This was an ultimately satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, but it was a bit of a slog to get there for me. I found this final installment a bit of a tonal shift from the first two books and there was a lot more hard science to contend with, which was a struggle. The shift in timescale was also a bit whiplash inducing for me, but I did enjoy the opening and closing thirds of the narrative. I thought the exploration of human civilisation dealing with what was basically the end of the world was fascinating and I also enjoyed the finale, but there was a good chunk in the middle that just didn't work for me.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

8 / 10 ✪

https://arefugefromlife.wordpress.com/2023/11/06/the-saints-of-salvation-by-peter-f-hamilton-review/

Thus ends the Salvation Sequence. I have to say that overall, I quite enjoyed it. Now, the trainwreck that was Salvation (the first book) really weeded out a lot of those less dedicated fans. Or in my case, the less curious ones. The two books following it, however, were lovely. Rip-roaring space operas on the grandest of scales following the biggest of plot-points: the survival of the human race. Now, I was a little disappointed in the characters, both those in the past and in the future, as they’re not as deep as those in some of the author’s other books. Of course, where those were most of 1000+ pages and these only pushing 600, that could well be the reason, though there was still ample time to kill that could’ve done with a bit more characterization. Something like that found in the first book, only sprinkled throughout the other two, once the overarching plot was set in motion.

Otherwise, I enjoyed the premise, plot, and aim of the series as a whole, in addition to the path traveled. Other than the character depth (and a bit of time-wasting), I’ve nothing to complain about at all. In fact, this was the series to rekindle my interest in the Commonwealth, and has since convinced me to tackle a few more of the author’s books—starting with Great North Road.

While all of the characters had their arcs wrapped up quite nicely, not all of our questions were answered in this final installment. After all, this is but the latest installment (actually, I think it’s chronologically the earliest?) in Hamilton’s greater Commonwealth Universe, which means that there’s everything to follow—so one must expect a bit of mystery regarding the future.

Future that we may explore together, after all.

I know this is the third book in the series, and I have not read the previous two. I am now intrigued to go and read those two because this book was such an awesome and fantastical book that I was captivated. Not my typical book choice, but it was a pleasant surprise. Thank you to NetGalley and Tantor Audio for a copy of this book for an honest review.