve listened. His writing reminds me of so much of the Golden Era Science Fiction I’ve read in my life with its dream-like "anything is possible" vision that is so much a part of the work of authors such as E.E. Smith, Edward Hamilton, and John W. Campbell. In 'Fallen Dragon', that vision becomes thoroughly modernized. And while that modernization can at times, namely when it includes realistically graphic scenes of particular horrors, prove difficult for some to handle in a way that doesn’t allow said scenes to interfere with the story as a whole, in the end it’s absolutely worth it. I’m on my second listen now, approximately a third of the way through, and this time the beauty of the story’s dreamscape is more prominent than the times it transforms into "mini-nightmares". John Lee, a favorite narrator of mine, does a brilliant narration and I’m unable to imagine anyone else in his place. Moreover, this performance, I believe, propels Mr. Lee from great to legendary.