The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy)
by Peter F. Hamilton
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Book Summary Information
Author: Peter F. HamiltonEdition: Mass Market Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2009-02-24
ISBN: 034549654X
Number of pages: 608
Publisher: Del Rey
Book Reviews of The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy)
Book Review: An excellent start to the trilogy
Summary: 5 Stars
The Commonwealth Universe, a place where humanity has prospered, evolved and expanded throughout the galaxy. As the Commonwealth has grown, colony ships have set out to found new human worlds far from the current occupied space, and the galaxy has been circumnavigated. Many new alien species have been encountered and the Void, an artificial universe at the centre of the galaxy protected by a deadly event horizon, has been discovered.
This is the setting for Peter F Hamilton's eagerly awaited new novel, The Dreaming Void, which is the first in the Void Trilogy. After the events in the Commonwealth Saga, where humanity were fighting for existence against the invading Prime aliens while trying to uncover mutiny from within from the deadly Starflyer alien, the human race has prospered and is now one of the most technologically advanced species in the galaxy.
A human has now started to dream of the existence within the Void and the paradise within. He shares these dreams in the Gaiafield for all to experience them. The Living Dream movement is born and its followers grow in number until it becomes the majority party in the planets parliament. When Inigo, the first dreamer, disappears from public life, the movement carries on much the way it has in the past, although many start growing restless and impatient for the pilgrimage to begin. However, a new chief cleric, Ethan, is elected and answers the hopes of millions by announcing the construction of starships to pilgrimage into the Void.
The Dreaming Void follows two main story plots - the implications following the announcement of the pilgrimage and the dreams experienced by Inigo that focus on Edeard, a youth living within the Void.
Peter once again delivers a hugely enjoyable story with plenty of action, adventure and surprises. Setting the story in the 36th century with the technology available gives such a large canvas to work on and he uses it to his advantage on so many different levels. The characters that we meet are alive on the pages, although some are more developed than others, especially when new characters are introduced late on in the story. This by no means detracts from the story, but as the first part of a trilogy it is to be expected that the growth of some characters will really take hold in the next instalment, if not the third.
Edeard is by far the most developed character, and with almost half the book telling his story it is to be expected. From meeting him as a young teenager in the Eggshaper's Guild through to his time as a junior constable in Makkathran, Edeard grows in many ways and Peter shows just how accomplished he is at creating believable, in depth characters. The same could be said for Aaron, although by having a character with no memory it is easy enough to mould our own view of him, whether that is right or wrong, we will surely find out before the end of the trilogy.
Peter's six month planning really does show this time around and the story and universe feels much tighter because of it. With clear ideas how he wants to take the story forward, he manages to drag you into his imagination and take you on a ride you won't forget. There are plenty of hints hidden within the pages and many will be guessing at various aspects of the story until the next instalment.
As the first part of the trilogy, this book does everything it needs to do - the characters are introduced and the stage set for the next part. With a cliff-hanger at the end of the book, many will be counting those months until the release of The Temporal Void, but the revelation that comes to light will encourage others to re-read it.
What may surprise some is the page count. Although many would be expecting a huge brick sized door-stopper, this is a much tighter book and more enjoyable because of it. Many people feel Judas Unchained (949 HB pages) was overlong, but this is a fine return to form and just what was needed. A fine example of space opera with all the right ingredients - a typical PFH novel.
Summary of The Dreaming Void (The Void Trilogy)
Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years?and light-years?are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the eagerly awaited first volume in a new trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself.
At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy?s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose.
But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo?s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo?s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions?and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes.
Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds.
And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress?while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .
From the Hardcover edition.
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