Peter F. Hamilton - Writing Style

Writing Style

Peter F. Hamilton generally uses a clean, prosaic style. His space opera is characterised by the way it switches between several characters—often there are three or more main characters, whose paths begin separated but eventually cross. Common themes in his books are sexually precocious teenagers, politics, religion, and armed conflict.

Critically, Hamilton is often grouped with Alastair Reynolds, Stephen Baxter, Ken MacLeod, and other writers of new space opera in the United Kingdom. However, a fundamental difference is that while Reynolds and Baxter try hard to keep their books essentially grounded in solid science, Hamilton uses an abundance of fantasy-themed analogs (gaiafield, skylords, unisphere, etc.), which are extrapolated with solid astronomy and physics background, including many elements from classic horror writing.