Despite being only two books in length the Commonwealth Saga manages to deliver an epic science fiction story from the mind of author Peter F. Hamilton. The first book, Pandora's Star, is aptly named as it sets the stage by telling the tale of how humanity lets curiosity unleash a threat upon the galaxy that it is in no way prepared to handle. Multi-century lifespans and instant wormhole travel between stars has made humanity overly complacent and easy prey for the Prime aliens who are ruthless, aggressive, and without mercy. Survival of the fittest may have served us well in the distant past but now it is time to find out if we are able to channel our inner predator or if we finally become prey to someone else.

As is hinted at in the first book, and implied by the title of this book, the Prime aliens are not the only threat being faced by the Commonwealth. While the Prime aliens attack from the outside there is also a disease eating away at the Commonwealth from within. The Guardians of Selfhood, often branded as terrorists, have been claiming for over a century that the "Starflyer" alien has infiltrated the government and they firmly believe it orchestrated the current conflict with the Prime aliens. But why would it do so and to what end?

The story slowly builds to a crescendo as it ponders what it really means to be human. This two book series wraps itself up nicely and feels complete but it also acts as an excellent pre-cursor to the Void Trilogy which takes place in the same universe 1200 years later. For audiobook fans John Lee narrates all 5 books and does an excellent job bringing this universe to life.