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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Among other recommendations, A Fire Upon the Deep appeared on io9's "Twenty Science Fiction Novels that Will Change Your Life" post and after Newton's Wake, I thought it would be a chance for that list to redeem itself a little. Though far from life-changing, this story is strong and plays with a number of interesting tropes in novel and intriguing ways. The notion of an interstellar (intergalactic?) apprenticeship program for librarians/systems administrators is a fascinating one (esp. Vinge's treatment of the commoditized interstellar communications network), but you can also tell that it's just the long-leash to guide the rest of the story.
I take some fractional points off for some minor quibbles I have. (1) For such a lush space opera, sometimes Vinge's prose can be a little wooden. There are some italicized thoughts here and there which—whether they're an acceptable literary convention or not—don't seem to add anything except a break in the rhythm. (2) The Prologue is nearly Baroque in its inflated style, and I rolled my eyes a bit. Thought ceased for a moment as a shadow passed across the nodes they used. The overness was already greater than anything human, greater than anything humans could imagine. *sigh* If you must... (3) Conversely, the climax and denouement seem almost to fall flat. Not quite Stephensonian, but... after all that build-up: that's it? (4) And as with any space opera (and/or epic fantasy)... there's so much tedious traveling.
But what Vinge gets right (i.e., everything else) he seems to really nail. The io9 piece calls A Fire Upon the Deep "quite simply one of the most inventive, astonishing, and humane space operas you'll ever read"—and I'd agree with that. The epic scope, the alienness of the aliens [†], and the willingness to pen such a weird portrait of the imagined universe—it all adds up to a very compelling and rewarding read.
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† : Though, truth be told: everyone in the universe seems to operate in a pretty narrowly defined and very human economic system. There's nothing alien about mercantilism and venture capitalism.
I take some fractional points off for some minor quibbles I have. (1) For such a lush space opera, sometimes Vinge's prose can be a little wooden. There are some italicized thoughts here and there which—whether they're an acceptable literary convention or not—don't seem to add anything except a break in the rhythm. (2) The Prologue is nearly Baroque in its inflated style, and I rolled my eyes a bit. Thought ceased for a moment as a shadow passed across the nodes they used. The overness was already greater than anything human, greater than anything humans could imagine. *sigh* If you must... (3) Conversely, the climax and denouement seem almost to fall flat. Not quite Stephensonian, but... after all that build-up: that's it? (4) And as with any space opera (and/or epic fantasy)... there's so much tedious traveling.
But what Vinge gets right (i.e., everything else) he seems to really nail. The io9 piece calls A Fire Upon the Deep "quite simply one of the most inventive, astonishing, and humane space operas you'll ever read"—and I'd agree with that. The epic scope, the alienness of the aliens [†], and the willingness to pen such a weird portrait of the imagined universe—it all adds up to a very compelling and rewarding read.
---
† : Though, truth be told: everyone in the universe seems to operate in a pretty narrowly defined and very human economic system. There's nothing alien about mercantilism and venture capitalism.
A masterful journey through space to save the universe from a growing new power. The story mixes alien races, hive minds, technology, and politics in a captivating story presenting it all in believable scenarios. The ending pushed the boundaries a little but resolved everything cleanly, a pleasant change from other science fiction I've read recently.
This book was a great mix of big ideas and fun adventure! I can't believe I never read Vernor Vinge before.
I can't, in good conscience, assign a star rating to 'A Fire Upon The Deep', because I abandoned it at the halfway point. I haven't voluntarily given up on a book in this way for at least a decade, but I realize that I'm not getting any younger, and that life is too short to force my way through something that was still failing to engage me after 300 long pages. I really did not care for this book.
Vernor Vinge is a former computer science professor and current deep thinker, best known for popularizing the concept of the coming 'singularity' when artificial intelligence will surpass human comprehension. He has remarkable ideas that can be explored in some fascinating interviews available on the internet. A storyteller, however, he is not. This is strong book in conceptual terms: the Milky Way is divided into 'zones' that increase in technology and intelligence with distance from the galactic core. The alien species are wonderfully exotic, and include mobile plants and hive minds. But the novel is faulty in characterization, dialogue, sentences…even simple components like flow and pacing. Apart from some broadly sketched traits, the characters all sound nearly identical - similar to the point that their expository conversations and Vinge's own expository interjections dissolve into one garbled, clunky word stew. The prose is awkward - the last sentence I read ended with "she might look on back on these months as goldenly happy". It's probably unfair to nitpick at these sorts of things in a book with such expansive ideas. But 'A Fire Upon The Deep', at least in its first half, fails to use the power of these ideas to energize a good story. A large part of the failure may be due to the portrayal of the 'Blight' - the malevolent AI(?) entity whose appearance drives the events of the novel. Its nature, intentions, and effects are so vague, so unclear, that there is little of the sense of menace and urgency that compels the reader to find out what happens to the characters. Reading this book is often like happening upon a blog post in an online fan community for something esoterically nerdy - breathless, full of obscure jargon, and insulated against outsiders.
Perhaps the second half of 'A Fire Upon the Deep' is mind-blowingly good and exciting, and I'll read it during an extended convalescence or artificially extended lifespan. But for an example of sprawling, epic science fiction that successfully marries the escapism of space opera with "hard" SF foundations, I'd recommend readers to take on Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" instead.
Vernor Vinge is a former computer science professor and current deep thinker, best known for popularizing the concept of the coming 'singularity' when artificial intelligence will surpass human comprehension. He has remarkable ideas that can be explored in some fascinating interviews available on the internet. A storyteller, however, he is not. This is strong book in conceptual terms: the Milky Way is divided into 'zones' that increase in technology and intelligence with distance from the galactic core. The alien species are wonderfully exotic, and include mobile plants and hive minds. But the novel is faulty in characterization, dialogue, sentences…even simple components like flow and pacing. Apart from some broadly sketched traits, the characters all sound nearly identical - similar to the point that their expository conversations and Vinge's own expository interjections dissolve into one garbled, clunky word stew. The prose is awkward - the last sentence I read ended with "she might look on back on these months as goldenly happy". It's probably unfair to nitpick at these sorts of things in a book with such expansive ideas. But 'A Fire Upon The Deep', at least in its first half, fails to use the power of these ideas to energize a good story. A large part of the failure may be due to the portrayal of the 'Blight' - the malevolent AI(?) entity whose appearance drives the events of the novel. Its nature, intentions, and effects are so vague, so unclear, that there is little of the sense of menace and urgency that compels the reader to find out what happens to the characters. Reading this book is often like happening upon a blog post in an online fan community for something esoterically nerdy - breathless, full of obscure jargon, and insulated against outsiders.
Perhaps the second half of 'A Fire Upon the Deep' is mind-blowingly good and exciting, and I'll read it during an extended convalescence or artificially extended lifespan. But for an example of sprawling, epic science fiction that successfully marries the escapism of space opera with "hard" SF foundations, I'd recommend readers to take on Dan Simmons' "Hyperion" instead.
A fun read with some really interesting exploration of alien minds.
Too many pages too little action. All action seemed to drag on and on for ever. 2.5
This book was definitely interesting. I liked the overall concept and the it was written well. The alien race was well thought out and unique in an interesting way. Unfortunately it feels like the story never quite reaches its potential and occasionally tries too hard to feel epic and grandiose.
Entertaining but not much more.
Entertaining but not much more.
Like A Deepness in the Sky, this book sneaks up on you. At first, you're not quite sure what's going on, but he is good enough to give you things to hang onto. Then suddenly something clicks and before you know it, his unique world makes sense and it's all about the story. Vinge creates worlds that challenge the imagination but maintain their humanity.