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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
A brilliant hard sci-fi story. Not an easy read. Vinge really makes you work for it, but the payoff is great.
Huge thanks to Adam Good for recommending this one -- it goes into my SciFi top 5, methinks. That this book was published in '92 is actually a little mind-blowing given its anticipation of where the "Net" would go, much more nuanced in that than other info / cyber involved things I've read (but this book is by no means cyberpunk). Great "reality-building," great in shifting scale and perspective from massive to local, from political to personal, great imagination and playing out of big ideas. There are certainly things I'd nip and tuck (some of the characters seem naive beyond comfort -- he seems to draw on that kind of suspense a little too long at times), but this is a great great book. I'll seek out his other work (I hear he has a short novel worth reading, and there is at least one more novel written in this universe).
The short review version: if you liked Dune and you liked Light you will like this. If you haven't read Dune or Light, you should. And you should read this, too.
The short review version: if you liked Dune and you liked Light you will like this. If you haven't read Dune or Light, you should. And you should read this, too.
There are ideas in here that I am still thinking about. The gift that keeps on giving.
I got through 70% of this, and then found myself doing all I could to avoid reading. As a compulsive reader, that is my least favorite feeling. This started out well, then seemed to fall apart. It is overly long, and very little happens after about 50%. In addition, the characters are not well developed. They are flat and uninteresting. I'm not happy to put this down, but I just can't take anymore.
This was a frustrating tonally inconsistent book for me. I was looking to get enveloped into a new universe and sink plenty of time into the entire franchise but was left disappointed. The central conceit of the series is amazing, the further away from the core of the galaxy the more evolved and technologically advanced civilizations become before hitting a point of singularity.
The confluence of higher evolutionary super beings interacting with up and coming civilizations, resurrecting and partially inhabiting centuries old humans, sentient plant life on unknown sentience giving pods, it’s all compelling stuff.
And then half the action takes place on a low tech world where the population is essentially telepathic dogs. Which, again is cool. I love the idea of a society that can only operate in small groups that need to operate relatively distantly from other groups in order to function. My main problem is that this low tech world is experienced from the prospective of two young children.
There is a bit of whiplash of reading an epic space battle, and then kids teaching dogs how to build rudimentary tech with what amounts to a LeapFrog learning tablet. That whiplash continues when two characters engage in sexual activity at the end of a chapter, to be followed by the machinations of an evil character manipulating an 8 year old. (I’ve purposefully been general in my description, as well as mixing events so there are no specific spoilers here)
I’m glad I read this book, but I found myself eagerly reading the more high sci fi chapters, and slowly getting through the children chapters. Though, it does pick up considerably in the final quarter of the book when the plot lines inevitably converge.
Overall, I’m glad to have read it, and my final score and review is probably a victim of the hype I built around it, but the tonal inconsistency and my rather blade attitude towards the children characters makes this a solid 3/5.
The confluence of higher evolutionary super beings interacting with up and coming civilizations, resurrecting and partially inhabiting centuries old humans, sentient plant life on unknown sentience giving pods, it’s all compelling stuff.
And then half the action takes place on a low tech world where the population is essentially telepathic dogs. Which, again is cool. I love the idea of a society that can only operate in small groups that need to operate relatively distantly from other groups in order to function. My main problem is that this low tech world is experienced from the prospective of two young children.
There is a bit of whiplash of reading an epic space battle, and then kids teaching dogs how to build rudimentary tech with what amounts to a LeapFrog learning tablet. That whiplash continues when two characters engage in sexual activity at the end of a chapter, to be followed by the machinations of an evil character manipulating an 8 year old. (I’ve purposefully been general in my description, as well as mixing events so there are no specific spoilers here)
I’m glad I read this book, but I found myself eagerly reading the more high sci fi chapters, and slowly getting through the children chapters. Though, it does pick up considerably in the final quarter of the book when the plot lines inevitably converge.
Overall, I’m glad to have read it, and my final score and review is probably a victim of the hype I built around it, but the tonal inconsistency and my rather blade attitude towards the children characters makes this a solid 3/5.
This one ended up taking a bit longer than I thought it would, mainly because at times it was so dense with explanation and worldbuilding that there was a lot to absorb before you could move forward. However, this is as absolutely fascinating book, between the dynamics of the Tine packs and how technology ends up affecting them via the two orphaned kids who are stranded and cared for (and thank god it doesn't go colonialist with that plot thread, just pure accident and very young kids), the larger background threat of the Blight and the genocidal turn that ends up taking, plus a very early 90s understanding of the internet, and a slight dash of fantasy via Pham Nuwen. I'm honestly happy to hear that there's more in this series, and I'm going to be tackling the direct sequel next.
So, after 579 pages, is it ever that serious?
Honestly, yes?
We follow two perspectives: one on the medieval dog world and the other thousands of light years away in space. Although I could've gotten more out of the OOB side of the story, I absolutely loved how much we explored the Tines world. The world building was so fascinating.
Vernor Vinge also imagines interstellar communication to be a sort of a forum where you subscribe to certain threads. We get a glimpse of these threads from time to time and I loved reading them, it really captures the spirit of the internet of the 90s.
Honestly, yes?
We follow two perspectives: one on the medieval dog world and the other thousands of light years away in space. Although I could've gotten more out of the OOB side of the story, I absolutely loved how much we explored the Tines world. The world building was so fascinating.
Vernor Vinge also imagines interstellar communication to be a sort of a forum where you subscribe to certain threads. We get a glimpse of these threads from time to time and I loved reading them, it really captures the spirit of the internet of the 90s.
2.5 stars. It was ok. Perhaps I just missed some of the point but it didn't feel like the various tales being told ever came together all that well.