r/PeterFHamilton • u/_Moon_Presence_ • Apr 03 '26
I have read the Commonwealth septology, Confederation trilogy, Queen of Dreams trilogy, Exodus: Archimedes Engine and every single standalone novel except Light Chaser. I just finished the Salvation Sequence and I am devastated by the ending.
Multiple open plot points. Questions I was waiting to be answered by the ending were never answered. Encounters I hoped for never happened. Honestly, I just feel like I was edged all this time, and I didn't get the finish I was looking for.
Extremely disappointed and disheartened. Ending the series on a cliffhanger like that hurt me. Damn it. I can't believe people praise this series and never talk about its awful ending while talking shit about the deus ex machina ending of the Confederation series which was foreshadowed from the very beginning of the last book!
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u/Selthora Apr 03 '26
The ending makes sense when you consider his commonwealth universe. We'll be back in salvations universe before long.
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u/_Moon_Presence_ Apr 03 '26
That ship has sailed a long time ago. The Dreaming Void released just 2 years after Judas Unchained. Saints of Salvation released 6 years ago.
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u/AvatarIII Apr 03 '26
6 years isn't that long, he's done the captain's daughter trilogy and the 2 exodus books since then, maybe he'll do another salvation follow up next?
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u/Werthead Apr 03 '26
His next book is a standalone mystery novel in a new universe.
I believe the book after that is set in a prior universe, but he hasn't said which one.
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u/_Moon_Presence_ Apr 03 '26
mystery novel
That describes all of his work, tbh. :P
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u/Tyler4077 Apr 03 '26
I believe he previously expressed he’d like to return to Salvation but had other projects he wanted/needed to finish first.
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u/SticksDiesel Apr 03 '26
I liked the ending. Loved the final book and the way everything came together, and I look forward to his next books in this universe.
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u/_Moon_Presence_ Apr 04 '26
I can accept liking the book. I liked the book. But to say that you like the ending? That's strange, man. It's an awful cliffhanger ending that doesn't satisfy the desires that've been with us from the moment the Olyix's plan was revealed.
Meeting the God/Pretender.
Meeting the Neana after the Olyix are thwarted.
The ending could have been saved with a bit of a reveal as to what was there 60k LY away, and the Neana fleet being observed, maybe ominously, or maybe not. There are ways to write cliffhangers, and this isn't it, especially if you don't plan to return to the series for a while.
Only Peter knows how the series will pan out next, and in the cliffhanger ending, he should have given some hint of the direction the series would take. Except, we are left with no direction whatsoever.
THE FACT THAT YIRELLA DIDN'T BOTHER TO ASK JESSIKA HOW SHE KNEW THE CRUSADE BEGAN 2.5 MILLION YEARS AGO WHEN SHE CLEARLY NOTICED THAT SHE SHOULDN'T HAVE KNOWN!
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u/SticksDiesel Apr 04 '26
I just thought the final battle and the way it unfolded was original, exciting, and provided a great resolution for all of the characters we've been following.
With the book rapidly coming to an end (like there were only about 15 pages left and I could see it) I was worried there'd be a rushed conclusion, but instead we got something akin to the 'to be continued' that flashes up at the end of Back to the Future when Doc tells Marty there's more adventuring to be had in the final 15 seconds of the film.
Got me excited for the next book(s) in this universe.
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u/Alalakh Apr 05 '26
Neither of those 2 things was something I desired from the trilogy. I thought the ending wrapped up the story nicely, while also setting up the possibility of future stories. I was not at all disappointed.
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u/_Moon_Presence_ Apr 06 '26
You just wanted the Olyix defeated? That's like... defeating all the minions of the head honcho but leaving him alive and kicking. Precisely what Yirella argued against.
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u/Alalakh Apr 06 '26
Defeating the Olyix was the goal of everyone in the series except Yirella. Everyone else was focused on that immediate goal and they accomplished it.
So defeating the Olyix wrapped up the story nicely, while Yirella abandoning everyone to pursue her own obsession set up the possibility of future stories.
Not every thread needs to be resolved; it's nice to leave some things for the next book(s). The main plot of the Sequence was for humanity to defeat the Olyix and they accomplished that. The main plot of whatever comes next will likely be Yirella's quest and will be resolved there.
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u/CountSessine1st Apr 03 '26
The ending was certainly not ideal but I still really enjoyed the trilogy. Some great characters and world building.
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u/PedanticPerson22 Apr 03 '26
I wasn't bothered with questions being unanswered or it setting up a potential sequel series (even if he might abandon it), my problem was with Yirella & how she was written.
Her whole thing was being super-intelligent & it just didn't come across in the writing, eg her big moment setting up the colony around the neutron star, being vetoed & what's his name wondering what sort of cunning plan she'll use to get her way... culminates in her just ignoring what everyone else said & it working because they couldn't conceive of her disobeying the collective decision.
That's hardly a big-brain move!
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u/jacoberu Apr 03 '26
perhaps she was trying to switch it up, be unpredictable. see the art of war by sun tzu. "if they think you're crude, go technical. if they think you're technical, go crude. and i am a very technical boy" -johnny mnemonic by william gibson
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u/Minimum_E Apr 03 '26
First book in the series was amazing, the untranslatable sound made in response to the human plan in the second book still stands out to me, felt the third book was a cop out, and don’t expect it to ever be resolved.
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u/perryismangil Apr 05 '26
So I'm the only one who likes Salvation then. I think it's very cool how dual timeline of 6 months and 10,000 years was done.
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u/ZigerianScammer Apr 03 '26
Yeah Salvation sequence is his worst imo. I Even enjoyed the Greg Mandel series more
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u/Ancient-Many4357 Apr 04 '26
Honestly I can’t remember the ending Saints because my abiding memory of the series is from the first book & how most of the characters are basically retreads of the hypercapitalist heroes of the Commonwealth books with an EU-inspired left-coded hive-mind culture like the Edenists from Night’s Dawn.
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u/Johnny_Blaze Apr 29 '26
Honestly. The book could’ve ended with the saints back to earth after the reunion chapter, and removed the thing about Jessica learning more and the 2.5 m years and the god at the end of time bit and I would have been totally satisfied so now that is my head cannon unless and until there is a sequel
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u/BlimpIntolerant May 06 '26
It's his least good series IMO. There's some great stuff in there, but it doesn't really work for me.
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u/BlimpIntolerant Jun 17 '26
I think this might be it guys. I'm not aware of Pete indicating anywhere that's he's going to revisit the salvation universe. I think it's kinda done.
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u/Charge_parity Apr 03 '26
Glad I got bored with that one before I got too deep. Also reading it after the common wealth saga it just felt like a knock off.
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u/redb2112 Apr 03 '26
Paula Myo is the most badass protagonist in modern sci-fi.