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: Not as good as the previous trilogy.
Summary: 3 Stars
[Edit]: For some reason when I wrote the review, I thought the Commonwealth Saga was a trilogy. So when I refer to the previous trilogy below, I'm referring to "Pandora's Star" and "Judas Unchained". Sorry!
I didn't buy the book here. I bought it in a B&M store, and have been reading it in-between textbooks as a nice break.
I hadn't read Hamilton previous to the Starflyer series, and my criticisms about that still remain largely the same fro the Dreaming Void.
While I applaud Hamilton's imagination when it comes to technological verisimilitude and odd environments, I still feel that he trawls on far too long with the latter. In Judas Unchained he went on for pages and pages about mountain ranges and lakes with paved roads, to the point that I was skipping entire paragraphs to get to the story again. The Dreaming Void doesn't have quite the extensive detail of the previous trilogy set in the same universe, but it does have plenty of lengthy departures. Entire cities are worded in extreme detail - leaving little for my imagination to conjure up.
Again, like the previous books in the universe, sex is something that seems completely forced in. While sex is more essential in the Dreaming Void for plot reasons, I never thought it flowed smoothly with the story. Only once or twice were the sentences describing the act intimate or sensual. They always read like a bit of fanficition that happened to find its way into the real novel.
In true Hamilton fashion characters are still introduced 3/4ths the way through the novel. Luckily, thus far, the sheer number of people to keep track of isn't as insane as it was in the previous trilogy. Thumbs up there, since by the end of Judas Unchained it was getting difficult to tell what was going on without a crib sheet.
Also in true Hamilton fashion, the characters are adequately developed. There's enough time with each one to make their movements seem believable and their actions fairly predictable. Only a handful fall into caricatures of characters instead of actual characters, most noticeably during Inigo's Dreams.
Speaking of the dreams, I found the interludes to be - overall - refreshing and frustrating at the same time. I found them refreshing because the story goes from Sci-Fi to Fantasy in feel and writing at a good pace. The dreams aren't introduced too close together or too far apart. I found the dreams frustrating because the dreams are supposed to have been the inspirational pieces for moving entire swathes of humanity to action, and frankly - I never found them compelling.
Yes, it'd be very neat to have a "third hand" to telekinetically move things about and the ability to telepathically talk with friends. However the society is stuck in the Middle Ages. That may be enticing for a while, but with a society that lives for hundreds or thousands of years - a society that has been built up to be selfish and quickly moving on from one rush of excitement to the next - I couldn't see why billions wanted to travel to the Void. Perhaps more surprisingly, the followers of the "Living Dream" were portrayed as bordering on fanatic. After thousands of years and millions of worlds, and religion never making a dent in the previous books, the about turn for human society is interesting - almost a repentance performed by countless millions.
Personally, I found the gaiafield to be a much more compelling reason for the religious actions of the Living Dream. The ability to share emotions and dreams with those around you seems like an incredibly compelling piece of technology - one that I could easily see leading to religious action, unlike a handful of dreams involving telepaths.
Also, before coming to a conclusion, Hamilton has developed a writing tick that makes me cringe every time I read it. "He liked really the way..." and "The sled edged gently..." are two examples that I recall. The adverb coming after the verb really got on my nerves. It's obviously purposeful, as it occurs again and again. However, luckily, if you have the same internal monologue hiccup whenever you've read a sentence like the examples, they're sparse. Maybe a dozen throughout the book.
Is it the greatest thing I ever read? No. Whereas authors like Herbert and Reynolds have a way of infusing some greater purpose into their writing, Hamilton describes the future as if it were the present. His style wouldn't change if he decided to write a fictional piece about a plot to blow up New Zealand in 2011 or a family struggling to survive in the year 7738. I can't say whether it's a good or bad thing, because it's both. The writing style provides instant familiarity and connection - neither the plot or the characters are alien, nor are the settings. If an alien environment is introduced, Hamilton's descriptions are almost an analogue for what it should be - a version close to what he sees in his head, but easily interpreted by the reader. It means you can read the books without going too deep - just keep going and let the many intertwining plots unfold the entertaining story.
Concertedly, if you try to go too far beneath the surface you will be disappointed. The social commentary is cynical and the same as his previous works. Themes are superficial, if they exist at all, and I always got the sense (as you can tell from my last paragraph) that the novels are a way to express his imagination via the new technology presented in them rather than any plot-related innovations. Hamilton just never pushes it further than that. ANA is a prime example - an entire quantum network housing countless billions of people all melded together - and when you meet ANA:Governance for the first time, instead of a calculating, monolithic achievement created by an absolute genius with the ability to catapult humans into their post-physical form, it has as much presence as a normal person. It is almost mundane.
Ultimately, it is an entertaining book. For the start of a trilogy, many things can be forgiven. Also, knowing Hamilton, many of my criticisms and praises are a given. What will I say to my friends, though? "If you want to see some imaginative technology, read Hamilton." So, that's what I'll write here.
If you want to see an incredibly imaginative mind exert itself on version of modern-day society on steroids with a plot that will be tied together in later novels, pick it up and spend a few days to a few weeks entertained. If you're looking for copious depth or unique mental calisthenics, try Alistair Reynolds, the ever-classic Herbert, or others.
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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