"It took no more than an instant. Tenn knew that the beam's total destructive power was much bigger than matter-energy conversions limited to realspace. At full charge, the hyper-matter reactor provided a superluminal 'boost' that caused much of the planet's mass to be shifted immediately into hyperspace. As a result, Alderaan exploded into a fiery ball of eye-smiting light almost instantaneously, and a planar ring of energy reflux—the 'shadow' of a hyperspatial ripple—spread rapidly outward."
A convenient explanation, if oddly-placed in the novel. Almost "as you know" in effect. Still a good quote. JorrelFraajic 04:45, January 11, 2015 (UTC)