AndreasB.Net

Peter F. Hamilton has a unique gift in creating space empires and weaving multithreaded stories.

The Dreaming Void is no different. Set 1500 years after the events of the Commonwealth Saga (The Starflier and Judas Unchained), the Commonwealth has expanded and been divided. While the inner phase 1 and phase 2 planets which we know so well from the Commonwealth Saga has begin their evolution towards post-physical existance. Phase 3 through 5 planets are now known as the External Worlds of the Greater Commonwealth.

Many humans have left their bodies behind, and uploaded their entire conciousness into ANA, in many ways the successor to the AI known as the SI, allowing the human mind to roam more freely, but still bound to the near physicality of the ANA itself. The inner planets of the Commonwealth is now what is known as Higher Culture planets, where capitalism itself has been abolished, and the humans take more responsibility for everything, while readying themselves to upload into ANA.

The External Worlds are not yet ready to upload, and wish to carry on their physical lives.

However, the Commonwealth has found something known as the Void at the center of the Galaxy. Slowly devouring the galaxy like a black hole, it is something more. There are people living behind it, both human and alien. A cult known as the Living Dream believe Utopia to be found in there. Other aliens, including the Raiel, believe the Void to be the end of the galaxy.

When the Living Dream wants to launch a pilgrimage into the Void, forces are set in motion greater than the pilgrims may imagine. Both alien and ANA factions oppose them, and some ANA factions support them while others again remain neutral.

A great read worth reading. I am looking forward to the next installment of this trilogy.

This entry was posted on Friday, August 10th, 2007 at 09:53 and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.