The Dreaming Void by Peter F. Hamilton
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I've come to the conclusion that Peter F. Hamilton is an acquired taste. Maybe it just requires patience and getting used to his often HUGE PAGE COUNTS. Most of it is devoted to establishing his characters and their backstories, so it's not a huge complaint. Where he shines is his vast SF worldbuilding which takes on a very complex and rich character rarely seen in ANY series.

We're dealing with 20 or 30 thousand pages of the same universe across vast distances, worlds, and timeframes. And not only that, tons of alien species we get to know intimately, fantastic realms, Fae world hopping, wormhole networks, and a whole DREAMING REALM.

This particular novel fixes a lot of the issues I generally run into with the other novels. It's SHORT. It's also rather focused for what it accomplishes, splitting its time between a high-tech uber powerful post-Commonwealth era, 1500 years after Judas Unchained, and a very interesting seemingly low-tech fantasy world full of psi users and teeks. I have to admit I think I loved the second realm much more than the high tech side. The implications and the hints throughout this novel make me suspect MUCH. :)

Is this my new favorite Hamilton? Or am I just getting so used to his writing that I'm fine with rolling with the roving text and getting excited when the big action happens? Am I simply impressed by the vast worldbuilding and the competent characters?

A little of both, to be certain, but now that I've been reading quite a lot of his work, I'm really getting into the easter eggs and the recurring characters I grew to love in the previous books.

Yeah. Characters coming back after 1,500 years. And still being fun. :)

There's something really glorious about the gigantic tapestry that Hamilton is writing here. It's truly vast and often mind-blowing.

Sure, he has his faults and the writing style sometimes takes getting used to, but the rewards are well worth the effort. And then some. :)

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