The Bush League Critic

1) I've really enjoyed all of Peter F. Hamilton's works. 2) I love far-future, world-hopping Space-opera. 3) I love wrapping up a series. 4) Guess how I feel about The Evolutionary Void??

Blurbage:

Exposed as the Second Dreamer, Araminta has become the target of a galaxywide search by government agent Paula Myo and the psychopath known as the Cat, along with others equally determined to prevent—or facilitate—the pilgrimage of the Living Dream cult into the heart of the Void. An indestructible microuniverse, the Void may contain paradise, as the cultists believe, but it is also a deadly threat. For the miraculous reality that exists inside its boundaries demands energy—energy drawn from everything outside those boundaries: from planets, stars, galaxies . . . from everything that lives.

Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker—as told through a series of addictive dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer—continues to unfold. But now the inspirational tale of this idealistic young man takes a darker and more troubling turn as he finds himself faced with powerful new enemies—and temptations more powerful still.

With time running out, a repentant Inigo must decide whether to release Edeard’s final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be. And Araminta must choose whether to run from her unwanted responsibilities or face them down, with no guarantee of success or survival. But all these choices may be for naught if the monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, is able to enter the Void. For it is not paradise she seeks there, but dominion.

While the Void Trilogy could be enjoyed as a self-contained story, I can't recommend reading these three books without having first read Hamilton's Commonwealth Saga (Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained) -- bringing the total book-commitment count to five. You could technically include Misspent Youth in the Commonwealth Universe, but it's not really necessary or even... well... good. It may give you a little technological background, but I consider it the weakest of his works. I don't think I'm alone in that regard.

While most consider Hamilton's Night's Dawn Trilogy (Confederation Universe) to be the quintessential must-read space-opera, I personally find his Commonwealth Universe books to be far superior. That's not to say I didn't love the other series--because I did--I just found it to be unnecessarily verbose and travelogue-ey at times. Plus, I just wasn't in love with the ending of Night's Dawn. It seemed rushed and I couldn't help feeling a bit betrayed by the massive deus ex machina that was employed (deus ex machina may not be technically the correct term, but if you've read it, you'll understand what I mean). But overall, it's a fantastic series--and I highly recommend it too--I just like this one a lot more. Different strokes and all.

All in all... The Evolutionary Void wraps this series up quite nicely. It even answers a few straggling questions from the Commonwealth Saga, but Hamilton still seems to have a penchant for endings that involve deus ex machina type elements. In this case, there was precedent from the earlier novels that made it seem less blatant than the ending of Night's Dawn, but apparently, this is his style and it's not enough to spoil the overall journey of the series.

The only true complaint I have about The Evolutionary Void is the fact that the first half of the book doesn't really advance the plot much from where the previous book left off: Dreamers are still being hunted, Factions are still plotting, the Void is still looming and the Waterwalker is still seeking perfection. But once it starts rolling, it rolls to a very satisfying conclusion. There is one particular space-battle that takes place between Paula Myo and The Cat that I consider to be one of the most intense and best written sequences of is its kind--bar none. No one does space-opera like Hamilton... period.

Two thumbs-up!