The Temporal Void (Void, #2)

Dec 29, 2008 Kyle Johnson rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

I started out by giving this book a 5 star rating, but I've dropped it to a 4 for reasons I shall explain.

One of the best things about Peter F. Hamilton's writing has been his ability to write lots of different plots at the same time, and at the very end bring them together in a powerful and entertaining way. Its not quite like Max Barry (author) or Guy Richie (director), as his books are much longer than theirs. But the idea is still the same, having many characters and plots going at the same...more I started out by giving this book a 5 star rating, but I've dropped it to a 4 for reasons I shall explain.

One of the best things about Peter F. Hamilton's writing has been his ability to write lots of different plots at the same time, and at the very end bring them together in a powerful and entertaining way. Its not quite like Max Barry (author) or Guy Richie (director), as his books are much longer than theirs. But the idea is still the same, having many characters and plots going at the same time, sometimes so far removed from eachother its hard to anticipate how they relate to one another, and pulling it off with a bang right at the end.

Hamilton's Void trilogy looks like it will pull off the same effect once again, perhaps in an even more impressive way than Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained did even. This time around though, he seems to be making one critical mistake that was magnified in The Temporal Void. He's been focusing too much on one plot line, and only giving us brief updates into the others. And its making it somewhat difficult to keep track of whats going on elsewhere in the universe.

I said in my review of The Dreaming Void that I was really enjoying the Edeard story-line, a fantasy setting contained inside a realm of the much more science-fiction universe. The same still holds true, the Edeard story is very a interesting take on the usual farmer-becomes-king fantasy plot. Written by itself as a fantasy book, I'd be happy to buy the book and, while the ending won't reveal itself until The Evolutionary Void next year, enjoy every page of it... that isn't quite what I was looking for with The Dreaming Void. The Delivery Man, Paula Myo, the Ocisen Empire's impending attack, these are all important characters and plots that I want to read about! But instead of reading about them, in the same way I read about them in The Dreaming Void, I got brief updates. Usually something like one small chapter devoted to checking out whats going on with every other plot in the overall story. A few pages with each, then back to Edeard within the Void.

There is an upshot to this, however. The book ends on such an amazing, literally jaw-dropping, out-of-left-field twist, it becomes very obvious that the rarity of information on the outside Universe was an unfortunate casualty of timing. In order to have the Edeard story, and the outside universe's stories, come end where they ended in preparation for The Evolutionary Void, Hamilton had to make sure he didn't let one story outpace the other. Would I have prefered more information regarding those stories? Sure! But because of how the book ends, how it sets up everything for the final book, I can forgive the lack of chapters for now. Only time will tell whether or not The Evolutionary Void pays more attention to the rest of the characters.(less)

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Nov 10, 2008 Barry Haworth rated it 4 of 5 stars

Over the last few years I have become an increasingly keen fan of the works of Peter F Hamilton, and his latest work, The Temporal Void, has done nothing to change that trend. Weighing in at some 700 pages it is not for those with little time to read, especially as it is book two of his new "Void" trilogy which began with "The Dreaming Void" in 2007, which itself is a sequel to his previous "Commonwealth" duo of books (Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained) released in (2004/2005) . Hamilton does his u...more

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Jun 05, 2013 David Roberts rated it 4 of 5 stars

I am reviewing the novel The Temporal Void by Peter F Hamilton which is a very good book which I bought from kindle. This book is the 2nd installment in the Void Trilogy. In it we see the Void where the Rael live is still expanding. There is a good twist at the end involving the group who have made a pilgrimage to the Void. Earhead has been promoted first to bodyguard for the President and then because the public opinion starts to sway in his direction, stands for President himself. He has to ma...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Onefinemess rated it 4 of 5 stars

I plowed throught this book…I think I made it through in 3 days. Every chapter was good. Seriously, I don’t remember any throwaways – everything was valuable to the reader. It was one of the most engaging books I’ve read in a long time; quality quality.

What to focus on…well…the book-within-a-book angle is still moving along at a really interesting pace – I love the interplay of foreshadowing between the outside world and the story/void/inner world. He does some really neat things there. It’s sti...more

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Jan 26, 2012 Adam Wiggins rated it 3 of 5 stars

Very much enjoyed the first book of this series -- though it falls more on the "entertainment" side of my reading spectrum, versus "enriching" or "artistic." It weaves together space opera with fantasy novel in a way I don't believe I've encountered anywhere else.

This one suffers a bit from the usual middle-of-a-trilogy problem: begin neither the beginning nor the end of the story means it often feels like it's killing time. Dropping a hundred pages of the Waterwalker's exploits probably would h...more

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Jan 18, 2012 Lee Penney rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is the second in the Void trilogy by Hamilton and follows on from The Dreaming Void. Again this book is split between the story outside the void, where factions of human civilization fight to stop or allow the voyage into the void, something only humans can enter. Alongside are several alien races, all bent on stopping the voyage, as it will mean the void will grow and consume the known universe. These aliens include a part of the Prime alien that nearly destroyed humanity in his previous C...more

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Oct 20, 2011 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, science-fiction

This is the second part of the Void trilogy, a space opera set 1500 years in the future. There are two distinct story threads to the book; the first is a militaristic, galaxy spanning, high-tech, action adventure taking place in the ‘Commonwealth’. In the previous book this civilisation had recently become aware of the titular Void, which (as it turns out) is an artificial slowly expanding mini-Universe at the centre of the galaxy. The story follows the actions of the various parties who want to...more This is the second part of the Void trilogy, a space opera set 1500 years in the future. There are two distinct story threads to the book; the first is a militaristic, galaxy spanning, high-tech, action adventure taking place in the ‘Commonwealth’. In the previous book this civilisation had recently become aware of the titular Void, which (as it turns out) is an artificial slowly expanding mini-Universe at the centre of the galaxy. The story follows the actions of the various parties who want to either stop the expansion to prevent it consuming the galaxy, encourage it to allow them to transcend or those who simply want to enter the Void. This story is fast-paced and exciting, but seems to have a few too many characters that are only touched on briefly making it easy to lose track of whom they are and where they are. We learn a little more about the Living Dream religion and the various other factions in this book, but again there is not really enough detail about the society to understand any more about the politics and motivations. This story is violent but fun, however it hasn’t really moved on much from the previous book.

The second thread is set within the Void itself. Inigo, a character on the outside of the Void, dreams this story but it appears to have really happened. The characters inside there live in a low-tech society and they have what appear to be magical powers such as telepathy and telekinesis. This story has much greater characterisation, following only one small set of characters – a team of policemen trying to rid a city of criminal gangs. It is well written and as a reader you care a lot more about the people and events. The only caveat here is that the hero, Edeard, appears to be able to pull another magical ability out of his hat at will, so that despite all the problems he faces you never really feel that he is in danger.

I really enjoy space opera and so will be really looking forward to the release of the next instalment. However I would not recommend the series to anyone other than those already converted to space opera.(less)

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Sep 27, 2011 Sandi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011, audiobooks, sci-fi

The Temporal Void is so clearly the second book in a trilogy that I’m glad that I didn’t start it until the series was complete. Hamilton’s work just keeps getting better and better. My only complaint about this installment is that it had too much of Edeard’s story, but not enough of anyone else’s. Yes, I know that Edeard was my favorite in The Dreaming Void, but the plotlines following Inigo, Araminta, and Justine were important too. Hamilton left these characters hanging way too soon.

John Lee...more

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Sep 14, 2011 William Barnes rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sequel to: The Dreaming Void

My mind tends to wander when a book has over-long descriptions of fight sequences, and then I miss something like Eowyn fighting the Nazgul. I've heard (and had) this complaint about some of Hamilton's previous books, so I was tickled when, in this book, there was a space battle that was over practically before an aide had finished saying that it started: "That quick?" "That's how they are these days." 1400 pages in, and I haven't felt the need to skim a single one.

As...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Scythan rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, series

This book was entertaining, but it had way too many flaws for me to recommend it to anyone.

First of all, it had maybe four storylines, and the first third of the book shoved so many characters down my throat it was ridiculous. Most of them just ended up disappearing or turning up 500 pages later, after I had already forgotten them.

One storyline was the main one for the book, and the rest, looking back, didn't seem to matter at all. Honestly, it seemed to me that the minor storylines were just th...more

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May 27, 2011 Forrest rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: cbriii

Trilogies have to deal with a lot of negative associations. This is mostly due to movie trilogies turning the middle episode into a throwaway setup for whatever the third movie is going to be. The problem is less pronounced in books, but you have to admit that it’s hard to get excited for the middle book when you know the climax is just around the corner. Some books and movies subvert this wonderfully. The Temporal Void is not one of them.

Hamilton exploits an interesting aspect of his Void Trilo...more Trilogies have to deal with a lot of negative associations. This is mostly due to movie trilogies turning the middle episode into a throwaway setup for whatever the third movie is going to be. The problem is less pronounced in books, but you have to admit that it’s hard to get excited for the middle book when you know the climax is just around the corner. Some books and movies subvert this wonderfully. The Temporal Void is not one of them.

Hamilton exploits an interesting aspect of his Void Trilogy to draw out events to the extreme. As before, the narrative lines are split between the present-day main universe and its motley crew of protagonists, and the dream memories of world within the Void. In The Dreaming Void, these sections were split about 50/50, with slight preference given to the ‘real world’ because of the large number of PoV characters. This time around, the ratio is weighted heavily toward the dream sequences. It’s sort of a necessity. The functionality of the Void needed to be explained to justify Justine’s actions and the dreams do a very good job of doing exactly that, in excruciating detail.

The problem being that I wasn’t really invested in Edeard or his situation. There were too many protagonists as it was, and Edeard’s story reeked of Mythology, probably because it was being told through the dreams of the Living Dream. Maybe other people got something different out of it, but I felt like I was being set up to dislike the Living Dream from the outset. And one of the problems I had with the first book was the amount of time that was being spent on the dream sections, when I was rooting for the factions that were trying to contain the Void. So when book two ended up being mostly dream sequence, it felt like I’d been backing the wrong horse the whole time.

The main plot is also bogged down by the longer dreams. The narrative was already split heavily between a large number of protagonists, and with the bulk of the book given over to Edeard’s story it doesn’t feel like anyone else really got to do anything. Paula Myo and Araminta are the only characters who seem to get significant things accomplished. Justine has a fair number of pages, but literally does nothing but end up where she started. The end result is a stage primed for real action but a fundamentally unsatisfying individual novel.

On the other hand, when taken by itself, Edeard’s history makes for a compelling novel. For now. The progress of his story feels like a reimagining of the best kind of heroic myths. Edeard, like Heracles, was born special and was varyingly ostracized and lauded for his gifts. Right up until the last chapter of book two, Edeard is a likeable protagonist with an idealistic streak that makes him fun to watch. He’s the underdog in a city that despises him, but his willpower and determination (and Deus ex Machina powers) repeatedly win the day. It is only thought the negative contextualization provided by the main storyline that this story becomes repellant.

Hamilton’s views become the centerpiece of the unfolding plotline here. It’s obvious that the Living Dream faith is a stand in for any number of real bureaucratic religious organizations. And it’s just as obvious that this is a bad thing. Hamilton is setting up a pretty standard “Utopia is bad” scenario with religion as its unwitting advocates. How that will emerge in book three is a mystery so far, but it has been telegraphed pretty hard.

Middle books are frustrating, and I found/find myself much more inclined to harp on existing problems than I normally am only because I wasn’t able to move forward with the plot. Hamilton’s iteration abuses his dual story mode, and is all the more annoying for it. But I’m not sure you could tell this particular story any other way. It isn’t clear to me if the fault is in the concept or the execution. As a rule, readers shouldn’t hold the sins of a middle book against the rest of the trilogy. But authors should note that we appreciate our linking novels with a bit more plot, and a bit less faffing about. (less)

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Mar 27, 2011 Andreas rated it 4 of 5 stars

A novel in three volumes consisting of:

* The Dreaming Void
* The Temporal Void
* The Evolutionary Void

Like “Night’s Dawn” and the Commonwealth Saga before it, the “Void Trilogy” is not so much a series as one single novel, sprawling over three 1500 page volumes. That’s why it took two months to read. Set over one thousand years after the end of Commonwealth, it reintroduces many of the old familiar characters. While it can be read independently, I would highly recommend that you read Commonweal...more A novel in three volumes consisting of:

* The Dreaming Void
* The Temporal Void
* The Evolutionary Void

Like “Night’s Dawn” and the Commonwealth Saga before it, the “Void Trilogy” is not so much a series as one single novel, sprawling over three 1500 page volumes. That’s why it took two months to read. Set over one thousand years after the end of Commonwealth, it reintroduces many of the old familiar characters. While it can be read independently, I would highly recommend that you read Commonwealth first. The background is invaluable.

In the Commonwealth of the 3500s, humanity has split into many groups. Biggest is the split between Advancers, what one might think of as “old fashioned” humans, and Highers, who see their physical existence as a precursor to upload into the machine intelligence known as ANA. Among the Highers, there are several rival factions, from the Accelerators, who wish to speed up human evolution towards the enigmatic goal of transcendence, to the conservative Conservatives. Into this mix is thrust the religion of the Living Dream, born out of the dreams that its founder Inigo had of events inside the Void, a vast, enigmatic and (mostly) impenetrable region in the center of the galaxy. Inigo has dreamed of the life of a man called Edeard in a mysterious city on a planet in the Void. In fact, Inigo’s dreams of Edeard’s life mark a major subplot in the novel, as we follow Edeard from country boy to refugee to city constable in the city of Makkathran. The goal of Living Dream is to start a pilgrimage into the Void and there reach “fulfillment”. The rest of humanity and most alien races are more or less united against it, believing that such a pilgrimage will lead to an expansion of the Void which will engulf the rest of the galaxy, terminating all life.

As usual with Hamilton, the plot is complex, the characters are many, and the descriptions just lovely. The story is certainly gripping. However I did feel that this time, Mr. Hamilton didn’t quite grip me enough. Perhaps I now have too high expectations from him, but Void felt a bit ponderous, especially in the beginning. By contrast, the interludes with Edeard were quite the story in themselves, almost able to stand on their own as a novel. Weird as it may seem, I felt as if the novel wasn’t quite long enough. Some bits were a bit too sketchy, such as the whole Ocisen attack subplot. Yes, it was just a device used by a faction, but even so the complexities were worth exploring further. There was also a bit of a lack of action for much of the novel. People went hither and thither in their starships but there was often precious little actual plot or character development. So I wanted the novel to be longer, but in parts it was too slow? Exactly! The ending, however, was quite gratifying. Hamilton has by his own admission, often had difficulties actually tying things up. But he did it nicely here.

So what’s the verdict? If you have read Commonwealth and enjoyed it, you can’t go wrong by continuing with Void. It is not as good as Night’s Dawn or Commonwealth, but Hamilton at his worst is better than most authors at their best. It is great space opera, and few can write it like he does.

http://www.books.rosboch.net/?p=80 (less)

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Nov 14, 2010 Paul rated it 4 of 5 stars

In The Dreaming Void, we were introduced to the Commonwealth nearly a millennium and a half after the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. A wide, diverse Commonwealth has exploded into numerous factions and polities, including the strange adherents of Living Dream, seeking a way into the physics-defying realm in the center of the galaxy. Book one was set up, introducing us to the characters, and allowing the reader to slowly start to piece things together. Old friends from the original...more In The Dreaming Void, we were introduced to the Commonwealth nearly a millennium and a half after the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. A wide, diverse Commonwealth has exploded into numerous factions and polities, including the strange adherents of Living Dream, seeking a way into the physics-defying realm in the center of the galaxy. Book one was set up, introducing us to the characters, and allowing the reader to slowly start to piece things together. Old friends from the original duology,like Paula Myo, took their places along with Araminta, Mr. Bovey, Corrie-Lyn and many other new characters.

In the second book, Hamilton really sets them in motion. With the revelation of the identity of the mysterious Second Dreamer, much of the book is an extended cat and mouse chase sequence as Araminta seeks to escape the various forces that want to control her, destroy her, or worse.

In the meantime, we get to see much more of Edeard's life within the Void. Even more important--a key event in Edeard's life reveals once and for all just *why* it is so crucial, so important for the Living Dream adherents to get within the Void and live a life there. You didn't really think that the millions of Living Dream followers just wanted to live a medieval life, bereft of technology and gaining a few psionic powers, did you? In the Temporal Void, Hamilton reveals it--and it is a doozy. (For spoiler reasons, I am not revealing it).

But that last point shows the strength of Hamilton's writing when it comes to series. This middle volume sets us up for the finale, but does so without marking time. Again, Hamilton shows his increasing sense of balance in his writing. The Void Trilogy, while epic-sized at nearly 700 pages, is still tighter and more focused than previous novels Hamilton has wrote. He does seem to have gained increased control over his writing, much as Edeard refines his psionic abilities. Practice and skill allow the words to flow, and the plot and characters come to life in this middle volume of the trilogy.

I also have a personal, idiosyncratic theory that Hamilton wrote this trilogy to dip into the waters of fantasy. Edeard's adventures in Makkathran certainly feel like a fantasy story, and in this second volume, we switch from "callow boy makes his way to the big city" to a "political power, intrigue and police procedural with psionics in the big city". Its not all roses and champagne, Edeard's path is not easy or even clear. The consequences of power seems to be an emergent theme in this second book, both in Edeard's story and the universe at large.

Strong science fiction, amazing technology, a realm at the center of the galaxy which feels like psionic-fueled fantasy? Hamilton has managed a tricky balancing act for a second volume, and has come through with flying colors. I look forward to the third and final of the Void books, and so should you.(less)

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Sep 02, 2010 Mad Professah rated it 4 of 5 stars

Peter F. Hamilton's The Temporal Void is Book 2 in his Void Trilogy. Hamilton is one of my favorite authors, primarily for his Night's Dawn series and the Commonwealth Saga ( Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained ). The first book in the Void Trilogy was The Dreaming Void and was released in the United States in March 2008. This second book was released in March 2009. The third (and final) book, The Evolutionary Void is expected to be released August 31, 2010.

The Void Trilogy is unusual fo...more

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May 12, 2010 Frank rated it 3 of 5 stars

Mixing Fantasy and Science fiction genre are an mismatch in this novel
The novel is too long – a lot of side stories without meaning clear meaning
Peter`s vocabulary is growing for each new novel, which can be a strain for the reader
The novel would have been original if it worked

Peter F- Hamilton is without any doubt a highly skilled writer
The novel has good and believable character descriptions and comprehensive «universe details»
Some part of the novel is fast paced, page turner and truly ex...more

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Apr 29, 2010 Clay rated it 3 of 5 stars

RVolume two of Peter Hamilton's latest trilogy, “The Temporal Void” (Del Rey, $28, 713 pages), is a worthy successor to "The Dreaming Void", and is a complex narrative involving a universe within a universe, dreams communicated to an entire galaxy, an advanced civilization, post-physical existence, aliens, secret agents and an entirely different book about the past wrapped inside of the convoluted, multiple-point-of-view present plot.

Confused? Well, Hamilton goes out of his way to make the confu...more

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Feb 09, 2010 Andy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, sci-fi

Riveting.
spoiler alert.
These are notes to myself so that I don't need to reread this book when the conclusion Evolutionary Void comes out August 10th.

Wow there are a lot of characters and sub-plots in this book. I can't complain too much because my favorite storyline got the most coverage in this book: Inigo's dreams of the WaterWalker. The WaterWalker was busy cleaning the gangs out of Makkathran, and gradually discovering more ways he can control and interact with the city itself. It's still u...more Riveting.
spoiler alert.
These are notes to myself so that I don't need to reread this book when the conclusion Evolutionary Void comes out August 10th.

Wow there are a lot of characters and sub-plots in this book. I can't complain too much because my favorite storyline got the most coverage in this book: Inigo's dreams of the WaterWalker. The WaterWalker was busy cleaning the gangs out of Makkathran, and gradually discovering more ways he can control and interact with the city itself. It's still unclear why he has this control and no one else does, although he is certainly the strongest psychic around by about a factor of 100 by the end of the book. He proposed that it is just time for the return of the Sky Lords, and that he may be just the first of many. One thing that bugged me about this plot line is how Salrana just drifted out of the plotline, though they seemed to be "destined". And Kirstabel sort of came out of nowhere.
In the end it turns out he can actually go back in time for "do-overs". Gore suggested that the amount of energy required to return the entropy of everything in the universe to a particular previous state is so large that this is the reason the Void expands into our universe. What we do know is that thoughts seem to have power of the universe inside the Void.
Meanwhile, Justine has managed to get inside the Void, but is yet unsuccessful at convincing a SkyLord that the Void is causing problems in our universe, and at actually getting a Sky Lord to take her to "The Heart".
Aaron has managed to acquire Inigo, and now has to figure out what to do with him and Corrie-Lyn next. It is revealed that Inigo had one more dream that no one has yet seen, and that it was not a happy dream.

Amarinta (as we guessed at the end of the 1st book) is the "second dreamer" but she doesn't want to be. Now she must escape the various factions, perhaps seek help from Oscar, and convince the SkyLord not to kill anybody or devour the universe. In the final pages of book 2, she is using her genetic coupling with the Silfen to escape her home world, but she has no idea where she is going.
Troblum has escaped from the accelerators with some technology to make an ultra-ultra-hyper-drive. He figures he'll build it, try one more time to find Paula Myo or Oscar, then leave the galaxy with the new drive. He was searching for the method that the dyson spheres were created around the prime home worlds. There was some thought one might find a giant factory in the area of space around there, but his theory is that they created a technology that allowed something the size of a planet to travel through hyperspace.
ANA:Governance has now been forced to reveal the nature of the Deterrence Fleet, even though they now suspect the Accelerator faction of ANA was attempting to force that by combining the Oscicen war fleet with some Prime's. We still don't know why the Accelerators want to see the Deterrence fleet, but perhaps because they want a way past the Raiel warships into the void. They plan to send some representatives with the colonists heading into the void.
There was a battle in the skies above the Void colonists home world, and the ANA:Governance ship won, but they want time to sift through the wreckage to see what the Accelerators were up to. Marius told Ethan the wreckage contains technology for the colonists to use to reach the Void, and he doesn't want ANA looking through it.
Paula has found that The Cat has been cloned from an earlier memory file, and there may be several of her running around. She discovered this on an Accelerator base which blew up before she could figure out what they were doing.
The Accelerators figured out that Amarinta probably contacted he ex-husband Laril for help, so they mean to interrogate him for information about her.
Whew. I missed a couple dozen characters, but hopefully that's enough to jog my memory on August 10th.(less)

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Sep 24, 2011 Lee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

More wonderful stuff from Hamilton. The book is half science fiction concerning events without the Void, and half fantasy concerning the adventures of Edeard within the Void. Everyone outside the Void knows Edeard's life story and Hamilton carefully scatters bits of dialogue hither and thither to give clues about what's going to happen in those parts of the book. And yet still he manages to make that part of the tale unpredictable, fun, and interesting.

Because of the large cast and fairly fast p...more

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Jun 29, 2010 Shaun Thomas rated it 5 of 5 stars

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Peter F. Hamilton, even after the gigantic deus ex machina he used to conclude his Night's Dawn trilogy. His writing is so compelling---to me, at least---that I can forgive that kind of transgression because the story itself is so interesting.

And now with the second entry in his Void trilogy, The Temporal Void, I find another great novel that feels too short, despite its ponderous length. And in contrast to authors like David Weber, who includes stupendous a...more It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Peter F. Hamilton, even after the gigantic deus ex machina he used to conclude his Night's Dawn trilogy. His writing is so compelling---to me, at least---that I can forgive that kind of transgression because the story itself is so interesting.

And now with the second entry in his Void trilogy, The Temporal Void, I find another great novel that feels too short, despite its ponderous length. And in contrast to authors like David Weber, who includes stupendous amounts of minutia and breathlessly describes intricate naval maneuvers, Hamilton is clearly a plot-driven writer. It's obvious he likes the technology he invents and has a put significant thought into ensuring consistency within that realm, but I'm fairly certain he never sits down to diagram all of those wondrous plot-convenient knick-knacks either. Weber never ignores the physics, and even has blueprints of some of his immense dreadnoughts and superdreadnoughts among other things.

Maybe this is why I like both authors in different ways. I'm personally a more story-driven reader, and though I enjoy hard scifi, it's not nearly as fun---to me---as the philosophical fabrications someone playing fast-and-loose can create. So now with his Void series, we get almost a complete mix of fantasy and scifi with Edeard's ongoing mission to rid Makkathran of the gangs, as told by Inigo, the first dreamer. And of course the outside world carries on with the machinations of finding the second dreamer and ushering in humanity's presumed future in the void.

The Riael are more direct with deflecting attempts to enter the Void, but we eventually find that the Prime are the mysterious allies the Ocisen bragged about in The Dreaming Void, aiding their fleet sent to stop the migration. Considering the difficulty the Prime caused humanity in previous novels, I'm curious to see their importance in the finale, especially since there is an over-arching plot to draw out ANA's "deterrence fleet". The Ocisen and Prime are being manipulated, as are Living Dream, The Cat, Paula Myo. Of course favorite characters like Gore, Ozzy, and Justine continue to dabble in the sprawling mess.

We still don't know what the void is or who created it, but thanks to Justine's infiltration, we know how it works and an inkling of why. Araminta spends essentially all of her time eluding both friend and foe to avoid getting involved with Living Dream. Being Mellanie's descendant, I kept wondering why she never tries the Silfen paths. That her efforts somehow thwart several pursuers for such a long time seems unbelievable with the level of technology on display.

That is the main weakness of the novel: lots of pursuit, little to no resolution. We get a couple teasers into the void, a little more of Edeard's story, and . . . not much else. Hamilton will have no trouble closing off the plot threads in the concluding novel, and his writing is almost all in the journey, all of which is at least entertaining. The whole package here just resonates with me on a visceral level, so while I'll await the finale with baited breath, just being in the world is an adventure. I did note after all, that this novel seems too short!

I can't wait until The Evolutionary Void!
(less)

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Feb 26, 2013 Steve rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy

This is the second book in Peter F Hamilton's Void Trilogy, which itself follows on from the Commonwealth saga duology. All are big books, be warned. The reason I only gave it 3 stars is that there's quite a bit of waffle, and not a huge amount happened. This is really a fantasy book wrapped around a science fiction backdrop. About half of the book (or so it felt) is set in the 'Void', specifically one particular world in the Void with a late medieval level of technology, plus some magic (telepa...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Adam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ok, so I've only read his trilogies so far, but I don't believe Peter Hamilton can write stories shorter than 2000 pages.

Seriously, a trilogy is supposed to be a set of three stories that each wrap up most of their own loose ends at the end of them, but provides some hanging plot hooks that continue on in the next book. Peter Hamilton seems to revel in introducing several new characters each book, and then wrapping up their character arches only in the last book.

Think of normal trilogies like...more

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Apr 01, 2013 Ree Linker rated it 4 of 5 stars

As expected, the farther into the series that I get, the more drawn in I am.

Liked:

* Now that I have an idea of the major players, my enjoyment of the various story lines is more evenly distributed; I never found myself thinking "oh no. I wish there was a way to skip this person and go to the next POV."
* Well thought out, complex, and well written.
* Gore's rant at the end. And the plot twist he was railing against. Living Dream: you stink.

Didn't like:

* I still get the feeling that I should have r...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Gordon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Good. Hard to comment fully without spoilering something as this is the second of a trilogy. As several other reviewers note this volume narrows the multiple POV aspect that is normal in Hamilton's books (and was in the first volume), reducing several characters to bit players and mere paragraphs in what is still a massive number of words. In itself I did not feel this was a distraction but I did feel the Edeard storyline dragged a little and was a little boring in the middle. Reaching the end o...more

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Jan 30, 2013 Peter rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

this is the second book in Hamilton's void trilogy and it just starts. It took me quite some time to remember who all these characters and their allegiances were. But once I was imersed in the story that was no longer a problem. Like in the previous book 'the dreaming void' there are alternating chapters inside and outside the void. The outside chapters are scifi, the inside chapters lean towards fantasy. The emphasis in this volume is more on Edeard's rise to power inside the void then on the p...more

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Aug 05, 2010 Marc rated it 3 of 5 stars

This Void trilogy is a bit different from most books. It has two completely different stories--one sci-fi, one fantasy. To be perfectly honest, I would rather read the fantasy book about Edeard and what he went through. I find that far more interesting.

The problem with the sci-fi book is that I can't relate to the technology at all. I've also not read the books in the previous trilogies so I don't know the characters all too well and there are a lot of them. I just feel like there's a lot of bac...more

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Dec 19, 2012 F.R. rated it 3 of 5 stars

The problem with most stories about Superman is that he’s just so damned invincible. It almost becomes comic: the fact that every two-bit hood in Metropolis has access to Kryptonite – which is surely not something available by just strolling down the road to the chemist. Now I really like Superman, but this flaw springs to mind after having read the second volume of Peter Hamilton’s Void trilogy in that so much time is spent with the book’s own superman Edeard. Edeard is a character from inside...more

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Dec 15, 2008 Pierre rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another amazing read. I got this for my birthday, and it was ordered from Amazon.uk because it is not available in the US yet.

Make sure to re-read the first book, as Hamilton does not give any background at the beginning of this book...

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Jan 10, 2013 Guillermo Azuarte rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

This is a tale of two books. I think the Inigo's dream chapters
dragged this book down a notch from the previous installment of the Void trilogy. Hamilton seems to have spent alot more time with Edeard than in the universe outside the void, which I thought was much more compelling. There was one particularly cringe worthy sequence that went on and on for pages describing Edeard's romantic retreat with his bride-to-be. Then there were awful wedding pages, ceremonies, and generally women flinging...more This is a tale of two books. I think the Inigo's dream chapters
dragged this book down a notch from the previous installment of the Void trilogy. Hamilton seems to have spent alot more time with Edeard than in the universe outside the void, which I thought was much more compelling. There was one particularly cringe worthy sequence that went on and on for pages describing Edeard's romantic retreat with his bride-to-be. Then there were awful wedding pages, ceremonies, and generally women flinging themselves at Edeard from all over the place, along with the obligatory sex scenes which were cheesy. I don't really need to know that the servants in the other room heard your "cries of joy". Not what I read sci-fi for.

The one compelling thing in these dream chapters besides the incredible evolution of Edeard's powers was the mystery of the roving outlaws. Where are they from and what is their motivation? Besides that, I felt myself skimming through alot of those chapters, which is
problematic because I think over half of The Temporal Void consists of them. I still think its ambitious that Hamilton is blending a hard sci-fi/space opera with more fantastic tropes, but maybe the novelty was just wearing a little thin for me, especially with the aforementioned bloatedness of those chapters. In my opinion, the book should've been about a hundred pages shorter.

The universe outside the Void is where the book really shines for me. For some reason, I never really cared much for Myo or Burnelli in the Commonwealth Saga, but I really enjoy those character's moments in this book. I"d get a little sad when their section would end,
and I'd realize that I'd probably have to read over a hundred pages more until I got back to them. Hamilton weaves and intricate and very intriguing plot that makes you want to keep reading to see where all of this is going to connect. Especially enjoyed the whole Ocisen/Accelerator/Prime conspiracy. What are all those crazy kids up to? The ending was very immpressive- I needed to read that entire section again to soak it in as soon as I finished it.

So although it suffers a bit from being the middle book of a trilogy and from a bit of Hamilton's gas-baggery, I think it sets the stage beautifully for what will hopefully be a thrilling conclusion to the trilogy. (less)

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Jan 20, 2013 Zaphoddent rated it 3 of 5 stars

Pro: Hamilton can write some damn engaging characters. He's at his best when discussing the people involved in schemes outside of the void.

Con: I find Edeard's story annoyingly boring. There's just too much of the omnipotent hero for these sections to be enjoyable. Maybe it's cause from the onset through Inigo's dreams one already knows that he will be okay removing any thrill from observing any of his adventures or it could just be the one sided nature of his skills and strengths but reading a...more

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Jan 11, 2010 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: space-opera

The middle book of the Void Trilogy, mixing the story of the future Commonwealth with the fantasy-inspired story of Edeard and Makkathran in the Void.

I love Hamilton's epic space operas, but I have to confess that unless he pulls out a show-stopper in the last book (and being Hamilton, I can't rule that out) this is coming off as his weakest effort so far.

It's not bad, don't get me wrong; it just feels that it's lacking some of the excitement that I got from the excellent duology of Pandora's S...more

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The Temporal Void (Void #2)

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