| The Evolutionary Void | |
|---|---|
Cover artist Steve Stone, UK hardcover edition |
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| Author(s) | Peter F. Hamilton |
| Cover artist | Steve Stone |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | The Void Trilogy |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Pan Macmillan (UK), Del Rey (US) |
| Publication date | August 24, 2010 (US) [1], September 10th (UK) |
| Published in English |
August 24, 2010 |
| Media type | Print - Harddover, Tall Paper Back, Paper Back |
| Pages | 726 (Tall Paper Back) |
| ISBN | 978-1-4050-8895-4 (Tall Paper Back) |
| Preceded by | The Temporal Void |
The Evolutionary Void is the third novel in The Void Trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton, and was released on August 24, 2010.[1] However, a first batch of paperback versions got shipped from amazon.de on August 13, 2010. The current pre-edit word count confirmed by the author is 216,000.[2] The events in the book follow on from those in The Temporal Void.
Contents |
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, for the Pilgrimage will trigger a super-massive expansion of the Void.
Meanwhile, the parallel story of Edeard, the Waterwalker—as told through a series of dreams communicated to the gaiasphere via Inigo, the First Dreamer—continues to unfold. But 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, to reach fulfillment in the end.
Named a Silfen Friend like her ancestress Mellanie, Araminta chooses to face her unwanted responsibilities, with no guarantee of success or survival. She takes on the role of Second Dreamer to lead the first wave of Living Dream—24 million people—into the Void, leaving everyone confused and lost by her actions. However, in actuality, she is playing a double game. Using her original body to lead the Living Dream as a diversion, she borrows one of her fiance's (Mr. Bovey) bodies to set out to destroy the Void. She is able to connect with a Skylord and travel the Silfen Paths.
With time running out, a repentant Inigo decides to release Edeard's final dream: a dream whose message is scarcely less dangerous than the pilgrimage promises to be, where perfection is achieved, so that nothing else is left to strive for and the human race in the Void has started to devolve. He goes to the Spike to meet Ozzie and stays there to meet with Araminta—who is using one of her fiance's bodies and Oscar.
Third Dreamer Gore has a plan to reason with the Heart, the core of the Void. He secures the help of Delivery Man and travels to the Anomine homeworld to retrieve the mechanism that allowed them to go post-physical. He is able to connect with Justine, his daughter, who is currently in the Void, by way Dreams.
The monomaniacal Ilanthe, leader of the breakaway Accelerator Faction, seeks dominion in the Void. It is not Fusion with the Void to attain post-physical status that she wants, but to have control over everything. She has the ship, the most powerful starship ever built. Using Dark Fortress technology, she sets up a barrier around the Sol system which leaves ANA and the deterrence fleet trapped inside. It is with this technology which she has equipped the ships traveling to the Void with, the creation of the five level forcefield which the warrior Raiel cannot penetrate.
The Void was created by the Firstlife to reach post-physical status-fulfilment. It is where Makkathran is situated in. The people in the Void have psychic abilities such as farsight and the third hand. The Void requires a tremendous amount of energy to sustain itself and the abilities it offers, which it acquires by expanding and consuming planets and star systems.
The Anomine is a race of alien beings who have reached post-physical status. They spread to many star systems in their prime, when they were divided, but the threat Prime posed had them all returning to the home world to attain post-physical status.
The Human Race has spread to many star systems. It is called the Greater Commonwealth. There are Inner Worlds, where the Higher people live. There is a hierarchy and people living on the fringes of the colonized worlds, the External Worlds, are less technologically advanced. The Outer Worlds have better technology. There are Factions in the Inner World which make up the ANA. People are able to live practically forever; rejuvenation technology maintains youth indefinitely; if their bodies are destroyed (bodyloss) they can be re-lifed and memories restored. However, they have to have updated their memory drive or all the data acquired after the previous save would be lost; the person's memory can only be restored to what was last saved. Technology is the way of life and most people have bionomics. They can change their genes to become better able to survive such as what the Advancer Faction did. The Living Dream Faction live like how the world is like in Makkathran. Their clothing follows Makkathran style and fashion. The goal of Living Dream is to travel to and live in the Void. the development of the gaiasphere by Ozzie allowed Inigo to broadcast his Dreams to everyone. By connecting to Edeard, he is able to see aspects of Edeard's life as it is in Makkathran and gifts them to everyone. The gaiasphere was meant to be used only for people to express their emotions for others to see, its use has been perverted by Inigo.
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