Product Description

At the centre of the Intersolar Commonwealth universe is a massive black hole. This Void is not a natural artefact. Inside there is a strange universe where the laws of physics are very different to those we know. It is slowly consuming the other stars of the galactic core - one day it will have devoured the entire galaxy. It's AD 4000, and a human has started to dream of the wonderful existence of the Void. He has a following of millions of believers. They now wish to Pilgrimage to the Void to live the life they have been shown. Other starfaring species fear their migration will cause the Void to expand again. They are prepared to stop the Pilgrimage fleet no matter what the cost. The Pilgrimage begins...

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #178057 in Books
• Published on: 2007-08-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 600 pages

Review
This is thrilling stuff; compulsively readable and abundantly full of ideas. The only drawback is that, as it's the first volume of a new trilogy, we'll have to wait to find out whether our galaxy will be destroyed. Cliff-hangers are tense enough, but this is a planet-hanger! --The Times

Peter Hamilton's willingness to shake up an already fascinating creation with this new trilogy is admirable, and the 1500-year gap offers up both new mysteries for him to reveal, and an opportunity for familiar characters to have grown up and changed. --Starburst

This is a book that arguably nobody else in Brit SF could even have attempted. Epic, multi-stranded, full of wonders. --Sfx

From the Inside Flap
AD 3580. The Intersolar Commonwealth has spread through the
galaxy to over a thousand star systems. It is a culture of rich diversity
with a place for everyone. A powerful navy protects it from any hostile
species that may lurk among the stars. For Commonwealth citizens, even
death has been overcome.

At the centre of the galaxy is the Void, a strange artificial universe
created by aliens billions of years ago, shrouded by an event horizon more
deadly than any natural black hole. In order to function, it is gradually
consuming the mass of the galaxy. Watched over by its ancient enemies, the
Raiel, the Void's expansion is barely contained.

Inigo dreams of the sweet life within the Void, and shares these visions
with billions of avid believers. When he mysteriously disappears, Inigo's
followers decide to embark on a pilgrimage into the Void to live the life
of their messiah's dreams - a pilgrimage which the Raiel claim will trigger
a catastrophic expansion of the Void.

Aaron is a man whose only memory is his own name. He doesn't know who he
used to be, or what he is. All he does know is that his job is to find the
missing messiah and stop the pilgrimage. He's not sure how to do that, but
whoever he works for has provided some pretty formidable weaponry that
ought to help.

Meanwhile inside The Void, a youth called Edeard is coming to terms with
his unusually strong telepathic powers. A junior constable in Makkathran,
he starts to challenge the corruption and decay that have poisoned the
city. He is determined that his fellow citizens should know hope again.
What Edeard doesn't realize is just how far his message of hope is
reaching.

From the Back Cover
PRAISE FOR JUDAS UNCHAINED:

`If Pandora's Star represented a return to form, Judas Unchained is even
better' Guardian

`Fast-paced action, widescreen canvas and a huge cast' Locus

`Even better than its predecessor. The plotting is tight, the characters
interesting and the story positively howls along' SFX

`Wonderfully exciting stuff . . . The pages turn effortlessly' Vector

`King-sized space opera . . .[an] awesome SF vision' Dreamwatch

Customer Reviews

Excellent SF/Fantasy Hybrid
Peter F. Hamilton is one of SF's most reliably entertaining authors, churning out blockbuster epics so huge that the hardcovers can be used as aids to hippopotamus euthanasia, whilst retaining the ability to tell page-turning, gripping stories. His Night's Dawn Trilogy is a classic of the genre, but his more recent duology, The Commonwealth Saga, was a more mixed bag. An excellent and very promising opening installment, Pandora's Star, was followed up by the mildly disappointing Judas Unchained, which ended the story in a rather rushed and somewhat confused manner.

The Dreaming Void, Book 1 of The Void Trilogy, picks up the story in AD 3589, 1,205 years after the conclusion of the Starflyer War. Humanity is now split into three distinct sub-species: normal humans, Highers (who live in roughly equal paradise-like conditions with all their needs provided by their nations) and Advancers (who live essentially inside a vast cyberspace-like reality called ANA and download into biologically-grown bodies when they need to visit the real world). They are spread over a thousand worlds, unified as the Greater Commonwealth, which is now one of the most powerful forces in the Galaxy. Dozens of alien races have been contacted, many mysteries from the first two books have been solved (some of them rather dismissively explained within a few pages of the novel's opening) and mankind is now officially allied to the Raiel, now revealed as the most powerful race in the Galaxy. Life is seemingly good.

However, the black hole at the centre of the Galaxy, dubbed 'The Void' by some, is expanding much quicker than it should, threatening to shorten the lifespan of the Galaxy by possibly several billion years. According to hundreds of thousands of years of constant study by the Raiel, the Void is actually an artificial construction of unknown purpose, feeding on the surrounding stars to survive. One human, Inigo, claims to have made contact with the inhabitants of the Void through his dreams. In these dreams he reveals a beautiful world where humans live as natural telepaths under the protection of the 'Waterwalker' and the 'Skylords' who seemingly rule over the Void. Thanks to the Gaiafield, billions of humans have now shared these dreams and the Living Dream movement is gathering momentum, apparently planning on a mass exodus into the Void. This move is opposed by many who believe it will trigger a dangerous and possibly unstoppable expansion of the Void.

The book follows several key plotlines set in the Commonwealth, as some work for the Pilgrimage to take place and others attempt to stop it. Hamilton gives us several interesting new characters here, such as the purposely amnesiac assassin and secret agent Aaron, but it's the return of several key characters from The Commonwealth Saga, such as Paula Myo, whom fans will probably most welcome. Unfortunately, Hamilton's tendency to have one young, attractive female character who takes part in a number of rather explicit sex scenes resurfaces here. There's nothing too wrong with that save it adds little either to the character or the book overall. It is, however, made up for by the fact that some thought has gone into sex in the far future, with scenes involving gestalt humans, who control many bodies with one mind, generating interesting scenarios.

The Commonwealth storylines are all enjoyable and handled with Hamilton's typical confidence and verve. However, a couple of the stories are not as developed as deeply as might be liked. Whilst the timeline hints at the fates of key central characters from the Commonwealth Saga (the SI, Ozzie and Sheldon most notably) there isn't much about them in the text, which will confuse some readers of the earlier work. The storyline about the alien Ocisens is also dropped rather abruptly halfway through the novel despite being set up as a major force earlier in the book (and provides the cover image). There's also a slight feeling of being sold short: there are simply far fewer plotlines and subplots than in previous Hamilton SF blockbusters. Whilst this will no doubt please critics of his previous complexity, those who enjoyed that complexity may walk away feeling a little under-nourished by this offering. Finally, Hamilton seems to have tried to appeal to both fans of The Commonwealth Saga and the new reader and make the book accessible to both, but has instead fallen between the two stools, neither offering enough information to fully sate fans of the earlier series nor keeping such references limited enough so as not to confuse new readers.

Luckily, the book's weaknesses are pretty much swept away by the book's major subplot. Set inside the Void, this story follows the life of Edeard, a young 'shaper' whose life is changed forever by a cataclysmic event and he finds his way to the great city of Makkatheren where he enters the service of the constables. Almost completely separate from the rest of the novel (though the final revelation can perhaps been seen from several chapters away), this storyline would, by itself, qualify as the best epic fantasy so far released in 2007 (easily blowing away both The Name of the Wind and Red Seas Under Red Skies, as fine as they are) if it wasn't constantly interrupted by the SF plotlines set in the Commonwealth. Hamilton's revelation that the sequel will focus much more on Edeard's odyssey is thus most welcome.

The Dreaming Void (****) is yet another very fine Peter F. Hamilton novel which sees him breaking new ground with a possible stealth move into fantasy whilst retaining the hallmarks that made his previous books so readable. There are some minor flaws, but Hamilton's decision to produce a shorter book (even if only by own standards) has paid off nicely, leaving the reader wanting more rather than feeling a bit bloated as with some of his prior books. The novel is published by MacMillan in the UK and will be released by Del Rey in the United States in February 2008. The second book in the trilogy, The Temporal Void, will follow at the end of next year.

Very good read
Having read both Night's Dawn Trilogy and the Commonwealth Saga, I think this is the best of Mr Hamiltons's works.

It has familiar content from the previous Commonwealth story with a lot of new elements. The characters feel alive and realistic. The detail in each scene is just about right - not too wordy but with enough explanation. It is fascinating, exciting, funny in places and leaves the reader guessing, but with enough information coming to light to keep up the interest.

Is is a fairly long book (as are most of his novels) but I found myself towards the end before I realised it. I really want more now!

Good
This book is the fourth entry in Hamilton's "Commonwealth" universe, following on from Misspent Youth, Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained.
Hamilton departs slightly from his normal sci-fi focus by concentrating a chunk of this book on the life story of a youth on a pre-industrial world in the "Void". It is the telepathic signals of this character that cause the events in the wider Commonwealth universe and lead various characters (some old, some new) to wrestle with the effects it has on the psychically sensitive population of one of the Commonwealth worlds.

I was not too keen on the previous books in this series because I felt they missed some of the Hamilton essentials found in the Mandel and Nightsdawn books. However, despite its strong links to the characters, plots and plot devices of Judas Unchained I feel this book is quite different and far better. The element of mystery has crept back in and his ideas on the evolution of humanity itself make for interesting reading, even if they take some time to understand. The new characters are all quite interesting (no more Paris Hilton-with-built-in-gun/phone types) and more believable. The ability to describe new worlds and new technologies with great verve was never lost, and this book contains plenty of proper "science fiction" as well as some fantasy elements. It doesn't end with a desperate cliff-hanger, but there is certainly a lot to look forward to in the next book.

Good stuff.