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The Dreaming Void
The Dreaming Void
The Dreaming Void
Audiobook22 hours

The Dreaming Void

Written by Peter F. Hamilton

Narrated by John Lee

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

()

About this audiobook

AD 3580. The Intersolar Commonwealth has spread through the galaxy to over a thousand star systems. It is a culture of rich diversity with a place for everyone. A powerful navy protects it from any hostile species that may lurk among the stars. For Commonwealth citizens, even death has been overcome.

At the center of the galaxy is the Void, a strange, artificial universe created by aliens billions of years ago, shrouded by an event horizon more deadly than any natural black hole. In order to function, it is gradually consuming the mass of the galaxy. Watched over by its ancient enemies, the Raiel, the Void's expansion is barely contained.

Inigo dreams of the sweet life within the Void and shares his visions with billions of avid believers. When he mysteriously disappears, Inigo's followers decide to embark on a pilgrimage into the Void to live the life of their messiah's dreams-a pilgrimage that the Raiel claim will trigger a catastrophic expansion of the Void.

Aaron is a man whose only memory is his own name. He doesn't know who he used to be or what he is. All he does know is that his job is to find the missing messiah and stop the pilgrimage. He's not sure how to do that, but whoever he works for has provided some pretty formidable weaponry that ought to help.

Meanwhile, inside the Void, a youth called Edeard is coming to terms with his unusually strong telepathic powers. A junior constable in Makkathran, he starts to challenge the corruption and decay that have poisoned the city. He is determined that his fellow citizens should know hope again. What Edeard doesn't realize is just how far his message of hope is reaching.
LanguageEnglish
Release dateJun 10, 2008
ISBN9781400177271
The Dreaming Void
Author

Peter F. Hamilton

Peter F. Hamilton was born in Rutland in 1960 and still lives nearby. He began writing in 1987, and sold his first short story to Fear magazine in 1988. He has written many bestselling novels, including the Greg Mandel series, the Night's Dawn trilogy, the Commonwealth Saga, the Void trilogy, short-story collections and several standalone novels including Fallen Dragon and Great North Road.

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Reviews for The Dreaming Void

Rating: 4.451612903225806 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    For any science fiction fan, this should be a favorite. Hamilton returns to his Commonwealth Universe, which is a very good thing! It is many years after the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained (ie The Starflyer War) and which life in the galaxy has pretty much recovered and settled down, that doesn't mean there isn't conflict. The Dreamer Cult wants humanity to embark on a great pilgrimage into the Void - the great nothingness at the center of the galaxy. Aliens have probed this nothingness for centuries but cannot make sense out of it, but somehow humans have colonized one planet. Unfortunately any incursion into the Void is likely to cause it to swallow up more of the galaxy! The story switches between several human and post-human factions and those living in the Void. This is quality science fiction and a great story. While this is long, its worth it, Hamilton does a great job with his characters and setting.

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Interesting initial book. It had been a few years since I read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained so some of the characters and events that were referred to in TDV were confusing to me. However once getting into it, this book is a good start to what I hope is an entertaining trilogy. Reading someone's opinion on what advanced high-tech looks like is always an interesting exercise. Hamilton does it better than almost anyone.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Wow. I see some other reviewers are harsh. This is a strong sci-fi/alternative future/fantasy novel. If you have read any of Hamilton's works before, you will find this one has exactly the same style, tone and pacing as his other works... if you didn't like his style, tone or pacing in other books he has written, you won't like this one either.For those of you who haven't read Hamilton before - his books are THICK. The science is relatively detailed (but not hard-core), the plot is divided into 'threads' that start off completely unconnected but tie together at the end, and there are a LOT of characters to keep track of. Sometimes this disconnected thread approach might cause you to get lost... and sometimes there is just a bit too much time spent on side-stories (in this case: the alternative sexual/relationship possibilities of the future). But these side stories do fill out the space-opera requirements, and give the reader a fuller sense of the world/reality being built.I actually quite liked the 'fantasy' component of the novel. I thought it was, in many ways, more interesting than the 'sci-fi' part since it was a single storyline, not the multi thread line of the 'real' world story. Again, though, all these threads do come together in the end, but you have to get through probably more than half of the book before you can see the potential connections.I will read the rest of the series, and probably any other books Hamilton comes out with as well. His stories are strong, his characters distinct, and the science/potential is very believable. The only thing that would make his books a bit more enjoyable would be the cutting back of about 100 pages of side-story filler - this would increase the pacing a bit, and I don't think we would miss out on much if we didn't get to hear about what people wear in Hamilton's worlds.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed this book.

    WATERWALKER! WATERWALKER!

    I find like the other commonwealth saga books, he's a little wordy at times, but overall a great story. I can't wait to read the rest of the books.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Trashy but mostly enjoyable space opera. I tried this as a second helping after the "Night Dawn" series, which I also enjoyed and loathed at the same time. The book does well when it is moving through the plot and the characters and situations are connecting, interacting, and working out complications. Where it fails is in the digressions related to sexual relations. While it is not entirely inappopriate to attempt to deal with how sex might look like in a future like this one, the way it is dealt with in the book seems less a look at future possibles and more like an attempt to sell a few more copies to the 14-18 year old crowd. Fortunately, or unfortunately, this author does well with cliff hanger endings. As with the previous series, this ends heading off a very large cliff. I haven't decided yet whether I care enough to slog through the next one or two books.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a big sweeping epic scifi! There’s a lot going on in this story. Set in the far, far future, there’s an intersolar commonwealth with all sorts of politics. At the center of the galaxy, is the Void, which is supposedly this artificial universe created by a technologically advanced civilization eons ago. There’s lots of theories about it and no real answers. Some folks want to take a vast armada of settlers into the void and others believe that will cause it to swell and swallow the galaxy. Meanwhile, we have characters just living their lives like country boy Edeard.Edeard features strongly in this book. He and his folks live a relatively quiet life but they have this third hand. It’s a type of psychic energy that allows them to move things about with the force of their minds. Some people have stronger third hands than others. Also, some of these folks can manipulate the minds, and perhaps genes, of animals. In fact, some of them have gotten so good at gene manipulation over the generations, that they now trade docile working animals with neighboring cities for other goods.The story has so many different societies. There’s the ANA (Advanced Neural Activity) which rules the Central Worlds. It’s very high tech. Basically, people have opted to have their minds downloaded into a virtual reality, ANA, and this conglomeration of minds rules. Yet they retain their individuality and can be uploaded into a physical body, should they choose to do so.Amarinta, an ex-waitress who comes into a small inheritance, decides to refurbish her apartment, and perhaps a whole group of apartments in the hopes of selling them off. She repeatedly comes into contact with the same man as she buys supplies. Sparks fly but she’s a little confused. And rightly so! This man has a shared consciousness among many, many bodies. This is yet another group, another way of living, that I found interesting. Amarinta is involved in some lovely, hot sex scenes throughout the book. Eventually, she becomes a pivotal character for the plot.So we have this big sweeping back drop, all these interesting characters, various societies, religions, and politics, and the big looming mystery of the Void. All that is very well done and very entertaining. However, I do have this one criticism. The ladies. Yep. All of the ladies, with the exception of an elderly woman involved in the military who arrives at the end of the book, are described as bomb shells. They are all beautiful and that is the first (and sometimes the only) thing we learn about them. Sigh…. In fact, it takes quite some time before we get a plot-integral female character. Sometimes, the author tells us how awesome a female character is at her job, but then only shows her flirting and being sexy. That was such a disappointment.Even with that criticism, it’s still a pretty darn good book. And I am invested now in many of the characters and I really want to know what is up with that Void. So, I will be continuing on with the series.Narration: Toby Longworth was an excellent narrator for this book. It has such a large cast of characters and he did a really good job of keeping them distinct. His female voices were believable. I especially liked his voice for Edeard because he has so many emotions.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I can stop writing now, Mr. Hamilton has created one of the most amazing worlds ever. Hamilton hits it out of the park with this entry. He's created an enormous galaxy-wide civilization and manages to show us about every aspect of his creation through multiple viewpoints. His characters are multifaceted and interesting. The story is rich and the world-building is simply amazing. It's long, but stops at an awkward point in the trilogy. That was my only gripe. It was like he actually wrote one enormously long novel and was forced to break it up into three parts because it was so long. I can't wait to start the next book, though.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great tale in the future. Science fiction as a grand story ... and part of a larger story as well. Riviting tale in 600 + pages!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    The Dreaming Void takes us back to the Intersolar Commonwealth from Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Well over a millennium has passed, and much is different. The monocultural Commonwealth we knew is no more, it has shattered into a myriad of worlds, many of which are only loosely affiliated with each other. On one of these worlds, a movement known as Living Dream is planning a pilgrimage to the mysterious Void, an artificial universe at the centre of the galaxy, which is slowly eating the surrounding stars. Living Dream believes the Void contains paradise, most others believe touching it is certain death. What's worse, the pilgrimage might set of a massive expansion phase, devouring the whole galaxy. It took me a chapter or so to get into this story. Hamilton mercilessly throws us into the middle of his world, and often takes a long, long time to explain exactly what all these acronyms and technologies and organisations actually are. As a result I felt quite disorientated for a while. Once I started getting my bearings however, there was nothing but enjoyment ahead. Hamilton is a superb writer who crafts an intriguing world filled with interesting characters, whose stories run parallel, interweaving and complimenting each other. We even get to see some of the characters from Pandora's Star again, with a few glaring omissions. Ozzie is missed, but he is at least mentioned, unlike the SI, which is alluded to only in a single sentence in the appendix. Apparently, we will get to see more of it in the sequel though. Interspersed with the main storyline we are also told the story from Inigo's dreams. I enjoyed this story almost more than the main storyline, it was more reminiscent of a classic fantasy story than the science fiction which is so prevalent in the rest. This story is apparently also getting more focus in the sequel, a fact which has me salivating in anticipation. The only thing that really bothers me is the ending. Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained didn't feel like two books in a series, it felt like one book split into two volumes. This might be Hamilton's M.O., as The Dreaming Void ends on a cliffhanger as well. Nothing is really resolved. I strongly suspect that when the entire trilogy is out, it can be read as one work to great enjoyment, but reaching the end of the first third leaves mostly frustration. There is a pay-off of sorts for one of the books main plot lines, but it barely has time to register, and certainly no time to explain itself, before something explodes and the book ends. Despite this, the book is very enjoyable. Hamilton has conjured up not just one, but two deep and interesting worlds to immerse yourself in, filled with people you want to see more of. Frequent references are made to the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, but I think you could still follow the story fine without having read them. It is a book I enjoyed immensely, and I am greatly looking forward to the sequels.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    PFH writes with his usual cunning style; From cover to cover there are numerous independant plot threads that are tied together with a deft hand, some of which I'd correctly anticipated, and other subtle twists meaning that I hadn't. All of which supported with well described and carefully considered universe, as you'd expect from this author. Ultimately they make The Dreaming Void an installment of an epic Space Opera.If I had only one regret, it's that I'd re-read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained before picking up this weighty tome. I'm going to go back and re-read them before I start on the next in the sequence (The Temporal Void) simply to help with previous events. I don't believe this really should be tagged as Book 1 of "The Void Trilogy", as it's truly a continuation of a story from Judas Unchained. Regardless of that, thoroughly enjoyable, suitably complex, adult Sci Fi of the finest calibre! More Please PFH
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Part 3 of the Commonwealth saga (Pandora's Star and Juda's Unchanged). There are several chapters set in a sort of fairy tale medieval setting. Totally boring. I had the urge to skim if not for the fact that I thought there might be relevant plot points.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Mixed feelings both about the text and the narration. This audiobook moved from John Lee, who I originally hated in Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, to Toby Longworth. However, Toby is better at voice characterizations, but his voices, specially for a few of my favourite characters like Paula Myo and Oscar were not to my taste. I'd already had them clear in mind from Lee's voices. Myo's voice was far too nasal.The actual book was very long, didn't really enjoy the dreaming sections, where Edard, who lives in a mini-universe at the centre of our Milkyway, becomes the waterwalker (as he's called throughout the book). The court scene, where a group of thieves are put on trial, was stupid. If they are all psychic why didn't they either force the thieves on trial to open their minds and share their memories, or have a group of more powerful psychic memory readers read their minds. Hamilton gives people all these amazing abilities, but limits their farsight, a remote viewing ability, to 70 yards, um, unobstructed I can see further then that with my eyes.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Excellent writing by Hamilton as always with the various plot lines all enjoyable in their own right. The search for Inigo by Aaron, the relationship and business growth of Araminta and the Bovey's and Edeard the constable. This was such a long book that it took me a good while to read it, so I feel like the connection between the various plot lines didn't come together real well for me. There was enough to work with without continuing to introduce characters continually throughout the book -- which added to the difficulty in keeping things straight when you pick up and put down a 650 page book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The 36th century is a good time to be a human. No, really. Wormhole technology and rapid technological advancement has made humans a pretty big player on the galactic stage. Sure, there are post-singularity beings floating about here and there, and a few species which do things that we humans don't understand, and some pugnacious species as well. Still, its been 1200 years since a threat capable of taking on the whole of the human race has emerged. But when a retired and missing dream-fueled religious prophet's followers decide to conduct a pilgrimage toward the mysterious center of the galaxy, where one of those powerful alien races have been keeping a vigil over a threat capable of devouring everything and everyone, the quiet peace that the human race is bound to end. Just what IS the Void in the center of the Galaxy, and what do the dreams suggesting that it is inhabited--by humans, mean? And what does it mean that an uncrowned successor to that prophet is now broadcasting more dreams of that strange realm? And with new fractures and fissures in the increasing divergent branches of humanity, how can the Commonwealth possibly coordinate a response this time?It looks like Interesting Times are in store for the Human Race once more...The Dreaming Void is set 1200 years after Peter F Hamilton's Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained. Set in a universe where anti-aging technology, combined with wormhole technology has led to a Commonwealth of worlds and cultures, Hamilton has extrapolated the already amazing universe depicted in those previous two novels and brought new and extended concepts, ideas and characters to his rich tapestry.Even better, Hamilton has improved as a writer. Readers who have read the Pandora's Star duology, or the Reality Dysfunction trilogy knows that he writes sprawling, brawling large scale novels with lots of characters and word counts that push 1000 pages. The Dreaming Void clocked in just under 600 pages. We meet plenty of new characters, as well as some old favorites who have survived all this time. Even in a conservative society such as the Commonwealth does not allow people to remain static over such time scales and Hamilton's increasingly deft characterization makes the evolution of the characters over that time believable.It's Edeard's story, though, that is the real innovation in Hamilton's writing. An intensely personal story that could be considered magic (or at least psionics) in a quasi-medieval setting inside the Void, his story is intriguing and interesting--and very unlike anything I have read in a Hamilton novel before. I was pleasantly surprised.That said, the standard virtues of a Hamilton novel are in full force here. Aside from Edeard's story, back in the main universe readers will encounter amazing technology, strange aliens, a variety of characters and settings, a wide scale view of an entire culture as the narrative proceeds apace. Hamilton writes some of the best Space Opera in the business and those talents are in full force in this book.Hamilton has significantly and visibly improved as a writer with this series, and I look forward to picking up and reading the Temporal Void, the next book in this trilogy.A final note: Do you need to have read Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained to read this book? I think, actually, that they provide value-added goodness but are not strictly necessary. I think a practiced SF reader can start here and be perfectly happy and follow what is happening and why with minimum problems.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Peter F. Hamilton is an acquired taste. You have to be prepared to spend a long time reading him, because each of his books are long (better than 600 pages) and they usually comes in sets of three. You have to pay attention because there are hundreds of different characters and dozens of different societies at almost every level of civilization from medieval to galaxy spanning mercantile to almost post-physical downloaded personalities. This book is almost more complex than previous books because although it is a stand alone story that takes place a thousand years after the events of Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained, there are several characters from those novels either present or invoked by the current characters.As a voluminous reader I greatly enjoy books that I can sink into. And with dozens of characters to follow, if some are not your favorites, well then, wait a bit and someone you like better will come along. I appreciate the description of all these varied societies. I appreciate his intricate plotting. I appreciate his galaxy spanning action. If you love straight forward adventure, Peter F. Hamilton delivers it better than anyone else.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    (Reviewed July 30, 2009)Wow, disappointing. Almost nothing happens. Really, amazingly lacklustre, hopefully the sequels will shift up a gear.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Many interesting new SF concepts that are well integrated in the story. A bit of a weird mix with the other half of the book fantasy world, but I almost liked that part better although it sounded somewhat similar to Modesitt storylines.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It took me a long while to read this. I was pretty busy elsewhere, and it's a long book, but I got there in the end. It took me a long while to get into it also. There are good things in here. It has some good story elements. It's part of a series so is only getting started really. It was good. Could have been shorter probably and still packed the same punch in less pages. I still prefer reality dysfunction.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This science fiction novel follows up on the author’s Commonwealth Saga, set 1,200 years after the conclusion of the final book in that series, Judas Unchained. While it is not strictly necessary to have read the prior two books, since immortality essentially exists in this future, the books contain many common characters and story threads despite the passage of many centuries.Having read the Commonwealth Saga as well as the author’s tour de force Night’s Dawn series, I can safely say that Peter Hamilton is one of the most original, imaginative science fiction writers I have ever read. Let’s face it, when you are writing about events 2,000 years into the future, you’d BETTER be imaginative or you run the risk of looking silly.In this Hamilton epic, the Commonwealth has expanded and evolved, circumnavigating the galaxy, discovering many new sentient species AND a phenomenon referred to as The Void, a micro-universe, protected by an event horizon. One human has managed to pass into The Void and return, setting off a religious awakening called The Living Dream. The adherents of this religion wish to undertake a mass pilgrimage into the Void, potentially setting off a chain of events which could lead to destruction of the known universe. Mayhem predictably ensues as different human and alien factions position themselves in an attempt at self preservation.My only complaint concerning Hamilton’s work is that it is just too long. It is not the mere fact of the extreme page count (the Night’s Dawn series weighs in at 3,000 pages) that bothers me, as I read many very enjoyable door stops. The problem with the length of Hamilton’s books is that their mere length actually waters down the strength of his work, his originality. At times I am stunned by many of his technological concepts and societal constructs. However, after being introduced to and becoming familiar with them, after a time they become second nature. The sad fact is, the underlying stories in Hamilton’s work are simply not strong enough to keep the reader’s interest at the high level attained early in the book. The typical Hamilton experience proceeds as follows: A period of acclimation, during which the reader is exposed to numerous story threads and concepts. Given the length and complexity of the work, this can consume as much as a couple hundred pages before a comfort level is achieved. Then you have several hundred pages of outstanding reading experience as you are entertained and amazed by the world of wonders that Hamilton has presented. Unfortunately, as this second stage comes to a gradual conclusion, you notice that there are many hundreds of pages remaining. The last third of the book is never as enjoyable as the first two thirds. Shorten the work and you intensify the experience, like boiling down a weak, watery broth to a hearty, thick stew.As this is the first of three 700 page books in the series, it is too early to tell if it will prove to be similar to my first two Hamilton experiences, but so far so good. After a couple hundred pages of introduction into various story threads, the last 2/3 of this, the first book, was outstanding. The fact that it actually follows up on the earlier Commonwealth Saga made the early stages more comfortable and easier to get into. Here’s hoping that the story doesn’t get old midway through the next book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Although the blurb didn't make it obvious, this is the start of a trilogy in the same universe as the Starflier series, albeit 1,500 years later.Thanks to the technology of that world, and the intervening years, there is a surprisingly large continuity of characters, although that doesn't become obvious from the start, as you might expect in one of Peter Hamilton's books. There are also a fairly large number of changes from the Starflier times, as you might expect and a large number of new characters as well.The biggest single change is that humanity is starting to almost fracture into different strains. There are advancers, who manipulate DNA for superior traits (not in a eugenic sense, in their own bodies in the main), and highers, who are moving down a route of bionics and the eventual step of leaving their body behind for an existence in ANA, the first step towards post-physical existence, and there are other factions too, although they're less clearly developed thus far. ANA technology is extreme, much further ahead than the rest of galaxy and sometimes in surprising ways.The story revolves, mostly, around one quasi-religious faction, the Living Dream, who wish to enter the void and live their lives there, inspired by the dreams of their founder, Inigo. The trouble is, some people, and some aliens, consider this will trigger the void into a radical expansion "devourment phase" and it will consume the galaxy. There is inter-species politics, inter- and intra-faction politics and the human condition sweeping through the story, all handled along with the story moving along happily in Hamilton's usual deft fashion.If you're a fan of his work, you won't want to miss this, if you're not, this would probably not be the best book to dip into.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Peter F. Hamilton fans won't be disappointed with this, a return to the universe of Misspent Youth and the Commonwealth Saga approximately 1,200 years after the events of the latter. Hamilton's usual themes and motifs are here: fantasy combined with science fiction (here a world in the ravening Void at the heart of the galaxy, a world where psychic powers are quite common and technology rather limited); a keen visual sense exhibited in his combat action scenes and descriptions of architecture and clothing; outre sex (here an important character coupling with a man who shares one mind across several bodies); worldbuilding that combines economics, politics, law, technology, and geography to make credible several settings; godlike technology, and a plot with elements of espionage and police thrillers.What is that plot? Well, I'm going to be lazy and leave it up to other reviewers to give you the broad outlines and dramatis personae. I will say that, at its core, the novel is about a very human tendency - even though many characters strive for a post-human, post-physical existence: the fear and belief that other humans just shouldn't be allowed to make their own lifestyle choices. Several characters take the justifiable position that sometimes those choice are threatening to outside parties. Here the argument is how much humans should modify their minds and bodies or even abandon them altogether, if man is to bootstrap himself into a Rapture or if it will be an alien god.If the Commonwealth books were sort of a science fictional belle époque complete with anarchist and trains, this series is very much concerned with some of the issues of the Singularity, the looming debates of our world.Are the Commonwealth Saga books a prerequisite for this new series? They are not strictly necessary. (It's been long enough since I've read them that I forgot a lot of details about the many characters who show up in both series and plot details. But then I frequently feel like I need a reader's guide and concordance even when I'm in the middle of a Hamilton series.) However, certain characters are going to have a lot more resonance if you know their background.As usual, Hamilton's prose pulled me through a thick book quickly. The only part I didn't care for initially was the magical world in the Void. However, after the initial set up there, those dream interludes became much more interesting though they still were sometimes annoying breaks in the action of the central plot.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Hamilton has done something amazing with this book. He has made two independent stories, only tangentially related by the end of this book, into one cohesive story. The Dreaming Void is actually two books in one. The first takes place in the established Commonwealth Universe, with characters we are mostly familiar with from the original novels. The second takes place in a fantasy world, that lies behind the mysterious void that the characters from the original novel are trying to understand. This second world also exists in the shared dreams of one prophet-like individual from the Commonwealth universe, and much of the novel is spent in the search for the second dreamer.Sound complicated? It isn't. Hamilton balances the stories easily and understandably. At first, I hated the second story. I wanted to get to know what had happened to the characters I already liked. I didn't want to constantly be pulled into this second story that felt like a whole different sort of novel. (I say felt like because it isn't really. It is definitely fantasy in atmosphere, and execution, but everything technically has a scientific explanation so it's still technically science fiction).As the novel progressed however, the situation reversed. I was much more interested in this second world by the end. Hamilton's strategy was brilliant. He drew me in with the familiar, then he revealed a whole new universe. I realized my original dislike was a reaction against change in the universe I had enjoyed, not out of anything Hamilton had done. Hamilton slowly lets the reader adjust to this.The story itself is Hamilton at his best. It would be too much effort to paint a picture of the plot, and unnecessary, because if you are reading this review with the thought you may read the book, you should have already read his original trilogy. I'll save me some time, and simply say it's as well written as those novels. In the final analysis, the gymnastics Hamilton goes through to balance these stories works beautifully. But a part of me feels it didn't have to. I wish the second story had been a novel on its own, in its own world. On the other hand, I may never have picked it up if it wasn't a sequel to his original trilogy.Hamilton is the sort of author that can take you on a wild ride. But you can trust him.