I know this post is NVGR, and a long wall of text, but I figured there are enough Science Fiction fans here to appreciate what I am about to say:

I have just finished reading Peter Hamilton’s “The Temporal Void” and I have to say, it is quite possibly the single best piece of “entertainment” I have ever experienced. I consider myself an avid reader, TV watcher, movie watcher, anime watcher, and video game player. I have probably read around 75 novels (I’m only 23), currently watch around 10-15 currently airing TV shows, in addition to another 10 anime shows, have probably played close to 100 games (recently mostly RPGs), and the hundreds of movies I have seen. So, please appreciate that I would never simply claim that something is the most fulfilling experience I’ve had if I didn’t firmly believe it.

What I believe makes the book so fascinating is the complete gamut of emotions that it is capable of evoking. I recall the deep sadness I felt as a child when I read “Where the Red Fern Grows”, as Old Dan and Little Ann die; (Shadow of the Colossus spoiler)* the despair I felt as Agro fell off the cliff before the last colossi*; the empathy I felt with Zoe as she saw Wash die in Serenity; the joy of simply observing the life of everyone in Honey and Clover. Yet, all these now seem trivial in comparison to what I experienced with “The Temporal Void”.

For those of you who’ve read the first in the trilogy, “The Dreaming Void”, I’m not talking about the overall Commonwealth plotline, but of the life of Edeard, as narrated by Inigo’s dreams. I won’t be so crass as to spoil anything, but each chapter I just kept waiting for the Commonwealth parts to end, just to get back to Edeard’s life.

If you’ve read this far, I’m assuming you’re one of the people that care about the characters in whatever medium you’re experiencing; that you are fully capable of empathizing with them throughout whatever they experience. And therein lays the beauty of “The Temporal Void”. Through the life of Edeard, I was able to experience great joy, laughter, eagerness, sorrow, despair, anger, and complete and utter rage. And it wasn’t merely reading that that was the sentiment the characters were experiencing. I literally laughed out loud at some of the situations that presented themselves; sat at the edge of my seat with eager anticipation as to what the characters would find as they turned a corner; experienced a betrayal so deep that it chilled me to my core as it dawned on me; and complete rage, as if someone was killing a member of my family inches away while I was powerless to stop it.

I literally can’t think of what other recommendation to give for the book than what I have just said. Sadly, you probably won’t understand much about Edeard’s life unless you read the first book in the trilogy, “The Dreaming Void”. Currently, “The Temporal Void” is only available in the UK, so I had to use AbeBooks to purchase it. It turns out being quite expensive with the shipping, but I would have paid tenfold if I knew what was in store for me. The sequel and conclusion to the trilogy isn’t expected until 2010 at least. I’m afraid the wait will be unbearable.

I know this was a lot of text, but I felt I had to write something about it; that I had to tell other people so that they could appreciate it as much as I did

Umm… have a nice day?