Fallen Dragon

After the splendours of Night's Dawn Trilogy, Hamilton's new book is space adventure on an epic scale. Lawrence Newton is born on a colony world in 2310, but has always wished he were part of the golden era of starships exploring the galaxy. But he lives in an age when human starflight is reaching its end, so he leaves home in search of adventure. After 20 years, he finds himself sergeant of a platoon that has seen better days, engaged in the futile invasion of another world. The giant corporations call this campaign asset realisation, a fancy euphemism for piracy. Trying to survive being firebombed by local resistance forces, Lawrence hears of the Temple of the Fallen Dragon and a sect devoted to the worship of a mythical creature. The priests of the temple apparently guard a hoard of treasure, and, unsurprisingly, Lawrence soon undertakes to track it down with unfortunate results - just because something is called mythical, it doesn't mean it isn't real. For Hamilton, this plot is more streamlined than many of his previous books, but the massive length allows room for a rich and idiomatically drawn picture of alien worlds. (Kirkus UK)