The Neutronium Alchemist
First edition
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| Author | Peter F. Hamilton |
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| Cover artist | Jim Burns |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Night's Dawn Trilogy |
| Genre | Science fiction |
| Publisher | Macmillan Publishers |
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Publication date
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20 October 1997 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 999 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 60136648 |
| Preceded by | The Reality Dysfunction |
| Followed by | The Naked God |
The Neutronium Alchemist is a science fiction novel by Peter F. Hamilton and is the second book in The Night's Dawn Trilogy. It follows on from The Reality Dysfunction and precedes The Naked God. It was published in the United Kingdom by Macmillan Publishers on 20 October 1997. The first United States edition, which is broken into two volumes, Consolidation and Conflict, followed in April and May 1998 from Time Warner Books. The second US edition, as a single volume, was published in December 2008 by Orbit Books. This novel, along with others in the series, is noted for its length (more than 1,000 pages long in paperback) and technological depth.
In The Reality Dysfunction, the presence of an energy-based alien lifeform during the death of a human on the colony world of Lalonde somehow 'jammed open' the interface between this universe and 'the beyond', an energistic vacuum where the souls of dead humans (and possibly other races) have become trapped after death. They are able to cross back over into this universe and possess the living, gaining tremendous strength, agility and the ability to create and alter matter. They overrun the planet Lalonde in a matter of weeks and spread beyond to the planets Atlantis and Norfolk and to the independent habitat Valisk, among others. The Kulu Kingdom colony world of Ombey is also infiltrated and a veteran of the Lalonde fiasco, Ralph Hiltch, is drafted in to help contain the menace. At the end of The Reality Dysfunction the truth of the nature of the threat is discovered by several survivors of a botched attempt to rescue the situation on Lalonde. However, a second threat has also emerged. Dr. Alkad Mzu, creator of the feared 'Alchemist' weapon of mass destruction, has escaped from Tranquillity and apparently seeks revenge on Omuta, the world that destroyed her own home planet of Garissa thirty years earlier.
The voidhawk Oenone reaches Jupiter and docks with one of the 4,250 habitats orbiting the planet. Whilst medical assistance and trauma counselling begin to help heal Syrinx, the information from Laton and the events on Atlantis is transmitted to the Jovian Consensus. As they become aware of the scale of the crisis, the Edenists immediately switch their economy to a war footing, rendering Jupiter space impregnable to attack. They also develop personality-query systems which should render all Edenists, voidhawks and habitats immune to possession. They detach a quarter of the voidhawk fleet and assign it to reinforce the Confederation Navy. Admiral Aleksandrovich summons an emergency session of the Confederation Assembly on its meeting world of Avon.
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