Fiction Reviews
Exodus: The Archimedes Engine
(2024) Peter F. Hamilton, Tor, £16.99, trdpbk, 901pp, ISBN 978-1-529-07371-3
Peter F Hamilton can do no wrong, in my eyes, so I’m always delighted when one of his doorstop novels drops. It’s been an infrequent sight in recent years – but then, the sheer weight of these things is astonishing – Exodus: The Archimedes Engine, for instance, runs to a ridiculous 900 pages with a second part to follow so we’re really getting three books in one here. But, when you’re reading Hamilton’s books they don’t seem that long at all because the characters are engaging the pacing is tight and the worlds he creates are edgily exotic.
I’m reserving judgment, though, on the wider series of which Exodus: The Archimedes Engine forms the first part. 'The Archimedes Engine' refers to alien planet-moving tech that can shift worlds into habitable zones. Rough plot: humanity flees broken Earth in generational Arkships, with the later ones arriving millennia after the speediest and finding humanity has now evolved in all sorts of strange and interesting directions. It’s a complicated world, but then it’s the template for a video game and it's built for role playing. To simplify, hundreds of worlds are run by the Crown Dominion, overseen by five queens who rule in rotation. Late arriving humans are second class citizens and must struggle for their freedom.
The book follows Finn, who gets embroiled in the resistance movement, and Queen Helena-Chione, who is facing internal challenges to her authority and well as the growing rebel threat. But the real issue for both is the Celestials – transhumans who have a broader agenda and don’t take kindly to the disruption caused by Finn and his allies.
There’s a lot going on here, but that’s also a Peter Hamilton signature feature, Expect multiple points of view, plot twists and alliance shifts and a pace that rarely lets up. It’s widescreen space opera, but we’ve only really got the setup and the world-building here (despite the huge word count). Likeable though it is, it doesn’t feel like a classic yet (maybe that’s down to the constraints of a game tie-up) and it needs to deliver in the second part. Fortunately, we don’t have too long to wait for that – Exodus: The Helium Sea is out in June 2026, which gives you just enough time to read this one first.
Ian Hunter
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