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)

a bit convoluted

There is a lot going on in this book. I found it hard to follow.

Good performance - didn't like the book

What disappointed you about The Dreaming Void?

The audio performance was fine. I thought this would be a good book, but I just could not bring myself to finish it.

Has The Dreaming Void turned you off from other books in this genre?

No it hasn't.

awesome story except.

I got a picture of my mind of the author is a fat smelly greasy pimply bad breath nasty guy who can't get a woman for the life of him, spelling out all his rated XXX sexual fantasies for everyone to hear. pretty disgusting!

Disappointing

It seemed like this could have been a really great book, but there was so much extremely explicit language and so many descriptions of pornographic scenes that I had to quit. I only listened to the first part. I don't even want to consider what I might have heard if I had kept going. I only wish it were possible to delete it from my library so I wouldn't have to think about it ever again!

No voids in this story

This story picks up some 1400 years beyond Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Once again, Hamilton weaves seemingly individual stories into an epic tail across a vast universe. His writing is rich in vision, texture and imagery and filled with unforgettable characters. Happily, some well established characters from the previous novels have not yet uploaded their consciousness' and are around for yet another tale.
After seeing that there are no other Peter F. Hamilton novels available through Audible.com, I searched the author's website for additional titles. He is a prolific author yet many of his works are not yet available as audio books here in the US. Perhaps this is something that will become more readily available in the future? I have no doubt many Audible listeners would be thrilled with additional titles.

Sci fi story that bounces around too much...

This started off great. Great world with a looming question, that never gets answered. Maybe it will in the final book in the series. It lost traction when it jumped around from character to character.

There was a ton of description. Maybe too much. I could have lost a good 6 hours on this.

Really enjoyed the narrator.

Inconclusive

Hours of trying to figure out the weird interlocking stories in this book only to have it end with “to be continued in book 2.” So not worth the credit.

Pretty dry

Not sure I would have made it through this one if I had not been in my car with nothing else to listen to. On several occasions I thought about returning them to audible

Narration lacks differentiation between storylines

I found myself having to stop and rewind to figure out where we jumped from one srltory to another.

Another thing that got really old was the portrayal of women. apparently in Hamilton's world all the men are very well endowed, extraordinary lovers with almost godlike abilities to satisfy women. by contrast all women are obsessed with being physically attractive to these men and willing to have sex with them within minutes of meeting them. these same women are sexual gymnasts and never say no. let's not even talk about the obsession regarding the little black dress.

this whole book meanders between different stories and reads like a teenage boy's sex dreams. ugh...give this one a pass

Not that great.

Did not like the narrator. I found it hard to follow. Kinda flip flopped all over the place.