The Abyss Beyond Dreams: A Novel of the Commonwealth (Commonwealth: Chronicle of the Fallers Book 1)

Okay, I admit it, I'm a complete sucker for Hamilton's work. I've read everything he's written... and not just once. Before you read this you must read The Void Trilogy. And before you read those you must read the Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained pair. And, really... the absolute best place to start would be with Fallen Dragon. I envy anyone who has these amazing pieces of truly wonderful space opera ahead of them.As for this work... I never believe that anything I read of Hamilton's will be able to live up to everything he has already done. How could it possibly?? ... And then it does.This does. You will love it. I guarantee it./Steve Gibson.

I have read all of Peter Hamilton’s work, after having first been exposed to him through his magnum space opera opus, Night’s Dawn trilogy, a 3,500 page, door stop of a work. I think he is the best modern science fiction writer of this generation. His blend of originality, especially as applied to alien constructs, and hard science fiction is unmatched in my opinion. Sure, he tends to be a little long winded, but I can overlook that in the presence of excellence.This novel is the first of a two part sequel to the Commonwealth series (Pandora’s Star and Judas Unchained) and the Void trilogy. I read these five novels (about 4,000 pages worth) several years ago and it took me a little time to become re-familiar with the underlying story and landscape. Do not let anyone tell you that this novel can be appreciated as a stand-alone work; don’t even try it. The world that Hamilton has created cannot possibly be appreciated by starting in the middle of the story.In The Abyss Beyond Dreams, Nigel Sheldon (a clone) enters the Void with the assistance of the Raiel, seeking to land on Querencia and rescue the Commonwealth citizens stranded there, destroying the Void in the process. He is stranded on a second Void world, however, Beinvenido and must devise a new plan. A secondary thread follows a cell of revolutionaries that Nigel employs to advance and accomplish his absurdly ambitious plan.As an aside, Hamilton repeats what has become a pet peeve of mine among science fiction writers in general and Hamilton in particular; the need to create a new epithet to be used by future humans, and repeat it ad nauseam throughout the work. In earlier Commonwealth and Void novels, we were repeatedly assaulted with such terms as "Dreaming Heavens!", “TANJ” (There ain't no justice) and “TANSTAAFL” (There ain't no such thing as a free lunch). In this work, the word “crud” has replaced the perfectly functional “f” word in all its many forms. Uracus (the Bienvenido parallel to Hell) is also used ad nauseum. Far from contributing to the originality of the story, it instead is annoying and comes across as silly.

My fav sci-fi author hands down, and I've read and I read them all! I highly recommend first The Night's Dawn Trilogy, then The Commonwealth Saga, followed by The Void Trilogy and finally his latest two Commonwealth epics, The Abyss Beyond Dreams and A Night Without Stars! He's written several other page-turners, too--but these are my favorites. His Commonwealth Universe is huge and full of wonders and surprises and the stories tie together in surprising and refreshing ways. Hamilton's sci-fi is like no other--never preachy, never "teachy," but chock full of masterful, complex concepts that Hamilton sketches and paints convincingly on the best science-fiction canvases I have ever read. Hamilton never forgets *the story* and the plot and keeps things moving briskly, but at the same time creates what I think of as an adult's sci-fi universe, and I don't mean by that overly erotic or sensual. I mean that his commonwealth is a place that I as an adult can appreciate, often agree with, but always recognize as something fundamentally real even while Hamilton crafts the wildest scientific theories possible and brings them to life. Now, that's an achievement few authors can emulate and I think none can duplicate. Ozzie and Nigel I can identify with--I love their "60's" personalities--brilliant! His characters are at once believable. For me, Hamilton is very close in sci-fi to being what Tolkien is to fantasy. High praise, I know. I think it's deserved, and given because I'd like to inspire him to keep on writing because I never grow tired of rifling through his marvelous imagination ...;)

I have now read all of the Commonwealth series and this just isn't my favorite, In fact, unless you read the far superior Night Without Stars, I'm not sure it's even understandable. I have a number of gripes, including the strange beginning (and what actually happens to Laura?), and the development of Slvasta is bizarre and nonsensical. At any rate, Night without Stars is very fine, and it's worth slogging though this book just to get to the last volume. BTW, I'd pick up any Commonwealth successor Hamilton chooses to write in a second

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've enjoyed other books by Hamilton but this was a bit of a mixed bag. Reasonable concept spoiled by passages that reminded me of those old "Confessions of a..." movies (just add taxi driver / window cleaner / plumber.) That movie genre is undoubtedly popular, but in Chronicle of the Fallers, pairing SF with mild bodice ripping reminded me why some things are fine on their own but don't go together - such as kippers and custard or onion flavoured yoghurt. I'm disappointed and won't read next titles in series.

It's Void, but different.I have read the "Commonwealth" stories and the "Void" stories and been enthralled by them. I thoroughly enjoyed this one too. Classic Hamilton, though doing something a bit different.If you want to experience the Commonwealth stories in order you can read it before or after the original "Void" trilogy as there is no significant overlap, but you have to read the two "Commonwealth" books first (Pandora's Star then Judas Unchained).Of course you can also just start reading this as a standalone story and it should work fine - it's all explained pretty well without being tiresome for those already in the know about the background. In fact, considering this is a part one of two, it wraps up its own section of the storyline pretty much completely by the end of this book, but ideally you can then proceed to the sequel "Night Without Stars" to find out what happens next, where deeper and more complex questions get answered.

I read Science Fiction because I like to immerse myself in other worlds, new ideas, undiscovered planets or technology or species. If a writer is skilled enough they can create a universe and you as the reader are then drawn in to experience something as real as any video game or film can possibly make it. This book starts off with all those good attributes but unfortunately, then regresses to a novel based in a world almost devoid of any science. A good chunk is about local government politics and revolution. It could also be a novel based on some historical human revolution as the tech and politics are all sort of 19th century. Some parts were intriguing, Nigel's section for instance but seriously this is not what I would consider to be a good science fiction novel. Disappointing

I'm half way through this book and it's been a while since I've read such a slog, I don't know if I'll pick it up again. I was expecting something akin to Ian M Banks but I now realised it's dystopian steampunk fantasy more akin to Brandon Sanderson. I bought this book because it was on a list of best sci fi books and I honestly don't know why it was on the list, there are severe pacing issues and it reads like someone tried to turn a collection of short stories into a novel and really struggled.