The Abyss Beyond Dreams

Starred review from March 30, 2015
In this opener to a two-book series, Hamilton delivers a gripping, inventive chapter in his Commonwealth saga. In the year 3326 (just over 200 years before the events of The Dreaming Void), Commonwealth co-founder Nigel Sheldon, a major presence with a minor role in previous books, travels into the enigmatic, galaxy-consuming universe-within-a-universe known as the Void. He inadvertently lands on the planet Bienvenido, where an unambiguously Marxist revolution is on the verge of erupting. Bienvenido is a vigorously rendered world of limited technology, ruled by an entrenched and corrupt aristocracy. Its human inhabitants use telepathy and telekinesis as easily as words, and they live in constant fear of the Fallers, another species trapped within the Void. While discovering how both humans and Fallers came to be within the Void, Nigel manipulates Slvasta, the passionate young idealist leading the revolution, to gain the power necessary to destroy it. Hamilton deftly manages the huge cast while gradually unveiling revelations; his mastery of his intricately constructed Commonwealth universe is mesmerizing.

October 15, 2014
Doorstopper-not that Hamilton writes anything else-first entry of a new two-book saga set in his popular Commonwealth universe (The Evolutionary Void, 2010, etc.).The Void, an enigmatic space-time construct at the core of the galaxy, is difficult to penetrate and-apparently-impossible to escape from. Worse, at any moment it may expand uncontrollably and swallow all life in the galaxy. The Void's boundaries are guarded by the elephantlike Raiel in a million-year-long vigil. In the year 3326, Nigel Sheldon, 1,000 years old and one of the founders of the Commonwealth, receives a visit from Vallar, a Raiel, who persuades him to help develop a scheme to infiltrate the Void. The only knowledge of conditions inside the Void comes from the Dreamer, Edeard of planet Querencia, who unfortunately is dead. Once the Raiel punch Nigel through into the Void, a Skylord, one of a space-going alien race that act as conductors of souls inside the Void, leads him to Bienvenido, a planet whose human civilization derives from a colony expedition that vanished from the Commonwealth 200 years ago. He learns several crucial facts: Here in the Void, mental powers such as telepathy work, a limited form of time travel is possible, and the planet suffers relentless assaults from the Fallers, a cannibalistic alien species of biological mimics. In order to test his theories of how the Void might be destroyed, Nigel needs to learn what the locals know. Unfortunately, their civilization is corrupt, sclerotic, totalitarian and, understandably, paranoid about the Faller threat. The characters, always Hamilton's strength, remain as distinctive as ever, even when the book's taken over by what at first glance seems only a subplot. And even when the ideas are shaky, there's always the time-travel gimmick to iron out any wrinkles. Solidly engrossing fare for the series' faithful.

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October 15, 2014

In the post-scarcity far future, humans searching for adventure have started sending out colony ships headed for other galaxies. One such expedition has been pulled into the mysterious region of space called the Void at the heart of the Milky Way. Nigel Sheldon, the coinventor of wormhole technology last seen in Hamilton's "Commonwealth Saga" (the marvelous Pandora's Star; Judas Unchained), decides to break into the Void to find out what happened. He lands on Bienvenido, a planet populated by descendants of the original colonists who have been trapped in that unusual region of space. There is a political struggle brewing, and Nigel has no problem tinkering with that struggle to achieve his own ends. VERDICT This new series launch bridges the gap between the "Commonwealth Saga" and the "Void Trilogy" (The Dreaming Void; The Temporal Void; The Evolutionary Void) and shows that Hamilton still has a gift for huge-scale sf. The novel drags a bit in parts, as the conflict focuses on the political maneuvering of the underclasses to overthrow Bienvenido's despotic rulers, however, Nigel is a terrific character, egotistical and conniving (but still hugely appealing), and the action picks up again when he starts pulling strings.

Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2014
Peter F. Hamilton does a particular kind of planetary politics and space opera very well, and this is a perfect example of it. If you haven't read previous volumes in its series, the characters tend to explain backstory, so you can catch up with most of it. This volume is the story of a second human settlement in the Void, the result of a colony ship crashing. The planet crashed on is pleasant enough, except for the Fallers, egg-shaped things that destroy humans by absorbing their bodies. Slvasta, provincial soldier, survives being eggsumed, which leads him to an obsession with destroying the Fallers and ultimately with revolution. Outside, in the Commonwealth, the Raiel have realized that Makkathran is more significant than anyone had suspected, and they want Nigel Sheldon to get answers for them. He sends a clone, planning to communicate with it via dreams sent back to the original Nigel. Of course, it won't be an easy matter. Nigel's clone doesn't end up where he planned, fomenting revolution is not as easy as it looks, and the Void has unexpected quirks. All in all, a satisfying and well-oiled story, with potential for more epic adventure to come.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)