The Abyss Beyond Dreams

I'm a big fan of the Void Trilogy. This is the final book in the series. I didn't find it quite as compelling as the first 2, but it's still a good story. John Lee is, at least to me, an excellent narrator, with a really good voice. It isn't annoying, nor does it put me to sleep.

This is the first book in Peter F. Hamilton’s new Chronicle of the Fallers series. It is set in the same commonwealth universe as a few other books written by him. The main focus of the book is about humanity learning more about the void and how to defeat it before it consumes our universe.As usual Peter Hamilton is a master at creating a detailed and rich universe. This is not small book by any means with the hardback coming in a massive 674 pages. There is a nice amount background about this new planet in the void and the people that inhabit it. All this extra detail is great to have, making the world much easier to visualize. I wont add spoilers in this review. This book expands on Peter Hamilton Void universe with some old characters coming back such as Nigel Sheldon, there are also quite a few new ones added. This book is a nice blend if science and fantasy, with things like the neural implants and the telekinesis.The only real dislike was that I am not too keen on how the different perceptions were laid out in the book. It gives you one characters story for part of the book. It then jumps back in time to give someone a different characters story of the same time. Then towards the end of the book it all comes together with both perspectives becoming one.This is a really good first book in Peter F. Hamilton’s new Chronicle of the Fallers series. It is definitely worth the money to buy this book.I was a little worried when I picked this up having not read books from the same universe for several years now, as too whether I would get lost or confused. I needn’t had worried as returning characters are introduced and enough background given for the memories to come back from other books in the series.The flow of the two main viewpoints is done in a little odd way. I think it would have been better to mix them together rather than the time hop that happens in this book.There are a couple of plot twists towards the end of the book, which I will not spoil here. One of which is quite a shock.It is going to be interesting as to where Mr. Hamilton goes for the next book in the series. With all the base work done in this book I expect the next one to be a very good one. I will be pre-ordering the next book in the series once it becomes available.I would rate this book a 9 out of 10. Close to perfect with one or two niggles.

Great book, but the print quality is abysmal. The print is too tight and small, and the pages are cramped and very hard to read.

Fantastic storyline and many nods to the universe this is set in (a few in-jokes for the fans of Peter F. Hamilton).

I love all of Peter F. Hamilton's books. The way he writes really draws you in to the story. The chronicles of the Commonwealth have been a series of exceptionally well-written books, describing in a humourous, but exceptionally mature way in which the human race accidentally stumbles into the future due to the genius of two social misfits.This book continues the story of one of those misfits, the wonderful Nigel Sheldon (The Steve Jobs to Ozzie Isaac's Steve Wozniak), as Nigel attempts to confront a slightly-less-than-believable foe in the form of a giant spherical impenetrable void. However, despite attempting to defeat the Void, Nigel finds that the things inside the Void are far more dangerous - and incredibly useful at the same time.Needless to say, Hamilton continues in his usual vein of incredibly intelligent writing, astute inclusion of wonderful pseudo-science, and heaps of humour. The majority of the book doesn't focus on the Star-trekk future-tech of many his other books, but (while those parts ARE there), the largest part is devoted to an artificially-stunted world that's been forced to adopt alternatives to technology. I gotta say though, that the handling of the 'layers' and 'segments' of the Void was written superbly, and it allows you, the reader, to answer some of the more difficult questions yourself. I can't wait for the second book in the series to come out. An awesome read, well recommended.