Pandora's Star (Pan Macmillan)

Pandora's Star is the first part of Hamilton's epic Commonwealth Saga duology - a fantastic galaxy-spanning novel from the master of space opera. At the edge of the galaxy something awakens - and it's coming for us Earth AD 2329: Humanity has colonized over four hundred planets, all interlinked aby wormholes.

For the first time in mankind's history there is peace. Then a star over a thousand light years away suddenly vanishes, imprisoned inside a force field of immense size. Yet who - or what - has that sort of technology$290 And what could this mean for us$291 Only a faster-than-light starship, captained by ex-NASA astronaut Wilson Kime, can reach that distance to investigate.

However, what if there was a very good reason to seal off an entire star system$292 Also, getting in could prove easier than the worst possible outcome - stopping something else from getting out. The Commonwealth Saga duology concludes with Judas Unchained.