This is, by far, my best scifi read of 2021. This hard-scifi with a lot of focus in character development really got me in the guts. It's a pageturner full, and I mean FULL of ideas, well-writing scenes and an amazing core that unfolds like a rose. I am going to re-read it again.

This was a well plotted sci fi novella that explored interesting ideas within a far future. Despite the length, the authors succeeded in some complex wording building while creating a well developed main character at the center of the narrative. The story managed to be both fascinating and heartfelt, leaving a strong impression on me as the reader. 

This was my first time reading from Hamilton but it certainly won't be my last. I am now even more interested to dive into his long epic space operas if his short work is this good.

I would definitely recommend this novella to any sci fi reader looking for a compelling narrative in a small package.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Light Chaser is a hard science fiction novella focused on a character named Amahle. a Light Chaser who travels from world to world collecting memories and dispensing technology. She thinks the way her galactic society is set up is cool, but is it? Or is something else going on entirely? And who is this guy who keeps showing up in the memories she's been collecting? And how does he know about her?

This was a well-paced, interesting novella. The ideas explored have some obvious relevance for the world today, but as with most of Hamilton's work there is a positive outlook on making change.

I read most of this book sitting on the porch sipping iced tea. It's a good throwback to classic science fiction and I enjoyed it a lot.

Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Here's a surprisingly awesome Space Opera novella.

While it comes across as a loner pilot trading stories across many light-years, alone with her AI, the deeper story is one that caught me quite by surprise.

No spoilers, but if you love broad-scope massive empire-shaking timey-wimey hijinx love stories squeezed into bite-sized reads, then you really OUGHT to read this one.

I wanted to read it primarily for Peter F. Hamilton, but together with Gareth Powell, it became something special.

I was truly surprised by the scope. It snuck up on me because I was so invested in the everyday life. :)

Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, a good little novella, that takes you many places you don't expect to go. Definitely worth a quick read.

So yeah, this little novella packed one hell of a punch. Like we’re talking a Bruce Lee one-inch punch here. What’s this wee guy going to do here? Then WHAM, you’re halfway across the room on your ass trying to put your ribs back in place. Fuck me!

Our main gal Amahle is a Light Chaser, and no bro, it’s not what you drink after a tequila shot. Via genetic modifications and time dilation she is as close to as an immortal as you can get. She travels on a long circuit through the galaxy like a comet, making millennial pitstops on different worlds to trade for memory collars worn by the inhabitants. To bear these collars is a huge honour and they are passed down through the generations collecting centuries of memories of all those who wear it. The saved memories serve as entertainment for the advanced Glisten civilization. People there want to experience life as a king on a medieval planet or as an augmented mecha-spider-dude on a mining colony. It’s the Real Housewives or Siesta Key for this futuristic civilization.

Logging a life’s worth of memories and experiences really makes you look at yourself. Like, am I living my best life? Would people want to experience my life? My day so far has been me singing Hollaback Girl and hip thrusting in my underwear followed by eating an entire bag of cheeze puffs while watching a hockey game. So yeah dude, pretty rad I guess, future people would definitely pay top dollar for that!

Anyways, Amahle vicariously lives thousands of lives on her journey between the stars. While experiencing one life, someone named Carloman is communicating directly to her in the memory. She puts it off as something fucked up at first, but this guy keeps popping up in these memories as different people in different times on different planets but it’s always Carloman. He’s someone from Amahle’s distant past trying desperately to reconnect with her. There’s something sinister with the memory collars and why human civilization has stagnated. It’s up to Amahle to remember her early memories and save humankind.

I find myself frequently circling back and thinking about the story the last couple days which is a gigantic accomplishment since I have the attention span of a labradoodle puppy. There’s been a lot of soul searching with too many (or not enough) margaritas as I reflect on my life. Also, it’s me trying to piece together the mindfuck of time travel, reincarnation, memory, and just all the cool sci-fi shit in this book. Light Chaser explored so many rad worlds and ideas without ever feeling rushed. No need for an epic series of eight books with 900 pages each that just drags on endlessly. The authors were like “we have a gnarly idea, let’s trim the fat, and fucking wow some people!” Nailed it dudes!

Anyways, that’s about all I got. Adios amigos!

Well, with this two author in one single book, what did you expect? Nothing but greatness and that is exactly what we get! Outstanding piece of science-fiction. The writing is great, the pace is good, the story is very immersive and the ending was... Well let's not spoiled that, but let's just say it was as good as the rest of the book. I highly recommend it, as I do for both author individual work, Hamilton is obviously the more known author, but Powell is not a new comer either and highly deserve your reading time!!

I have read a number of books by Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell, and have enjoyed all of them. When I saw that they were co-authors on a new book, I was very excited and went into it pretty high expectations. I'm happy to report that this book exceeded my expectations and that I really enjoyed it. If have read any of Hamilton's or Powell's other books and enjoyed them, then you should pick this one up right away when it is published. I finished it in a single night as I could not stop/put it down. I will recommend that my library purchase a copy of this book when it is published.

Thanks to Tordotcom and NetGalley for providing an early copy of this book to review.

Amahle is one of a number of Light Chasers who traverse the known universe with only AI for company. She stops at planets, sometimes as often as once every fifty years and sometimes only once in a thousand, to collect their memories and their stories. Through these she lives an untold number of lives and is able to forget her own. This proves harder to do when the same voice and name, albeit in different bodies, starts to crop up in different planets that are light years apart. This is impossible, but the story it has to tell her is even more so.

This was a great, immersive sci-fi novella, focusing on futuristic AI and technology with the ability to halt the evolution and societal growth of all species across the universe. I really enjoyed Amahle's quest for truth and that the reader was granted permission to journey with her across the realistic timeline of the years it took for her to gain it. There was a sweet love story concurrently developing although it was never allowed to overtake the main focus, which I also appreciated.

I was blown away by this cracking little novella. Amahle is a Light Chaser – a sort of explorer who travels the galaxy alone trading for life stories. But as she collects tales, the words of a single voice come to her revealing a situation that only she is able to solve. This was brilliant. A meditation on evolution versus stagnation, and what we leave behind when we ‘advance’. And on top of that, a love story that transcends time and space. Highly recommend.

One of my favorite themes in prolific author Peter F. Hamilton's Science Fiction and Speculative Fiction is the exploration of Life Longevity through advanced medical techniques, swapping physiques, and other "oddities" of Science Fiction. In LIGHT CHASER, prolongation of Life is achieved via Speed of Light travel, and Light Chasers are rare individuals who travel to each settled world each millenia, collecting memories from memory collars worn by a line of descendants.