Frequently Asked Questions

Listed below are the questions and answers most commonly asked of Peter F. Hamilton. If you have any questions which you can't find the answer to on this site, please ask it via the form on the questions page. The answer will then be added to this page.

Greg Mandel
Question: Why Peterborough? I'm from that town, and it doesn't seem to have much to fire a sci-fi author's imagination. Although it's interesting to think of Walton as a possible fashion centre.... (From Ed)
Answer: As to Peterborough, I look on it as a challenge.  Turning it into the happening industrial/cultural center of the 21st century is a good way of giving your imagination a work out.  Besides which, how else is Peterborough FC going to win the FA cup? (2 November 1998)

Question: Do you plan any further Greg Mandel stories?(From Martin Burcombe)
Answer: Greg.....  Hummm. There is a file of notes on a possible short/small novella set just after Quantum Murder. I won't even be thinking about writing it until The Naked God is finished. (28 April 98)

Confederation Universe
Question: Are you ever going to write the story of Joshuas father´s exploits ? (From Thor e roos)
Answer: See Escape Route in the collection A Second Chance At Eden. (2 November 1998)

Question: One feature of several of your books is an element of ethnic segregation. you paint alien species as friendly, but generally disinterested in human affairs. you even include a world (nyvan?) with a mixed ethnic population which is held up as an example of how not to do things. I guess this is a reasonable conclusion to come to given the current state of Euro-American civilisation, but don't you think you're being a bit pessimistic about people's ability to get along, and simplistic about the reasons why they don't? (From Ed)
Answer: The schismatic nature of the human race in 2600 is quite deliberate.  One reason was to reflect today's world in the Confederation.  Secondly, volume three is about exploring options, in lifestyle, philosophy, religion, etc, which needs a suitably diverse base to draw from. (2 November 1998)

Question: I'm sure you're having trouble pronouncing my name,anyway I live in Jordan and I'm 13 years old. I've read volumes 1 and  2 of the Night's Dawn triliogy. My question is: In the Neutronium Alchemist, You introduce a couple of mysteroius characters, one on Ombey,who contacts a posessed with  ridicule. the other is Dick keaton on Nyvan who comes in contact with Calvret. Could you tell me if they will be more thoroughly inroduced in "The Naked God". P.s. When is that coming out? (From Khaled Bassam Talhouni)
Answer: Yes, all will be explained.  It's coming out Oct 99. (25 October 1998)

Question: What does ZTT stand for? (From W. Keith Beason)
Answer: Zero Temporal Transit (25 October 1998)

Question: Among other things, I'm a fan of Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" series, and I notice certain similarities between the dragon-rider and Void/Blackhawk-captain relations (telepathic bond, teleportation, the 'hawks' uncomplicated emotions and speech patterns). Without going so far as to suggest you "filed off the serial numbers" (sounds painful!): (1) were you at all influenced by her portrayals? Or (2) are you aware of a third, prior pattern you both may have worked from? Or (3) the 'hawks are a completely independent invention? Or (4) none of the above? (Note that I don't mind if it *is* (1); I *like* the 'hawks' personalities.) Thank you. (From Phillip Thorne)
Answer: I've certainly read some of the Pern books; and SF has innumerable examples of human telepathic bonds with other entities.  The design and growth cycle of the voidhawks was worked out from scratch for this series. (25 October 1998)

Question: How do you go about writing something as large as Nights Dawn, do you have the core storyline already written and embelish with additional plots/storylines or is everything planned in detail i.e all the plots/sub-pltos. Or do you just write on the lfy and have it all in your head. How do you store reference material on the confederation universe: Notebook/Database/Memory. (From Keith Wilkins)
Answer: The core storyline was worked out in advance (yes, there is an ending!). After that I decide on which charicter is doing what during each book, to form a loose outline.  After that, I'm on my own with my word processor. The notes are in a data base, and currently run to over 200 pages. (25 October 1998)

Question: I'm slightly puzzled about the distribution of data within the confederation in that starships are currently used and it seems very slow. I'm suprised some enterprising person hasn't planted a kind of gateway node in each star system. Data would then be sent from the planets to the gateway node normal radio fashion, physically loaded into a drone which would then make the jump to the next node in a chain, unload its data and return with any data for the host system, the next node would then forward again, in this way you could construct a much lower latency data transmission network than chartering ships ??? Pretty much like we have on the internet today where a packet can take a number of routes to a destination. Maybe this could be Joshua's next great business venture or maybe its a little on the mundane side. (From Keith Wilkins)
Answer: Not quite sure what you mean by gateway nodes.  The Confederation hasn't yet developed the technological ability to hold a wormhole open perminantly. (25 October 1998)

Question: Have you ever considered (or been contacted) about creating a role playing game based in your Night's Dawn universe? (From John Cope)
Answer: No, not yet (25 October 1998)

Question: After reading the Greg Mandel Books after the Night's Dawn books Ive noticed a definite slant in the future progression of certain technologies that would link the two eras. Was this intentional? Were the ideas in the Greg Mandel used as blueprints for further developments? For example did you look at the bioware implants and see the neural lace as a natural development? (From Gerard O'Brien)
Answer: Sorry, the two universes are not connected.  Technologies might be similar at the start, given that they're both extrapolated from today, but the Night's Dawn has no neurohormones boosting psi abilites. (25 October 1998)

Question: Will you release more books in the Night's Dawn universe after the triolgy is finished? (From Rich)
Answer: I don't have any idea what I'm going to do once I've finished Night's Dawn. Given the way it's due to end, a sequel will be difficult/different. However, I won't be writing anything set in this universe for several years. (25 October 1998)

Question: Will we get to see more about the Kulu Kingdom and its formation at some point? Presumably it will have a big role in "Naked God".(From Evan Ladouceur)
Answer: The Naked God doesn't have anything about the formation of the Kulu Kingdom; neither, I'm afraid, does the collection The Second Chance At Eden.  There are several pages of notes on Kulu, along with a lot of other baseline history facts on the Confederation, which I'm hoping may eventually become available on this site.  However, the Mortonridge Liberation on the principality world Ombey, is covered in some detail.  And there's also some political maneuvering that the Kingdom is heavily involved in. (24 June 1998)

Question: Also, have you noticed that you rarely give names to Kulu ships (compared to others in Night's Dawn series).  Any reason?  or just too insignificant to matter? (From Evan Ladouceur)
Answer: Naming Kulu Kingdom ships, no I never noticed few names are given.  There's no grand plan behind it all. (24 June 1998)

Question: Do you believe in the spiritual concepts that you portray within the "Nights Dawn" trilogy (In regards to the beyond) are you more spiritual or religious ? (From *No name supplied*)
Answer: The actual nature of the 'beyond' described in Night's Dawn was invented purely to fulfill its required role in terms of plot.  And, yes, I would be inclined more towards basic spirituality rather than dogmatic religion. (6 July 1998)

Question: Are the words of Ming Tsong ( "Edenist founder" when talking to syrinx after her encounter with the possesed on Pernik )and the Kiint ( syrinxs chat on their home planet ) both in part 2 of the Neutronium Alchemist; Your own thoughts on the BIG question of BEING and does it correspond to your philosophy of life and our existence within this plain of reality ? (From *No name supplied*)
Answer: Wing Tsit-Chong's philosophy is loosely based on Buddhism, then moderated by a few of my own musings.  The Kiint are dropping hints about what the human race will have to confront in the final volume.  That aspect of existence and our place in the universe is going to be probably the most direct author belief/comment that'll be made.  I know that's not being terribly specific, but put another way, nothing that's been said in the book contravenes any of by beliefs. (6 July 1998)

Question: Your books are great, but i discovered this too late to buy a hardback copy of the reality dysfunction.Any chance you can print it again in hardback, or at least sell me yours to avoid paying scalpers prices?? (From Patrick Hurley)
Answer: in the UK,  Reality Dysfunction may be reprinted in hardback next year when Volume Three, The Naked God, comes out.  I don't know for sure, it's an option my publishers are considering. In the USA the Guild Books of America has printed done a hardback edition, which as far as I know is still available. I can't sell you mine, I've only got a couple left myself.  Nice try, though. (16 July 1998)

Question: There is no compelling reason for why the adamists spurned the use of Bitek. Arguments that have been given along "religious" grounds do not seem to be convincing. It is hard to imagine that in a society as materialistic and greedy as our own, the development and exploitation of such a powerful technology as Bitek could be ceased purely on religious grounds. There is a mention that human faith in religion was significantly rekindled --- but what was the cause?  How could it have been so dramatic that the majority of the population happily gave away a vastly superior technology and a quality of life that was several orders of magnitude better? Is there a link with "the beyond" here and will the issue be addressed in the third book? (From Peter Watts)
Answer: Yes, the reasons for Earth abandoning bitek will be given in The Naked God.  The formation of Edenism itself is covered in the novella A Second Chance At Eden. (16 July 1998)

Question: A nerdy, trainspottery type question regarding the nights dawn trilogy!  How come it takes weeks for starships to travel anywhere? In the books, travel through wormholes is virtually instantaneous (if only over relatively short distances) --- what is taking the time between jumps? "Astrogation"?  Recharging of the patterning nodes"? Crew R and R? (From Peter Watts)
Answer: Starships, especially Adamist ones, take time to travel because they have to use their reaction drive to match relative velocities.  When they emerge from a ZTT jump at their destination star system they still have the velocity of their departure system.  The fusion drive is normally used between each jump to align the ship on its next jump coordinate and to gradually change the delta-V so when it emerges from its final jump the velocity is matched with the planet/asteroid it arrives at.  For Voidhawks, the wormhole terminus can be matched with the velocity of the system it's travelling to, but this increases the energy expenditure required by the patterning cells.  Therefore the voidhawks tend to travel for some distance through ordinary space to change delta-v like Adamists ships, and at the same time using their distortion field to focus the natural radiation found in space to recharge the energy cells,  Reality Dysfunction chapter 3. This time/distance problem can be overcome to some degree by fitting additional fusion generators into a voidhawk's cargo cradles, and recharging the cells directly, Reality Dysfunction chapter 23. (16 July 1998)

Question: After finishing the Naked Alchemist, my interest in this great weries is heighted, which is a pretty neat trick after a trilogy's middle book. The only element that occasionally slows me down is the vast number of viewpoint characters and incidental detail.  On reflection, do you find that the multiple viewpoints and subplots have enhanced the story for you, or if you had to do it over, could some have been pared back and the story slimmed down a bit. (From Evan Ladouceur)
Answer: The size was always going to be a problem in view of expecting people to keep track of who and what was going on.  In a book this size you're going to get a lot of viewpoints from different characters, and with a lot of different viewpoints you're going to get a big book...  Chicken and egg, really.  As to doing it over, and doing it differently, I'm not sure.  One of the reasons it is so long is that I wanted to give the best overview possible.  Not just what the main characters were up to, but how this conflict affects the little people.  So, maybe some of the secondary characters could be culled to simplify things, and the descriptive passages trimmed.  However, I stick by the motto; a story is its own length. It could have been worse, I cut over 40,000 words from The Neutronium Alchemist before it even started the editing process. (22 July 1998)

Question: Will the sleeping god be fully explained in the next book of the night's dawn trillogy and how significant is it to the fight against the possessed ??(From Josh Davidson)
Answer: Yes, the nature of the Sleeping God will be explained.  But it telling you the level of its importance would spoil the plot. (27 July 1998)

Question: Monarchies and aristocracies are on the wane as a form of government today, yet your future in Night's Dawn fields at least three: Kulu, Norfolk and the Oshanko empire.  Other than being interesting and picturesque what drives this?  It would seem that the only way a monarchy/aristocracy might appear is as the result of (adverse) cultural upheaval.  Does genetic tinkering (in the case of Kulu at least) obviate some of the more traditional problems associated with hereditary government? (From Evan Ladouceur)
Answer: For a thorough answer you'll have to wait until my notes on the formation of Kulu are published, hopefully on this site.  Don't ask for a date, please!  The condensed version is that by calling themselves a monarchy, the Saldanas have put a publicly acceptable face on what is essentially a family corporate dictatorship.  Richard Saldana who founded Kulu also owned the Kulu Corporation, and saw the simplest way to safeguard the company against government was for it to become government.  Having a royal family was floated as an alternative to a supreme court as the planet's constitutional guardian, and given the family placemen were the politicians of the time, rigging the referendum was a simple matter for them.  As well as taking on the role of constitutional guardians the family became the government's executive.  From that beginning the Saldanas' power and wealth grew in tandem with Kulu, until they became impossible to overthrow.
      Norfolk is a similar situation, in that the landowner class have subverted the constitution to ensure they remain on top, and nothing is allowed to challenge that.  Royalty on Norfolk is the same as it was in the UK around the turn of the (nineteenth) century a figurehead and focus for feelings of national identity, especially among the working classes who thanks to the pastoral constitution are not well educated. ( July 1998)

Other Books
Question: Last January, I saw a book entitled "Will-O'-the-Wisp" mentioned as a forthcoming book on a Peter F. Hamilton bibliography page somewhere on the web. I know nothing further about it, can you enlighten me? (From Noak Nilsson)
Answer: Simple answer. Will'o the wisp was the original title for Lightstorm, the kids book from Orion's Dolphin imprint. It was changed to match the one-word title of the other books in the series. (28 April 98)

Other Questions
Question: Is there any chance of you visiting Australia in the next couple of years? (Specifically Melbourne). It would be great to get a book signed! (From David Baker)
Answer: I'm planning on going to Worldcon next year.  See you there. (25 October 1998)

Question: Do you do book-signing sessions?(From Martin Burcombe)
Answer: Yes I do book signings.  But I don't get to choose where. That's up to what macmillan is prepared to pay for. But I should be on a tour in Oct when the collection and paperback of Neutronium Alchemist come out. (30 April 98)

Question: Peter, these days many writers are approached by film and television producers to option or buy the film rights to their works, sometimes even before the novel is published. Have you ever been approached, and what are your views about translation of your work into film or TV? (From Alex Scollay)
Answer: I've had several enquiries about the rights for Night's dawn, none of which have come to anything.  My opinion is that it's flattering to be asked, but i don't think a direct book to script adaptation is possible.  If you've ever seen Dune you'll know what I mean. The only way I can think of adapting it would probably be to take out one storyline and focus on that. ( 20 August 1998)