The Neutronium Alchemist

The Night's Dawn Trilogy, Book 2

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

The ancient menace has finally escaped from Lalonde, shattering the Confederation's peaceful existence. Those who succumbed to it have acquired godlike powers but now follow a far-from-divine gospel as they advance inexorably from world to world. On planets and asteroids, individuals battle for survival against the strange and brutal forces unleashed upon the universe. Governments teeter on the brink of anarchy, the Confederation Navy is dangerously overstretched, and a dark messiah prepares to invoke his own version of the final Night.

In such desperate times, the last thing the galaxy needs is a new and terrifyingly powerful weapon. Yet Dr. Alkad Mzu is determined to retrieve the Alchemist so that she can complete her 30-year-old vendetta to slay a star. This means that Joshua Calvert has to find Dr. Mzu and bring her back before the Alchemist can be reactivated. But he's not alone in the chase, and there are people on both sides who have their own ideas about how to use the ultimate doomsday device.

©1997 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"[A] solid space opera best suited to readers familiar with the first book, The Reality Dysfunction." ( Publishers Weekly)

A masterpiece

This is a wonderful space opera. I highly suggest it. I can't even put it into words. This is an epic story of space flight, scifi, and the dead returned to live. only downfall is that it's a long story.

Fantastic

Fantastic book and fantastic narrator! Could not have enjoyed this more, super excited to read the 3rd book.

Great story, but ...

... it ends in a series of cliffhangers. Got to get the next book, but not on Audible! Dang.

A must read

The story is literally the best space opera I’ve ever encountered, twists and turns nest neatly into a giant arc which also does a really great opening and resolving of characters instead of leaving you feeling incomplete at the end of each volume.
I don’t like the narrator, his range of voices is really not great and especially various American accents are really weak. However, the story is amazing and I enjoyed it just as much my second time through.

Whew!

What a long long story! Very complicated, requiring plenty of concentration to follow the plot. The hardest part is understanding when the scene changed to a different part of the story. I would have suggested inserting an extra two seconds of pause before each scene change to one of the many different plot lines. There were times that it would take anywhere from 30 seconds to a minute to understand that the story had changed to one of the different plot lines. That being said, it was extremely absorbing and there were times when I was stuck in my car in the driveway unable to stop listening. I love John Lee's many different accents for each character - he is an amazing narrator!

Very interesting

But some of the characters are getting redundant, also the continuity lack a bit from the first book. Still a great story

Peter does it again!!!

Two of my favorite people, the Author and the narrator John Lee. Again showing superb talent .
This was a long story over 40 hours, I listened to it at night in bed, at the gym, while driving, I just couldn't wait to get back to the books.
Peter has ability to keep you in the story line right to the end, has always been brilliant at this. Having an ace narrator like John Lee on your side makes the magic happen I'm always fascinated as to him he manages to keep the story and characters on track, and then put a series of these together. Real artist one and all.

Good Stuff

buy it, listen to it, it's worth it, you won't regret it . . .

Best Ever

Any additional comments?

This is the best series I've ever read by a massive margin. (I now own it paperback, e-book, and audiobook.) It's intelligent, hardcore science fiction written incredibly well. The characters are compelling and believable, and the story is intense! I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. I simply can't express in words how much I love these books!

next please

great storyline can't wait for the next book. you definitely feel like this is part of a series.