The Abyss Beyond Dreams: 1 (Chronicle of the Fallers, 1) Paperback – 24 Jun. 2021

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.

Well I must say, this one was a little different. Different as in slightly unusual back and forth chronically throughout. But once I got into the book it was very well written and as usual with Hamilton, very well thought out. His incredible ability to weave different complex storylines together are once again on display here. Some interesting characters and some unforgettable returns (to anyone familiar with his commonwealth duo of books).The story itself is a little slower paced, however still very well put together and always kept me interested. The majority of the story does not take place in big starships and or technologically advanced civilisations as some might expect. I won't spoil it but as I've said above, it is a different type of Hamilton sci-fi. And I personally liked it. The character building was very strong, storytelling excellent. Saying that, I do understand why some people may be put off. It is slower paced and quite different, with a lot of politics and somewhat pre-historic type of society setting for the main part of the story. If you like a good patiently told story then I would recommend giving this a go. I personally love Hamilton's distinctive style of storytelling and enjoyed the book. About to start the second and final book and very excited to see the conclusion.

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.

Was really looking forward to this book, being a long time fan of Mr Hamilton's work.Thankfully, I've not been disappointed. This is a riveting tale of life inside the Void, that was the subject of the author's previous books, coupled with life outside the Void, in the Commonwealth of Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained novels.There is a distinct similar feeling to the Void Trilogy, where much of it is focussed on a lower tech society within the Void - however, where the Void trilogy books flicked between both, most of the action in this book takes place in the Void, albeit with some non-Void characters thrown in.It rips along at a great pace, and I flew through it, as couldn't wait to see where it was going.In summary, an excellent book. Can easily be read without going through the previous books, I would say - but I think for the best reading enjoyment, I would definitely start at Pandora's Star and work from there.

A good book by Hamilton after a long time.

It's a big call but this may well be the best book I've ever read. To be honest, I put it off for ages because the books are so long and I've been bitten by Mr Hamilton's multi-volume offerings before - I loved The Reality Dysfunction but hated the rest of the Night's Dawn Trilogy (I finished reading them almost out of spite). And there was such a long gap between the first two Commonwealth novels that I'd pretty much forgotten everything from the first book by the time the second one dropped. I didn't mind the Void trilogy but it felt too much like Fantasy for me to really enjoy and took around half a year to slog through. So this time I waited until both volumes had been published, and then I waited some more...Man, was that ever a dumb move! Everything about this book is first-rate, from an author who is clearly at the top of his game. The story has everything you might want from a Peter F. Hamilton novel and then some. The characters are well drawn and utterly believable, the story is gripping from start to finish and the way he brings back strands from the early part of the book into a later part blew my mind on three or four occasions. It is simply brilliant!You don't really need to have read the Void Trilogy or the first two Commonwealth books to enjoy this but it if you are familiar with the Commonwealth universe you are sure to get more out of it. So don't be put off, if you're reading this, just buy it and start reading!!!

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.

There are all too few sci-fi authors tackling galaxy-spanning space opera these days, and even fewer doing it well. Hamilton has always written on a huge canvas peopled by many characters, future tech that's pretty much magic to us pre-Post Human humans, aliens to fight and aliens to befriend, and always a core mystery to (re)solve.In this case, we are treated to the continuing story of the Void, that strange universe-within-a-universe that our current generation of astrophysicists think is a super-massive black hole but which is in reality an enigmatic space-time that allows real magic to happen. For those of us outside the Void, it represents the ultimate threat - an impervious, impenetrable, indestructible non-space that periodically expands, swallowing up yet more of our 'real' universe at it grows.Somehow humans have managed to get inside the Void, and their activity is causing the Void to grow. With the possibility of a runaway expansion blatting us all out of existence, something must be done. And it falls to jaded founder of the Commonwealth, Nigel Sheldon, to roll his sleeves up and muck in. Of course, that's easier said than done, but when you have the help of alien friends with a million years of technology at their disposal, then the impossible is something that takes just a little longer than usual and before Nigel can finish breakfast the impenetrable event horizon of the Void is voided and he's away on a boy's own adventure. In this installment, I felt there is a stronger theme of social change than in his other novels with what seems to be an up-to-date retelling of the Marxist stuggle with the underclass in conflict with their hedonistic rulers, with all the chaos such disruption entails.If you have read - and liked - Hamilton's novels you know what to expect and are sure to like this one.If you haven't read him before, then I'd recommend that you go back to the start of the series because "The Abyss Beyond Dreams" is not a standalone novel. Sure, Hamilton does a good job of backfilling the story, but many events are on a linear time line and you will miss the references that made a series that much more fun to read. You will find that Hamilton has a style and it is generally based on a dense plot with many, many points of view told across hundreds and hundreds of pages, multiple landscapes/planets that are always fully fleshed, and tons of high tech toys with an undercurrent of violence and mayhem. The emotional tone is generally cheery, and while there are shades of gray in the characters and their motivations - and unintended consequences abound - good ultimately prevails (where good equates pretty much to our capitalistic, individualistic way of life).So, another great read from Peter F. and my only distress is that because they are so long and involved, his next novel is going to take forever to arrive!

It's a Peter Hamilton book. If you've read any of his other stuff (and before reading this you should read the Dreaming Void) you'll know what you're getting into. Big book, where the number of spaceships and explosions outweighs the literary quality. Fun reading, ideal beach material. And none the worse for that.