BOOK REVIEW: Salvation Lost (Salvation Sequence, #2) by Peter F. Hamilton

Salvation Lost is the second book in the Salvation Sequence by Peter F. Hamilton. Hamilton is one of the most prominent and skilled purveyors of advanced-technology, military space opera science fiction. This new work is another example of this and includes variations on his oft-repeated themes: human contact with alien civilizations, stealth undercover agents, apocalyptic disasters, paradigm-shifting technologies and super-wealthy scions of family dynasties. These themes and others have been present in some of his bestselling work, such as the Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained and The Night's Dawn trilogy. 

The plot of Salvation Lost  is split into two different stories that are set at least ten thousand years apart. The first is about the beginning of an invasion of Earth and its occupied habitats in the Solar System and beyond by a recently discovered alien species. The second is about human descendants of the survivors of that alien invasion who are still fighting them in order to get revenge and prevent the aliens from continuing their eons-old plan of searching for and kidnapping sentient beings to fulfill their religious beliefs about collecting all intelligence in the Universe for presentation to their God at the end of time.

The two time lines are connected by the existence of what the later time calls the Saints of Salvation. These are the group of extraordinary individuals in the earlier time who were able to find a way to presumably thwart the intentions of the aliens and paved the way for the later humans to exist and continue the fight.

In the first book Salvation the primary narrative tension was built around trying to figure out which of the main characters in the primary time line turn out to become Saints as well as anticipating the horror of the fall of human civilization by alien invasion. In the sequel Salvation Lost, the names of most of the Saints have been revealed (but so has the fact that some of the main characters from Book 1 are undercover alien operatives). The primary tension in Salvation Lost comes from seeing the details of the alien invasion  (which we know will be mostly successful from the existence of the later time line) through the eyes of the characters we were introduced to in the first book as well as seeing the beginning of the counterattack in the later time line and wondering whether it will be successful or not.

Neither time line's story  is concluded in Salvation Lost, which is a typical weakness of the middle book in a trilogy. This doesn’t mean that there’s a surfeit of action, character development or surprises, however. Hamilton does a good job of moving the story of the Salvation Sequence forward in both time lines and I look forward to getting all the answers about the early time line as well as the conclusion of the millennia-old battle with the evil aliens in the third book, The Saints of Salvation (which is set to be published in October 2020)!

Title: Salvation Lost.
Author: Peter F. Hamilton.
Paperback: 494 pages.
Publisher: Del Rey.
Date Published: October 29, 2019.
Date Read: May 25, 2020.

GOODREADS RATING: ★★★★½  (4.5/5.0).

OVERALL GRADE: A- (3.67/4.0).
PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: A-.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A.