Match BookGreat North Road
Peter F. Hamilton
2012 · 948 pages · Science fiction
How it reads
Great North Road is science fiction (space-opera mystery, specifically), and its dominant mood is tense. The suspense is the kind you feel in your shoulders. It moves fast: plot-driven and hard to put down, the kind of book that carries you along even when you're tired.
It's set in several locations, in the future, told in the third person across several viewpoints. Its central concerns are identity, justice and power and politics. In weight it sits in the middle: substantial without being heavy going.
It stands alone, so there's nothing else you need to read first or after. The ending resolves happily. At 948 pages it's a real commitment. It's well known, the kind of book most keen readers have heard of.
Pick it up if…
- you're in the mood for something tense
- you want a book that pulls you through
- you want a complete story in one book
Maybe not if…
- you need something cosy or heartwarming
- you want dense, lingering prose
- you want something you can finish this weekend
All 15 dimensions
- Genre
- science fiction
- Author gender
- male
- Author experience
- prolific veteran
- Setting: place
- multiple locations
- Setting: time
- future
- Mood / feeling
- tense
- Pace
- fast paced
- Tone / weight
- balanced
- Length
- long
- Narrative style
- third person, several viewpoints
- Publication era
- recent
- Popularity
- well known
- Series vs standalone
- standalone
- Themes
- identity, justice, power and politics
- Ending style
- resolved and happy
What these mean: the 15 dimensions of a book.
Books with a similar reading
The closest books in Match Book's catalogue across the same dimensions, and what they share.
- RecursionBlake CrouchShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- DaytideChris PanatierShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- InfluxDaniel SuarezShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- The FutureNaomi AldermanShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- Rule 34Charles StrossShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
- The Dark ForestLiu CixinShares: science fiction, tense mood, balanced tone, fast paced
Appears in
Find a copy
Reviews on Goodreads ↗Match Book earns a commission on purchases made through these links, at no extra cost to you. As an Amazon Associate, Match Book earns from qualifying purchases.