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The Void
Goodreads Choice Award
Nominee for Readers' Favorite Horror (2012)From the Bram Stoker Award nominated author of That Which Should Not Be...
In the deepest reaches of space, on a ship that no longer exists, six travelers stare into the abyss . . . and the abyss stares back.
Man has finally mastered the art of space travel and in a few hours passengers can travel light years across the galaxy. But, there's a catch—the traveler must be asleep for the journey, and with sleep come the dreams. Only the sleeper can know what his dream entails, for each is tailored to his own mind, built from his fears, his secrets, his past . . . and sometimes his future.
That the dreams occasionally drive men mad is but the price of technological advance. But when a transport on a routine mission comes upon an abandoned ship, missing for more than a decade, six travelers—each with something to hide—discover that perhaps the dreams are more than just figments of their imagination. Indeed, they may be a window to a reality beyond their own where shadow has substance and the darkness is a thing unto itself, truly worthy of fear.
In the deepest reaches of space, on a ship that no longer exists, six travelers stare into the abyss . . . and the abyss stares back.
Man has finally mastered the art of space travel and in a few hours passengers can travel light years across the galaxy. But, there's a catch—the traveler must be asleep for the journey, and with sleep come the dreams. Only the sleeper can know what his dream entails, for each is tailored to his own mind, built from his fears, his secrets, his past . . . and sometimes his future.
That the dreams occasionally drive men mad is but the price of technological advance. But when a transport on a routine mission comes upon an abandoned ship, missing for more than a decade, six travelers—each with something to hide—discover that perhaps the dreams are more than just figments of their imagination. Indeed, they may be a window to a reality beyond their own where shadow has substance and the darkness is a thing unto itself, truly worthy of fear.
250 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 7, 2012
41 people are currently reading
3119 people want to read
About the author
Brett J. Talley
21 books363 followersVisit me at www.brettjtalley.com!
Brett J. Talley is the author of several best-selling novels and anthologies, including That Which Should Not Be, He Who Walks in Shadows, and The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument. He has been twice nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, the highest honor in horror fiction. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Annie, and their dog, Nyarlathotep, the barking chaos (Nyla for short).
Brett J. Talley is the author of several best-selling novels and anthologies, including That Which Should Not Be, He Who Walks in Shadows, and The Fiddle is the Devil’s Instrument. He has been twice nominated for the Bram Stoker Award, the highest honor in horror fiction. He lives in Alabama with his wife, Annie, and their dog, Nyarlathotep, the barking chaos (Nyla for short).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
October 23, 2017
Ο Τάλλευ είναι ένας άγνωστος στους πολλούς συγγραφέας, αλλά οι λίγοι που τον ξέρουν, φαίνεται να τον έχουν ενδύσει με τον μανδύα ενός καλτ ιερέα. Ο λόγος για αυτό είναι κυρίως το fun fiction μυθιστόρημά του That Which Should Not Be. Μια ιστορία που απέδιδε φόρο τιμής στον Λάβκραφτ, τον Στόκερ και άλλους γίγαντες της λογοτεχνίας του τρόμου, και το οποίο πολύ μ' άρεσε: ήταν απολαυστικό, περιπετειώδες, γεμάτο εθιστικές εικόνες για όσους αποζητούν λίγη από την μαγεία των πραμάτων που δεν φτιάχονται όπως κάποτε. Εδώ ο Τάλλευ φεύγει προς επιστημονική φαντασία. Τα καταφέρνει;
Βλακώδες το ερώτημα, εφόσον τα αστεράκια προδίδουν την άποψή μου, αλλά ωστόσο τα αστεράκια δεν λένε πάντα όλη την αλήθεια. Το βιβλίο δεν ήταν κακό - όχι ολοκληρωτικά κακό. Πρωτίστως ήταν καλογραμμένο. Επιπλέον είχε ένα ξεκίνημα ενδιαφέρον, με ανθρώπινους χαρακτήρες και όχι αυτά τα αξιολύπητα, κλισέ ανδρείκελα από τα οποία μαστίζεται η ε.φ. ως συνήθως. Ωστόσο ο Τάλλευ δεν έφερε τον αέρα που περίμενα στην επιστημονική φαντασία. Οι ιδέες του, τρομώδεις και ερεβώδεις, έμοιαζαν σαν χάρτινες κατασκευές όταν εκτέθηκαν στην αδυσώπητο ορθολογισμό της ε.φ. η οποία θέλει απαντήσεις και όχι υπονοούμενα: σκιώδεις παρουσίες που ελλοχεύουν στις μαύρες τρύπες, προσδοκώντας την επιστροφή τους στην Γη - αυτό αποτελεί τον πυρήνα της ιστορίας, ο οποίος στο μυαλό μου ήταν έτοιμος για πυρηνική σχάση, όταν τα όνειρα και τα warp ταξίδια και οι παραλλαγές τους μέσα σε μαύρες τρύπες και το παρελθόν του κάθε χαρακτήρα μπλέχτηκαν όλα μαζί.
Η επιστημονική φαντασία τρόμου είναι ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου ήδη. Κρίμα που ο Τάλλευ έχασε την ευκαιρία να γράψει κάτι εξαιρετικό, κάτι αντάξιο του προηγούμενου βιβλίου του. Εγώ πάντως θα τον παρακολουθώ. Το νου σας συν-αναγνώστες: δύο αστέρια μεταφράζεται ως "it was ok". Ήταν ένα ΟΚ ανάγνωσμα, όχι δα για τα τάρταρα.
Βλακώδες το ερώτημα, εφόσον τα αστεράκια προδίδουν την άποψή μου, αλλά ωστόσο τα αστεράκια δεν λένε πάντα όλη την αλήθεια. Το βιβλίο δεν ήταν κακό - όχι ολοκληρωτικά κακό. Πρωτίστως ήταν καλογραμμένο. Επιπλέον είχε ένα ξεκίνημα ενδιαφέρον, με ανθρώπινους χαρακτήρες και όχι αυτά τα αξιολύπητα, κλισέ ανδρείκελα από τα οποία μαστίζεται η ε.φ. ως συνήθως. Ωστόσο ο Τάλλευ δεν έφερε τον αέρα που περίμενα στην επιστημονική φαντασία. Οι ιδέες του, τρομώδεις και ερεβώδεις, έμοιαζαν σαν χάρτινες κατασκευές όταν εκτέθηκαν στην αδυσώπητο ορθολογισμό της ε.φ. η οποία θέλει απαντήσεις και όχι υπονοούμενα: σκιώδεις παρουσίες που ελλοχεύουν στις μαύρες τρύπες, προσδοκώντας την επιστροφή τους στην Γη - αυτό αποτελεί τον πυρήνα της ιστορίας, ο οποίος στο μυαλό μου ήταν έτοιμος για πυρηνική σχάση, όταν τα όνειρα και τα warp ταξίδια και οι παραλλαγές τους μέσα σε μαύρες τρύπες και το παρελθόν του κάθε χαρακτήρα μπλέχτηκαν όλα μαζί.
Η επιστημονική φαντασία τρόμου είναι ένα από τα αγαπημένα μου ήδη. Κρίμα που ο Τάλλευ έχασε την ευκαιρία να γράψει κάτι εξαιρετικό, κάτι αντάξιο του προηγούμενου βιβλίου του. Εγώ πάντως θα τον παρακολουθώ. Το νου σας συν-αναγνώστες: δύο αστέρια μεταφράζεται ως "it was ok". Ήταν ένα ΟΚ ανάγνωσμα, όχι δα για τα τάρταρα.
July 16, 2012
I made no secret of the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed Brett Talley’s Bram Stoker Nominated novel That Which Should Not Be earlier this year, and so when I got my grubby hands on an advance review copy of his latest book, The Void I was both excited and a little nervous. Would the second novel match up to the success of his first book, especially given the huge differences in style and setting?
The Void takes place in the year 2169. Mankind has mastered interstellar travel and through the use of warp drives can cross light years in a matter of hours. There is only one problem. During the warp transition, the human passengers need to be put into stasis to prevent them going insane, but while they are in stasis the dreams come. Dark, terrible dreams that not everyone awakes from unscathed, if they wake at all.
The book starts off with Aiden Connor being discovered floating in an escape pod at the edge of the solar system. He is the only survivor of his space craft, which seems to have been destroyed by a warp core breach. The only problem is that Aiden can’t remember anything that happened on the ship. When he returns to earth orbit, no one will hire him because of their fear that he cracked under the pressure of the warp dreams. Before he can sink into a fit of alcoholic depression, however, he is approached by Captain Caroline Gravely with a job offer. She needs a navigator for her new ship, The Chronos on a routine cargo and passenger mission, and Aiden is the best man available for the job. As you can imagine, however, once The Chronos enters warp and the dreams begin, things start to go badly wrong.
There are obvious parallels between The Void and the movie Event Horizon and even video games such as Doom, however The Void is very much its own book. Once the story gets going it takes on an often surreal and hallucinogenic feel, interspersed with creeping psychological terror and episodes of graphic, brutal violence. Many writers would struggle to bring such disparate threads together but Talley masterfully weaves them into an unsettling and highly effective story that is more reminiscent of something like The Shining than the works mentioned above, and one of the dream scenes could very well have been a sly wink in the direction of Stephen King’s masterpiece.
As a jaded old horror reader, it’s been quite some time since I read something that actually made me feel nervous and uncomfortable in the way that this book did. The prose is fluid, the descriptions vivid without being overdone and the characters are all three dimensional and believable. The real star of the show, however, is the pervading sense of menace that oozes from every page.
The Void is one of the best horror novels that I’ve read this year, hands down. It is a vast improvement on That Which Should Not Be and firmly establishes Brett Talley as an author to watch out for in the future.
The Void takes place in the year 2169. Mankind has mastered interstellar travel and through the use of warp drives can cross light years in a matter of hours. There is only one problem. During the warp transition, the human passengers need to be put into stasis to prevent them going insane, but while they are in stasis the dreams come. Dark, terrible dreams that not everyone awakes from unscathed, if they wake at all.
The book starts off with Aiden Connor being discovered floating in an escape pod at the edge of the solar system. He is the only survivor of his space craft, which seems to have been destroyed by a warp core breach. The only problem is that Aiden can’t remember anything that happened on the ship. When he returns to earth orbit, no one will hire him because of their fear that he cracked under the pressure of the warp dreams. Before he can sink into a fit of alcoholic depression, however, he is approached by Captain Caroline Gravely with a job offer. She needs a navigator for her new ship, The Chronos on a routine cargo and passenger mission, and Aiden is the best man available for the job. As you can imagine, however, once The Chronos enters warp and the dreams begin, things start to go badly wrong.
There are obvious parallels between The Void and the movie Event Horizon and even video games such as Doom, however The Void is very much its own book. Once the story gets going it takes on an often surreal and hallucinogenic feel, interspersed with creeping psychological terror and episodes of graphic, brutal violence. Many writers would struggle to bring such disparate threads together but Talley masterfully weaves them into an unsettling and highly effective story that is more reminiscent of something like The Shining than the works mentioned above, and one of the dream scenes could very well have been a sly wink in the direction of Stephen King’s masterpiece.
As a jaded old horror reader, it’s been quite some time since I read something that actually made me feel nervous and uncomfortable in the way that this book did. The prose is fluid, the descriptions vivid without being overdone and the characters are all three dimensional and believable. The real star of the show, however, is the pervading sense of menace that oozes from every page.
The Void is one of the best horror novels that I’ve read this year, hands down. It is a vast improvement on That Which Should Not Be and firmly establishes Brett Talley as an author to watch out for in the future.
July 10, 2012
I received this novel from the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
Oh, how I wanted to like this book. The premise had everything going for it: humankind discovers that there is a price to be paid for scientific advances in a mix of science fiction and horror. Shades of Lovecraft! Mixed with "Event Horizon" and "Star Trek"! Sounds fantastic! Sign me up!
*sigh*
First, do we really need an introductory essay explaining how wonderful the book is? If the book were some influential classic of yesteryear that needed to be explained to the reader ("here's the socio-political context of when the book was written so you're not totally lost or something"), then I could see this being included. For a sophomore tale from a new writer? Not so much.
Second, a note to small e-publishers: Yes, it's wonderful that you can get books out to your audiences more quickly and easily. No, that doesn't mean you should just churn those puppies out without the same care in editing that the big houses take. Redundancies, homonyms, clichés everywhere, grammatical errors, and more. These are the sorts of things that should be caught in one of the pass-throughs. I understand that mistakes will get through (even the big publishing houses have that happen; hence second, third, and fourth editions), but this many?
Third, and I'm not sure if this one goes to the writer or the editor: Pick a style. If you want to write neo-Lovecraftian, then embrace that style and go with it. If you want to write in a more modern style that gives the reader the same creepiness of Lovecraft, then do that. But, please, please, please don't try to shoehorn one into the other.
Fourth, please learn to better differentiate your characters. I should not be paging back trying to figure out who this person is when I'm midway through the book (or worse, in the last quarter). I should also not be mentally shrugging my shoulders and giving up on figuring out the identity since they're mostly interchangeable anyway.
Fifth, please take that list you've obviously got of "stuff what's creepy in dreams" and throw it away. Now find ways to make three-dimensional characters with real fears that don't ping everything on that list aside from clowns. (Please, don't add clowns to your next story. Stephen King already did it better than you ever could.)
Sixth, remember the old saw about "show, don't tell"? Yeah. That. Don't just tell us that something was scary. Scare us. Frighten the hell out of your readers. We'll appreciate it and love you for it. (Hell, go read some King. Just don't try to copy him like you've obviously been copying Lovecraft.) And please ditch the "sit around and discuss things 'everybody' knows" bits next time.
Seventh, if you're going to write science-fiction and not going to just hand-wave concepts like artificial gravity, find an actual scientist to go over your descriptions so they're at least in the realm of the plausible. "Star Trek" was successful because the science & tech were based on actual scientific principles. Which is why our current tech looks so much like the stuff the Enterprise crew were using.
Finally, I wouldn't have gone into this big, long list had I not felt there was some promise here. It just needs another couple of passes by a good editor. And a physicist.
Oh, how I wanted to like this book. The premise had everything going for it: humankind discovers that there is a price to be paid for scientific advances in a mix of science fiction and horror. Shades of Lovecraft! Mixed with "Event Horizon" and "Star Trek"! Sounds fantastic! Sign me up!
*sigh*
First, do we really need an introductory essay explaining how wonderful the book is? If the book were some influential classic of yesteryear that needed to be explained to the reader ("here's the socio-political context of when the book was written so you're not totally lost or something"), then I could see this being included. For a sophomore tale from a new writer? Not so much.
Second, a note to small e-publishers: Yes, it's wonderful that you can get books out to your audiences more quickly and easily. No, that doesn't mean you should just churn those puppies out without the same care in editing that the big houses take. Redundancies, homonyms, clichés everywhere, grammatical errors, and more. These are the sorts of things that should be caught in one of the pass-throughs. I understand that mistakes will get through (even the big publishing houses have that happen; hence second, third, and fourth editions), but this many?
Third, and I'm not sure if this one goes to the writer or the editor: Pick a style. If you want to write neo-Lovecraftian, then embrace that style and go with it. If you want to write in a more modern style that gives the reader the same creepiness of Lovecraft, then do that. But, please, please, please don't try to shoehorn one into the other.
Fourth, please learn to better differentiate your characters. I should not be paging back trying to figure out who this person is when I'm midway through the book (or worse, in the last quarter). I should also not be mentally shrugging my shoulders and giving up on figuring out the identity since they're mostly interchangeable anyway.
Fifth, please take that list you've obviously got of "stuff what's creepy in dreams" and throw it away. Now find ways to make three-dimensional characters with real fears that don't ping everything on that list aside from clowns. (Please, don't add clowns to your next story. Stephen King already did it better than you ever could.)
Sixth, remember the old saw about "show, don't tell"? Yeah. That. Don't just tell us that something was scary. Scare us. Frighten the hell out of your readers. We'll appreciate it and love you for it. (Hell, go read some King. Just don't try to copy him like you've obviously been copying Lovecraft.) And please ditch the "sit around and discuss things 'everybody' knows" bits next time.
Seventh, if you're going to write science-fiction and not going to just hand-wave concepts like artificial gravity, find an actual scientist to go over your descriptions so they're at least in the realm of the plausible. "Star Trek" was successful because the science & tech were based on actual scientific principles. Which is why our current tech looks so much like the stuff the Enterprise crew were using.
Finally, I wouldn't have gone into this big, long list had I not felt there was some promise here. It just needs another couple of passes by a good editor. And a physicist.
July 28, 2013
An incredibly chilling tale that can only be described as Space Gothic. Talley expertly weaves the atmospheric, psychological tension and sheer unspeakable dread into this story, resulting in a masterful work of science fiction/horror. Brett Talley is an author to watch.
Highest recommendation.
Highest recommendation.
June 22, 2012
I won this book in a giveaway from the author. Normally deep space isn't my thing and I'm not a fan of scifi, it works well cinematically for me, but not my typical reading fare. This book, however, worked really well combining the elements of both horror and scifi. Think a prose equivalent of Event Horizon or something like that. The premise was solid and the characters were strong and well developed. Particularly enjoyable was the writing, there were some really great spooky to terrifying ranging scenes that were executed exceptionally well, you'd think you're reading a seasoned author, although I believe this is only Talley's sophomore effort. I'd be very interested to read more of his work, this is definitely a major talent on the rise. This book would make an awesome film too, great imagery. Highly recommended.
July 13, 2012
Book Info: Genre: Dark Science Fantasy Reading Level: Adult Ebook available at Journalstone or Amazon; Paperback or Hardcover copy is available as of today, 7/13/12 on Amazon
Disclosure: I received a free eBook ARC from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. To make things even better, I just received a free paperback uncorrected proof from Journalstone in a promotion! This will not, of course, affect my opinion of the book, but it is awesome!
Synopsis: In the deepest reaches of space, on a ship that no longer exists, six travelers stare into the abyss . . . and the abyss stares back.
Man has finally mastered the art of space travel and in a few hours passengers can travel light years across the galaxy. But, there's a catch—the traveler must be asleep for the journey, and with sleep come the dreams. Only the sleeper can know what his dream entails, for each is tailored to his own mind, built from his fears, his secrets, his past . . . and sometimes his future.
That the dreams occasionally drive men mad is but the price of technological advance. But when a transport on a routine mission comes upon an abandoned ship, missing for more than a decade, six travelers—each with something to hide—discover that perhaps the dreams are more than just figments of their imagination. Indeed, they may be a window to a reality beyond their own where shadow has substance and the darkness is a thing unto itself, truly worthy of fear.
My Thoughts: Brett J. Talley burst onto the scene last year with his Bram Stoker finalist, Lovecraftian debut,
That Which Should not Be
, which I absolutely loved, and so did many others. To say I was anticipating this book would be seriously understating the excitement I’ve felt while anticipating the chance to finally read it.
One thing Talley does really well is to create that form of creeping suspense, that feeling that something …. terrible and terrifying waits just right around that corner up ahead. At first this is done subtly, with minor things happening around the characters that could just be their own paranoia, their imagination, but then it starts to ramp up and pretty soon the reader is hanging on the edge of their seat and ready to jump if there is an unexpected sound in the house.
I had initially figured this to be a form of horror/science fiction blend, but after finishing the book, I don’t think I could define it as horror, although it does have some horrific elements, and is very Lovecraftian. No, I have changed my definition to dark science-fantasy, and I think once you read this book you will agree this is fitting. Highly recommended for fans of Cthulhian/Lovecraftian fiction, for fans of the darker prose, for those who enjoy an element of fantasy in their science fiction. This is a really well-written book, and I think that you absolutely cannot go wrong in grabbing a copy to read.
Disclosure: I received a free eBook ARC from LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review. To make things even better, I just received a free paperback uncorrected proof from Journalstone in a promotion! This will not, of course, affect my opinion of the book, but it is awesome!
Synopsis: In the deepest reaches of space, on a ship that no longer exists, six travelers stare into the abyss . . . and the abyss stares back.
Man has finally mastered the art of space travel and in a few hours passengers can travel light years across the galaxy. But, there's a catch—the traveler must be asleep for the journey, and with sleep come the dreams. Only the sleeper can know what his dream entails, for each is tailored to his own mind, built from his fears, his secrets, his past . . . and sometimes his future.
That the dreams occasionally drive men mad is but the price of technological advance. But when a transport on a routine mission comes upon an abandoned ship, missing for more than a decade, six travelers—each with something to hide—discover that perhaps the dreams are more than just figments of their imagination. Indeed, they may be a window to a reality beyond their own where shadow has substance and the darkness is a thing unto itself, truly worthy of fear.
My Thoughts: Brett J. Talley burst onto the scene last year with his Bram Stoker finalist, Lovecraftian debut,
That Which Should not Be
, which I absolutely loved, and so did many others. To say I was anticipating this book would be seriously understating the excitement I’ve felt while anticipating the chance to finally read it. One thing Talley does really well is to create that form of creeping suspense, that feeling that something …. terrible and terrifying waits just right around that corner up ahead. At first this is done subtly, with minor things happening around the characters that could just be their own paranoia, their imagination, but then it starts to ramp up and pretty soon the reader is hanging on the edge of their seat and ready to jump if there is an unexpected sound in the house.
I had initially figured this to be a form of horror/science fiction blend, but after finishing the book, I don’t think I could define it as horror, although it does have some horrific elements, and is very Lovecraftian. No, I have changed my definition to dark science-fantasy, and I think once you read this book you will agree this is fitting. Highly recommended for fans of Cthulhian/Lovecraftian fiction, for fans of the darker prose, for those who enjoy an element of fantasy in their science fiction. This is a really well-written book, and I think that you absolutely cannot go wrong in grabbing a copy to read.
June 22, 2012
Brett J. Tally is a name I was not familiar with prior to reading The Void, now he's a writer I won't soon forget.
The Void is a wonderful combination of Science Fiction and Horror that manages to do justice to both genres.
The year is 2159 and interstellar travel has become commonplace, but it's not without a toll on the traveler. First you need to make your way to the edge of the solar system before going to warp, which actually bends the fabric of space to get you to your destination rather quickly. The catch is, the travelers cannot enter warp unless they are sleeping. And with sleep come the dreams. The dreams are always the same, but different for each dreamer.
In addition to the dreams, there are safety issues to be concerned about. There are many neuroses associated with warp travel. There's Braddock's Syndrome, also called sleep insanity and then there's CNF, Critical Neural Failure, where the traveler goes to sleep and never wakes up. And yet, interstellar travel seems to be worth the risk.
The Void is filled with real people struggling with real situations (well real situations for a SF story) and was a pleasure to read. The thing is, that the story, no matter how fantastical, is utterly believable.
The payoff for making the journey with this book is big, just what you would want from a scary Sci-Fi movie, with twists and turns and surprises to keep you guessing, right to the end.
You can purchase your own copy of The Void from JournalStone Publishing, in a variety of formats. If you purchase in a Hardback or Paperback, you get a free eBook version, as well. http://journal-store.com/fiction/the-...
Needless to say, I highly recommend, The Void by Brett J. Talley.
The Void is a wonderful combination of Science Fiction and Horror that manages to do justice to both genres.
The year is 2159 and interstellar travel has become commonplace, but it's not without a toll on the traveler. First you need to make your way to the edge of the solar system before going to warp, which actually bends the fabric of space to get you to your destination rather quickly. The catch is, the travelers cannot enter warp unless they are sleeping. And with sleep come the dreams. The dreams are always the same, but different for each dreamer.
In addition to the dreams, there are safety issues to be concerned about. There are many neuroses associated with warp travel. There's Braddock's Syndrome, also called sleep insanity and then there's CNF, Critical Neural Failure, where the traveler goes to sleep and never wakes up. And yet, interstellar travel seems to be worth the risk.
The Void is filled with real people struggling with real situations (well real situations for a SF story) and was a pleasure to read. The thing is, that the story, no matter how fantastical, is utterly believable.
The payoff for making the journey with this book is big, just what you would want from a scary Sci-Fi movie, with twists and turns and surprises to keep you guessing, right to the end.
You can purchase your own copy of The Void from JournalStone Publishing, in a variety of formats. If you purchase in a Hardback or Paperback, you get a free eBook version, as well. http://journal-store.com/fiction/the-...
Needless to say, I highly recommend, The Void by Brett J. Talley.
June 9, 2012
As soon as I read this titles description I looked forward to reading it.
I am a fan of the Event Horizon type sci-fi, where the true horrors of space are found to be within oneself rather than some laser wielding Super Alien and The Void went far beyond merely satisfying that preference in literature....
The Void is expertly written, captivating the reader and drawing you into both the real world and dream world of the story without leaving you baffled or having a "What the?.." moment.
The story is genuinely creepy in places and thought provoking in others. I wonder if there was not a sly "literary wink" to The Shining in one of the dream sequences at a bar too!
This book is science fiction, its also about psychological baggage (of which each character brings to the story), its about the human mind and it could be said even has a mild religious undertone to it.
Its a title you must read. If you are a sci-fi/horror/thriller fan you will love this title, I certainly did and I would be very surprised if this isn't rated as the best title I read in 2012.
I will certainly be reading more of Brett J. Talley in the future.
I am a fan of the Event Horizon type sci-fi, where the true horrors of space are found to be within oneself rather than some laser wielding Super Alien and The Void went far beyond merely satisfying that preference in literature....
The Void is expertly written, captivating the reader and drawing you into both the real world and dream world of the story without leaving you baffled or having a "What the?.." moment.
The story is genuinely creepy in places and thought provoking in others. I wonder if there was not a sly "literary wink" to The Shining in one of the dream sequences at a bar too!
This book is science fiction, its also about psychological baggage (of which each character brings to the story), its about the human mind and it could be said even has a mild religious undertone to it.
Its a title you must read. If you are a sci-fi/horror/thriller fan you will love this title, I certainly did and I would be very surprised if this isn't rated as the best title I read in 2012.
I will certainly be reading more of Brett J. Talley in the future.
April 6, 2015
This seemed like something I ought to like. "Similar to Event Horizon", horror in space, yada yada. Good stuff, right?
No. Not at all.
First off, there was no inspiration from or similarities to Event Horizon here, the whole foundation for the plot was basically a complete rip-off of the movie.
---- CONTAINS SPOILERS ----
Ship disappears on maiden voyage? Check!
Ship reappears a number of years later? Check!
Crew that boards ship starts to hallucinate/see things? Check!
Guy taken over by gouges his eyes out? Check! (And we didn't even get a "Where we're going…" so the whole eye removal thing was completely pointless unless seen--haha--as an Event Horizon ripoff…)
Struggle between good and bad? Well, I'll let that one slide, it's not exactly a specific plot detail...
Hero flies part of the ship(s) into the worm- /black hole in order to save the rest? Check!
So, now that we have our basic knock-off, let's take some Star Trek lingo and concepts and throw in there without even bothering to think about whether they might fit.
In addition to the above, the writing was fairly substandard. There were a lot of descriptions about what a character was feeling, thinking, and why, which just made it feel lazily written -- why bother establishing a character through their actions and words when you can just write when why they're feeling a certain way?
Wanted to like it, but it really sucked. A lot.
No. Not at all.
First off, there was no inspiration from or similarities to Event Horizon here, the whole foundation for the plot was basically a complete rip-off of the movie.
---- CONTAINS SPOILERS ----
Ship disappears on maiden voyage? Check!
Ship reappears a number of years later? Check!
Crew that boards ship starts to hallucinate/see things? Check!
Guy taken over by gouges his eyes out? Check! (And we didn't even get a "Where we're going…" so the whole eye removal thing was completely pointless unless seen--haha--as an Event Horizon ripoff…)
Struggle between good and bad? Well, I'll let that one slide, it's not exactly a specific plot detail...
Hero flies part of the ship(s) into the worm- /black hole in order to save the rest? Check!
So, now that we have our basic knock-off, let's take some Star Trek lingo and concepts and throw in there without even bothering to think about whether they might fit.
In addition to the above, the writing was fairly substandard. There were a lot of descriptions about what a character was feeling, thinking, and why, which just made it feel lazily written -- why bother establishing a character through their actions and words when you can just write when why they're feeling a certain way?
Wanted to like it, but it really sucked. A lot.
July 27, 2013
4.5 stars.
A mixture of science-fiction and horror, set out in space. I felt that this story took a unique turn, incorporating an almost "lovecraftian"-like feel to a futuristic setting. This story had some truly unsettling moments and images, and almost makes you wonder if such a concept is plausible.... The mark of a great author, in my books!
Recommended!
A mixture of science-fiction and horror, set out in space. I felt that this story took a unique turn, incorporating an almost "lovecraftian"-like feel to a futuristic setting. This story had some truly unsettling moments and images, and almost makes you wonder if such a concept is plausible.... The mark of a great author, in my books!
Recommended!
October 20, 2014
As someone who qualifies himself as a huge fan of Brett J. Talley, it pains me to have to say The Void is only good. Not brilliant, like his recent novella within Biters : The Reborn; not incredibly impressive like his debut novelThat Which Should Not Be; simply, good.
Mixing sci-fi and horror is tricky business, especially when attempting to incorporate some fairly significant Lovecraftian elements, but Talley gives it a pretty good shot, introducing half a dozen characters and putting them on a collision course with a derelict space ship floating in space and the evil that lives there. Yes, it is very Event Horizon in storyline, but Talley adds a crucial element: the dreams people experience while sleeping through wrap travel. In this way, The Void slowly builds a dread-infused momentum, as each character is subjected to a recurring dream that very personally relates to them, even while featuring the common element of dark, hooded shadows that do not radiate warm and welcoming auras ...
It takes quite some time for Talley to get all his pieces in place for this novel, so it helps that his writing is of a high quality. Though all the characters were distinct, I never really warmed to any of them and this was my major concern with the tale. I was propelled along by wanting to know what was happening, rather than caring who lived or died as I do when I'm really vested in a novel. Others may have no such issue.
Still, being honest, were The Void written by anyone else, it would likely have crept up into 3.5 or even 4 star territory. Because this was a work from Brett J Talley, however, my expectations were (perhaps overly) high. If, like me, you're already a fan, be sure to judge for yourself. If you're looking to introduce yourself to Talley, maybe starting with this one and then going on to That Which Should Not Be would be a better way of going about that introduction than the route I took.
3 Gradually Approaching Black Holes for The Void.
Mixing sci-fi and horror is tricky business, especially when attempting to incorporate some fairly significant Lovecraftian elements, but Talley gives it a pretty good shot, introducing half a dozen characters and putting them on a collision course with a derelict space ship floating in space and the evil that lives there. Yes, it is very Event Horizon in storyline, but Talley adds a crucial element: the dreams people experience while sleeping through wrap travel. In this way, The Void slowly builds a dread-infused momentum, as each character is subjected to a recurring dream that very personally relates to them, even while featuring the common element of dark, hooded shadows that do not radiate warm and welcoming auras ...
It takes quite some time for Talley to get all his pieces in place for this novel, so it helps that his writing is of a high quality. Though all the characters were distinct, I never really warmed to any of them and this was my major concern with the tale. I was propelled along by wanting to know what was happening, rather than caring who lived or died as I do when I'm really vested in a novel. Others may have no such issue.
Still, being honest, were The Void written by anyone else, it would likely have crept up into 3.5 or even 4 star territory. Because this was a work from Brett J Talley, however, my expectations were (perhaps overly) high. If, like me, you're already a fan, be sure to judge for yourself. If you're looking to introduce yourself to Talley, maybe starting with this one and then going on to That Which Should Not Be would be a better way of going about that introduction than the route I took.
3 Gradually Approaching Black Holes for The Void.
August 18, 2012
The Void is a horror novel for fans of science fiction and it will definitly make fans of both genres happy. The year is 2169 and Aiden Conner has just woken up on a space ship he is not familiar with and he doesn’t remember how he got there. Aiden was working on a transport ship that had a mysterious accident while traveling at warp speed.
In the future, man has mastered space travel, but when their ship goes to warp all crew members have to go into a sleep chamber and sleep until the ship comes out of warp. The downside of this is while sleeping the crew dreams and for some people on a ship the dreams are enough to drive them insane. While sleeping through warp, the crew sees the same dream every time. Some dreams tell of the future, some of the past, some are terrifying and a few people actually enjoy their dreams.
After the accident Aiden finds he can’t get a job on any other ship. That is until Captain Caroline Gravely comes along and hires him to work upon her ship, The Chronos. Caroline has waited a long time to command her own ship and she has assembled a six person crew with very diverse backgrounds. She also has her own problems with the dream state during warp drive. The rest of the crew also has their own issues and none of them are looking forward to what will happen when they enter warp. To make matters worse when they drop out of warp they are surrounded by black holes and find a long lost abandoned ship.
I loved the concept for The Void. This is a good horror story with a science fiction background. Brett J. Talley does a great job giving a scientific explanation to how the space ships travel, how gravity is created for a ship and what is happening when a ship travels at warp speed. I also liked how all the crew member’s dreams were described and how there was a little mystery to what all of their dreams mean and how the dreams effect each person. It was a nice touch how all the dreams we’re very different and despite the fact that everyone fears the dream state not all of the dreams were bad.
I found myself thinking The Void would make a great movie that could satisfy both horror and science fiction fans. Brett J. Talley has done an excellent job bridging two genres.
In the future, man has mastered space travel, but when their ship goes to warp all crew members have to go into a sleep chamber and sleep until the ship comes out of warp. The downside of this is while sleeping the crew dreams and for some people on a ship the dreams are enough to drive them insane. While sleeping through warp, the crew sees the same dream every time. Some dreams tell of the future, some of the past, some are terrifying and a few people actually enjoy their dreams.
After the accident Aiden finds he can’t get a job on any other ship. That is until Captain Caroline Gravely comes along and hires him to work upon her ship, The Chronos. Caroline has waited a long time to command her own ship and she has assembled a six person crew with very diverse backgrounds. She also has her own problems with the dream state during warp drive. The rest of the crew also has their own issues and none of them are looking forward to what will happen when they enter warp. To make matters worse when they drop out of warp they are surrounded by black holes and find a long lost abandoned ship.
I loved the concept for The Void. This is a good horror story with a science fiction background. Brett J. Talley does a great job giving a scientific explanation to how the space ships travel, how gravity is created for a ship and what is happening when a ship travels at warp speed. I also liked how all the crew member’s dreams were described and how there was a little mystery to what all of their dreams mean and how the dreams effect each person. It was a nice touch how all the dreams we’re very different and despite the fact that everyone fears the dream state not all of the dreams were bad.
I found myself thinking The Void would make a great movie that could satisfy both horror and science fiction fans. Brett J. Talley has done an excellent job bridging two genres.
September 11, 2012
I had heard a lot of buzz about author Brett Talley, so I was looking forward to reading The Void, his second novel, and Talley not only met but exceeded my expectations . The book is part sci-fi, part horror, and all together creepy. Set in deep space in the near future when distant space travel is possible, there is one caveat to the ability to travel long distances in space. When the travelers go through a warp drive, they are put to sleep where they have dreams that border on nightmares. The dreams are always the same, and sometimes they drive the person to madness. One thing I really enjoyed about the novel is the richness of the world of the dreams. They remind me quite a bit of the dream sequences from the movie Inception. As I mentioned, normally the dreams are all the same, except in this voyage, their are slight differences in each person's dream. Talley does a good job of giving the reader the sense that the world he created is about to fracture in a big way. Aidan Connor, the story's protagonist, has recently been in a shuttle that was destroyed, leaving him the soul survivor. Meanwhile, a couple of the passengers of the shuttle have their own agenda, unbeknownst to the rest of the crew. All of these things build a sense of inevitable doom that permeates the novel.
When the crew reaches their destination, the dreams start to blend into reality, as they discover a ship that was part of a scientific experiment. That's the point in the story where things really start to unravel for the crew. Talley does a masterful job of creating chills throughout the novel as well as building up tension. As a fellow writer, I appreciate his craftsmanship and ability to manipulate language with great skill. The Void is well worth reading and I would highly recommend it for your reading pleasure.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity
When the crew reaches their destination, the dreams start to blend into reality, as they discover a ship that was part of a scientific experiment. That's the point in the story where things really start to unravel for the crew. Talley does a masterful job of creating chills throughout the novel as well as building up tension. As a fellow writer, I appreciate his craftsmanship and ability to manipulate language with great skill. The Void is well worth reading and I would highly recommend it for your reading pleasure.
Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity
July 26, 2012
I received an advanced copy from the author and finished about a week ago but wanted to let it set in before I wrote a review. Sometimes my opinion of a book changes a little after I've had some time to reflect on it. As others have noted, this is very similar to Event Horizon, equal parts sci-fi and horror, perhaps leaning a little more toward horror. I'm a big fan of this type of story and there is very little "space horror" out there so if you like this kind of stuff, I would recommend this book. It started a little slow but once once the madness began to ensue, about 100 pages in, I was hooked and really enjoyed the other-dimensional themes that the author explored. It was a unique book, my first by this author, and I look forward to reading his first novel, the Stoker-nominated That Which Should Not Be.
March 13, 2013
Just finished The Void by Brett Talley, and I gotta say--it was excellent. I really admire the ability to completely switch gears between books. There's something to be said for a writer being consistent, but there's more to be said for a writer to be able to create very different works, to work in different genres or in very different voicings.
This book is very different from That Which Should Not Be. While there are elements identifiable as Lovecraftian, if this book had been written by someone not named Brett Talley, the Lovecraftian element may not have even been identified. It probably would have been seen as a more gestalt cosmological element. In my opinion that's fantastic. It's synthesis and evidence of a real multi faceted worldview and an author whose works will not be pigeonholed.
Two solid books in a row.
We have every reason to believe Mr. Talley will be telling us his stories for a long time and that we will be richer for it.
This book is very different from That Which Should Not Be. While there are elements identifiable as Lovecraftian, if this book had been written by someone not named Brett Talley, the Lovecraftian element may not have even been identified. It probably would have been seen as a more gestalt cosmological element. In my opinion that's fantastic. It's synthesis and evidence of a real multi faceted worldview and an author whose works will not be pigeonholed.
Two solid books in a row.
We have every reason to believe Mr. Talley will be telling us his stories for a long time and that we will be richer for it.
July 19, 2016
Good 'ole gothic, monster, space horror. This story follows a space ship and its encounter with a mysterious ship inexplicably in the middle of nowhere, after their warp jump has been cut short. An engineer's sudden descent into madness after experiencing the Dreams during the jump while they slept was the first event that opened the story's journey into madness.
The Void is very reminiscent of Event Horizon, so fans of that can knock yourself out. For me, I appreciate the dream aspect of the story as it piqued my interest, and it was definitely a fast, fun, and light read. The characterisation was shallow and at best perfunctory, in my opinion. Also, it was initially 3.5 stars for me but I knocked off half a star for the meh ending.
The Void is very reminiscent of Event Horizon, so fans of that can knock yourself out. For me, I appreciate the dream aspect of the story as it piqued my interest, and it was definitely a fast, fun, and light read. The characterisation was shallow and at best perfunctory, in my opinion. Also, it was initially 3.5 stars for me but I knocked off half a star for the meh ending.
December 6, 2012
Brett J. Talley’s The Void, along with his previous novel, has restored my faith in horror literature. The Void is a terrifying tale of cosmic horror, somewhat in the vein of Lovecraft, set in the deepest reaches of outer space. En route to the farthest explored star system, space farers find a derelict ship, the madness and horror within it beyond imagining. Kudos to his publisher, JournalStone, for being our “link to artistic talent.”
May 24, 2012
The VOID, Brett J. Talley's page-turner follow up to That Which Should Not Be, will please horror, sci-fi, and thriller fans alike. Taking a break from Lovecraftian fiction set in times gone by (though those on the lookout will find hints of Lovecraft here and there), Talley looks to the future and tells the story of six people on a ship bound for Riley, a planet on the outer reaches of deep space. But such travel comes at a cost -- the dreams -- not to mention the perils of what they encounter in the void of space, be they environmental, other wordly, or even simply the hidden motives of their fellow travellers.
Talley's sophomore effort has something for everyone. Though the space travel setting falls squarely in the sci-fi genre, and the dreams (and reality alike) contain serious horror elements, the novel on a whole is widely accessible. Though Talley treats the sci-fi elements seriously and philosophically, readers need not be worried about encountering chapters upon chapters of psuedo-scientific explanations or trying to understand the intergallactic politics of alien species (think Firefly-level sci-fi, but darker), though Talley obviously has fun with some of the possibilities the future could bring (read: I love the Charlottes!).
The writing and story are literary but accessible (no high-minded or obtuse odes to everyday objects and occurrences or unnecessarily complicated or flowery prose -- just strong narrative and rich description). Talley's treatment of the dreams -- and his portrayal of the sometimes thin line between them and reality -- is vivid and chilling. Like good horror, everyday objects take on a sinister memory after The VOID's treatment -- I can still 'see' and 'hear' some of the elements of the dream sequences clear as day, well after finishing the book. (The sound of the bell on a child's bike will forever be menacing.) Simply, Talley knows how to put his words to use effectively, especially when it comes to relaying a sense of darkness and foreboding.
The characters are well-developed, complex, easy to identify with, and drive the plot admirably. (I appreciated the strong but still-human female captain in a sci-fi/horror thriller written with a depth far greater than usual ... and enjoyed slowly uncovering the characters' respective demons.) Those looking for them will find hints of Lovecraftian elements so on display in That Which Should Not Be, but the style and pacing are truly Talley's own in The VOID. The story has plenty of chilling moments and suspenseful action. It would be a great movie. Many readers will pick up The VOID and have trouble putting it down.
Very enjoyable read -- pick up Talley's book, support an indie author, and enjoy a great tale while you're at it.
Talley's sophomore effort has something for everyone. Though the space travel setting falls squarely in the sci-fi genre, and the dreams (and reality alike) contain serious horror elements, the novel on a whole is widely accessible. Though Talley treats the sci-fi elements seriously and philosophically, readers need not be worried about encountering chapters upon chapters of psuedo-scientific explanations or trying to understand the intergallactic politics of alien species (think Firefly-level sci-fi, but darker), though Talley obviously has fun with some of the possibilities the future could bring (read: I love the Charlottes!).
The writing and story are literary but accessible (no high-minded or obtuse odes to everyday objects and occurrences or unnecessarily complicated or flowery prose -- just strong narrative and rich description). Talley's treatment of the dreams -- and his portrayal of the sometimes thin line between them and reality -- is vivid and chilling. Like good horror, everyday objects take on a sinister memory after The VOID's treatment -- I can still 'see' and 'hear' some of the elements of the dream sequences clear as day, well after finishing the book. (The sound of the bell on a child's bike will forever be menacing.) Simply, Talley knows how to put his words to use effectively, especially when it comes to relaying a sense of darkness and foreboding.
The characters are well-developed, complex, easy to identify with, and drive the plot admirably. (I appreciated the strong but still-human female captain in a sci-fi/horror thriller written with a depth far greater than usual ... and enjoyed slowly uncovering the characters' respective demons.) Those looking for them will find hints of Lovecraftian elements so on display in That Which Should Not Be, but the style and pacing are truly Talley's own in The VOID. The story has plenty of chilling moments and suspenseful action. It would be a great movie. Many readers will pick up The VOID and have trouble putting it down.
Very enjoyable read -- pick up Talley's book, support an indie author, and enjoy a great tale while you're at it.
February 24, 2015
Being a hardcore cinephile, this novel kept bringing forth images from Solaris and Event Horizon (more the latter), yet make no mistake, this is in a league of its own as far as story goes.
Now despite doing most of my reading during my daily commute, this is one of the few books that I forced myself to read at home, under very dim lighting (bad for the eyes but amplifies the atmosphere) all while having 'deep space drone' music playing in the background - so that I could find myself fully immersed in this dark vast space inhabited by shadows and madness.
For this is space madness on another level.
It's also one of my favorite genres: science fiction horror - and not the gore infested type horror, but the kind that makes you think and ponder, the kind that puts the fear in all of us, that of darkness incarnate, of everlasting emptiness, the end to everything, a void so complete it swallows your very soul..
Now despite doing most of my reading during my daily commute, this is one of the few books that I forced myself to read at home, under very dim lighting (bad for the eyes but amplifies the atmosphere) all while having 'deep space drone' music playing in the background - so that I could find myself fully immersed in this dark vast space inhabited by shadows and madness.
For this is space madness on another level.
It's also one of my favorite genres: science fiction horror - and not the gore infested type horror, but the kind that makes you think and ponder, the kind that puts the fear in all of us, that of darkness incarnate, of everlasting emptiness, the end to everything, a void so complete it swallows your very soul..
September 26, 2021
I though this would combine my favourite genres, but instead it was poor sci fi and poor horror. I didn’t care about the characters, the plot twists were there purely because the “normal” drama and events were so boring. Started well but sadly deteriorated and was glad to finish. It wants to be event horizon but sadly doesn’t get close. Nearly all the dialogue was pure exposition. I get its a shorter novel (it felt long!) but it needed better crafting.
July 15, 2012
The Void is set 150 years in the future and takes place in space. That makes me inclined to want to read it as a science fiction novel, as that is a genre I am well-read in and comfortable with. That would be a mistake, however, as The Void isn't a work of science fiction, it is a horror novel that happens to be set in space. This is an important distinction, as the goals of a science fiction writer and a horror writer are not the same. It is not very successful as science fiction, but I think it may be successful as horror. It is a little hard for me to judge it on that basis, however, as I don't read a lot of horror, so I am less familiar with the genre conventions and have less knowledge of the canon to compare it to.
There will be spoilers in this review.
It takes place in 2169. Humans are traveling through warp space and have colonies and trading outposts scattered around. Because warping space and traveling through it is too weird and horrific for the human mind to experience and remain intact, people are rendered unconscious for that part of their trip. The problem is that they have horrible, frightening, incredibly real dreams, and have the same dream every time they warp. Occasionally someone will go insane or die in the warp process. Our protagonist is Aidan Connor, a ship's navigator, who is the sole survivor of his ship's destruction. He is found, injured and drugged unconscious, floating in space in an escape pod weeks after his ship was destroyed. He has no memory of what happened or what caused the ship to destruct.
He is able to get hired on for the maiden voyage of a cargo ship called the Chronos. They are bound for one of the more outlying colonies, and along the way they stumble upon a derelict ship that is about to be swallowed by a black hole. They investigate, at first concerned for the crew, and then with the thought of salvaging the ship. But creepy, malevolent creatures are lurking on the ship, in the darkness, and the crew of the Chronos are going to have to face their dreams in real life and try to save humanity while they're at it.
As I said, as a science fiction novel this book just doesn't work. There are way too many things that we are just told, that if you think about it don't make much sense, or seem too arbitrary and contrived. For instance, the computers and engine of the derelict ship were destroyed by one of its crew before her death, and Aiden and his very capable lady sidekick conclude that they can't be repaired, but then someone else manages to get everything operational again very quickly with no explanation of how this was done. There are lots of things like that that don't make a lot of sense if you give them much thought.
Further, the crew aren't very convincing as residents of the future. Some of what we are told of their lives and experiences sound very much set in the here and now (one crew member is a fan of the New England Patriots, who have recently won the Super Bowl--it would be more believable if football were different then, if the team had moved cities, if the game were different--I really doubt that it will remain unchanged for 150 years) or even kind of old-fashioned, even in our current time (the character whose mother went crazy after bleeding a lot during childbirth, for instance). Plus they are listening to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The characters read like Baby Boomers, not people having adventures in space in the future.
But as a work of horror? I kind of bought it (keeping in mind I don't read a lot of horror). The story did a fairly effective job of showing characters who are feeling overwhelming dread and fear throughout. Most importantly, it hooked me and kept me reading. I would have gulped it down in one sitting except that I ran out of time and had to set it down just a couple of chapters shy of finishing it. However, when I went back to the beginning and re-read, I found a lot of problems catching my attention.
For one thing, there is head-hopping. We switch from one person's point of view, over to someone else, and back again in the span of a few sentences. That was really distracting to me. There is some weird punctuation that caught my eye, too, especially not putting in a quote mark at the beginning of a paragraph of dialogue if the same person is speaking as in the previous paragraph. But there were also bigger problems of continuity. For instance, the captain of the Chronos calls everybody to a meeting, which should have been five people, and yet two people were never mentioned and didn't say anything (and I don't believe they would have been silent had they been in attendance), making me wonder if they were even there, or if "everyone" wasn't actually everyone.
Worse, there was the matter of sleeping quarters. At the beginning of their voyage, a crewman says to a passenger: "Sorry about the accommodations but this is a freighter, not a passenger ship. Only the captain and the navigator get their own cabins. Even the ship's doctor is stuck back here with the rest of us." And yet later one of the passengers apparently has her own cabin, and later yet the captain tries to get the passengers to return to the passenger quarters, even though we have been told there are no passenger quarters, only a crew compartment. Though the author is ultimately responsible for what they wrote, still I think the publisher may have failed Talley a bit, as this sort of thing could have been caught and fixed in editing.
I realize that in horror it is sometimes better not to describe things too much, so that the reader can fill in the details from their own imagination. But sometimes I needed more detail. Such as this part: "At first he thought he was imagining it, the thing, dragging a body behind it. Pulling it along by one leg, as the arms hung limply behind." We never get any description (that I could find) of what "the thing" was. A robot? A living creature? A ghost? I have no idea, as we aren't told. I don't need detailed descriptions, but I need some clue what I'm supposed to be visualizing.
So The Void is a little rough, but it's actually a pretty entertaining read. It's got characters whose safety you care about, creepy creatures talking to them in the dark, people dying gruesomely, and the safety of humanity hanging in the balance. I would read another novel by Talley without hesitation.
There will be spoilers in this review.
It takes place in 2169. Humans are traveling through warp space and have colonies and trading outposts scattered around. Because warping space and traveling through it is too weird and horrific for the human mind to experience and remain intact, people are rendered unconscious for that part of their trip. The problem is that they have horrible, frightening, incredibly real dreams, and have the same dream every time they warp. Occasionally someone will go insane or die in the warp process. Our protagonist is Aidan Connor, a ship's navigator, who is the sole survivor of his ship's destruction. He is found, injured and drugged unconscious, floating in space in an escape pod weeks after his ship was destroyed. He has no memory of what happened or what caused the ship to destruct.
He is able to get hired on for the maiden voyage of a cargo ship called the Chronos. They are bound for one of the more outlying colonies, and along the way they stumble upon a derelict ship that is about to be swallowed by a black hole. They investigate, at first concerned for the crew, and then with the thought of salvaging the ship. But creepy, malevolent creatures are lurking on the ship, in the darkness, and the crew of the Chronos are going to have to face their dreams in real life and try to save humanity while they're at it.
As I said, as a science fiction novel this book just doesn't work. There are way too many things that we are just told, that if you think about it don't make much sense, or seem too arbitrary and contrived. For instance, the computers and engine of the derelict ship were destroyed by one of its crew before her death, and Aiden and his very capable lady sidekick conclude that they can't be repaired, but then someone else manages to get everything operational again very quickly with no explanation of how this was done. There are lots of things like that that don't make a lot of sense if you give them much thought.
Further, the crew aren't very convincing as residents of the future. Some of what we are told of their lives and experiences sound very much set in the here and now (one crew member is a fan of the New England Patriots, who have recently won the Super Bowl--it would be more believable if football were different then, if the team had moved cities, if the game were different--I really doubt that it will remain unchanged for 150 years) or even kind of old-fashioned, even in our current time (the character whose mother went crazy after bleeding a lot during childbirth, for instance). Plus they are listening to the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Lynyrd Skynyrd. The characters read like Baby Boomers, not people having adventures in space in the future.
But as a work of horror? I kind of bought it (keeping in mind I don't read a lot of horror). The story did a fairly effective job of showing characters who are feeling overwhelming dread and fear throughout. Most importantly, it hooked me and kept me reading. I would have gulped it down in one sitting except that I ran out of time and had to set it down just a couple of chapters shy of finishing it. However, when I went back to the beginning and re-read, I found a lot of problems catching my attention.
For one thing, there is head-hopping. We switch from one person's point of view, over to someone else, and back again in the span of a few sentences. That was really distracting to me. There is some weird punctuation that caught my eye, too, especially not putting in a quote mark at the beginning of a paragraph of dialogue if the same person is speaking as in the previous paragraph. But there were also bigger problems of continuity. For instance, the captain of the Chronos calls everybody to a meeting, which should have been five people, and yet two people were never mentioned and didn't say anything (and I don't believe they would have been silent had they been in attendance), making me wonder if they were even there, or if "everyone" wasn't actually everyone.
Worse, there was the matter of sleeping quarters. At the beginning of their voyage, a crewman says to a passenger: "Sorry about the accommodations but this is a freighter, not a passenger ship. Only the captain and the navigator get their own cabins. Even the ship's doctor is stuck back here with the rest of us." And yet later one of the passengers apparently has her own cabin, and later yet the captain tries to get the passengers to return to the passenger quarters, even though we have been told there are no passenger quarters, only a crew compartment. Though the author is ultimately responsible for what they wrote, still I think the publisher may have failed Talley a bit, as this sort of thing could have been caught and fixed in editing.
I realize that in horror it is sometimes better not to describe things too much, so that the reader can fill in the details from their own imagination. But sometimes I needed more detail. Such as this part: "At first he thought he was imagining it, the thing, dragging a body behind it. Pulling it along by one leg, as the arms hung limply behind." We never get any description (that I could find) of what "the thing" was. A robot? A living creature? A ghost? I have no idea, as we aren't told. I don't need detailed descriptions, but I need some clue what I'm supposed to be visualizing.
So The Void is a little rough, but it's actually a pretty entertaining read. It's got characters whose safety you care about, creepy creatures talking to them in the dark, people dying gruesomely, and the safety of humanity hanging in the balance. I would read another novel by Talley without hesitation.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2012
NB: I received an unedited, advance review copy of The Void.
In the future, mankind has mastered space travel. There’s just one, tiny problem. Going into warp while awake drives people crazy, so they must be asleep for the trip. But with the sleep comes the dreams, and the dreams just might drive you crazy.
I first became acquainted with Brett J. Talley when I read his book, That Which Should Not Be. That book, a gothic-horror novel set in the 19th Century, was a triumphant tribute to the works of the old horror masters, most notably H.P. Lovecraft. When I heard that he had a new book coming out, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. How surprised I was, then, to discover it was a work of science fiction.
Sometimes initial impressions are incorrect. The Void is most assuredly horror. The science fiction elements work simply as a setting. But that doesn’t stop Talley from honoring science fiction in the same way that he did Gothic horror in That Which Should Not Be. One of the best parts of that book was all of the subtle references to other great works of horror that Talley placed within the text. He’s done the same in The Void. Asimov and Bradburry are here. There are references throughout to books and movies like Solaris, Event Horizon, Sunshine, Alien, Serenity, The Lathe of Heaven, and what appears to be a subtle nod to The Shining, appropriate given that the subject of the book, at heart, is insanity.
Such homages are a dangerous thing. In the hands of a clumsy writer, they might come off as a lack of creativity. But Talley is no clumsy writer. The writing in The Void is elegant. At times, one is almost hypnotized by the lyricism of it. It is not easy to write a book that is scary, but Talley has managed to accomplish that, mainly because his prose so effectively draws the reader into the story. This is not the kind of book you want to read before going to sleep.
The book is not perfect, though few are. It is rather short, though one wonders if the effect would have been dampened by a more lengthy page count. And I think that science fiction fans may be somewhat disappointed. It is certain that Talley cares primarily about the horror here, and while a clear effort was made to ensure scientific accuracy, pure science fiction this is not.
But for horror fans, The Void is a treat. Do not ask what dreams may come if you are trapped in this world created by Brett J. Talley. The answer may just make you lose your mind.
In the future, mankind has mastered space travel. There’s just one, tiny problem. Going into warp while awake drives people crazy, so they must be asleep for the trip. But with the sleep comes the dreams, and the dreams just might drive you crazy.
I first became acquainted with Brett J. Talley when I read his book, That Which Should Not Be. That book, a gothic-horror novel set in the 19th Century, was a triumphant tribute to the works of the old horror masters, most notably H.P. Lovecraft. When I heard that he had a new book coming out, I jumped at the opportunity to read it. How surprised I was, then, to discover it was a work of science fiction.
Sometimes initial impressions are incorrect. The Void is most assuredly horror. The science fiction elements work simply as a setting. But that doesn’t stop Talley from honoring science fiction in the same way that he did Gothic horror in That Which Should Not Be. One of the best parts of that book was all of the subtle references to other great works of horror that Talley placed within the text. He’s done the same in The Void. Asimov and Bradburry are here. There are references throughout to books and movies like Solaris, Event Horizon, Sunshine, Alien, Serenity, The Lathe of Heaven, and what appears to be a subtle nod to The Shining, appropriate given that the subject of the book, at heart, is insanity.
Such homages are a dangerous thing. In the hands of a clumsy writer, they might come off as a lack of creativity. But Talley is no clumsy writer. The writing in The Void is elegant. At times, one is almost hypnotized by the lyricism of it. It is not easy to write a book that is scary, but Talley has managed to accomplish that, mainly because his prose so effectively draws the reader into the story. This is not the kind of book you want to read before going to sleep.
The book is not perfect, though few are. It is rather short, though one wonders if the effect would have been dampened by a more lengthy page count. And I think that science fiction fans may be somewhat disappointed. It is certain that Talley cares primarily about the horror here, and while a clear effort was made to ensure scientific accuracy, pure science fiction this is not.
But for horror fans, The Void is a treat. Do not ask what dreams may come if you are trapped in this world created by Brett J. Talley. The answer may just make you lose your mind.
September 13, 2017
"The Void" is an interesting and gripping story. There are some compelling mysteries and decent characters. I was always motivated to continue because I wanted to know what would happen. So most of the book is fairly good.
It is very obviously and very strongly inspired by the movie "Event Horizon" (1997). Some might even call it a rip-off of the movie, but that doesn't bother me, because I love "Event Horizon".
I still give it a fairly low rating because of a number of flaws:
* There are a number of references to popular culture from the 20th century (e.g. The Beatles and "Sweet Home Alabama"), which I hate. If your 22nd century characters listen to music from the 20th century, you absolutely need to also reference some fictional music from the 21st and 22nd centuries. Otherwise you give the impression that popular culture stopped at the time your story was written. This is shitty worldbuilding.
* The scenes taking place near black holes give me a strong impression that Talley has no understanding of how event horizons actually work. Dude, if you're going to write stories about black holes, at least read some basic popular science books to get an idea of how they work (like, some Stephen Hawking or whatever).
* The alien monsters started out cool and eerie, but in the end they turned out to be cliched evil cartoon villains instead of the unknowable cosmic horror entities that I was hoping for.
* The ending - the final several pages - was AWFUL. I don't want to spoil it, but I will just say that the ending was much too optimistic - almost religious - and not nearly as bleak and horrific as I had hoped.
So, a decent story albeit with several major flaws.
It is very obviously and very strongly inspired by the movie "Event Horizon" (1997). Some might even call it a rip-off of the movie, but that doesn't bother me, because I love "Event Horizon".
I still give it a fairly low rating because of a number of flaws:
* There are a number of references to popular culture from the 20th century (e.g. The Beatles and "Sweet Home Alabama"), which I hate. If your 22nd century characters listen to music from the 20th century, you absolutely need to also reference some fictional music from the 21st and 22nd centuries. Otherwise you give the impression that popular culture stopped at the time your story was written. This is shitty worldbuilding.
* The scenes taking place near black holes give me a strong impression that Talley has no understanding of how event horizons actually work. Dude, if you're going to write stories about black holes, at least read some basic popular science books to get an idea of how they work (like, some Stephen Hawking or whatever).
* The alien monsters started out cool and eerie, but in the end they turned out to be cliched evil cartoon villains instead of the unknowable cosmic horror entities that I was hoping for.
* The ending - the final several pages - was AWFUL. I don't want to spoil it, but I will just say that the ending was much too optimistic - almost religious - and not nearly as bleak and horrific as I had hoped.
So, a decent story albeit with several major flaws.
February 27, 2017
When it comes to horror books, I have nerves of steel. I can read a horror book alone at night in a dark, empty house with a rain storm outside accompanied by howling wind, still fall asleep without a problem and have lovely dreams. It’s my talent. It’s my gift. It’s entirely unexpected from the girl who tears up at Harry Potter and screams bloody murder at the sight of an insect.
Then, I read The Void. While I didn’t lose any sleep, I had to take breaks while reading because I was scared. I think the most disturbing thing were the description of everyone’s dreams. There was no better way to understand the characters better than to delve into their psyche through their dreams. All of them had different ones with a common element…the darkness. The darkness was an entity all to itself. It represented the unknown and it was this element that made the book absolutely terrifying.
The novel is extremely atmospheric and Talley is gifted at imposing a sense of dread and foreboding. There’s incredibly vivid imagery and it played out in my imagination almost like a movie. The end answered all my questions in an extremely satisfying manner though I was confused as to whether to find it hopeful or bleak.
Talley creates a creepy story that has the potential to leave you afraid of the dark. I immensely enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from him.
I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
Then, I read The Void. While I didn’t lose any sleep, I had to take breaks while reading because I was scared. I think the most disturbing thing were the description of everyone’s dreams. There was no better way to understand the characters better than to delve into their psyche through their dreams. All of them had different ones with a common element…the darkness. The darkness was an entity all to itself. It represented the unknown and it was this element that made the book absolutely terrifying.
The novel is extremely atmospheric and Talley is gifted at imposing a sense of dread and foreboding. There’s incredibly vivid imagery and it played out in my imagination almost like a movie. The end answered all my questions in an extremely satisfying manner though I was confused as to whether to find it hopeful or bleak.
Talley creates a creepy story that has the potential to leave you afraid of the dark. I immensely enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from him.
I received this book through the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program.
June 11, 2012
I'm having a hard time rating this book. I should probably give it 5 stars because of the writing style and the originality of the book, but I am going to account for personal preference.
This book is a sci-fi kind of book that made me think of old star trek episodes when they would say "full warp speed ahead" but that is where the similarities ended. Talley had an original view of what would happen if we, as humans, could accomplish space travel and what the consequences would be. There weren't any aliens or different species in this book, just humans traveling light years beyond. I thought he did a very nice job with the details, and I could see the images he was describing in my head. The horror of the book was undeniable.
I personally didn't care for the ending so much and that is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, although the writing probably deserves the highest rating.
I recommend this book to people who like horror or to people who like science fiction and the two groups do not necessarily need to be combined as I am not a fan of sci-fi books normally but I did enjoy this read.
Talley is an excellent writer that I personally enjoy more than Steven King or other well known authors out there. He deserves to be one of those authors that is a household name.
This book is a sci-fi kind of book that made me think of old star trek episodes when they would say "full warp speed ahead" but that is where the similarities ended. Talley had an original view of what would happen if we, as humans, could accomplish space travel and what the consequences would be. There weren't any aliens or different species in this book, just humans traveling light years beyond. I thought he did a very nice job with the details, and I could see the images he was describing in my head. The horror of the book was undeniable.
I personally didn't care for the ending so much and that is why I gave it 4 stars instead of 5, although the writing probably deserves the highest rating.
I recommend this book to people who like horror or to people who like science fiction and the two groups do not necessarily need to be combined as I am not a fan of sci-fi books normally but I did enjoy this read.
Talley is an excellent writer that I personally enjoy more than Steven King or other well known authors out there. He deserves to be one of those authors that is a household name.
June 16, 2012
In the future mankind has figured out how to travel to the far ends of the universe using a warp drive. There is a problem, to do so the people have to sleep and with the sleep comes the dreams. But what are the dreams? Are they just that or something more sinister or deadly? Each person has one and it is the same for them no matter how many times they make a warp jump. Aidan Connor was found in a life pod in a part of space no one should have been in and so the story begins.
This book explores what happens to a diverse group of characters as they make what is suppose to be a routine jump only to drop out in a place they shouldn't be, looking at a ship that is not known and in a place it shouldn't be. A place surrounded by black holes. In this book each character is forced to face their dream and their fears. Will they unravel the mystery of the ship and even if they do will they manage to stay alive and if they do can they stay sane?
This book grabbed me at the first page and just held on. It was one of those books where you just wanted to read another page or two before you let life take you away. It has human interest, sci-fi and horror. Something hard for any author to do well but Mr. Talley managed to do it. Highly recommended.
This book explores what happens to a diverse group of characters as they make what is suppose to be a routine jump only to drop out in a place they shouldn't be, looking at a ship that is not known and in a place it shouldn't be. A place surrounded by black holes. In this book each character is forced to face their dream and their fears. Will they unravel the mystery of the ship and even if they do will they manage to stay alive and if they do can they stay sane?
This book grabbed me at the first page and just held on. It was one of those books where you just wanted to read another page or two before you let life take you away. It has human interest, sci-fi and horror. Something hard for any author to do well but Mr. Talley managed to do it. Highly recommended.
July 10, 2012
I loved (loved, loved) this book. The characters are fascinating and intricately detailed, each with his or her own secret history. Those histories haunt them, in the form of terrifying nightmares, as they jump across space. As the narrative progresses, it becomes less and less clear whether the nightmares are dreams or reality, and whether the pasts of the individual characters, in the hands of a monstrous force, will become their destruction. Anyone who is a fan of Stanislaw Lem's sci-fi classic Solaris should enjoy The Void. While Talley's writing is more lyrical and his themes less philosophical than Lem's, the surreality and claustrophobia of being caught--without recourse--between dreams and reality, and between past and present, are captured excellently in both novels. I enjoy sci-fi when it is driven by strong characters, good writing, and big themes, rather than simply by technical scientific puzzles. Writing literature, rather than just stories, is what made Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, and Lem so great. Talley's book has the same for-all-ages quality.
August 8, 2012
As they make the jump across space the occupants of the Chronos experience the usual nightmares of warp sleep. However, when they emerge from warp speed early, they awake to find themselves frighteningly close to a black hole and a very real terror that waits for them on the Singularity - a ship that should no longer exist.
The Void combines horror and scifi to great effect, I loved it and will be recommending to anyone who enjoys both horror and scifi.
The Void combines horror and scifi to great effect, I loved it and will be recommending to anyone who enjoys both horror and scifi.
June 15, 2012
After enjoying Talley's "That Which Should Not Be" I was excited to get to read "The Void." While taking a turn towards sci-fi and not just straight horror, I was not disappointed. The book was well written, with good characters and an enjoyable plot.
If you are fans of Talley's previous work, you won't be disappointed, and if you aren't familiar with Talley his writing is well worth your time!
If you are fans of Talley's previous work, you won't be disappointed, and if you aren't familiar with Talley his writing is well worth your time!
September 1, 2012
I found this book to be a real "chiller". Brett Talley is clever at making you feel the coldness and emptiness of space as well as the horror of unseen things!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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