Pandora's Star is the book where Peter F. Hamilton first introduces readers to the human Commonwealth. It is the year 2380 and humanity has populated several hundred worlds across hundreds of light years, all due to wormhole technology. That is when a single astronomer observes something unexplainable about 1000 light years from Earth - two stars just disappear when they become simultaneously enclosed by some kind of structure. This sparks all kinds of debate within the Commonwealth as whoever did this must haves technology far superior to humanity and could pose a serious threat to the Commonwealth despite the distance. What to do about it? Sit back and do nothing hoping to avoid detection by these superior aliens or attempt to find a way to traverse the massive distance to take a closer look? Neither option is a great one and the Commonwealth's ultimate decision makes up the core of this interesting story.

Hamilton offers up a compelling vision of the future where advanced technology has changed human nature to a large degree.  Rejuvenation technology allows humans to become young again and re-life technology allows anyone who suffers body death to be re-created from their last "memory save point", as long as one exists. Surprisingly this combination results in most humans being risk averse as they find it hard to disregard the caution that their centuries of experience has taught to them, and only "first lifers" tend to be thrill seekers. This fact, combined with the wormhole technology that mankind has used to spread across the galaxy, means that humanity is a planet bound species with no ships that travel between the stars, an oddity for a science fiction tale of this magnitude.

The story is told via an array of different characters and threads that seem pretty unrelated at the beginning and take time to come together. For some that makes this book feel a bit drawn out, but I enjoyed the different character perspectives despite the added length and complexity. The stakes build up as the book goes on but despite reaching a crescendo you should know that this book ends before the story comes to any kind of conclusion. It is all build up and no pay off, so if you decide to read this one then you should expect to also read the conclusion in Judas Unchained.

Although the Commonwealth Saga is only two books, it is followed up by the Void Trilogy which takes place in the same universe 1,200 years later and includes The Dreaming Void, The Temporal Void, and The Evolutionary Void. If you prefer to listen to these books then you are in luck because John Lee narrates all five of the books and provides a consistent quality experience across them all.