The Temporal Void

Void Trilogy, Book 2

By: Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 25 hrs and 10 mins

Publisher's summary

Long ago, a human astrophysicist, Inigo, began dreaming scenes from the life of a remarkable human being named Edeard, who lived within the Void, a self-contained microuniverse at the heart of the galaxy.

There, under the beneficent gaze of mysterious godlike entities, humans possessed uncanny psychic abilities, and Edeard's were the strongest of all. Equally strong was his determination to bring justice and freedom to a world terrorized by criminal violence and corruption.

Inigo's inspirational dreams, shared by hundreds of millions throughout the galaxy-spanning gaiafield, gave birth to a religion - Living Dream. But when the appearance of a Second Dreamer seemed to trigger the expansion of the Void - an expansion that is devouring everything in its path -the Intersolar Commonwealth was thrown into turmoil. With the adherents of Living Dream determined to set forth on a dangerous pilgrimage into the Void, interstellar war threatens to erupt.

With time running out, the fate of humanity hinges on a handful of people. There is Araminta, only now awakening to the unwelcome fact that she is the mysterious Second Dreamer - and to the dire responsibilities that go with it; Inigo, whose private dreams hint at a darker truth behind Edeard's legendary life; Paula Myo, the ruthless field operative of the Commonwealth, whose search for Araminta and Inigo is about to yield a most unpleasant surprise; and Justine, whose desperate gamble places her within the Void, where the godlike Skylords hold the power to save the universe...or destroy it.

Dream on: listen to the first book, The Dreaming Void.

©2008 Peter F. Hamilton (P)2009 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Fusing elements of hard SF with adventure fantasy tropes, Hamilton has singlehandedly raised the bar for grand-scale speculative storytelling." ( Publishers Weekly)
"This second book of a trilogy promises a spectacular finish." ( Booklist)

Soooo good

LIstened to the first book in the series and couldn't wait for this one. Ahh. But I had to as it took a year to release this one after the 1st one. Start by reading the first one or you might get lost. Have fun.....

Slightly twisted

I love a good twist and this had a couple but I feel it a little lacking from the first novel and yet completely contented by it.

Smart characters

One of the things I love about Hamilton's books are the fact all the characters are smart, even the bad guys. It seems in most books there are always a range of characters that are stupid without cause and you have to wait three books for them to finally get killed off. His future seems to consist of technology that while seemingly impossible now, seems completely likely then. The way Hamilton truly thinks about the social impacts of future societies makes these books a real find. He is my new favorite author. Well thought out story and smart characters make for a great read (or listen).

I can't stop listening to these books!

These are the most creative, thought-provoking books I've ever heard in my life, and they just keep getting better!

A great space saga

What did you love best about The Temporal Void?

I like the long involved stories. I have completed the entire series and wish there was more. Sure the science fiction is a little jaded, but the intricacies of how everything ties together is facinating.

Have you listened to any of John Lee’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

usual good performance, however, sometimes the voices do not match the characters.

Any additional comments?

Wish he would work more the finale. You listen for 40 hours to have the entire problem summed up in 5 minutes. But it is still great. I will miss the characters. It is like a long running TV series on your phone.

An A- for Hamilton.

To be clear, I am a great fan of Hamilton's work. The Commonwealth Saga had its missteps, but his work is, overall, rather good.

The Temporal Void will at first strike many people as dropping the ball in the middle of the Void Trilogy. I disagree. Hamilton knows that developing a story at the level of a space opera takes times, and he diligently gives that time despite the moments when you can feel that revealing secrets to come would be so wonderfully gratifying. This book is largely what a 2-of-3 should be. It bridges many important elements steadily, but keeps enough pace to prevent readers from disengaging. That said, there are disproportionate investments in characters. That could make sense depending on how everything plays out in the third book, but it actually ended up setting me up for disappointment with how the time was allotted in 3-of-3 (The Evolutionary Void).

Moreover, there are some recording errors that were overlooked in editing. They are small. For example, you can periodically hear background noise in a couple of the middle chapters and John Lee once refers to Inigo as the color indigo, but life goes on and these are truly minor amidst the 25 hours of recording.

Overall, I definitely consider this worth the buy and the investment of time.

You must read all 3 for this to make sense

well this the first book of the trilogy, but really its the 3rd book in a 5 book series - starting with PS (Pandoras Star), JU (Judas Unchained), then this book and the 2 after it also, you must read all 3 for this story to make any sense, so treat this like 1 huge book - its not necessary to read PS and JU first but if you haven't then there are some characters in here that are a little misunderstood if you haven't read about them in PS and JU

Being the first book in this group if you are expecting any kinda understandable ending you aren't going to get it until you finish the 3rd book so don't even try to figure it out, just go on to the next book and wait till its over because its great


This is really 2 stories in 1 here, and they will come together in the end and all will make sense, really good sense as Peter F. Hamilton always does

This is the book that sets up everything for the next 2 books minus a few little surprises thrown in in book 2 and 3

there is this Void in the middle of the galaxy and what it does is expand at times over the millions of years its there and destroy anything it touches, like planets and stars and such - it is determined that this will destroy Earth and the rest of the galaxy if not stopped and there are like 100 million people wanting to go in there because of the dreams of someone who dreamed what is actually in the Void and what you can do there

in the Void you can use telekinetic powers and talk to people with your mind (as well as something even more cool but I don't want to ruin it for you) but technology doesn't work at all for the most part so no one has any, its like it was in the 1900's or a little earlier on Earth but they have recorded records for 2000 years or more, detailed records also

people came in the Void somehow and caused it to expand and that's not good, so the like 100 million people who want to go there have to be stopped

Successfully ties the threads together

The mystery of the void at the center of the galaxy as introduced in the first book, The Dreaming Void, is the perfect center piece around which to tell a complex story.  All of the various story lines from book one start to converge and the stakes are elevated across the board. The Living Dream religious movement is convinced that their planned Pilgrimage into the void holds the key to their fulfillment and they are desperate to find the "second dreamer" who will lead them to their promised land.  Certain factions within the ANA:Governance continue to provide advanced technology to the Pilgrimage in exchange for being able to send some people along, yet their motives for doing so are completely unknown.  An alien armada is heading toward human space hell bent on stopping the Pilgrimage at any cost, convinced that if the Pilgrimage reaches the void then the galaxy will be consumed.  The Commonwealth Navy has failed in every attempt to stop the armada and is considering activating the Deterrence Fleet, their weapon of last resort. And while all of this is going on, the second dreamer remains on the run wanting nothing to do with Living Dream or the void.

Along with all of the above story lines from outside the void, many more of Inigo's dreams about Edeard's life inside the void are revealed as well. Edeard's psychic powers continue to grow and his efforts to rid the city of Makkathran from corruption build up toward a final confrontation with those who oppose him.  Edeard has already experienced losing everything in his life and once again all that he holds dear is on the line and will be lost if he fails. In order to be successful Edeard must take his powers to the next level and it is the nature of that next level that reveals quite a bit more about how things work inside the void.

This revelation also goes a long way toward explaining why Living Dream is so dedicated to entering the void and attempting to be like Edeard.  With all of the various threads starting to converge this middle book does an excellent job of advancing the story and setting the stage for the final book of the trilogy. Once again the Edeard storyline was the most compelling to me, although the events outside the void certainly elevated in intensity this time around and became more interesting.  Peter F. Hamilton has set the stage nicely and I am hopeful for an epic conclusion and unraveling of the mystery in the final book, The Evolutionary Void.

John Lee was also once again excellent on the narration and I am glad he will be there for book 3 as well.

engrossed

these books are the best science fiction story I can remember! can't wait to start on book 3.

Outstanding

Narration could not be better. A truly amazing story. Can't get enough. Looking forward to last in the series.