The Dreaming Void

Void Trilogy, Book 1

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 22 hrs and 35 mins

Publisher's summary

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 center 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 his 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 that 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.

Into the Void? Listen to more in the Void Trilogy.

©2007 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2008 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Broad in scope and panoramic in detail." ( Library Journal)
"A real spellbinder from a master storyteller." ( Kirkus)

Dream of a beginning to this trilogy

Peter Hamilton's novels always get off to a slow start -- or seem to -- because he is always telling several (in this case about 8) completely different stories at the beginning, all set in the same universe, but seemingly without connection. As the novel develops, these stories all turn out to revolve around the same set of macro events, and it is these galaxy-spanning, bigger-than-life plot arcs that drive the story. The Dreaming Void is set in the Commonwealth, the universe in which the earlier novels Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained take place, but about 1500 years later. There are a handful of important characters who carry over from the earlier novels, thanks to the wonders of rejuvenation technology, and there is no doubt that it helps to have read those earlier novels. Not all of the sub-plot arcs move along at the same pace, so there are times when I couldn't wait to get back to the story of Edeard in the Void itself (clearly the best of the plot lines in this novel), but they all work if you give them time and attention. All of the major characters are interesting and well drawn, but it is the mystery of the Void itself that is most compelling here, if a bit confusing at times. I did find that I had to rewind on occasion to make sure that I was properly understanding what was happening (e.g., there are two cities of Makkathran, the original in the Void, and the replica created based on the Dreamer's vision of the original, and at the beginning of the novel it takes some work to get clear about that sort of thing). But this is a story that repays the time and effort you will spend on it.

keep them coming!

I am writing this review with the goal of helping Peter F. Hamilton sell more books and make lots of money! So, he will keep writing amazing books like this one. Great imagination Peter. Your other books where good but this one is KICK A**.

great story. voice a little dull.

title says it. loved the in dream parts best. would love to have this with a more animated voice.

Love these stories

Hamilton creates such vast universes. can't get enough. John Lee could read the ingredients on a cereal box and it would be magical. Great team up.

great start to a compelling story

this is a very complex and interesting story, told in a clever way. the whole trilogy is excellent

Very Dry, Not sure if it was the reader or read.

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Book was very slow to get going.

Would you be willing to try another one of John Lee’s performances?

Not sure, have to decide if this book was boring or if it was his reading

Was The Dreaming Void worth the listening time?

I would say only if you like Sci-Fi strictly for the techno babble. This book has very little in the way of action. I will say there is quite a bit of build up of characters and story if you can fight you way to the end when things finally start to come together.

Any additional comments?

The long drawn out first book might have prevented me from trying the second book, maybe I will give it a chance on a sale though.

Only the First Third of the Story

Any additional comments?

This book is hard to rate because, it's only the first third of a book. It's just a beginning (despite its length) with no middle and no end. So without listening to the rest I can't really tell if this is good story or not.

However I will say that Hamilton has gotten a little better at making his characters a little more diverse and less like each other. But he could still use more improvement. I don't know why Sci-Fi writers have such a hard time making believable characters. Hamilton is far from the worst I have read though, so it is tolerable. While some of the scientist types seem to almost share the same personality, there is a man with telekinesis that seems to at least be his own person. One of the main female characters just seems to be a sex bot and serve no purpose in the story at all other than sex.

The story is interesting so far. But by the end of the book the main plot is as much of a mystery as when the story started, as are some of the characters.

The book is overwritten, and could have had some of the many orgies edited out, which so far seem to have nothing to do with the plot. And are just thrown in to keep horny males interested, and to give the sex-bot something to do. Now I don't mind sex in books, however when Sci-Fi writers, write about sex it tends to be dull and when used as a cheap way to grab attention too many times, with a book of this size, one starts to just want the story to pick up a bit.

Great Extension of his previous works

I HIGHLY recommend you read/listen the the Pandora's Star / Judas Unchained books first. These two books introduce you to the world Hamilton has created and gives you a great basis for the technology and the Universe in which this series revolves.

Next, this series actually follows the events of two time lines, one is the universe itself in the present (present of the story), the other is the life events of a single man who lives inside the void.

For those who are fans of the Pandora's Star /Judas Unchained books you will be happy to know several of the key characters in those books either play a major role here or make a cameo appearance, but they fit right in and you do not feel like this is just regurgitated storyline.

Finally, you have to give the story some time to build up, throughout the first book Hamilton is setting the stage, and with a story like this one it takes time, by 2/3 into the first book you should feel right at home with the story organization and from that point on it is smooth sailing.

Outstanding!

While you would not technically have to listen to Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, I would highly recommend it. They are good listens, if somewhat long and drawn out.

That being said... YIKES!! This was SO much better written and pared down to a more essential story line. There is a little confusion at the beginning, and if you have not read or listened to PS or JU, then you will be lost for the first few hours. If you have made it through the first two books, then you will be pleased to hear references and tie-ins to characters you knew before.

There were times in PS and JU that I wanted to fast forward, there is really none of that in this book. I was unhappy that it ended and immediately downloaded the 2nd book and I'm already looking forward to the third. This is a big story, and there are a lot of players and sub plots to keep track of. However if you like your stories to have a huge story arc, then dig in and start listening, you won't be disappointed.

confused

very confusing for the first 10 hours then became interesting. Audio edition should be different than print.