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Misspent Youth cover art

Misspent Youth

By: Peter F. Hamilton
Narrated by: Steven Crossley
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Publisher's Summary

A gripping introduction to the world of Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth Saga, Misspent Youth is set in the near-future, over three hundred years before Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained. For fans of Iain M. Banks and Stephen Baxter.

Read by Steven Crossley, narrator of C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series.

Jeff Baker is granted the gift of eternal youth. However, it’s not all it seems . . .

It is 2040 and, after decades of research, we can finally rejuvenate a human being. At seventy-eight years old, Jeff Baker – renowned inventor and philanthropist – has given the world much of his creative genius. He’s therefore selected as first choice for this gift.

At first, rejuvenation feels like a miracle. Until the glow begins to fade. Personal relationships start to break down and the world waits for more brilliant new work. Living the dream will come at a cost, but can Jeff pay the price?

©2016 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2016 Pan Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

Critic Reviews

‘The owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction’ – Ken Follett, author of The Pillars of the Earth

‘Hamilton handles massive ideas with enviable ease’ – Guardian

What listeners say about Misspent Youth

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  • Sid
  • 14-03-2017

The author needs to get ....

This could have been so much more . But it spirals into an abyss of love triangles . Which I found tedious and slightly off the topic of SCI-FI. Crickey...

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4 people found this helpful

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Went looking for a new Sci-fi series. ..

The Commonwealth Saga came up on a search as a good Sci-fi read, so I got the prequel, Misspent Youth. Not what I expected at all. The sample audio didn't accurately represent all the explicit porn in this book. So much porn. There is a difference between a Sci-fi book with a sex scene or two, and a porn novel with a Sci-fi premise. This is the latter, which is fine if thats what you are looking for. Should be some warning.

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3 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Ignore the bad reviews...

If you are familiar with the world created by Peter.F.Hamilton, you will understand the importance of this book as a prequel to the entire Commonwealth series. One of the major premises of the Commonwealth is REJUVINATION... this book explores it with gusto. How many times have we heard the following; "If I was only young again?" or "If I knew then what I know now...!" Misspent Youth explores those ideas against the backdrop of a changing world and disintegrating family.

Those critical of the inclusion of 'sex', must have been blind to the domination of the thought provoking geo-political backdrop of the book, which is particularly interesting since BREXIT.

I was pleasantly surprised by a chance meeting by the books main character with Gore Benelli...

I really enjoyed this book and hope for similar... OZZY and NIGEL?

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2 people found this helpful

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Bit of a let down

Huge fan of the series. I listen to Pandora and Judas at least once a year. But this added no real value to the story.

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1 person found this helpful

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    2 out of 5 stars
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A real disappointment

I've loved every other novel by Peter Hamilton, but this had thin, uninteresting characters and a poorly-developed plot. There was about enough interesting material to make a short story of a few pages.

I spent the entire novel on the verge of giving up on it, but I persevered in the hope it would eventually go somewhere interesting. It did not.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Very Profound story

Not the usual sci-fi story lines that we are used to, but awesome nonetheless

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

bit to sexual

finished it, most of the story was ok.. bit to sexual for me though

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Still very fresh even 18 years after publishing.

The theme may become increasingly relevant to all of us as genetic science develops over the next decades.
Kudos for the author who has managed to write in such a way that the technological advances in the years since writing do not adversely affect the storyline.

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