Reviewers exhaust superlatives when it comes to the science fiction of Peter F. Hamilton. His complex and engaging novels, which span thousands of years--and light-years--are as intellectually stimulating as they are emotionally fulfilling. Now, with The Dreaming Void, the eagerly awaited first volume in a new trilogy set in the same far-future as his acclaimed Commonwealth saga, Hamilton has created his most ambitious and gripping space epic yet.The year is 3589, fifteen hundred years after Commonwealth forces barely staved off human extinction in a war against the alien Prime. Now an even greater danger has surfaced: a threat to the existence of the universe itself.At the very heart of the galaxy is the Void, a self-contained microuniverse that cannot be breached, cannot be destroyed, and cannot be stopped as it steadily expands in all directions, consuming everything in its path: planets, stars, civilizations. The Void has existed for untold millions of years. Even the oldest and most technologically advanced of the galaxy's sentient races, the Raiel, do not know its origin, its makers, or its purpose.But then Inigo, an astrophysicist studying the Void, begins dreaming of human beings who live within it. Inigo's dreams reveal a world in which thoughts become actions and dreams become reality. Inside the Void, Inigo sees paradise. Thanks to the gaiafield, a neural entanglement wired into most humans, Inigo's dreams are shared by hundreds of millions--and a religion, the Living Dream, is born, with Inigo as its prophet. But then he vanishes.Suddenly there is a new wave of dreams. Dreams broadcast by an unknown Second Dreamer serve as the inspiration for a massive Pilgrimage into the Void. But there is a chance that by attempting to enter the Void, the pilgrims will trigger a catastrophic expansion, an accelerated devourment phase that will swallow up thousands of worlds. And thus begins a desperate race to find Inigo and the mysterious Second Dreamer. Some seek to prevent the Pilgrimage; others to speed its progress--while within the Void, a supreme entity has turned its gaze, for the first time, outward. . . .From the Hardcover edition. Menneskeheden i det 34. århundrede har effektivt erobret udødelighed, men mange mennesker søger stadig efter eksistentiel overlegenhed og et voksende antal tror at svaret skal findes indeni The Void i det galaktiske center. The Void, som tidligere blev antaget for at være et stort sort hul og som angiveligt indeholder et helt mikro univers, begynder langsomt at fortære stjerner for at holde sig selv i gang. Hvis den ikke bliver holdt under opsyn, vil den med tiden fortære hele universet At the center of the galaxy is the Dreaming Void, an artificial black hole that may hold paradise within its walls. When a human named Inigo begins dreaming of what lies within the Void, the word spreads, triggering a religious pilgrimage into the Void and possibly a catastrophic expansion that threatens the peace of the Commonwealth Universe AD 3580. The Intersolar Commonwealth has spread through the galaxy to over a thousand star systems. At its centre is a massive black hole. This Void is not a natural artefact. Inside there is a strange universe and it is slowly consuming the other stars of the galactic core
