I'm about 80% through Pandora's Star by Peter F Hamilton. It's okay. Went in with quite high expectations since it comes up a lot but man, so much of it could be cut. The man likes to incessantly ramble and describe the most mundane and uniportant details. And there's a lot of viewpoints. Which I'm not necessarily adverse to (I've read Wheel of Time) but it does chop and change quite a bit and mostly just as something exciting starts happening, it cuts to a different POV. I'll probably read the second book to finish the story but doubt I'd read another of his.
The series, from what I understand is only loosely connected as in it's set in the same universe. The next couple in the series are supposed to be really good.
Consider Phlebas. I've wanted to read the Culture series for years. It's an odd one so far. I've seen a lot of people advise to not start with Phlebas and I can see why.
I am enjoying it but parts of it feel very tangential. About halfway through so far.