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Void #3
The Evolutionary Void
Exposed as the Second Dreamer, Araminta has become the target of a galaxywide search by government agent Paula Myo and the psychopath known as the Cat, along with others equally determined to prevent-- or facilitate --the pilgrimage of the Living Dream cult into the heart of the Void. An indestructible microuniverse, the Void may contain paradise, as the cultists believe, but it is also a deadly threat. For the miraculous reality that exists inside its boundaries demands energy--energy drawn from everything outside those boundaries: from planets, stars, galaxies... from everything that lives.
Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker -- as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer -- continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies -- and temptations more powerful still.
With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard's final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.
Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker -- as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer -- continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies -- and temptations more powerful still.
With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard's final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.
694 pages, Hardcover
First published September 9, 2009
About the author
Peter F. Hamilton
179 books9,475 followersPeter F. Hamilton is a British science fiction author. He is best known for writing space opera. As of the publication of his tenth novel in 2004, his works had sold over two million copies worldwide, making him Britain's biggest-selling science fiction author.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 668 reviews
February 23, 2023
Better be careful in choosing what to think about, because one´s dream could become other people´s dimension crushing reality.
Reminds me of the Zones of Thought
Vernor Vinge used a similar idea of switching between science and fantasy, letting the 2 collide, and battle it out in the readers´ minds between a little magic and big science, in the first Zones of Thought novel. Of course not as complex, bombastic, and cinematic as Hamilton does, close to nobody can, but the idea was there and Hamilton used it to accelerate towards a grand escalation in the third, final part of the series.
Even big at fantasy
That he is also that big at writing fantasy amazed me, because jumping between genres is not the usual hold my beer, in between activity, but his letting characters tell the story and using their abilities and interests as main plot vehicles narrative style works in fantastic worlds too.
Parallels shouldn´t collide in conventional physics
Watch in awe how the consequences in both parallel, co dependent universes have to worsen the situation for reasons of survival, how physics forces different humankinds to once fight for a really good reason, for not letting the dirty, expansionistic reality eat away ones´ universe. Although this could make natural science the big factor in the game, because whoever would find an easy, realistic solution for the physical quarrel reasons, should really get the Nobel prize and at least the patents for the technology as a reward. Wouldn´t that motivate kids to become scientists, not just to be curious, altruistic, and brave, but famous and rich too?
Could have many different manifestations
The series is also showing the potential of science fantasy on many different levels. Beginning with the worldbuilding, society, culture, tradition, faith, and how science is done; over to how the fractions find out that there is something beyond their sphere of influence and unattainable behind a barrier of physics, reality, and time; and how finally the protagonists´ abilities can be explained with scientific, fantastic, or mixed anomalies, making them masters of the physical ones, and used as fascinating story development options.
Throwing so many aspects in the mix as Hamilton did over the time of this series, in this case, dreams, far future tech humans, primitive fantasy humans, multiverses, or different universes, indirectly implying the option of time travel if there would be copies of universes with the same, cloned or multiplied, population in different time zones, consciousnesses, etc., opens up the possibility that one of the thousands of sci fis´ reality explaining attempts could be the real deal. That it´s already shown and researched how it works, but we still don´t know or never will for sure.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order.
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
Reminds me of the Zones of Thought
Vernor Vinge used a similar idea of switching between science and fantasy, letting the 2 collide, and battle it out in the readers´ minds between a little magic and big science, in the first Zones of Thought novel. Of course not as complex, bombastic, and cinematic as Hamilton does, close to nobody can, but the idea was there and Hamilton used it to accelerate towards a grand escalation in the third, final part of the series.
Even big at fantasy
That he is also that big at writing fantasy amazed me, because jumping between genres is not the usual hold my beer, in between activity, but his letting characters tell the story and using their abilities and interests as main plot vehicles narrative style works in fantastic worlds too.
Parallels shouldn´t collide in conventional physics
Watch in awe how the consequences in both parallel, co dependent universes have to worsen the situation for reasons of survival, how physics forces different humankinds to once fight for a really good reason, for not letting the dirty, expansionistic reality eat away ones´ universe. Although this could make natural science the big factor in the game, because whoever would find an easy, realistic solution for the physical quarrel reasons, should really get the Nobel prize and at least the patents for the technology as a reward. Wouldn´t that motivate kids to become scientists, not just to be curious, altruistic, and brave, but famous and rich too?
Could have many different manifestations
The series is also showing the potential of science fantasy on many different levels. Beginning with the worldbuilding, society, culture, tradition, faith, and how science is done; over to how the fractions find out that there is something beyond their sphere of influence and unattainable behind a barrier of physics, reality, and time; and how finally the protagonists´ abilities can be explained with scientific, fantastic, or mixed anomalies, making them masters of the physical ones, and used as fascinating story development options.
Throwing so many aspects in the mix as Hamilton did over the time of this series, in this case, dreams, far future tech humans, primitive fantasy humans, multiverses, or different universes, indirectly implying the option of time travel if there would be copies of universes with the same, cloned or multiplied, population in different time zones, consciousnesses, etc., opens up the possibility that one of the thousands of sci fis´ reality explaining attempts could be the real deal. That it´s already shown and researched how it works, but we still don´t know or never will for sure.
Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique:
https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...
This wise, just joking, advice is added to all reviews of Hamiltons´series.
One of the most fascinating aspects of Hamilton´s future vision is to see the technology and society developing in very detail over long periods of time, making a return to his universe something always stunning and inspiring. It also makes me wonder why he is the only author I know of who did this. One, who is new, lucky you, by the way, ought consider reading it in chronological order.
Salvation year 2200
Commonwealth year 2400
The Night´s Dawn trilogy year 2700
The Chronicle of the Fallers year 3400
Void trilogy year 3600
You can of course do as you wish, it´s just how I arrange my rereading to get the most out of it and slowly move further and further away from the boring present.
January 8, 2019
Amazing! Out of all of Peter F. Hamilton's works, this trilogy has got to be the absolute best! This particular novel pulls off a miracle.
Better than walking on water, better than a galaxy-eating Void, and better than all the sums of its parts. :) Be it Syvian alien-elves, post-human social structures, or a manufactured universe where psi powers are not only feasible, but where magic, time-manipulation, and god-like powers are just a part of a greater tale.
This is space opera on a scale I rarely see but what I always crave. And this particular trilogy slams it home with SO MUCH BETTER CRAFT than I usually see in this particular author. :) All the characters and the plot threads serve a fantastic purpose without the usual meandering I'm used to. He put SKILLZ into this one. :) Shorter? Yes, but all to the improvement of the story.
And what a story! A star-eating dream as Heaven with its own apostles versus several thousand years of super-technologically advanced humanity and aliens armed with deployable Dyson Spheres.
Holy shit, right? The ideas are freaking amazing and the execution is not only a pure delight, but all the characters are freaking memorable as hell. Talk about simple beginnings... where everyone winds up is mind-blowing. :)
This is some CLASSIC modern SF. Don't be afraid of the page count. It's worth ALL THE EFFORT in the world. :)
Better than walking on water, better than a galaxy-eating Void, and better than all the sums of its parts. :) Be it Syvian alien-elves, post-human social structures, or a manufactured universe where psi powers are not only feasible, but where magic, time-manipulation, and god-like powers are just a part of a greater tale.
This is space opera on a scale I rarely see but what I always crave. And this particular trilogy slams it home with SO MUCH BETTER CRAFT than I usually see in this particular author. :) All the characters and the plot threads serve a fantastic purpose without the usual meandering I'm used to. He put SKILLZ into this one. :) Shorter? Yes, but all to the improvement of the story.
And what a story! A star-eating dream as Heaven with its own apostles versus several thousand years of super-technologically advanced humanity and aliens armed with deployable Dyson Spheres.
Holy shit, right? The ideas are freaking amazing and the execution is not only a pure delight, but all the characters are freaking memorable as hell. Talk about simple beginnings... where everyone winds up is mind-blowing. :)
This is some CLASSIC modern SF. Don't be afraid of the page count. It's worth ALL THE EFFORT in the world. :)
March 30, 2012
Having waited what feels like eternity to get a mass market paperback edition of this, the final volume in the Void trilogy, I went back and re-read the first two volumes in order to remind myself what was going on.
Those previous volumes did not withstand a second reading very well; their primary plus points were the new SF ideas and of course, they aren't new second time around. So...1400p to remind myself of the backstory, then onwards!
The final volume suffers problems similar to those of Hamilton's two previous multi-volume space opera sagas, namely; plot points seen hundreds of pages in advance, too many disparate characters leading me to always be thinking, what's going on with...whomever...and characters that are too similar to characters in other books (even the ones that don't actually appear in earlier books in the timeline.) There is also something of E.E. Doc. Smith threat/technology-inflation.
This series is set hundreds of years after the closure of Judas Unchained in which an inter-stellar scale war is fought with weapons that can destroy stars, create blackholes, turn humans into walking battle tanks etc. But now we're in the future and technology has to have moved on...where? Hamilton strains to make believable advances on people who are immortal except for accident or deliberate violence that can already make stars go nova. The threat, which was last time genocide of all of humanity is this time genocide of the whole galaxy...
All that said, these faults are not as severe as in the previous efforts; I couldn't foresee every major plot point well in advance (although I felt I should have guessed more) and there are some surprises at the denouement. Which leaves the ending(s): Books that bring disparate characters across a galaxy in to play in critical events can't just end. They have to ends multiple times over in order to close all of the characters. This usually detracts even when the denouement was great.
There is a short story at the end of this volume, promoting a forthcoming collection of such by Hamilton. It is less than 20p long and superior to the 2000+p saga preceding it. All of Hamilton's best works have been completely self-contained and the longest of them approximately the size of any one volume in this series. I don't think I'll be reading any more multi-volume space operas by Hamilton but I will pick up that short story collection and any stand-alone novel he might release in the future.
Post scriptum: Reading Dan's review reminded me of some things I forgot to say: This volume appears to have some (not very subtle) sub-text. For instance, Utopia is bad because boring, humans need to struggle in order to have fulfilling lives, cultural imperialism is bad. People need to be allowed to evolve in seperate ways as long as no coercion is involved. This is all positive stuff, in that any sort of subtext seems absent from most of Hamilton's novels. (Fallen Dragon is an exception.) Most of these ideas are in fact SF staples and unfortunately done better elsewhere. In particular, the ideas of humans physically as well as culturally evolving in muliple directions were dealt with much better in Dan Simmons' at least equally gigantic Hyperion Cantos.
Those previous volumes did not withstand a second reading very well; their primary plus points were the new SF ideas and of course, they aren't new second time around. So...1400p to remind myself of the backstory, then onwards!
The final volume suffers problems similar to those of Hamilton's two previous multi-volume space opera sagas, namely; plot points seen hundreds of pages in advance, too many disparate characters leading me to always be thinking, what's going on with...whomever...and characters that are too similar to characters in other books (even the ones that don't actually appear in earlier books in the timeline.) There is also something of E.E. Doc. Smith threat/technology-inflation.
This series is set hundreds of years after the closure of Judas Unchained in which an inter-stellar scale war is fought with weapons that can destroy stars, create blackholes, turn humans into walking battle tanks etc. But now we're in the future and technology has to have moved on...where? Hamilton strains to make believable advances on people who are immortal except for accident or deliberate violence that can already make stars go nova. The threat, which was last time genocide of all of humanity is this time genocide of the whole galaxy...
All that said, these faults are not as severe as in the previous efforts; I couldn't foresee every major plot point well in advance (although I felt I should have guessed more) and there are some surprises at the denouement. Which leaves the ending(s): Books that bring disparate characters across a galaxy in to play in critical events can't just end. They have to ends multiple times over in order to close all of the characters. This usually detracts even when the denouement was great.
There is a short story at the end of this volume, promoting a forthcoming collection of such by Hamilton. It is less than 20p long and superior to the 2000+p saga preceding it. All of Hamilton's best works have been completely self-contained and the longest of them approximately the size of any one volume in this series. I don't think I'll be reading any more multi-volume space operas by Hamilton but I will pick up that short story collection and any stand-alone novel he might release in the future.
Post scriptum: Reading Dan's review reminded me of some things I forgot to say: This volume appears to have some (not very subtle) sub-text. For instance, Utopia is bad because boring, humans need to struggle in order to have fulfilling lives, cultural imperialism is bad. People need to be allowed to evolve in seperate ways as long as no coercion is involved. This is all positive stuff, in that any sort of subtext seems absent from most of Hamilton's novels. (Fallen Dragon is an exception.) Most of these ideas are in fact SF staples and unfortunately done better elsewhere. In particular, the ideas of humans physically as well as culturally evolving in muliple directions were dealt with much better in Dan Simmons' at least equally gigantic Hyperion Cantos.
August 4, 2011
a rousing end to hamilton's most ambitious hard science space opera yet. the author certainly believes in the everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach, as this trilogy (although it is truly more of a quintet) includes EVERTHING: artificial intelligences, sun-diving, galactic religious movements, bionic enhancements, alien species (including a sci-fi explanation for ELVES for chrissakes), a range of modes of space & time travel, mysteries that have lasted a millenia, lots of space battles, detailed world-building, and an incredibly large & often over-sexed cast of enjoyably cartoonish characters featuring scientists, starship commanders, politicians, everyday joes & janes, immortals, mystics, and my personal favorite, the tormented yet quip-filled super-agent who just wants to get the job done despite having to deal with multiple massacres occurring in both his dreaming and waking hours. my gosh, poor super-agent...what a life!
aside from the page-turning narrative and the wall-to-wall concepts thrown at the reader, the most fascinating thing to me about this pleasantly over-stuffed series is its engagement with another genre: High Fantasy. in hamilton's previous series Night's Dawn, he engaged successfully with the Horror genre in his depiction of souls returning from the dead to destroy the living, centuries upon centuries in the future. In that novel, the horror and the hard science were woven carefully together. in this series, the High Fantasy is kept at more of a remove by the creation of two distinct narratives that often reflect upon each other. the parallel adventures of Edeard in the "magical" city of Makkathran may appear minor-note compared to the expansiveness of the space opera that surrounds his various tales, but Edeard's journey from village outsider to Master of Space & Time is just as compelling and may merit a separate read, outside of the space opera itself. at the very least, the detailed descriptions of the psychic powers of the Edeard & his countrymen are absorbing & thought-provoking; even more interesting to contemplate are the lessons that Edeard learns about the impossibility of attaining perfection in relationships, in human nature, in creating the perfect utopia. surprisingly heady & tragic ideas lurk within the fantasy, although the reader who prefers fast action on a galactic scale may soon grow frustrated with the inward-leaning tales of Edeard.
although the characters and their dialogue are often simplistically two-dimensional (Edeard aside), and the sentimentality is at times a bit much, overall this is a marvellous achievement by hamilton. the author is a man of many ideas!
aside from the page-turning narrative and the wall-to-wall concepts thrown at the reader, the most fascinating thing to me about this pleasantly over-stuffed series is its engagement with another genre: High Fantasy. in hamilton's previous series Night's Dawn, he engaged successfully with the Horror genre in his depiction of souls returning from the dead to destroy the living, centuries upon centuries in the future. In that novel, the horror and the hard science were woven carefully together. in this series, the High Fantasy is kept at more of a remove by the creation of two distinct narratives that often reflect upon each other. the parallel adventures of Edeard in the "magical" city of Makkathran may appear minor-note compared to the expansiveness of the space opera that surrounds his various tales, but Edeard's journey from village outsider to Master of Space & Time is just as compelling and may merit a separate read, outside of the space opera itself. at the very least, the detailed descriptions of the psychic powers of the Edeard & his countrymen are absorbing & thought-provoking; even more interesting to contemplate are the lessons that Edeard learns about the impossibility of attaining perfection in relationships, in human nature, in creating the perfect utopia. surprisingly heady & tragic ideas lurk within the fantasy, although the reader who prefers fast action on a galactic scale may soon grow frustrated with the inward-leaning tales of Edeard.
although the characters and their dialogue are often simplistically two-dimensional (Edeard aside), and the sentimentality is at times a bit much, overall this is a marvellous achievement by hamilton. the author is a man of many ideas!
May 23, 2022
“It’s stalled. Whatever it was originally meant to do hasn’t worked. It hasn’t progressed for millions, possibly billions, of years. It just sits there absorbing minds and matter; it’s become pointless and very dangerous. We need to kickstart its evolutionary process again, whether it likes that or not.”
The Void, a sentient entity that sits instead of a black hole at the centre of our galaxy, is about to go into an expansion phase that will gobble up said galaxy in its entirety. How we got to this imminent catastrophe is described in the first couple of volumes of the trilogy, but basically humans are responsible for triggering the Void by sending millions of religious fanatics on a pilgrimage to Makkathran, the fabled city inside the Void where everything you dream becomes reality. The cult of the Living Dream began when a human started to dream about the life of Makkathran heroic leader Edeard the Waterwalker, who led the whole planet to a higher plane of existence at the heart of the Void. Inigo, the original Dreamer, and Araminta, the elusive Second Dreamer, have been trying hard to stop the Pilgrimage and warned of undesirable consequences, but other factions within the human Commonwealth are seeing this event as an opportunity for the ultimate power grab that would transform its leaders into Gods.
It is left to a small handful of underdogs and mad scientists, the familiar fellowship of the unwilling heroes from epic fantasy, to save the galaxy by preceding the Pilgrimage into the Void and triggering a counter-event that will, hopefully, save the day for the whole galaxy.
>>><<<>>><<<
I’ve done the best I could to reduce this sprawling mega-epic, blockbuster tale of the future of mankind to an easier to grasp concept. The author has done his best, and his best is his usual spectacular, even awesome, popcorn entertainment, to cram as many action filled set scenes and star battles into the grand finale of a story that began more than 1500 years earlier in the Commonwealth Saga.
“This crisis seems to be bringing the golden oldies out to play in droves.”
Which brings me to one of the main reasons I didn’t enjoy the tale as much as I hoped, because I didn’t read the original epic. New/old characters and references to past events are introduced in this third volume with minimal backstory filled in. This is obviously my fault, and not the author’s, and I might even go back and read those books now that I am finished with the Void. Frankly, I don’t have any high expectations about the quality of the scientific arguments or the depth of the character study, but if on holiday and with free time on my hands I know what to expect from Peter Hamilton. I actually read this final volume while on holiday in Tuscany.
Navigation at that awesome velocity was by quantum interstice similarity interpretation.
Having a grand vision that spans thousands of light years in distance, a science writer must come with some ideas about FTL travel. Any solution is bound to be highly speculative, given the stage of our current knowledge about particle physics, but some theories are wilder than usual. Hamilton in particular goes for such incredible claims that I can’t help but being amused and reminded of the movie ‘Space Balls’ [We’ve gone to ludicrous speed]. His approach is closer to fantasy than to science-fiction, something that was evident in the previous two episodes with the chapters about Edeard and Makkathran. There are also elves at the bottom of the galaxy garden.
The Silfen magic, actually the most advanced weird technology in the galaxy
Despite my strong suspicions that Hamilton is selling us snake oil when it comes to science, I must be honest and admit that he holds the logical threads together better than he arguments his technological advances. Within the context of his Commonwealth setting, with multiple alien civilizations at different stages on the evolutionary ladder and with the ultimate goal of achieving post-physical status (a life of the all powerful mind, outside the rules of the real world), the Void trilogy proposes to explore in detail the results on social structures and on the individual of revolutionary advances in ‘biononics’ , mind transfer, rejuvenation, multiple bodies for one mind, telepathy and so on. Each breakthrough technical advancement produced a relevant political faction within the ANA: humanity’s governing body of higher or advanced personalities. [and produced some weird sexual practices that Hamilton also likes to explore in detail]
The gaiafield was to help people understand and appreciate life, the universe, and everything so they don’t get fooled by idiot messiahs and corrupt politicians.
Given what we know of today’s political structures and tactics, it is hard to believe we will be able to transcend conflict and self-interest in only three thousand years, so Hamilton has plenty of opportunities for conflict in his saga and for spy games with deadly outcomes. Throw in a couple of alien civilizations with military plans of their own and this is how you get to fill up thousands of pages of epic space opera with action intensive scenes.
“So are we going fast or is the Void slowing down?” Corrie-Lyn asked tentatively.
“That’s not strictly relevant in here,” Inigo said. “All that matters is the end result.”
I’m leaving details about the actual battles out of my review deliberately, since they are the main attraction on the Void ticket. The end result is a good time filler with some provocative ideas about the future of mankind.
Utopia at our biological level just doesn’t work out. Once you’ve achieved everything, there is nothing left. You take out the core of being human: the striving.
February 28, 2012
Here it is, the book I've been waiting nearly two years for: The Evolutionary Void. The conclusion to the Void Trilogy, started with The Dreaming Void and followed up by The Temporal Void, is by far my most anticipated book of the year and the series is making very strong noises to be my favourite finished series ever. So, with expectations that simply couldn't get any higher, does The Evolutionary Void meet these? Simple answer: Hell yeah!
The Evolutionary Void picks up immediately where The Temporal Void left off with no break in pacing, continuing the story in an effective, confident fashion. The many plot threads that have been built up over the first two novels are now dealt with convincingly, some with immediate effect while others come to the fore in preparation for the grand finale. It's very difficult, in fact nigh on impossible, to find any fault with this aspect of The Evolutionary Void. It is clear from many references and clues laid down in Dreaming and Temporal that the Void trilogy has been intricately plotted and even has details that go all the way back to the Commonwealth Saga. This is rather unsurprising when you consider that many of the characters present here have their origins in the duology.
Some of the story lines that I was most anticipating delivered the goods. The Deterrence Fleet is hinted at many times and the revelation of what it is and the capabilities it has still manages to surprise. This can be said of many of the plot points in Evolutionary. For example, Araminta is the descendant of two Silfen friends and this is used during Temporal to show how she is able to share her dreams of the Skylord (albeit unknowingly) with the Living Dream movement. This heritage plays a fairly big role in Evolutionary and leads to some aspects that I just didn't see coming, despite how obvious they are when looking back.
The format of Evolutionary Void also follows a similar path to that of the previous books, with the Commonwealth elements mixed with Inigo's dreams of life in the Void. While The Dreaming Void was roughly a 60/40 split in favour of the Commonwealth sections and The Temporal Void was roughly 70/30 in favour of the Void sections, The Evolutionary Void switches right back to focus more on the issues in the Commonwealth and the Void aspects taking a back seat, leading to the split being in the region of 80/20 in favour of the Commonwealth. This really does work in its favour and allows Peter to do what he does best: epic space opera. To say that Peter is ambitious in his plotting would be an understatement, but past good form is present here in every way possible, from bringing together plot threads to concluding the story in a fantastic way.
Peter has developed all his characters throughout this series, with familiar faces from the Commonwealth Saga continually being developed nicely and new faces to the Void trilogy satisfying all aspects I could hope for. Each development that forms the story is conveyed convincingly through the characters, from Araminita taking the bull by the horns to the eventual discovery of Aaron's identity and past. Edeard's progress is perhaps the most controversial and seeing him change during his sections left me somewhat non-plussed. However, Peter does do an exceptional job at showing how extreme power can affect all while still managing to portray Edeard's life in a most realistic way. The eventual outcome is all the more satisfying for this exploration of his character and serves the story very well.
One of the main aspects I loved about Dreaming and Temporal was Edeard's story, a story that is both gripping and emotional. I mentioned briefly above about his character in Evolutionary so I won't go into more detail here, but what did surprise me is that the format of consecutive Dreams is not followed here. It turns out Inigo had a lot of Dreams of Edeard's life and all that is covered in the first two novels is only a small aspect of it. Instead of sticking to the known, Peter goes outside this pattern and does not tell us everything, but rather select and important times of his life that have the greatest effect on the plot and story. Yes, I would have liked to read them all, but quantity does not always mean quality, and it is the quality and overall story that makes this approach powerful and meaningful to The Evolutionary Void.
There were two particular questions that I had before starting The Evolutionary Void, one relating to Inigo's Last Dream and the other relating to just how effectively Peter could conclude this trilogy. While I wanted them to hit the right notes I was just that little bit sceptical that they may miss the mark, just not being able to convince myself to ignore those doubts, unfounded as they were.
Inigo's Last Dream is one of the most beautifully written and poetic pieces of writing I have ever read. Seeing it coming from Peter was one of the biggest surprises and most pleasant finds in Evolutionary. While fairly short, it conveys so much emotion and feeling that I had to put the book down after reading it simply to absorb what I had read. Stunning is one way to describe it, awe inspiring would be another, but without a doubt it is the highlight of the novel.
The conclusion of the trilogy was something I hoped would be a fitting end and able to silence previous critics of Peters work. Not only does it do this, it manages to bring aspects laid down throughout the trilogy together in an ending that is grand in scale and perfectly suited to what has been laid out in the trilogy as a whole.
If I had to put forward one quibble it would not be about this book, but rather the fact that the Commonwealth Saga, which consists of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained and is set 1200 years prior to the Void Trilogy, really needs to be read to gain a full appreciation of this epic story. While both are fairly separate, the story they form as a whole makes the experience much more fulfilling. There are aspects present in the Void trilogy, particularly Evolutionary Void, that hark back to this previous saga. While I wouldn't say it's a compulsory read, you will get the most enjoyment if you take the time to get around to them first.
So, I think you can probably tell from the above that I really did love this book, thought the trilogy has been exceptional and would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. It's intricately plotted and you'd be hard pressed to find another author who can pull off such a vision. For grand scale, epic space opera on a huge canvas it doesn't get much better than this. Highly, highly recommended.
The Evolutionary Void picks up immediately where The Temporal Void left off with no break in pacing, continuing the story in an effective, confident fashion. The many plot threads that have been built up over the first two novels are now dealt with convincingly, some with immediate effect while others come to the fore in preparation for the grand finale. It's very difficult, in fact nigh on impossible, to find any fault with this aspect of The Evolutionary Void. It is clear from many references and clues laid down in Dreaming and Temporal that the Void trilogy has been intricately plotted and even has details that go all the way back to the Commonwealth Saga. This is rather unsurprising when you consider that many of the characters present here have their origins in the duology.
Some of the story lines that I was most anticipating delivered the goods. The Deterrence Fleet is hinted at many times and the revelation of what it is and the capabilities it has still manages to surprise. This can be said of many of the plot points in Evolutionary. For example, Araminta is the descendant of two Silfen friends and this is used during Temporal to show how she is able to share her dreams of the Skylord (albeit unknowingly) with the Living Dream movement. This heritage plays a fairly big role in Evolutionary and leads to some aspects that I just didn't see coming, despite how obvious they are when looking back.
The format of Evolutionary Void also follows a similar path to that of the previous books, with the Commonwealth elements mixed with Inigo's dreams of life in the Void. While The Dreaming Void was roughly a 60/40 split in favour of the Commonwealth sections and The Temporal Void was roughly 70/30 in favour of the Void sections, The Evolutionary Void switches right back to focus more on the issues in the Commonwealth and the Void aspects taking a back seat, leading to the split being in the region of 80/20 in favour of the Commonwealth. This really does work in its favour and allows Peter to do what he does best: epic space opera. To say that Peter is ambitious in his plotting would be an understatement, but past good form is present here in every way possible, from bringing together plot threads to concluding the story in a fantastic way.
Peter has developed all his characters throughout this series, with familiar faces from the Commonwealth Saga continually being developed nicely and new faces to the Void trilogy satisfying all aspects I could hope for. Each development that forms the story is conveyed convincingly through the characters, from Araminita taking the bull by the horns to the eventual discovery of Aaron's identity and past. Edeard's progress is perhaps the most controversial and seeing him change during his sections left me somewhat non-plussed. However, Peter does do an exceptional job at showing how extreme power can affect all while still managing to portray Edeard's life in a most realistic way. The eventual outcome is all the more satisfying for this exploration of his character and serves the story very well.
One of the main aspects I loved about Dreaming and Temporal was Edeard's story, a story that is both gripping and emotional. I mentioned briefly above about his character in Evolutionary so I won't go into more detail here, but what did surprise me is that the format of consecutive Dreams is not followed here. It turns out Inigo had a lot of Dreams of Edeard's life and all that is covered in the first two novels is only a small aspect of it. Instead of sticking to the known, Peter goes outside this pattern and does not tell us everything, but rather select and important times of his life that have the greatest effect on the plot and story. Yes, I would have liked to read them all, but quantity does not always mean quality, and it is the quality and overall story that makes this approach powerful and meaningful to The Evolutionary Void.
There were two particular questions that I had before starting The Evolutionary Void, one relating to Inigo's Last Dream and the other relating to just how effectively Peter could conclude this trilogy. While I wanted them to hit the right notes I was just that little bit sceptical that they may miss the mark, just not being able to convince myself to ignore those doubts, unfounded as they were.
Inigo's Last Dream is one of the most beautifully written and poetic pieces of writing I have ever read. Seeing it coming from Peter was one of the biggest surprises and most pleasant finds in Evolutionary. While fairly short, it conveys so much emotion and feeling that I had to put the book down after reading it simply to absorb what I had read. Stunning is one way to describe it, awe inspiring would be another, but without a doubt it is the highlight of the novel.
The conclusion of the trilogy was something I hoped would be a fitting end and able to silence previous critics of Peters work. Not only does it do this, it manages to bring aspects laid down throughout the trilogy together in an ending that is grand in scale and perfectly suited to what has been laid out in the trilogy as a whole.
If I had to put forward one quibble it would not be about this book, but rather the fact that the Commonwealth Saga, which consists of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained and is set 1200 years prior to the Void Trilogy, really needs to be read to gain a full appreciation of this epic story. While both are fairly separate, the story they form as a whole makes the experience much more fulfilling. There are aspects present in the Void trilogy, particularly Evolutionary Void, that hark back to this previous saga. While I wouldn't say it's a compulsory read, you will get the most enjoyment if you take the time to get around to them first.
So, I think you can probably tell from the above that I really did love this book, thought the trilogy has been exceptional and would recommend it to anyone in a heartbeat. It's intricately plotted and you'd be hard pressed to find another author who can pull off such a vision. For grand scale, epic space opera on a huge canvas it doesn't get much better than this. Highly, highly recommended.
October 30, 2013
We discover what the Void is - sort of. We discover what Makkathran is. We find out who Aaron is and who he's working for exactly, and more. There's a lot going on in this book and I couldn't put it down for the last 5%. The other 95% however, I was pushing myself to stay motivated. I wanted to know how it would all end but at the same time I just wanted it to end.
Now that I've finished the Trilogy it's hard not to compare it to its predecessor - The Commonwealth Saga. I loved Pandora's Star(review). Even though technology and humanity has advanced incredibly since then, there was still a lot more interesting ideas and concepts being introduced in the first series. The space battles were more epic, the individual battles were more epic, the enhanced soldiers and superhumans were cooler, Paula Myo was cooler and busier and chasing cooler bad guys. I really wanted more of what I got in the prior series and even though this Trilogy was interesting in its own right I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Also, as much as I enjoyed the fantasy side of the story and I like how that eventually resolved, I feel it made the plot a little unfocused and disrupted the flow of both of the main story arcs.
Having said all that, I still enjoyed this book and this trilogy enough to want to keep going. I also liked a lot of the subtext and a lot of the ideas being expounded. For example the idea that Individualism is better than a collective consciousness. I’m not sure I totally agree with that because a collective consciousness in itself just seems to me to be an extreme form of individualism. If there is just “we” and nobody else then it is seems to be just another version of “me.” What about a middle ground ie community and family? – both very anti individualism without being anti the individual. Also presented is the idea that a perfect world would lead to ennui and eventual extinction because there wouldn’t be any point having children. I suppose in a world where even children are gifted the communal consciousness that makes some sort of sense - but what of a perfect world where there is no communal consciousness? How many different paintings could an immortal painter paint? Or how many planets could a star traveller explore? And every one of those paintings and planets would be new to successive generations assuming there was no communal consciousness. I suppose on Individualism it would be irrelevant whether “others” enjoyed your work except to bump up one’s own self actualisation. But consider a self actualisation that finds fulfilment in the actualisation of others – I think such a concept far superior with far greater potential for achievement than individualism, being without the limitation of a finite good. Each successive generation would be a new opportunity for further actualisation.
Fascinating stuff isn’t it? Maybe for 5 minutes...if I’m generous. The fact that I’m resorting to philosophy to populate this review suggests I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel now.
Anyway, the story was good enough to get...
3 stars
Now that I've finished the Trilogy it's hard not to compare it to its predecessor - The Commonwealth Saga. I loved Pandora's Star(review). Even though technology and humanity has advanced incredibly since then, there was still a lot more interesting ideas and concepts being introduced in the first series. The space battles were more epic, the individual battles were more epic, the enhanced soldiers and superhumans were cooler, Paula Myo was cooler and busier and chasing cooler bad guys. I really wanted more of what I got in the prior series and even though this Trilogy was interesting in its own right I couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed. Also, as much as I enjoyed the fantasy side of the story and I like how that eventually resolved, I feel it made the plot a little unfocused and disrupted the flow of both of the main story arcs.
Having said all that, I still enjoyed this book and this trilogy enough to want to keep going. I also liked a lot of the subtext and a lot of the ideas being expounded. For example the idea that Individualism is better than a collective consciousness. I’m not sure I totally agree with that because a collective consciousness in itself just seems to me to be an extreme form of individualism. If there is just “we” and nobody else then it is seems to be just another version of “me.” What about a middle ground ie community and family? – both very anti individualism without being anti the individual. Also presented is the idea that a perfect world would lead to ennui and eventual extinction because there wouldn’t be any point having children. I suppose in a world where even children are gifted the communal consciousness that makes some sort of sense - but what of a perfect world where there is no communal consciousness? How many different paintings could an immortal painter paint? Or how many planets could a star traveller explore? And every one of those paintings and planets would be new to successive generations assuming there was no communal consciousness. I suppose on Individualism it would be irrelevant whether “others” enjoyed your work except to bump up one’s own self actualisation. But consider a self actualisation that finds fulfilment in the actualisation of others – I think such a concept far superior with far greater potential for achievement than individualism, being without the limitation of a finite good. Each successive generation would be a new opportunity for further actualisation.
Fascinating stuff isn’t it? Maybe for 5 minutes...if I’m generous. The fact that I’m resorting to philosophy to populate this review suggests I’m scraping the bottom of the barrel now.
Anyway, the story was good enough to get...
3 stars
December 13, 2015
I will repeat myself: this trilogy was MIND-BLOWING!
What Hamilton have managed to create here is absolutely beyond one's imagination... except his, of course.
Number one in my places-to-visit-list: Makkathran ;))
The trilogy has all you can expect from a space opera: alien species, two universes, enhanced humans - several types -, numerous planets, multiple plots, astounding technologies, etc, etc...
An amazing saga which I'm sad is over :(
What Hamilton have managed to create here is absolutely beyond one's imagination... except his, of course.
Number one in my places-to-visit-list: Makkathran ;))
The trilogy has all you can expect from a space opera: alien species, two universes, enhanced humans - several types -, numerous planets, multiple plots, astounding technologies, etc, etc...
An amazing saga which I'm sad is over :(
December 25, 2018
The Temporal Void: An Action-Packed, Mind-Bending Final Volume
Much like the Commonwealth Saga,this is a very long, detailed, imaginative, and sprawling epic space opera that involves dozens of characters, plots, advanced technologies, alien races, ancient galactic mysteries, nefarious plots and counterplots, all told in an engaging narrative that doesn't get bogged down in exposition like a lot of other hard SF stories. It's far more entertaining than the more grim future vision of Alastair Reynolds, to which Peter Hamilton is often compared to. The human characters here remain far more human than the cold post-humans of Reynolds, which sometimes strains credulity, as they regularly make contemporary cultural references and seem not so different from us, despite being set in a galactic society set in the 31st century, but that largely lies in how you would imagine future humans will be like.
The story is split into two main storylines, a fantasy-like coming of age story about Edeard, a young man coming into his own powerful telepathic powers in a medieval society, and another far more complex future narrative about the search for a Second Dreamer broadcasting dreams of a utopian world within the Void, a giant black hole that is steadily consuming the galaxy from the center outward.
Fortunately, this book makes up for the self-indulgent and juvenile power fantasies of the middle book with a vengeance, packing enough action, mind-bending speculation, and galaxy-busting events that I decided to give the overall series a 4-star rating for the wealth of ideas even if it lacked a tight focus and much of the characterization was a bit two-dimensional, as he seems to go for cramming as many characters and storylines into his epic, though he does go in-depth on his main protagonists. Overall, it's a very ambitious and entertaining series if you can forgive some of its excesses.
Much like the Commonwealth Saga,this is a very long, detailed, imaginative, and sprawling epic space opera that involves dozens of characters, plots, advanced technologies, alien races, ancient galactic mysteries, nefarious plots and counterplots, all told in an engaging narrative that doesn't get bogged down in exposition like a lot of other hard SF stories. It's far more entertaining than the more grim future vision of Alastair Reynolds, to which Peter Hamilton is often compared to. The human characters here remain far more human than the cold post-humans of Reynolds, which sometimes strains credulity, as they regularly make contemporary cultural references and seem not so different from us, despite being set in a galactic society set in the 31st century, but that largely lies in how you would imagine future humans will be like.
The story is split into two main storylines, a fantasy-like coming of age story about Edeard, a young man coming into his own powerful telepathic powers in a medieval society, and another far more complex future narrative about the search for a Second Dreamer broadcasting dreams of a utopian world within the Void, a giant black hole that is steadily consuming the galaxy from the center outward.
Fortunately, this book makes up for the self-indulgent and juvenile power fantasies of the middle book with a vengeance, packing enough action, mind-bending speculation, and galaxy-busting events that I decided to give the overall series a 4-star rating for the wealth of ideas even if it lacked a tight focus and much of the characterization was a bit two-dimensional, as he seems to go for cramming as many characters and storylines into his epic, though he does go in-depth on his main protagonists. Overall, it's a very ambitious and entertaining series if you can forgive some of its excesses.
October 8, 2017
Peter Hamilton's ambitious space opera comes to an end. When I first picked up this series- when I found a copy of the Dreaming Void in a holiday camp in Spain in 2007- I really didn't get it. There were too many characters and too many concepts for my 15 year old self to grasp. I only found out years later that this is the second trilogy set in this universe... That knowledge might have helped considerably.
10 years later, I've finally finished the void trilogy. I no longer think there were too many characters, but I do think he could have shortened all 3 books considerably. The last 25% was fast paced and exciting- if only the rest of the book could have been like this.
My favourite parts of the all 3 books are Edeard's stories. This book had a lot less of him than the previous books, but the Commonwealth parts were superior than in the other books, so that made up for it.
10 years later, I've finally finished the void trilogy. I no longer think there were too many characters, but I do think he could have shortened all 3 books considerably. The last 25% was fast paced and exciting- if only the rest of the book could have been like this.
My favourite parts of the all 3 books are Edeard's stories. This book had a lot less of him than the previous books, but the Commonwealth parts were superior than in the other books, so that made up for it.
January 25, 2013
Once in a while, a book or series of books will come along that just awe me with the amount of work and imagination it must have taken to create. The Void trilogy did just that. To be able to weave high fantasy on one half, with high technology on the other (Clarke's axiom is in full effect here about high technology being indistinguishable from magic), and send them both on a collision course, was amazing to read. The only thing that got in the way from this being a five star book/series for me was that Hamilton tends to be long-winded as I"ve
mentioned ad infinitum in reviews the other Void books.
When he doesn't get bogged down describing buildings and city layouts, the action moves along t breakneck speed, as disparate factions race towards the center of the galaxy to decide nothing less than the fate of 2 universes. The Inigo chapters that were soo problematic for
me in the last installment have been distilled down to a few short chapters (about 30ish pages each). I've read I'm not alone in my complaints about the previous book having too much of these dream chapters that sometimes spanned over 100 pgs, but there is a great payoff here, and Edeard's time in The Evolutionary Void is seriously compelling (although I do admit my eyes were rolling into the back of my head during a section where Edeard and several characters discuss the pernicous ramifications of a new livestock tax. I kid you not).
There are some really interesting themes here about the rejection the notion of a utopia or heaven. "Be careful what you wish for. Utopia at our biological level just doesn't work. Once you've achieved everything, there is nothing left, you take out the core of being human: the striving." I really like this concept, although who says you can't have a utopia without some sort of struggle, like a gladiatorial state or a never ending tennis or chess match? Hmm.
But I get his point. Credit Hamilton for quickly turning a utopia that we would all probably kill to have, with something that seems to me as almost nightmarish.
My favorite line is on the trappings of fulfillment, expoused by the ever so eloquent and dickhead Ozzie: "A dung beetle that gets its turd home is fulfilled." What I took from that was that there's
nothing inherently wrong in seeking fulfillment and obtaining it, but in the cosmic scale of things, it probably is just as meaningful as that dung beetle and his exploits are to the rest of us. Way to break my soul there, Peter.
There were plenty of revelations in that conclusion that I had no inkling were coming.The ending was spectacular and even a bit tender as we say our goodbyes to some of the characters we've spent so much time with not only in the Void trilogy, but in the
Commonwealth duology. Its a bitter sweet feeling as we could only imagine what the future holds for our friends. There's one particular continuing story line
I would love to see in some sort of short story collection. This is the fifth book by Peter F Hamilton I've read, and it is his best in my opinion, followed closely by the first in this trilogy: The Dreaming Void. Four solid stars for the entire series.
February 5, 2015
And so Peter Hamilton's space opera comes to an end in – if I’m honest – a not particularly satisfactory fashion. All in all, this is a long tale, over 2100 pages across three volumes and although Hamilton is clearly skilled at marshalling his large cast to where he needs them, the ending still managed to feel incredibly rushed. It's almost as if the author enjoyed hanging out on the alien worlds he created and. loved spending time with his characters, that what would constitute an actual conclusion was an after-thought.
Once again we follow various factions who want to enter the void and those who want to stop them and the conflict that ensues. It perhaps lacks the fireworks of the previous two volumes, but there are great futuristic visions and concepts here so it's worth taking time to enjoy.
I mentioned in my previous review something incredibly irritating that happens in the second volume which recalls Christopher Reeve-era Superman. I’m going to guess that if you're reading this third review, you have some notion of what's taken place in the previous two books. If not, the whole of this paragraph is going to be a bit of a spoiler. At the end of that second volume, Edeard – the water-walker, prophet character who dominates these books – discovers the ability to turn back time to save himself and his friends. This – as I read the last page of ‘The Temporal Void’ – seemed incredibly annoying. But, to be fair, it’s taken to its logical extreme in this book with Edeard repeatedly using this ability, grabbing some moment in time and rewriting every event thereafter. Far from merely saving Lois Lane, Hamilton makes this an incredibly depressing talent which doesn’t solve problems and even has the effect of removing newly born loved ones. Rather than a glib power, it becomes a curse.
But then, even though he is more haunted this time around, the character of Edeard is still somewhat pious and falls the wrong side of irritating, and there were points where reading about council debates was a little like watching some particularly admin heavy cut of ‘The Phantom Menace’.
So was this a frustrating experience? After all I have read all these pages and all these words and been disappointed with the result. Surely I'd like my money back (actually I got the books from the library, but you take my point). It's true that I wish the ending was stronger and some of the strands of plot more compulsive, but in the main this was smart and interesting science fiction.
Once again we follow various factions who want to enter the void and those who want to stop them and the conflict that ensues. It perhaps lacks the fireworks of the previous two volumes, but there are great futuristic visions and concepts here so it's worth taking time to enjoy.
I mentioned in my previous review something incredibly irritating that happens in the second volume which recalls Christopher Reeve-era Superman. I’m going to guess that if you're reading this third review, you have some notion of what's taken place in the previous two books. If not, the whole of this paragraph is going to be a bit of a spoiler. At the end of that second volume, Edeard – the water-walker, prophet character who dominates these books – discovers the ability to turn back time to save himself and his friends. This – as I read the last page of ‘The Temporal Void’ – seemed incredibly annoying. But, to be fair, it’s taken to its logical extreme in this book with Edeard repeatedly using this ability, grabbing some moment in time and rewriting every event thereafter. Far from merely saving Lois Lane, Hamilton makes this an incredibly depressing talent which doesn’t solve problems and even has the effect of removing newly born loved ones. Rather than a glib power, it becomes a curse.
But then, even though he is more haunted this time around, the character of Edeard is still somewhat pious and falls the wrong side of irritating, and there were points where reading about council debates was a little like watching some particularly admin heavy cut of ‘The Phantom Menace’.
So was this a frustrating experience? After all I have read all these pages and all these words and been disappointed with the result. Surely I'd like my money back (actually I got the books from the library, but you take my point). It's true that I wish the ending was stronger and some of the strands of plot more compulsive, but in the main this was smart and interesting science fiction.
January 20, 2013
I finished this only because I'd already invested so much time in the earlier books. Edeard's story just gets more tiresome and mundane the deeper you get. In fact it becomes positively idiotic. It feels like a complete regression into some archaic world where people have 'evolved' into some medieval culture complete with inane conversations. Worse still, is the fact that there is no character development for anyone except Edeard in the void. They are just a bunch of appendages without any opinions of there own. My least favorite parts of the void were the conversations involving Edeard’s twins which I found positively nauseating. They sound like 3 year olds and that's quite a feat for folks in their twenties.
Plus, the imbecility of time travel becomes apparent here. As soon as he meets any kind of adversary he resets time. Come on! There's only so many times you can read slight variations of the same person's story before wanting to hurl something.
The absolute worst thing is that, all of this melodrama could have been easily avoided if say Inigo was not such a wimp and had the good sense to reveal his last dream, instead of running away with his tail between his legs to hide! Or if folks in the commonwealth had half a brain and talked to each other rather than keep their ridiculous moves to themselves like a bunch of drama queens!
Plus, the imbecility of time travel becomes apparent here. As soon as he meets any kind of adversary he resets time. Come on! There's only so many times you can read slight variations of the same person's story before wanting to hurl something.
The absolute worst thing is that, all of this melodrama could have been easily avoided if say Inigo was not such a wimp and had the good sense to reveal his last dream, instead of running away with his tail between his legs to hide! Or if folks in the commonwealth had half a brain and talked to each other rather than keep their ridiculous moves to themselves like a bunch of drama queens!
December 3, 2015
I really wanted to like this series more than I did. After all, I spent 2000 pages or so of my reading time working my way through it! I mean, who wants to put in all that effort and time and come out going, “Meh”?
I pondered the exhaustive world-building, all the human types and the political factions, pieces which did ostensibly seem to fit in together. No small feat considering just how BIG the human commonwealth is. The interesting bionic & genetic manipulation technology which, while lacking a deep exploration of its effects on an individual’s psychology, painted a believable portrait of future humanity. I enjoyed the mysteries which served as the plot’s real engine: who was Aaron? who created the Void and for what purpose? what does it mean to go post-physical?
While the answers to these mysteries were lackluster, I still recognize their effectiveness in creating a thrilling plot. I do recognize the trilogy’s merits, as reflected by the 3 star ratings I gave the books.
Nevertheless, I just couldn’t get into it. In a way, this situation reminds me of being in a relationship and finding myself not loving my partner as much as I used to. Why? I ask myself. Is it the simple fading of novelty? Am I that shallow? Is that even shallow? Or perhaps something has changed. Me? Her? The universe? All of us?
Sometimes this why question can be answered easily. In my experience, that’s pretty rare. The conscious manifestation of love is just the tiny tip of a giant iceberg of thoughts, chemicals, and societal mechanisms. We see and only understand a minuscule amount of it. Which brings up interesting questions of free will, but that’s beyond what I want to talk about in this review.
I explored this question of what it was about this book that held me at a distance, and I eventually placed my blame on the book’s structure, in particular its pacing. Evolutionary Void itself is dramatically back-loaded, which is itself a reflection of the micro structure of the chapters. They tend to start out rather boring. They’re heavily loaded with exposition about, for example, Justine’s mundane explorations of Makkathran, a city we’ve seen a hundred times already. They then always end with something dramatic, sometimes with a little cliffhanger of a mystery. For example, Justine’s mundane explorations of Makkathran end with her looking at a statue of the Lady and going OMG I recognize her!
And of course this little spur of mystery reminds me of all the other mysteries I want to find out about and so I keep reading.
In some sense this is just how successful books are structured, but this one wasn’t balanced quite right. There were too many unnecessary scenes and the characters themselves didn’t have enough individual investment in the outcome of their storylines. The primary motivation of almost every character is: “Save the universe” (or in Edeard’s case “save the city.”) That’s just too large and abstract a motivation for me to really root for. I would draw a contrast – as I did in my review of the first book – with George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. Those storylines are individually dramatic with their own arcs, and characters whose desires are character-centric. Arya wants revenge. Jon Snow loves a wildling woman. Cersei wants her children to be safe. And so on. Whereas in The Evolutionary Void, each individual storyline really only serves to contribute to the whole.
The combined result of this artificial structure and these plot-gear characters is a story whose imagination is undeniable but whose underlying emotional structure proved to be rather hollow. I find myself thinking that this story could really have had some romance. Which is a strange thought because there IS a lot of romance in it. It’s just that this book’s many ‘romances’ always came down to sex.
That really is the best summary I could possibly hope for to describe this trilogy: Sex without romance. Soulless, passionless sex. A certain sort of pleasure, no doubt about it, but ultimately lacking lasting depth or humanity.
I pondered the exhaustive world-building, all the human types and the political factions, pieces which did ostensibly seem to fit in together. No small feat considering just how BIG the human commonwealth is. The interesting bionic & genetic manipulation technology which, while lacking a deep exploration of its effects on an individual’s psychology, painted a believable portrait of future humanity. I enjoyed the mysteries which served as the plot’s real engine: who was Aaron? who created the Void and for what purpose? what does it mean to go post-physical?
While the answers to these mysteries were lackluster, I still recognize their effectiveness in creating a thrilling plot. I do recognize the trilogy’s merits, as reflected by the 3 star ratings I gave the books.
Nevertheless, I just couldn’t get into it. In a way, this situation reminds me of being in a relationship and finding myself not loving my partner as much as I used to. Why? I ask myself. Is it the simple fading of novelty? Am I that shallow? Is that even shallow? Or perhaps something has changed. Me? Her? The universe? All of us?
Sometimes this why question can be answered easily. In my experience, that’s pretty rare. The conscious manifestation of love is just the tiny tip of a giant iceberg of thoughts, chemicals, and societal mechanisms. We see and only understand a minuscule amount of it. Which brings up interesting questions of free will, but that’s beyond what I want to talk about in this review.
I explored this question of what it was about this book that held me at a distance, and I eventually placed my blame on the book’s structure, in particular its pacing. Evolutionary Void itself is dramatically back-loaded, which is itself a reflection of the micro structure of the chapters. They tend to start out rather boring. They’re heavily loaded with exposition about, for example, Justine’s mundane explorations of Makkathran, a city we’ve seen a hundred times already. They then always end with something dramatic, sometimes with a little cliffhanger of a mystery. For example, Justine’s mundane explorations of Makkathran end with her looking at a statue of the Lady and going OMG I recognize her!
And of course this little spur of mystery reminds me of all the other mysteries I want to find out about and so I keep reading.
In some sense this is just how successful books are structured, but this one wasn’t balanced quite right. There were too many unnecessary scenes and the characters themselves didn’t have enough individual investment in the outcome of their storylines. The primary motivation of almost every character is: “Save the universe” (or in Edeard’s case “save the city.”) That’s just too large and abstract a motivation for me to really root for. I would draw a contrast – as I did in my review of the first book – with George RR Martin’s Game of Thrones. Those storylines are individually dramatic with their own arcs, and characters whose desires are character-centric. Arya wants revenge. Jon Snow loves a wildling woman. Cersei wants her children to be safe. And so on. Whereas in The Evolutionary Void, each individual storyline really only serves to contribute to the whole.
The combined result of this artificial structure and these plot-gear characters is a story whose imagination is undeniable but whose underlying emotional structure proved to be rather hollow. I find myself thinking that this story could really have had some romance. Which is a strange thought because there IS a lot of romance in it. It’s just that this book’s many ‘romances’ always came down to sex.
That really is the best summary I could possibly hope for to describe this trilogy: Sex without romance. Soulless, passionless sex. A certain sort of pleasure, no doubt about it, but ultimately lacking lasting depth or humanity.
June 29, 2014
All these four and five star reviews just goes to show that many people can easily be entertained by the most lackluster writing over thousands of words! While some episodes in the trilogy we're engaging and well-written, this book on its own and the Void Trilogy as a whole were poorly constructed and written. Unlikeable characters, written with such obvious contrivances, finally are seen to exist as purely mechanical for moving this story along. Hamilton is a more convincing writer when it comes to short stories and vignettes; this trilogy is unwieldy and, ultimately, boring. When the reader doesn't care about the characters or what happens and just wants to finish the book as a sort of challenge, that is a sad response to a writer's skill. Well, I won't be reading much more of Hamilton in the the future, after wasting a few weeks on his bland Void Trilogy.
November 3, 2023
The final book of Peter F. Hamilton's Void trilogy delivers an ending worthy of the entire Commonwealth series.
Including the first two books, Pandora's Star, and Judas Unchained, this is my favorite series ever. The vast and imaginative setting, memorable characters, intriguing story threads, and loving craftsmanship combined for a truly fantastic reading experience.
Due to an oddity in how Goodreads displays these books, I almost totally missed the two additional Commonwealth books! Needless to say, I'm ecstatic, and I'm reading them next. If you look at "The Commonwealth Saga," The Chronicle Of The Fallers is not mentioned. You have to search for "The Commonwealth Universe." I only really noticed them by chance as I was perusing Peter Hamilton's catalog.
I'm also very excited about the new Murderbot Diaries and Red Rising books, but I'll get to them after The Chronicle Of The Fallers.
6/5 for this book, and the series overall. - Highly recommended to all adult sci-fi and fantasy fans.
Including the first two books, Pandora's Star, and Judas Unchained, this is my favorite series ever. The vast and imaginative setting, memorable characters, intriguing story threads, and loving craftsmanship combined for a truly fantastic reading experience.
Due to an oddity in how Goodreads displays these books, I almost totally missed the two additional Commonwealth books! Needless to say, I'm ecstatic, and I'm reading them next. If you look at "The Commonwealth Saga," The Chronicle Of The Fallers is not mentioned. You have to search for "The Commonwealth Universe." I only really noticed them by chance as I was perusing Peter Hamilton's catalog.
I'm also very excited about the new Murderbot Diaries and Red Rising books, but I'll get to them after The Chronicle Of The Fallers.
6/5 for this book, and the series overall. - Highly recommended to all adult sci-fi and fantasy fans.
August 15, 2013
I couldn't hold myself back and read the whole thing in nearly a day. It was so satisfying to see everything fall in place. So many twists and overall great storytelling kept me glued to the book and I hardly could put it down.
Peter F. Hamilton is truly a master of the scfi genre and I absolutely love his writing and his ideas. His style is definitely not for everyone, most of the people I read reviews of gave up because the story builds up very slowly. But if you have enough stamina to get through these parts a truly epic story awaits you.
I'm so happy Peter F. Hamilton decided to return to this universe with yet another trilogy,which will explore Nigel Sheldon's fait,after his departure to another galaxy. The release is a long way away(he started writing it early 2013), so in the meantime I will explore more of his books, starting with the Night's Dawn Trilogy, which should even be better than the Commonwealth (?). He definitely rekindled my love for scifi!
Peter F. Hamilton is truly a master of the scfi genre and I absolutely love his writing and his ideas. His style is definitely not for everyone, most of the people I read reviews of gave up because the story builds up very slowly. But if you have enough stamina to get through these parts a truly epic story awaits you.
I'm so happy Peter F. Hamilton decided to return to this universe with yet another trilogy,which will explore Nigel Sheldon's fait,after his departure to another galaxy. The release is a long way away(he started writing it early 2013), so in the meantime I will explore more of his books, starting with the Night's Dawn Trilogy, which should even be better than the Commonwealth (?). He definitely rekindled my love for scifi!
October 11, 2011
I really don't see any way Peter F. Hamilton can top the Void Trilogy. This was an absolutely riveting series and I'm kind of sad it's over, and I'm not the kind of reader who gets into really huge, complicated series. I really liked how well Hamilton tied up all the plot lines. It was quite an achievement. In a way, it's refreshing to see something wrapped up so well in three volumes.
I didn't like John Lee's narration when I first heard him in Pandora's Star, but I think he's grown on me with the Void Trilogy.
I didn't like John Lee's narration when I first heard him in Pandora's Star, but I think he's grown on me with the Void Trilogy.
March 31, 2022
Mi s-a părut excelentă.
Traducerea mi s-a părut slabă, iritantă.
Ultima parte a trilogiei, „bătălia finală” (dacă-i pot spune așa) între cei ce doresc să pășească în paradisul promis de Gol și cei ce caută să oprească expansiunea acestuia și distrugerile pe care le produce trăgându-și energia din tot ceea ce-l înconjoară (planete, stele, galaxii).
Plin de culoare, de idei și acțiune, la fel ca toate scrierile lui Hamilton, cu specii extraterestre aduse în prim plan, cu intrigi complexe care-și găsesc rezolvarea. Totuși, ceva mi s-a părut că i-a lipsit acestui ultim volum al seriei. Parcă n-a mai avut suficient zvâc, n-a mai dus nebunia imaginativă la cote paroxistice, n-a adus suficient material care să umple scheletul poveștii. Din fericire, existau suficiente elemente din primele două volume astfel încât acesta să trăiască bine-mersi preponderent din rezolvarea lor și mai puțin din sângele proaspăt pompat. Per total, însă, merg cu trilogia ca bloc și o consider foarte reușită – în special pentru talentul cu care autorul reușește să îmbine o acțiune pur SF (chiar hard-SF pe alocuri) cu una 100% fantasy. Chapeau, maestre!
Traducerea mi s-a părut slabă, iritantă.
Ultima parte a trilogiei, „bătălia finală” (dacă-i pot spune așa) între cei ce doresc să pășească în paradisul promis de Gol și cei ce caută să oprească expansiunea acestuia și distrugerile pe care le produce trăgându-și energia din tot ceea ce-l înconjoară (planete, stele, galaxii).
Plin de culoare, de idei și acțiune, la fel ca toate scrierile lui Hamilton, cu specii extraterestre aduse în prim plan, cu intrigi complexe care-și găsesc rezolvarea. Totuși, ceva mi s-a părut că i-a lipsit acestui ultim volum al seriei. Parcă n-a mai avut suficient zvâc, n-a mai dus nebunia imaginativă la cote paroxistice, n-a adus suficient material care să umple scheletul poveștii. Din fericire, existau suficiente elemente din primele două volume astfel încât acesta să trăiască bine-mersi preponderent din rezolvarea lor și mai puțin din sângele proaspăt pompat. Per total, însă, merg cu trilogia ca bloc și o consider foarte reușită – în special pentru talentul cu care autorul reușește să îmbine o acțiune pur SF (chiar hard-SF pe alocuri) cu una 100% fantasy. Chapeau, maestre!
November 10, 2013
This book is the last of the Void trilogy by Peter Hamilton. The Living Dream movement is sending pilgrimage to the Void, in a fleet of twelve enormous spacecraft. They intend to enter the Void, and live on the planet Querencia. They learned about the planet from the dreamer, Inigo, who broadcast dreams about Edeard to the whole galaxy.
The problem is that if the Living Dream enters the Void, it will expand and destroy the galaxy. So, a few desperate allies are trying to find a way to prevent the pilgrimage from entering the Void.
While the book is exciting, there is just no end to the technology and the craziness. It's as if Hamilton has imagined a galaxy where there are no rules, no limits to the technology and near-fantasy elements. He throws in so many elements that it is very difficult--maybe impossible--to suspend one's disbelief. For example, if you die, you can get a re-life; you can live more than a thousand years. You can have your own personal spacecraft that can travel many times faster than light. You can have incredible weapons systems at your command--and you can have personal biononics that act as a personal shield and weapons system all wrapped in one. Communications among star systems are instantaneous. Worm holes can move people and entire worlds from one end of the galaxy to the other instantaneously. And--that's just if you are a human living in our galaxy. If you are an alien, you have other incredible abilities. And, if you live in the void, you might have far-sight, telekinesis, a "third hand", talk to a skylord, walk on water, and reset the flow of time so you can have a "re-do" on your life. It's just much too much. Where there are no limits, there is no belief. And there is way too much melodrama and too many "drama queens".
The problem is that if the Living Dream enters the Void, it will expand and destroy the galaxy. So, a few desperate allies are trying to find a way to prevent the pilgrimage from entering the Void.
While the book is exciting, there is just no end to the technology and the craziness. It's as if Hamilton has imagined a galaxy where there are no rules, no limits to the technology and near-fantasy elements. He throws in so many elements that it is very difficult--maybe impossible--to suspend one's disbelief. For example, if you die, you can get a re-life; you can live more than a thousand years. You can have your own personal spacecraft that can travel many times faster than light. You can have incredible weapons systems at your command--and you can have personal biononics that act as a personal shield and weapons system all wrapped in one. Communications among star systems are instantaneous. Worm holes can move people and entire worlds from one end of the galaxy to the other instantaneously. And--that's just if you are a human living in our galaxy. If you are an alien, you have other incredible abilities. And, if you live in the void, you might have far-sight, telekinesis, a "third hand", talk to a skylord, walk on water, and reset the flow of time so you can have a "re-do" on your life. It's just much too much. Where there are no limits, there is no belief. And there is way too much melodrama and too many "drama queens".
November 25, 2013
I am not going to review this one individually as i didn't write reviews for the other two. Needless to say, I am still a Hamilton fan. Somewhat, I must admit that Reynolds has moved above Hamilton in my mind for better stories.
It has taken me months to listen to this trilogy, there were times where i couldn't wait to listen to moe as I was completely engaged, then there was times where I was drifting off thinking about maybe taking the high street way home instead of the freeway and realising I just missed a big chunk of ....? Story I guess. This got bogged down a lot in places. Running two different genres in one story was interesting, but at times my brain didn't want to go back to the hard scifi bit, because I sometimes felt I wasn't sure what was actually going on. The second half of this book really ramped up the story and the excitement, a big convergence, an exciting build up and whoosh, out came the air and the ballon went flat. I was left with "oh, right, that it? Hmmmm, ok.....well that was ...somewhat .... disappointing".
Am I glad I read it? YES, will I read it again ? NO is it Hamiltons best work? NO, not really.
It has taken me months to listen to this trilogy, there were times where i couldn't wait to listen to moe as I was completely engaged, then there was times where I was drifting off thinking about maybe taking the high street way home instead of the freeway and realising I just missed a big chunk of ....? Story I guess. This got bogged down a lot in places. Running two different genres in one story was interesting, but at times my brain didn't want to go back to the hard scifi bit, because I sometimes felt I wasn't sure what was actually going on. The second half of this book really ramped up the story and the excitement, a big convergence, an exciting build up and whoosh, out came the air and the ballon went flat. I was left with "oh, right, that it? Hmmmm, ok.....well that was ...somewhat .... disappointing".
Am I glad I read it? YES, will I read it again ? NO is it Hamiltons best work? NO, not really.
July 8, 2017
The last book in void Trilogy started really well but it for me at least it focused at least too much on Edeards's story. Already we had got a huge chunk of his story in the last book, and whatever his story was in this book it came repeating same pattern where in Edeards' finds himself in some kind of soup and as he has got an reset switch with him, he does same thing again and again with different circumstances.
Hamilton has really milked the Makkathran story to the last drop, and I just could not bear to read about the city again.
Also all the previous characters in the Common wealth saga are resurrected, and although this does add spice to the story, but I find that this shows us weakness with characters in Void Trilogy that Hamilton has had to bring the previous characters.
I literally made it to a point where in only last 50 pages were left but after that I just could not find the motivation or care for the fate of characters in the book.
I give this book 2/5 stars and extra 1 star is for the fact that the previous two books in the series were at least good.
Hamilton has really milked the Makkathran story to the last drop, and I just could not bear to read about the city again.
Also all the previous characters in the Common wealth saga are resurrected, and although this does add spice to the story, but I find that this shows us weakness with characters in Void Trilogy that Hamilton has had to bring the previous characters.
I literally made it to a point where in only last 50 pages were left but after that I just could not find the motivation or care for the fate of characters in the book.
I give this book 2/5 stars and extra 1 star is for the fact that the previous two books in the series were at least good.
June 18, 2011
4.5 stars
The Void Trilogy is an amazing effort made by one of the master’s of science fiction. While I do think that readers may appreciate this series more if they read Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained first, it’s not absolutely necessary (as I have proved). It is impossible not to enjoy a series this sprawling, complex, tightly woven and incredibly written. Though some readers might not feel that this is Hamilton’s best effort, it is still worth checking out as few authors can master science fiction quite as capably as he can.
Read my full review of the Void Trilogy here:
http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/201...
The Void Trilogy is an amazing effort made by one of the master’s of science fiction. While I do think that readers may appreciate this series more if they read Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained first, it’s not absolutely necessary (as I have proved). It is impossible not to enjoy a series this sprawling, complex, tightly woven and incredibly written. Though some readers might not feel that this is Hamilton’s best effort, it is still worth checking out as few authors can master science fiction quite as capably as he can.
Read my full review of the Void Trilogy here:
http://bookwormblues.blogspot.com/201...
February 19, 2018
I was gearing up for this book to be 5 stars. As it went on, though, it became a solid 4 star book with leanings towards 3.5. The entire galaxy is at stake in this series but it never feels scary. Our heroes start down a path to save everyone, and they never fuck up. Somehow, they keep doing exactly the right thing. Everyone says exactly what they should when they need to sway someone to their side. I mean, one of the main characters was a straight up program, put there in case of doomsday - he had every contingency in his head already. There were no questions, everything went exactly or almost exactly as planned. I could've done without Gore ex machina. Not to mention, of course, that it is hard to reach a True Death in this universe. Shit goes wrong and your body will be relifed, NBD. That made it hard to truly care.
It made for a pat ending that belied the epic scale of the story.
I enjoyed the cast of characters that we know and love from the first two books about the Prime war. Especially Paula Myo - of all the characters, she actually seemed to evolve, and I became quite fond of her. I surprised myself at becoming emotional a few times, such as the scene where . I loved finally finding out what the hell the Raiel have been up to this whole time, too. High Angel has a purpose, and we know what it is! YES!
The first thing I did, though, was go check what other books are set in the Commonwealth Universe. I really like the place. And lo, there are more! Hurray!
It made for a pat ending that belied the epic scale of the story.
I enjoyed the cast of characters that we know and love from the first two books about the Prime war. Especially Paula Myo - of all the characters, she actually seemed to evolve, and I became quite fond of her. I surprised myself at becoming emotional a few times, such as the scene where . I loved finally finding out what the hell the Raiel have been up to this whole time, too. High Angel has a purpose, and we know what it is! YES!
The first thing I did, though, was go check what other books are set in the Commonwealth Universe. I really like the place. And lo, there are more! Hurray!
November 20, 2022
1.grāmata likās kā viens liels ievads, 2. grāmata kā kāpinajums, 3.grāmata visā garumā kā viens liels fināls. Bija forši, bet ja godīgi nesapratu kā īsti beidzās, nesapratu kā to galveno slikto vinnēja, vienā brīdī vienkarši viss bija beidzies labi un laimīgi, sliktais pēkšņi vairs nav ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
September 13, 2020
A very satisfying end to an epic 2000 page trilogy. Proper review to come later.
November 26, 2012
Okay, I’m not sure if I wasn’t paying attention to book two, but The Evolutionary Void definitely jumped the tracks a bit and careened off into the nebulous science fantasy genre. Not that there’s anything fundamentally wrong with science fantasy, but the effect is sort of like going to a Star Trek convention, passing out on the last day and waking up to the cosplay contest of an anime con. Not unpleasant per se, but definitely disconcerting.
Where book two, The Temporal Void, was mostly about the events within the Void, and by extension Edeard’s story, book three takes us back outside to resolve the ongoing problem of the Living Dream pilgrimage. The majority of the narrative is spent picking up plot threads from the first book that were left withering to make room for the copious number of dream chapters in book two. I should note that I started Evolutionary Void almost two full years after reading the first two books, and spent a substantial amount of time trying to remember who the hell everyone was with mixed success. Most of the protagonist groups have finally aligned against the forces of the Living Dream or the Accelerator Faction, but haven’t necessarily teamed up. All that aligning means less in the way of Ludlum-esque chases and more pseudo-scientific technobabble along with a fair portion of posthumanist philosophy.
But the end of the book is kind of a foregone conclusion. Hamilton’s transparent anti-utopia stance is never questioned, even by the most strident adherents of the Living Dream, who convert in a mostly symbolic testament to the reasonability of ‘people.’ With the ultimate conclusion somewhat obvious, the only thing left is how the cast will manage to pull it off. The final couple of scenes end up resembling the grand finale of a Broadway musical, as the entire cast is gathered up for a last stand™ and Hamilton turns the special effects dial up to eleven.
My real problem with Evolutionary Void was the introduction of the space elves. Well, not just the space elves, but the complete silliness that accompanied them. I guess the Silfin have been lurking in Hamilton’s Commonwealth setting for a while, but their appearance in Evolutionary is just stupid. They are a supersociety that utilizes dimensional manipulation technology so advanced it appears to be magical, even to the hyper-evolved human Higher civilizations. But in spite of their superior status, they are just as incapable of solving the problem of the Void as anyone else. The whole thing smacks of fantasy quests and the stupidly powerful people who orchestrate them, like they’re just trying to prove a point or something. This kind of storytelling has no place in proper science fiction. It’s just sloppy. And yes, that sentence is going to get me in trouble.
Between the poor handling of the second book, and the fanciful third, there isn’t a lot left to recommend the Void Trilogy. There is the nostalgia aspect of seeing all your favorite characters from the first Commonwealth Saga show up again, although that does raise some questions about individual longevity, not only as a body, but as a discrete psychology over more than a millennium of intervening time. The conclusion is predictable and pedantic, but the final scenes and the wrap-up are handled pretty well. And it isn’t like the books are terribly written. The problems exist almost entirely at the intellectual level and don’t really impinge on the real action or moment to moment storyline. There are still too many characters for the narrative to flow easily, but no one feels too extraneous.
What I’m trying to get at is that the books aren’t actually bad. If all you’re looking for is an enjoyable space opera on a grand scale, the Void Trilogy will definitely scratch that itch. Just be prepared to gloss over some of the structural problems.
Where book two, The Temporal Void, was mostly about the events within the Void, and by extension Edeard’s story, book three takes us back outside to resolve the ongoing problem of the Living Dream pilgrimage. The majority of the narrative is spent picking up plot threads from the first book that were left withering to make room for the copious number of dream chapters in book two. I should note that I started Evolutionary Void almost two full years after reading the first two books, and spent a substantial amount of time trying to remember who the hell everyone was with mixed success. Most of the protagonist groups have finally aligned against the forces of the Living Dream or the Accelerator Faction, but haven’t necessarily teamed up. All that aligning means less in the way of Ludlum-esque chases and more pseudo-scientific technobabble along with a fair portion of posthumanist philosophy.
But the end of the book is kind of a foregone conclusion. Hamilton’s transparent anti-utopia stance is never questioned, even by the most strident adherents of the Living Dream, who convert in a mostly symbolic testament to the reasonability of ‘people.’ With the ultimate conclusion somewhat obvious, the only thing left is how the cast will manage to pull it off. The final couple of scenes end up resembling the grand finale of a Broadway musical, as the entire cast is gathered up for a last stand™ and Hamilton turns the special effects dial up to eleven.
My real problem with Evolutionary Void was the introduction of the space elves. Well, not just the space elves, but the complete silliness that accompanied them. I guess the Silfin have been lurking in Hamilton’s Commonwealth setting for a while, but their appearance in Evolutionary is just stupid. They are a supersociety that utilizes dimensional manipulation technology so advanced it appears to be magical, even to the hyper-evolved human Higher civilizations. But in spite of their superior status, they are just as incapable of solving the problem of the Void as anyone else. The whole thing smacks of fantasy quests and the stupidly powerful people who orchestrate them, like they’re just trying to prove a point or something. This kind of storytelling has no place in proper science fiction. It’s just sloppy. And yes, that sentence is going to get me in trouble.
Between the poor handling of the second book, and the fanciful third, there isn’t a lot left to recommend the Void Trilogy. There is the nostalgia aspect of seeing all your favorite characters from the first Commonwealth Saga show up again, although that does raise some questions about individual longevity, not only as a body, but as a discrete psychology over more than a millennium of intervening time. The conclusion is predictable and pedantic, but the final scenes and the wrap-up are handled pretty well. And it isn’t like the books are terribly written. The problems exist almost entirely at the intellectual level and don’t really impinge on the real action or moment to moment storyline. There are still too many characters for the narrative to flow easily, but no one feels too extraneous.
What I’m trying to get at is that the books aren’t actually bad. If all you’re looking for is an enjoyable space opera on a grand scale, the Void Trilogy will definitely scratch that itch. Just be prepared to gloss over some of the structural problems.
July 23, 2014
I finished The Evolutionary Void by PF Hamilton, the highly awaited finale to the Void trilogy and it is *the* sf novel of the year and the best PF Hamilton at least since The Reality Dysfunction - which I still consider the best PFH for its unabashed sense of wonder and larger than life characters - if not ever.
Everything comes together into the grand finale - and here there should be no more complaints about weak endings, deus-ex-machina and all - and there are enough twists and turns to make one realize what a master storyteller PFH is to get all that done and I do not want to list from the stuff you will find out even in the vaguest detail just not to spoil some of the extraordinary revelations there
Most action is Commonwealth oriented though Edeard is still important and we see how he uses the ultimate Void capability revealed in Void 2 to achieve "fulfillment" and why indeed billions want to go there to be "fulfilled" in a relative primitive non-tech society despite virtual immortality and all the goodies of the Commonwealth.
As a small spoiler we meet almost everyone of importance from the Commonwealth saga
I really, really do not want to spoil more since this is a book to savor and explore and it raises the Void trilogy and the overall Commonwealth Saga one notch above - I need some time to settle and while I still think Night's dawn would remain my top all time finished sf series because of the characters which are just awesome there, this one will probably become #2 and is just mind-blowing sf at its best and a prime example of why sf is alive and kicking
Again it's early but The Evolutionary Void just catapulted into my top sf of the year by far and it will be a top 3 overall novel, possibly overall #1 too.
While I have read the earlier volumes at least 2 times each, I have not reread them in almost a year and a half, but I remembered easily the most important stuff and I had no problem getting immersed in this one
Everything comes together into the grand finale - and here there should be no more complaints about weak endings, deus-ex-machina and all - and there are enough twists and turns to make one realize what a master storyteller PFH is to get all that done and I do not want to list from the stuff you will find out even in the vaguest detail just not to spoil some of the extraordinary revelations there
Most action is Commonwealth oriented though Edeard is still important and we see how he uses the ultimate Void capability revealed in Void 2 to achieve "fulfillment" and why indeed billions want to go there to be "fulfilled" in a relative primitive non-tech society despite virtual immortality and all the goodies of the Commonwealth.
As a small spoiler we meet almost everyone of importance from the Commonwealth saga
I really, really do not want to spoil more since this is a book to savor and explore and it raises the Void trilogy and the overall Commonwealth Saga one notch above - I need some time to settle and while I still think Night's dawn would remain my top all time finished sf series because of the characters which are just awesome there, this one will probably become #2 and is just mind-blowing sf at its best and a prime example of why sf is alive and kicking
Again it's early but The Evolutionary Void just catapulted into my top sf of the year by far and it will be a top 3 overall novel, possibly overall #1 too.
While I have read the earlier volumes at least 2 times each, I have not reread them in almost a year and a half, but I remembered easily the most important stuff and I had no problem getting immersed in this one
February 3, 2015
Executive Summary: A good, but not great conclusion to a good, but not great trilogy. 3.5 Stars.
Audio book: I really like John Lee, especially for these Commonwealth books. Another excellent job here.
Full Review
I think this book wraps things up pretty nicely, but I didn't quite enjoy this one as much as The Temporal Void. That book heavily revolved around Edeard's story, which is really more fantasy than sci-fi and I found very enjoyable. But I guess I grew tired of it, because those parts seemed to drag a lot more in this one.
It could be that once Mr. Hamilton tied all the stories together in the last book, I just wanted things to move ahead to a conclusion, and it felt like it was taking too long to get there.
There is a bit more convergence in this one, and characters like the delivery man, who felt completely extraneous in the first two books finally mattered. Sort of.
Most of the other characters are great, and especially like the ones from the original series. I thought Gore Burnelli was especially great. His snark is excellent. And of course Paula is one of my favorites as well.
Overall I enjoyed this book, though I didn't enjoy this series nearly as much as I did the Commonwealth Duology. That said, I'm looking forward to checking out his newest Commonwealth book in the near future.
Audio book: I really like John Lee, especially for these Commonwealth books. Another excellent job here.
Full Review
I think this book wraps things up pretty nicely, but I didn't quite enjoy this one as much as The Temporal Void. That book heavily revolved around Edeard's story, which is really more fantasy than sci-fi and I found very enjoyable. But I guess I grew tired of it, because those parts seemed to drag a lot more in this one.
It could be that once Mr. Hamilton tied all the stories together in the last book, I just wanted things to move ahead to a conclusion, and it felt like it was taking too long to get there.
There is a bit more convergence in this one, and characters like the delivery man, who felt completely extraneous in the first two books finally mattered. Sort of.
Most of the other characters are great, and especially like the ones from the original series. I thought Gore Burnelli was especially great. His snark is excellent. And of course Paula is one of my favorites as well.
Overall I enjoyed this book, though I didn't enjoy this series nearly as much as I did the Commonwealth Duology. That said, I'm looking forward to checking out his newest Commonwealth book in the near future.
September 27, 2011
A pretty good end to the Void trilogy, wrapping up both Edeard's personal journey within the Void and the widespread shenanigans going on outside. Alas, the book does seem to stall a little compared to its two antecedents. There are quite a lot of characters just waiting in the wings doing a great deal of nothing during the book; a fact highlighted when the characters we do follow say "This task I'm doing will take three days," and then on the next line they're done, merely flagging the fact that all the character's we've not heard from recently must've been sitting around for the previous three days scratching themselves.
The trilogy's ending (by which I mean the end of this book, not just the book itself) isn't perhaps the rousing finish such a vast set of tomes deserves, rather the human antagonist and protagonists meet up in the centre of the book's real threat—the Void—and then have a quick philosophical chinwag to sort everything out. But then the Night's Dawn trilogy, for all its awesomeness, also suffered with its lacklustre finish. That being said, it's not the destination but the journey that matters, and despite its flaws this closing book of the trilogy does deliver a fun old trip.
The trilogy's ending (by which I mean the end of this book, not just the book itself) isn't perhaps the rousing finish such a vast set of tomes deserves, rather the human antagonist and protagonists meet up in the centre of the book's real threat—the Void—and then have a quick philosophical chinwag to sort everything out. But then the Night's Dawn trilogy, for all its awesomeness, also suffered with its lacklustre finish. That being said, it's not the destination but the journey that matters, and despite its flaws this closing book of the trilogy does deliver a fun old trip.
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