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The Naked God, Part 1: Flight | 
 enlarge | Author: Peter F. Hamilton
Publisher: Aspect
Category: Book
Buy Used: $18.92
New (1) Used (21) from $18.92
Rating:  108 reviews
Sales Rank: 215874
Media: Mass Market Paperback
Pages: 800
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 6.7 x 4.3 x 1.8
ISBN: 0446608971
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780446608978
ASIN: 0446608971
Publication Date: November 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: Help save a tree. Buy all your used books from Green Earth Books. Read -> Recycle -> Reuse!
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Amazon.com
After invasions and battles, panic and horror, after denial and the revelation of ultimate truths, after four volumes and 2,300 pages, it all comes down to this: To stem the tide of souls of the dead who have returned to possess the bodies of the living, Joshua Calvert must take his ship, the Lady Macbeth, on a mission beyond the farthest reaches of explored space. His goal is to find the artifact/entity the Tyrathcans call The Sleeping God in the hope that this legendary presence can offer some kind of help, or at least advice with the problem. Otherwise human civilization is perhaps doomed. Meanwhile on Ombey, an army of bitek soldiers stages a counter-invasion of possessed-controlled Mortonridge--a strange battle in which neither side is completely human--but the gains are little and each victory dear. The best of Adamist "gray" technology and Edenist green biotech, now used together in willing cooperation, still offer little hope. Physics cannot overcome metaphysics. This final installment of Peter F. Hamilton's Homeric space adventure, which began with The Reality Dysfunction, volumes I (Emergence) and II (Expansion), and continued in The Neutronium Alchemist, volumes I (Consolidation) and II (Conflict), is no simple winding up of the story. You'll be amazed to find Hamilton busily introducing new characters, new plots, and new enigmas up to the very end. After all this time can he possibly surprise us? Absolutely. --J.B. Peck
Product Description
After invasions and battles, panic and horror, after denial and the revelation of ultimate truths, after four volumes and 2,300 pages, it all comes down to this: To stem the tide of souls of the dead who have returned to possess the bodies of the living, Joshua Calvert must take his ship, the Lady Macbeth, on a mission beyond the farthest reaches of explored space. His goal is to find the artifact/entity the Tyrathcans call The Sleeping God in the hope that this legendary presence can offer some kind of help, or at least advice with the problem. Otherwise human civilization is perhaps doomed. Meanwhile on Ombey, an army of bitek soldiers stages a counter-invasion of possessed-controlled Mortonridge--a strange battle in which neither side is completely human--but the gains are little and each victory dear. The best of Adamist "gray" technology and Edenist green biotech, now used together in willing cooperation, still offer little hope. Physics cannot overcome metaphysics. This final installment of Peter F. Hamilton's Homeric space adventure, which began with The Reality Dysfunction, volumes I (Emergence) and II (Expansion), and continued in The Neutronium Alchemist, volumes I (Consolidation) and II (Conflict), is no simple winding up of the story. You'll be amazed to find Hamilton busily introducing new characters, new plots, and new enigmas up to the very end. After all this time can he possibly surprise us? Absolutely. --J.B. Peck
Download Description
The Reality Dysfunction and The Neutronium Alchemist chronicled an epic, far-future struggle set in a universe of thrilling complexity. Multiple worlds, alien races, two types of future humanity, and uncountable forms of fascinating future technology make up the universe created by Peter F. Hamilton. The "reality dysfunction" is a break in the fabric of reality that allows the dead to return to our world, where they possess living bodies. In The Naked God, the Confederation starts to collapse economically and politically as more star systems fall to the possessed. On Earth, Quinn Dexter plots to bring about the Final Night for the human race. Opposing him is Louise Kavanagh, who unknowingly teams up with the universe's most powerful and secretive policeman. In the midst of all this chaos, Joshua Calvert and Syrinx take their ships in search of an alien god which may hold the solution to the current crisis. Unfortunately, it was lost in space ten thousand years ago on the other side of the Orion Nebula, and the Tyrathca, the only ones who might know where it is, aren't telling.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 103 more reviews...
 Losing a bit of steam, still picking up complexity... August 11, 2008
Robert Gamble (Falmouth, MA United States)
Yes, I know that the series should be considered as a whole, and that "Parts 1 and 2" of each of the three subsections of the series, should be considered as one book. Nevertheless, each book is separate and can be reviewed as such.
This is not an easy series to read. I started almost a year ago and I don't have as much time as I would like to just sit down and read. You might want to add at least 1 star to my review if you can sit down and read novels more or less straight through, as most of my complaints have to do with complexity, number of threads and number of characters to keep straight.
In truth, the number of threads appears to be whittled down to 5 or 6, with the chapters (each roughly 50-70 pages) focusing on 2 or so of the threads. Generally not too much time passes for the reader before a thread is picked up again, so with relatively regular reading, things stay pretty coherent.
Some characters do disappear for quite some time though, and new ones continue to be introduced. One of the complaints I have with this series is indeed the sheer number of characters, including some (specifically thinking of the brother of one of the main characters) who appear to be a major plot twist, only to become 'just part of a group'. Given that there's one more book to go, some of these characters may indeed become important, but right now the sense is that Hamilton may have thought he had a cool idea for them, but then realized he just couldn't fit them into the overall story (or complete said story in 6 books) if he fully fleshed out their intended role. The number of characters is also exacerbated by some of the characters inhabiting more than one body, or other characters containing two personalities (I won't give more away in case people reading this review haven't read the first few books). The cast of characters in the first section of the book, takes up at least 4 (maybe 6 pages).
The editing in this book is poorer than in the others with a noticeable number of typos. The author still uses the annoying habit of switching points of view between people in a scene (ie, Person A is thinking about something as he walks down a hallway, interacting with other people. He enters a room, sees someone, and then the point of view switches without any physical break - chapter, one line of white space, etc - to the person he just saw).
All this said, the story itself appears to be growing a bit tighter and yet, not quite as interesting. Part of the problem comes from Hamilton feeling a need to describe EVERYTHING in his universe to the reader, even things which have no real impact on the plot itself. Most of these items that are imparted end up of no interest and are forgotten quickly. Some however make me wish the plot focused more on them, and not on the parts that Hamilton chose to focus on. So while the main plot threads appear to be heading towards something important, I as the reader, find myself wondering if he'll ever come back to some things that I think are more interesting.
One thing that Hamilton DOES do quite well, is to make his characters stand out. With the sheer number of characters, a surprising number of them have a very distinctive personality, in sharp contrast to other novels with far fewer characters who all feel the same. The story itself is still interesting but I have a feeling that things might get resolved too quickly (or not at all) given some of the hints I've been picking up from this novel (and the fact that there's only 1/6th of the series left to finish everything off).
This review probably doesn't do much for people who've started reading. Either they didn't continue after the first book or two, or they have too much invested to not finish. By itself, this book is really nothing too special. The newness of the fictional universe has faded. The stories are interesting but nothing spectacular, and the author seems to spend more time on continuing to add complexity to them as opposed to just telling them well. There's no doubt this series is an impressive achievement. For me the series is worth reading. This novel is just an average part of that series though.
 Tension really starts to ratchet as we near the finale of the series - one book left after this one! December 10, 2007
K. Sozaeva (Athens, GA USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
"The Naked God: Flight - Part 1" can be considered to be either book 5 or book 3a, depending on how you are counting this series. This is the book where all the strings are finally starting to come together; all the plot lines are starting to converge - and the reader can finally start to see exactly where Hamilton is trying to take us. Maybe. Sort of. In a way.
The truth of the matter is, that this series is so long, with so many characters and such a complex plot line, that this reader, at least, will likely have to read it more than once to really grok it deep down. However, things are starting to come together, at least for the characters in the book!
Ombey has started its liberation campaign for Mortonridge. Capone has either taken over or subverted enough planets to where he can now feel safe in the New California system and settle back to making things run smoothly there. The possessed on Norfolk - settled in their new "universe" - are settling in nicely - unaware that the changes they are forcing upon their host's bodies with their energistic power are causing cancers to form. Louise Kavanaugh reaches Earth and sets about to track down Banneth. We finally meet Banneth and learn a bit about this mysterious personage. Quinn ratchets up his campaign to bring the Night to Earth and to especially make life miserable for Banneth. Joseph is tapped by Ione - along with Mzu and Syrinx and Oenone - to try to track down the Tyrathca's Sleeping God. Keira - not one to sit and cry over spilled milk - doesn't let the loss of Valisk slow her down; she immediately makes the hellhawks dependent on her for their fuel and thereby strengthens her position with Capone's organization - and begins scheming to take over. We learn about a mysterious group of "supervisors" who apparently manipulate events on Earth and have great power over said events - shades of Big Brother!! And that's just skimming the surface of what happens in the text.
Written with Hamilton's typical attention to detail and sense of pacing, this is another prime example of why he continues to be such a superb storyteller. If you are a fan of epic stories, sci-fi or space opera, definitely give this one a go.
Well worth reading. January 9, 2007
Michael Friedrichsen
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This review is of the entire Night's Dawn trilogy.
The Night's Dawn trilogy is definitely worth the read. Hamilton does a wonderful job of making the characters come to life. He also explores various ideas (both old and new) about different technologies, their uses, and their effects on future society.
The trilogy focuses mainly on the dead coming back to possess the bodies of the living, and the battle between the living and the possessed. The idea put me off a little at first, but it gave rise to some unique circumstances.
I was slightly disappointed by the ending. The entire saga ends in about eighty pages, which is disappointing after reading over three thousand pages worth. But the story is well worth reading, especially the adventures of Joshua Calvert (the main character). Spaceship battles, other dimensions, interesting aliens and artifacts, zero-G sex, and technology's influence on society. Definitely worth reading.
Great Series July 2, 2006
Traderjohn (Glendale, AZ United States)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you like hard edged space opera, you'll this! It's Star Wars for adults, with more original ideas and better writing.
Space opera at its best November 13, 2005
Benjamin R. Kriete (Montague, MA United States)
Building upon the characters and concepts introduced in The Reality Dysfunction, this book is exciting and an enjoyable read. Though the very first novel in the series dragged a little, by the time you are a few pages into this you will be hooked! Suspension of disbelief has never been easier or more fun. Highly recommended.
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