Binding: Hardcover Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914 EAN: 9780345496539 ISBN: 0345496531 Label: Del Rey Manufacturer: Del Rey Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 640 Publication Date: March 25, 2008 Publisher: Del Rey Release Date: March 25, 2008 Sales Rank: 49708 Studio: Del Rey
Product DescriptionReviewers 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. . . .
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Great Book, Highly Recommended
I am a big fan of SF and have read books from a large range of authors. Peter F Hamilton has easily become one of my favorites and one that I won't wait for the paper back version to purchase a new book from. You get your moneys worth when you buy one of his books. With The Dreaming Void there is a lot going on with multiple plot lines developing through out the book. You definitely will have a hard time putting it down as the change in location and story line keeps you turning the pages. Some people ... Read More
Rating: - Hmmm... wait and see
Peter Hamilton is one of those authors whose new books I always look forward to as he is always extremely inventive in his world building and plots.
By the standards of most SF, this would be brilliant. By his standards, it is adequate. The world is interesting, but not quite as novel as his Confederation Space series or the indeed its predecessor, the trains-based Commonwealth. I guess the problem is that 3500 AD is somewhat difficult to describe both in terms that we can relate to and ... Read More
Rating: - Classic Hamilton in every way...
Peter Hamilton is nothing if not extremely creative. Some of his previous work, including the Night's Dawn trilogy, was astonishing in its portrayal of aliens, living spacecraft, genetic engineering, space habitats and the evolution of the human species.
Hamilton's exhalted reputation for creativity is preserved in The Dreaming Void, though the book also contains examples of Hamilton's other renowned habit which is including a level of story detail where the reader's pace is periodically ... Read More
Rating: - An epic saga of galactic proportions
The Dreaming Void is the unabridged audiobook rendition of the first volume in a new science fiction trilogy set in the same universe as the widely appreciated Commonwealth saga. Within the core of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that is steadily expanding and absorbing all in its path, including planets, stars, and civilizations. One astrophysicist studying the Void starts to dream of humans living within it, and through the neural network that keeps humans connected, his dreams spread ... Read More
Rating: - Not Free SF Reader
The trend from the first Commonwealth duology continues, here, in this trilogy. The opening is ponderous and slow, and doesn't really get going much until later in the book. Not coincidentally, when Paula Myo makes an appearance. The first 100 pages or so seems a bit sloppily written, too.
The other problem is that the Second Dreamer thing, and the 'religious nuts might destroy the galaxy' has none of the urgency of the paranoid conspiracy story that built in Pandora's Star, or any of the gripping ... Read More
- Great Book, Highly Recommended
- Hmmm... wait and see
