The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton

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 eagerly awaited first volume in a new 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. . . .From the Hardcover edition.

I'd rate this a 4.5 stars if I could. 2 stories in 1. A big scifi story and a fantasy story. Both entertaining. Looking forward to the next in the trilogy.

Executive Summary: A decent story in Mr. Hamilton's Commonwealth universe, but not as satisfying as the original Duology.Audio book: I really enjoy John Lee's reading voice. It seems to fit well with the universe. He doesn't really stick out to me as someone who does a lot of voices and accents for the characters, but at the same time I wouldn't want anyone else to read this series.Full ReviewI really enjoyed [b:Pandora's Star 45252 Pandora's Star (Commonwealth Saga, #1) Peter F. Hamilton https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347952635s/45252.jpg 987015] and [b:Judas Unchained 45244 Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga, #2) Peter F. Hamilton https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316501189s/45244.jpg 44507] when I listened to them last year. I was happy to discover he had a follow-on series. Now that he's got ANOTHER new Commonwealth series coming out this year, I figured I should finally get around to this one.So far this one feels more like a fantasy book than sci-fi in many places, especially Edeard's story. This is set 1200 years after the events of [b:Judas Unchained 45244 Judas Unchained (Commonwealth Saga, #2) Peter F. Hamilton https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316501189s/45244.jpg 44507], but thanks to technology, we get to revisit some of the characters from that series. That was really awesome for me as the original series had some characters I really liked. Not everyone I was hoping to catch up with show up, but maybe in one of next two books. I did love how some of characters use Ozzie's name all the time as a part of speech.For the most part however, it's a new cast of characters, though some of them are distantly related to characters from the previous series. There seem to be three main story lines, but a bunch of smaller ones.Edeard's started a little slow, but probably was my favorite by the end. “Aaron”'s story was pretty good overall, but there were a few slow parts. Araminta's story on the other hand was more miss than hit. A lot of it felt like self-fulfilling male sexual fantasy that seemed to add little to the overall plot.The book suffers a bit from too many characters/story lines that made it hard to follow at first, especially in audio. Eventually I got my bearings though, but I still was wondering exactly how all the stories are going to tie together.I think maybe if I had read this and could have flipped back to early parts to check names of people/places and confirm some theories, but since I can't I found myself a bit confused at the end to. I expect things to be made more clear in the next book and be spelled out for me, whereas someone more on top of things than I am will have it all figured out already.Overall I thought it was a decent book, and I'll definitely continue on, but I hope he'll focus less on certain aspects from this book in the next one.3.5 Stars rounded down.