There are those in on the interwebs that accuse this book of being overwritten. I'm afraid I'm forced to agree. I felt like I had to put in a lot of work at times just to turn the page. That 15 to 20 page narrative early in the story on how to hang glide on an alien planet was about 15-20 pages too long. 
 But that diversion wasn't the only sin Peter committed. In all, I felt that this book was literally twice as long as it needed to be. Entire subplots were unncessary and nearly made me give up on the novel. And that's a shame because this could have been a truly great one. It just required someone to tell Mr. Hamilton that when we read about a large mansion, we don't really need to know about how the original builder had financed the thing, or how the original builder made his fortune, or about how the architects were influenced by the great architects of a bygone era. I don't need to know any of that stuff, especially when the mansion has been described in painstaking detail for several pages earlier in the book anyway. 
 This is the first book of his that I have read. I was surprised when I realized that he had written so many other published works. He has an eye for detail, no doubt about that. But the gentleman can't seem to properly pace a book to save his life. 
 After all that complaining, I still liked the book. It caters to my tastes. After almost putting the thing away after the first 400 pages of going nowhere it hit a stride of sorts and I felt that there was at least some momentum beginning to build - albeit in a 3 steps forward, 2 steps back sort of way. 
 Once I convinced myself that a society that has created wormhole technology and FTL spaceships (something I wouldn't expect to be possible for tens of thousands of years, if ever) must still use diesel powered vehicles for getting about planetside (Something we could bypass in a few decades) somehow makes sense, I slowly found myself buying in and enjoying the book more and more. 
 By the end, I finished and reluctantly purchased Judas Unchained. I'll give it a go and pray for Mr. Hamilton to have mercy with me. 
 Oh yes, one short diversion I did enjoy - a reference to a collector coming upon a first edition of the novel Raft. If it is the same Raft that was written by Stephen Baxter than call me giddy. I would recommend some of Stephen Baxter's older books over this one. Timelike Infinity, Ring, or his Manifold Trilogy. Those are all superior to Pandora's Star. 
 And while I'm recommeding alternatives, anything by Alastair Reynolds.