The Void Trilogy

  The Void Trilogy is really a sequel to Hamilton's earlier Commonwealth series and should be read only after reading those earlier books--starting with Pandora's Star.

 So it's 1500 years after the Starflyer War, and the Commonwealth is a very different entity from the rich mans paradise that existed in the previous novels.  Humanity has spread far into the galaxy, and in the process splintered into various factions, each with their own idea of how mankind should evolve.  Colony ships have passed beyond the known regions of space, but little to no contact has occurred between them and the remaining Commonwealth.

 One artifact that humanity has stumbled across is the Void, an expanding region of space which consumes all in its path. As it turns out the Void has existed for millions of years, with countless species encountering it, fearing it, and studying it so that they might stop its growth.  One species particular has devoted itself to the destruction of the Void, having launched a failed war against it millions of years past, and now guarding its borders so that none may enter.

Then a human named Indigo, while visiting the boundary of the Void, begins to dream of a world without technology, whose human inhabitants are able to shape the world around them with their thoughts. He shares his dream with Gaiafield, a sort of mental network for sharing feelings and experiences, and soon it is realized he is dreaming of a human population actually living within the Void.

 This sets off a series of events that eventually lead to a sizable portion of humanity deciding that they wish to enter the Void.  Most alien races are opposed, and the border guardians in particular have no intention of letting anyone enter, for it is believed that this would trigger a huge Void expansion-- eventually leading to the destruction of the entire galaxy if left unchecked.



  One thing of note about this series is that a significant chunk of it takes place within the Void, in what would traditionally be labeled a fantasy setting.  It tells the story of Indigo's dreams, for he dreams of a young man whose story is something of a heroes journey.  Probably something like 30-40% of the series is dedicated to this story.  It is very well done though, and does tie in nicely with the science fiction story taking place outside the Void.


 Overall I feel that this was a nice improvement over his first Commonwealth series(which was already excellent).  The pacing is much improved(particularly over Judas Unchained), and the characters are all interesting.  And yes, some old characters do make appearances, even the SI eventually shows up.

 9.2/10

The Commonwealth Saga

  This is a giant space opera by Peter Hamilton, although only two novels(Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained), each one packs near 1000 pages.

 The story builds, and builds, and keeps on building-- Hamilton describes a future humanity spread out among the stars via wormholes, with hundreds of inhabited worlds and immortality for any that can afford it.  Pretty depressing to still see such a capitalistic society.

 Yet for all the distance mankind has come from Earth, few aliens have been encountered, and none with any galaxy spanning civilization.

 Enter Dudley Bose, an astronomer watching the night sky, he records two distant stars as the suddenly go dark(On/Off star from Deepness in the Sky anyone?).  Scientists in the commonwealth decide that the only thing capable of causing such an event would be an advanced civilization-- leading to the decision to send a ship 1000 light years to investigate.


+Incredibly detailed galaxy, Hamilton creates many interesting worlds
+Plot that builds and builds, with strong control by Hamilton

-Juda's Unchained, the 2nd novel is weaker than Pandora's Star.  At times it devolves from space opera into much ado about police investigation.
-The ending is too drawn out



 9.0/10

The Snow Queen

 The Snow Queen is a space opera of sorts, written by Joan Vinge, it won the 1981 Hugo for good reason.  Although it appears science fiction, but this is more of a fantasy novel in feel, as are most of Joan Vinge's other works.

 The plot focuses on two cousins, Moon and Sparks, brought up as "summers" on the ocean planet Tiamat.  Tiamet has two cultures, the "winters" and the "summers", the winters live with technology and embrace off- worlders.  The summers are more traditional and avoid most technology.

  A cycle has been established on Tiamat where each culture gets to rule for 150 years, ruled by their respective Queen, the Snow Queen or the Summer Queen.

  The story begins near the end of the rule of the Snow Queen, the time of the summers is approaching and many off-worlders are preparing to leave. The competition for the next Summer Queen will soon start, but the Snow Queen does not wish to give up her rein.

 This is a very enjoyable story, the world Vinge constructs is excellent, and the characters are solid, particularly  the Snow Queen.

9.1/10

A Deepness in the Sky

 A Deepness in the Sky was written after Vinge's earlier work, A Fire Upon the Deep, but it is a prequel of sorts.

 This time the story takes place in The Slow Zone, where FTL travel is not possible, and humankind has not yet discovered The Beyond.

  An exploratory mission is formed by a group, the Qeng Ho, to travel to what is known as the on/off star, which has a regular cycle where it deactivates and produces no light.  Pham Nuwen is the central character and he arrives on board the Qeng Ho ship, he is something of a legend in his section of the galaxy.

  They discover an inhabited planet orbiting the on/off star, with an intelligent species living there that has found a way to survive the cold periods when the star goes off.

 Shortly after the Qeng Ho arrive, another group known as the Emmergents also arrive, this starts the central conflict of the story.


 This is yet another great space opera by Vernor Vinge, and it does have a few tie-ins with his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep, although they are rather faint.

9.3/10

A Fire Upon the Deep

Vernor Vinge! What more need be said?

 A Fire Upon the Deep is Vinge's first space opera, it takes place in a future so distant that all knowledge of Earth is long forgotten.   Humans have crawled out of the "Slow Zone", that is the region where FTL travel is impossible, over the passage of eons.

  Now humankind, along with countless alien races live in "The Beyond", where is FTL travel is possible, and an interstellar communication system(somewhat like the internet) , allows communication between distant planets.

  The plot revolves around a human ship on the run with sensitive information, it lands on a remote planet where a race of dog like creatures known as Tines live.  Soon it is known that these humans discovered something of great importance, and a race/war is on between various alien civilizations to be the first to this planet, and retrieve the information the humans found.

 Vinge bounces around many ideas, something he is known for.  Aside from the various zones of space concept, he constructs very unique aliens.  The Tines are only intelligent when enough dogs form a collective consciousness, each entity is actual a composition of numerous dogs.

 This is a terrific book, one of the best "space opera" that I'm aware of.

9.5/10