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The Dreaming Void

Void, Book 1

#1 in series

ebook
2 of 2 copies available
2 of 2 copies available
Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years—and light-years—are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the first volume in a trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.
The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself.
At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy’s sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose.
But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo’s dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo’s dreams are shared by hundreds of millions–and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes.
Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds.
And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress–while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .
BONUS: This edition includes an excerpt from Peter F. Hamilton's The Temporal Void.
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    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 3, 2008
      In the tradition of grand-scale SF sagas that explore the potential of human evolution, this densely plotted and intensely thought-provoking opener for Hamilton's Void trilogy takes place roughly 1,000 years after the events of 2006's Judas Unchained. Humankind in the 34th century has effectively conquered mortality, but many humans are still searching for existential transcendence, and a growing number believe the answer can be found inside the Void at the galactic center. Once thought to be an enormous black hole, the Void, which supposedly contains an entire micro-universe inside an impenetrable event horizon, slowly devours stars to sustain itself. If left unchecked, it will eventually consume the entire galaxy. When the technologically augmented telepath Inigo begins experiencing revelatory dreams, his shared visions ignite a mass pilgrimage to the Void, which some believe will trigger the apocalypse. Readers can expect big ideas and big story lines as well as big cliffhangers at the novel's conclusion.

    • Library Journal

      Starred review from December 15, 2007
      In the middle of the 36th century, the research facility Centurion Station sits atop the ruins of previously unknown civilizations. Here, scientists monitor the dark area of space known as the Void, thought once to be a seeding ground for new life but now no longer activeuntil the dreams begin, depicting a strange new reality. The author of the "Night's Dawn" trilogy as well as "Pandora's Star" and other far-future novels begins a new trilogy set in his alternate universe. A trioincluding a woman whose planet may soon be destroyed, a telepathic young man, and a genetically engineered detectivefinds themselves as the focal point of events. Hamilton's stories are always broad in scope and panoramic in detail. Fans of the author and of sf epics will enjoy this series opener. For most libraries.

      Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Booklist

      November 15, 2007
      A thousand years after the Starflyer War of Pandoras Star (2004) and Judas Unchained (2006), humanity still spreads across the galaxy, and politics between its various factions are as complex as ever. On the galaxys edge, the Raiel watch a mysterious void that has destroyed whole civilizations in periodic devourments, and prophet Inigo dreams of humans living inside the void. Inigos followers, the Living Dream, believe humanity is destined for a greater existence within the void. As Araminta fights to make her fortune on a planet soon to be the goal of a Living Dream exodus, and Edeard is an apprentice in the Egg-Shapers Guild, training people to use mental powers to mold creatures in the egg on a world in which telekinesis and the like are normal, factions of human governance seek solutions, some more vicious than others, to the problem that Living Dream presents of triggering a devourment with their exodus. This volume launching another plethoric Hamilton space opera promises truly epic adventure to come.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)

    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from September 29, 2008
      The first of a trilogy, the far-future plot of this audiobook concerns various factions battling to help or prevent a religious movement from undertaking a pilgrimage to a world hidden within a mysterious void, a journey with the potential to significantly advance the human race—or destroy the galaxy. Listeners to Hamilton's complex SF epic must devote a fairly significant amount of time, patience and attention to the task. A single chapter lasts for hours; within each chapter, the perspective and story line shift multiple times, with no audibly perceptible break. It's comparable to being lost in a strange, dark and, above all, vast room, and takes a while to adjust. Gradually, though, plot lines begin to take shape, and the compelling story and relentless pace drives listeners forward through a highly enjoyable trip. John Lee enunciates a daunting amount of exposition with precision and provides his share of creditable accents and voice pitches. A Del Rey hardcover (Reviews, Feb. 4).

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