Peter F. Hamilton
Peter F. Hamilton has become one of my favorite authors. I haven't read everything he's written yet, but the reason for that is that his books tend to be huge, which puts me even more behind in my reading than I already am. But when my fiancée recently gave me a copy of Hamilton's The Dreaming Void, I dove in right away.
The Dreaming Void takes place in the same universe as Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga books, Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained (review here), albeit several millennia after the events described in those books. While I would strongly suggest reading the Commonwealth Saga before reading The Dreaming Void, Hamilton does a great job throughout the latter of bringing the reader up to speed on all of the relevant events from the earlier books.
Many aspects of the Commonwealth in which this book is set will be familiar to readers of the previous books. The Commonwealth is still a complex, technologically advanced, extremely political society spanning hundreds of planets across the galaxy. In The Dreaming Void, the entire Commonwealth is threatened by a void discovered at the center of the galaxy. The Void, it turns out, periodically expands in what is called a "devourment phase," destroying everything in its path. Attempts have been made to enter it to investigate, but each time the investigating ships are destroyed. But when a man named Inigo starts having dreams of someone inside the Void, a chain of events is commenced that sees the rise of a movement called Living Dream, who want to attempt to enter the Void again. This attempt, it is feared, will bring about a new devourment phase that may destroy the entire galaxy. The stage is thus set for a huge struggle between those who want to see the Pilgrimage through and those who fear the worst if it is allowed to go forward.
If you can believe this, Hamilton has thought up so much mind blowing technology for The Dreaming Void that he makes the Commonwealth of the earlier books look almost medieval by comparison. If you haven't read the earlier books, this may not mean much to you, but those who are familiar with them should find this to be a startling claim because the descriptions of advanced technology that are found in the Commonwealth Saga are some of the best to be found in the genre. In The Dreaming Void, Hamilton supersedes himself and imagines a universe with such things as humans who download themselves into a giant computer and live on in it post-physically, as well as planet specific networks that allow those connected to sense the feelings and thoughts of other connected individuals. Equally impressive as the fact that Hamilton can imagine such things is his ability to seamlessly integrate them into the story as a whole. After an initial, and short, learning curve, the reader will find it hard to imagine a universe without the amazing technological wonders that Hamilton describes.
This is actually one of the reasons that I think I enjoy Hamilton's books so much. While they contain plenty of politicking, war, competition, and destruction, they take place in a universe in which disease, disability, and death are no longer primary concerns and in which poverty is also largely a thing of the past. I suspect that the acuteness of the current global economic situation lends this aspect of Hamilton's work even more appeal these days.
Another thing that made The Dreaming Void even better than a lot of Hamilton's other stellar work is the way he worked two stories into it. The main action is punctuated throughout with Inigo's dreams about the life of a particular individual inside the Void (these are the dreams that eventually give rise to the Living Dream movement). Not only does this allow the reader to come to understand the dreams' significance, the dreams also tell a fascinating story in their own right.
It has been a while since The Dreaming Void was originally released and so I'm not sure how many people will even read this review. Others probably will be uninterested in it because they know what I know: any book Hamilton writes will almost certainly be spectacular and so reading reviews of his work isn't even really necessary.
Rating: 9/10
The True First
The Dreaming Void was originally published in Great Britain by Macmillan in August of 2007.
[This review was not based on a review copy]
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17 comments:
Hey, no worries, I appreciated the review and it went a long way in convincing me that I needed to give Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga, and 'The Dreaming Void' a try sooner rather than later.
Keep up the great work because I've got a ton of catching up to do and its always good to know what's worth reading out there, whether the book was released last month or not.
Thanks macfantasie! Hamilton is great if you like space opera. If you're going to tackle the Dreaming Void, I recommend reading the Commonwealth Saga first.
And for what it's worth, I always have a lot of catching up to do too :)
I read it. Your review that is.
I'm glad to see that your reviews are getting better and better; we all have a lot to learn as reviewers and your undisputable progress is giving me hopes that I'll improve as well...once upon the time in the future:)
About Hamilton...I got Pandora's Star and its sequel on my shelf, alas, unread as to this date :/.
ThRiNiDiR: thanks for the compliments. I think all of us can always improve.
Pandora's Star is a real treat but I suggest reading it when you don't have a huge backlog of books you're waiting to read...
Great review of a great book. I would read more Hamilton but I have to say the commitment in terms of time, when there is so much else to read out there, tends to put me off.
Still his books must be great for filling that gaping hole between book purchases:-) How long still to go?
Look, I umm, may not have been 100% successful in my pledge not to buy books for three months...
Aha!! you heard it here first folks, who won the sweepstake :-)
Good try though Ben but try cutting out less essential things like food next time before starting on books. There are certain things in life you can't live without :-))
I'll post a full defense once the three month period is officially over...
Hello, This is my first time visiting here. Your blog is a nice,I thought I would leave my first comment. :)
Greets from
Kenali dan Kunjungi Objek Wisata di Pandeglang
Any thoughts of how badly you need to know/remember the first duology. I read them sometime back, and while I remember bits and pieces, I cant remember all the details.
I would re-read Judas, but, havent read it, I kinda know how it ends so I lack the motivation, but, I do love Hamilton (Judas wasnt my fave, tooooo long), but, I do want to read Dreaming Void.
Thoughts??
Mike,
I wouldn't worry too much about remembering the first books. If you remember them in summary that will easily suffice. It's more about broad context than particulars in this particular case.
I would dive right into the Dreaming Void without hesitation! I hope you like it!
Awesome Ben!
I will begin immediately! So looking forward to it. :)
Thanks!
Not that it may be accurate, but, it looks like The Evolutionary Void is slated to be released August 31/2010.
Good to know. Thanks Mike. Actually, to be honest, I haven't read The Temporal Void yet. I won a signed U.K. hardcover in another blog's contest when the book was first released but I'm waiting for the trade paperback :)
i have read all hamilton's earlier works, and enjoyed all. However, the very unnatural and overly quaint "period" (olde England) dialogue in all the Edeard (in the Void) sections, as well as the midevil, well, EVERYTHING, technology, costumery, customs, the whole schtick put me off so much i couldn't bear it. I have 2 volumes and am not the least bit interested in how it ends, so i won't buy the 3rd. Maybe English readers had similar problems with Stephen King's the Gunslinger. Or would have if he'd said "HOWDY, y'all." Edeard friends say things like "i say, chap". But it's your bloody dreamer eh, what, Petey?!
It's funny you say that. I've heard a lot of people with similar complaints. I guess I can understand that point of view but it really didn't' bother me. People seem to fall into one of two camps: either they hate this aspect of the novel or they enjoy it. I fall into the latter camp.
I still haven't read the second two volumes....
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