Bah! ( )

I was really looking forward to this, having enjoyed Hamilton's return to form with Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Although some of it is enjoyable, the book is by turns turgid (I started to skip Inigo's dreams after the first two - such a long-winded meander up to any dramatic tension), puerile (the constant references to sex and relevant anatomical parts are very adolescent - Hamilton seems to look forward to some gilded future age where there will be no bodily consequences of any sort of hedonism, be this from booze, drugs or enhanced sexual experience - it's hardly the height of philosophical speculation as to where technology might lead us), and violent (the actions scenes are well done though: Hamilton should consider a career as a screen-writer).Some of the new technology is interesting but it feels more and more that Hamilton is copying and pasting stuff from Scientific American or the New Scientist. The only interesting thing to come out of his pondering on this is the idea of Multiples, humans with single minds but many bodies.In short, Hamilton has landed himself a fine contract to turn out another set of 'blockbusters', and good luck to the man: however, the verbiage is overpowering, there are too many characters (quite a few of them rehashed from the books previously mentioned), and the speculation thin.This isn't space opera; it's space soap opera. ( )

The Dreaming Void takes us back to the Intersolar Commonwealth from Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Well over a millennium has passed, and much is different. The monocultural Commonwealth we knew is no more, it has shattered into a myriad of worlds, many of which are only loosely affiliated with each other. On one of these worlds, a movement known as Living Dream is planning a pilgrimage to the mysterious Void, an artificial universe at the centre of the galaxy, which is slowly eating the surrounding stars. Living Dream believes the Void contains paradise, most others believe touching it is certain death. What's worse, the pilgrimage might set of a massive expansion phase, devouring the whole galaxy.

It took me a chapter or so to get into this story. Hamilton mercilessly throws us into the middle of his world, and often takes a long, long time to explain exactly what all these acronyms and technologies and organisations actually are. As a result I felt quite disorientated for a while. Once I started getting my bearings however, there was nothing but enjoyment ahead. Hamilton is a superb writer who crafts an intriguing world filled with interesting characters, whose stories run parallel, interweaving and complimenting each other. We even get to see some of the characters from Pandora's Star again, with a few glaring omissions. Ozzie is missed, but he is at least mentioned, unlike the SI, which is alluded to only in a single sentence in the appendix. Apparently, we will get to see more of it in the sequel though.

Interspersed with the main storyline we are also told the story from Inigo's dreams. I enjoyed this story almost more than the main storyline, it was more reminiscent of a classic fantasy story than the science fiction which is so prevalent in the rest. This story is apparently also getting more focus in the sequel, a fact which has me salivating in anticipation.

The only thing that really bothers me is the ending. Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained didn't feel like two books in a series, it felt like one book split into two volumes. This might be Hamilton's M.O., as The Dreaming Void ends on a cliffhanger as well. Nothing is really resolved. I strongly suspect that when the entire trilogy is out, it can be read as one work to great enjoyment, but reaching the end of the first third leaves mostly frustration. There is a pay-off of sorts for one of the books main plot lines, but it barely has time to register, and certainly no time to explain itself, before something explodes and the book ends.

Despite this, the book is very enjoyable. Hamilton has conjured up not just one, but two deep and interesting worlds to immerse yourself in, filled with people you want to see more of. Frequent references are made to the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, but I think you could still follow the story fine without having read them. It is a book I enjoyed immensely, and I am greatly looking forward to the sequels. ( )

PFH writes with his usual cunning style; From cover to cover there are numerous independant plot threads that are tied together with a deft hand, some of which I'd correctly anticipated, and other subtle twists meaning that I hadn't. All of which supported with well described and carefully considered universe, as you'd expect from this author. Ultimately they make The Dreaming Void an installment of an epic Space Opera.

If I had only one regret, it's that I'd re-read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained before picking up this weighty tome. I'm going to go back and re-read them before I start on the next in the sequence (The Temporal Void) simply to help with previous events.

I don't believe this really should be tagged as Book 1 of "The Void Trilogy", as it's truly a continuation of a story from Judas Unchained.

Regardless of that, thoroughly enjoyable, suitably complex, adult Sci Fi of the finest calibre! More Please PFH ( )