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timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
Tough one to rate.
I'll start by saying you'd better come to this WANTING a big long book. Luckily, if that's what you want, Ham's your man! I think I must have avoided him till now because he appears to be one of those authors who has written eleventeen books that somehow are All The Same Size! This one is almost exactly two inches thick in hardback.
I don't think this loses much from my not having read other Commonwealth novels.
We start well, with some high-tech what's-going-on, featuring Laura, whose name should have been Bollocks. It got to me so much that I went back. By page 85, when she steps offstage for a while, she's said "Bollocks" 22 times - and that's with large stretches where she was offstage or not the speaker. Lef tme wondering if author is making fun of an old friend or something. British readers may be thinking, "Gosh, that's a lot of 'bollocks' " but they should be clear that this is not my opinion of the book.
So we are plunged into a pretty standard low-tech world of farmers, except for some telepathy. Generic corrupt aristocracy #3. A girl promised in marriage to a Stock Lout #3, (that's the hnurr, hnurr, drool, smite kind). Sigh. We meet a few bright lights, including a group of good friends who are nothing special except that they just happen to be capable of planning a revolution and inventing communism as they go. It feels a bit like Marx meets Les Miserables with telepathy. Or a plucky Mickey Rooney telling his chums, "Hey, fellas, I know a way we can save the church!"
This goes on far too long, but Hamilton teases us JUST often enough by introducing Nigel, who is up to something, to this scene. How the heck, we ask, is THIS Nigel going to tie in with THAT Nigel.
Things roll along, well enough thought out. Some things seem to jus happen too conveniently, and other things are put in place by the annoyingly suave and capable Nigel.
The whole Fallers-Void-eggs thing is a bit of a stretch. Maybe if I knew more about the Void coming in, it would have helped with that.
And Nige has one particular skill that really annoyed me, mostly because it ended up being used for cheap melodrama. I refer of course to
Nigel also seems rather casual about wholesale slaughter in a good cause, when he is obviously capable of coming up with ten brilliant solutions that wouldn't require a slaughter.
But I read the whole 614 pages, and I'll probably read the sequel. Maybe not the rest of the Commonwealth series; we'll see.
I'll start by saying you'd better come to this WANTING a big long book. Luckily, if that's what you want, Ham's your man! I think I must have avoided him till now because he appears to be one of those authors who has written eleventeen books that somehow are All The Same Size! This one is almost exactly two inches thick in hardback.
I don't think this loses much from my not having read other Commonwealth novels.
We start well, with some high-tech what's-going-on, featuring Laura, whose name should have been Bollocks. It got to me so much that I went back. By page 85, when she steps offstage for a while, she's said "Bollocks" 22 times - and that's with large stretches where she was offstage or not the speaker. Lef tme wondering if author is making fun of an old friend or something. British readers may be thinking, "Gosh, that's a lot of 'bollocks' " but they should be clear that this is not my opinion of the book.
So we are plunged into a pretty standard low-tech world of farmers, except for some telepathy. Generic corrupt aristocracy #3. A girl promised in marriage to a Stock Lout #3, (that's the hnurr, hnurr, drool, smite kind). Sigh. We meet a few bright lights, including a group of good friends who are nothing special except that they just happen to be capable of planning a revolution and inventing communism as they go. It feels a bit like Marx meets Les Miserables with telepathy. Or a plucky Mickey Rooney telling his chums, "Hey, fellas, I know a way we can save the church!"
This goes on far too long, but Hamilton teases us JUST often enough by introducing Nigel, who is up to something, to this scene. How the heck, we ask, is THIS Nigel going to tie in with THAT Nigel.
Things roll along, well enough thought out. Some things seem to jus happen too conveniently, and other things are put in place by the annoyingly suave and capable Nigel.
The whole Fallers-Void-eggs thing is a bit of a stretch. Maybe if I knew more about the Void coming in, it would have helped with that.
And Nige has one particular skill that really annoyed me, mostly because it ended up being used for cheap melodrama. I refer of course to
Spoiler
time travel, which is used in the worst way possible: to make something didn't happen. Boo!Nigel also seems rather casual about wholesale slaughter in a good cause, when he is obviously capable of coming up with ten brilliant solutions that wouldn't require a slaughter.
But I read the whole 614 pages, and I'll probably read the sequel. Maybe not the rest of the Commonwealth series; we'll see.
snoopydoo77's review against another edition
4.0
When I looked at the book on Netgalley it sounded really good and requested it, I had no idea it was such a long book, so it took me a while longer than most books.
You can find my full review here"
http://myreads.booklikes.com/post/998854/review-the-abyss-beyond-dreams-a-novel-of-the-commonwealth-by-peter-f-hamilton
You can find my full review here"
http://myreads.booklikes.com/post/998854/review-the-abyss-beyond-dreams-a-novel-of-the-commonwealth-by-peter-f-hamilton
leflambeur's review against another edition
4.0
I love Peter Hamilton and most of his books hit the 5 star mark. This one made just 4. It was great how he destroyed the void and jettisoned all its inhabitants into the commonwealth.
However in this book there were few heroes to follow and all the main characters seemed to turn out to be jerks. So hard to identify with.
However in this book there were few heroes to follow and all the main characters seemed to turn out to be jerks. So hard to identify with.
crimsoncor's review against another edition
5.0
Reread as I got ready to finally read the sequel. Liked it even more this time, I think with some separation from the other books in the series. There was some initial disappointment, I think, that it wasn't the other books, but reading it at more of a distance, the book really shines. Maybe that is because the plot is in many ways duplicative of the the earlier Void trilogy that it seemed less fresh when reading it so soon after that. But the characters and plot here really stand-up well and I always really enjoy the strong female characters that Hamilton populates his worlds with. It doesn't hurt that his vision of a future techno-utopia is a world I'd just really like to live in.
chlcrc617's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
paweljw's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
vickerstaylor's review against another edition
3.0
Thought this one started off really well (really enjoyed some of the horror-esque moments) but it veered into a storyline I didn't really find that interesting with characters I wasn't super invested in.
jmoses's review against another edition
4.0
This was a nice jump back into the Void setting. It's not really about the Commonwealth though. If you liked the Commonwealth books, but weren't that into the Void series, probably give this one a pass. It's good, solid Hamilton, but it's not "omg Commonwealth yay".
I really enjoyed it, however. We get to see more of "fun time Nigel" in this one, instead of "srs bsns Nigel", which was fun, and the world/setting was interesting too. I thought that the was a bit heavy handed though. I mean, I get why it was a plot device (and it makes sense in the story) but I just didn't really enjoy it. It was drawn out and complicated and just...not very interesting at times. Especially toward the end it was super predictable, which isn't something I usually complain about with Hamilton.
Apart from that, I don't have any complaints. Oh, other than "what the shit" at the end, since I didn't really get this was the first in a new series when I started it. It's pretty damn clear at the end, though. :/
I really enjoyed it, however. We get to see more of "fun time Nigel" in this one, instead of "srs bsns Nigel", which was fun, and the world/setting was interesting too. I thought that the
Spoiler
communism/Leninism overthrowing/revolution thingApart from that, I don't have any complaints. Oh, other than "what the shit" at the end, since I didn't really get this was the first in a new series when I started it. It's pretty damn clear at the end, though. :/
jamsl94's review against another edition
4.0
A slow start leads to an excellent story of infiltration and revolution