When an elderly scientist gets a new lease on life as a 20-year-old, no woman is safe (not even his son’s girlfriend) as he becomes more preoccupied with reliving the glory days instead of working on a project that could alleviate energy concerns within the European Union.
In a bloated 400-plus page tome that—while a pleasant enough read—tells far too little in far too many pages, Peter F. Hamilton addresses a number of disparate topics, from aging to individualism. This standalone is a precursor (in setting only, several hundred years in the past) to his Commonwealth Saga books (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained).
Septuagenarian Jeff Baker is lauded the world over for developing the technology needed to make the Datasphere—think next-gen Internet—possible, and is donating it to the public good instead of patenting it and reaping millions. He lives a simple life with his wife and son. Sue is a former model, and her marriage to Jeff is an arrangement of convenience, as he wanted a child and she wanted economic security. Their son Tim is a typical teenage boy, his head turned by the pretty Annabelle Goddard, to the point where he dumps his current girlfriend just so he can be available for Annabelle.
Jeff is chosen as a representative of the European community to undergo a rejuvenation process that takes 18 months, leaving Jeff’s elderly body restored to its 20-year-old glory. Supposedly the EU is hopeful that Jeff’s new youth can make him a valuable part of a new superconductor project, but that storyline fades into the background pretty quickly.
From a sensible and seemingly wise man, Jeff turns into a sexually unstoppable party animal. His détente with Sue is soon shattered and his relationship with Tim is in tatters after he sleeps with Tim’s schoolmates and takes up with Tim’s girlfriend, Annabelle. It all comes to a head with Jeff’s appearance at an EU science summit that coincides with a massive protest that Tim attends, with demonstrators streaming into London from all over England and the continent.
Hamilton does an adequate job of setting up the tension for these climactic scenes only to let them peter out, the resolution of it transpiring so incredibly it defies belief, the action quickly falling away to a final scene between Jeff and Tim that is maudlin to the point of ridiculousness.
Surprisingly, it’s the background that may be the strongest aspect of this novel. Hamilton deftly works in the minute details that suggest a dystopian future where individualism and democracy have been subsumed by the collective European Union, genetically modified plants are ubiquitous, China has disconnected itself from the Datasphere, and super-strong sunblock is a requirement of visiting any near-Equatorial location. The overall effect is to highlight the struggle between technocracy and democracy, giving Misspent Youth a sincere cautionary angle to it.
Less science fiction than family saga, Misspent Youth read more as a morality tale, with admittedly charming nods to pop culture film and literature (even Graham Joyce gets a cameo role). Hamilton’s liberal use of explicit sex scenes, on the other hand, do little to move the plot forward and are more flashy than “erotic,” as promised on the jacket copy.
While all of the characters are severely flawed (downright unlikeable, actually), Sue and Annabelle are substantially less developed than Jeff and Tim, making for a slightly lopsided story. Jeff’s personality in particular swings like a pendulum, ranging from paternal and altruistic to determinedly narcissistic.
Readers who enjoy a touch of science fiction in their general reading will be most satisfied with Misspent Youth, but readers who prefer strong science fiction are likely to find the book lacking.
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If you liked this book, check out:
Rollback, by Robert J. Sawyer
Old Man’s War, by John Scalzi
The New Space Opera, by Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan