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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
slow-paced
First 300 pages and the general idea were pretty interesting. After that the suspension dissolved and the admittedly interesting multi-perspective way of progressing and intertwining of the two different stories collapsed into a slug fest. Ending was mediocre. And oh god of course it's a trilogy
I wanted to like this book more than I did. Some of the story-lines and aspects of the universe are great, even brilliant. The Tine's pack persona concept and execution is wonderfully creative. Less so were the Riders - I never got a good sense of who they were. The concept of the Transcend, Beyond and Slow Zone is similarly brilliant.
But the books suffers from being a bit tedious and drawn out. And well into the book, I was getting quite annoyed by the lack of explanations for the various regions (Transcend, Beyond, Slow) as well as what exactly the Powers were (I still don't have a good idea of the Powers). All that could have been made clearer much earlier so you could better grasp what and the characters were doing, and why.
But the books suffers from being a bit tedious and drawn out. And well into the book, I was getting quite annoyed by the lack of explanations for the various regions (Transcend, Beyond, Slow) as well as what exactly the Powers were (I still don't have a good idea of the Powers). All that could have been made clearer much earlier so you could better grasp what and the characters were doing, and why.
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
4.5 stars. This was such an incredibly fascinating book and I wish I could have read it all straight through. It has one of the single coolest alien species I've ever seen and the story is really great. Part of the story is a race through space, including a space battle, and part of the story actually takes place on this planet. There are two groups of aliens, falling generally into "good guys" and "bad guys". The world is a medieval setting and it's interesting to see how each of the groups benefits from contact with one of the surviving humans.
My one objection to the book is that both of the kids, who are aged 8-9 and 12-13 over the course of the book, are written in a simplistic style that is best suited to a 6 year old. But it's a pretty small complaint when you consider all of the awesome things packed in here.
My one objection to the book is that both of the kids, who are aged 8-9 and 12-13 over the course of the book, are written in a simplistic style that is best suited to a 6 year old. But it's a pretty small complaint when you consider all of the awesome things packed in here.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Heaps of praise are thrown onto A Fire Upon the Deep, which is described as one of the best space operas out there. After finishing this book, I'm inclined to agree...for the most part.
The plot is a fun and exciting story that breaches not only into sci-fi, but also fantasy. The Tines story reads closer to The Blade Itself rather than any standard sci-fi story, while the OOB story is much more inline with what you'd come to expect from sci-fi. This blend kept things interesting, as well as expanding the setting. A Fire Upon the Deep truly felt like a universe-spanning story, and was certainly a bright spot of the book.
With many alien planets comes many alien characters. Specifically, learning about the Tines world was a great, in-depth dive into just one of these alien races. The concepts of a hivemind were fleshed out to a great degree here, with the struggle for power on this medieval world front and center. Vernor Vinge keeps the reader in the loop well during these sections, as I never felt like I was losing my grasp of how these creatures acted. He posits that certain human qualities are present no matter the alien race through the galaxies, which is more or less shown through the tines creatures. Whether that be an intentional story point or a flaw in writing characters of alien origins, I failed to notice a discernible difference.
The greatest boon for space operas is the vast world-building that can be played with, and A Fire Upon the Deep is second to none in this. Similar to Hyperion, this book truly presents a scope so large that it is hard to wrap your head around. I really haven't read too many space operas before this, so my sci-fi reading is generally more contained. One of my main complaints about this book is that it was slow to start, which could be attributed to the amount of threads that required attention during the set up of the story. Once these threads were under control, however, I felt truly immersed in the story. If you can find it in your heart to endure a slow beginning, I feel you will be rewarded with a rich story with cosmic heroes and villains.
I quickly wanted to shout out the concept of the 'zones of thought', which this book is widely praised for. This was unlike any idea I've seen in sci-fi before, and Vinge clearly had fun working around it. The amount of stories that you could craft around this leaves me excited to pick up the next book.
A Fire Upon the Deep is worth the read for all sci-fi readers, and possibly even fantasy readers who want to dip their toes into the genre. There is something for every one here, and I will be thinking of this story for a long time now.
The plot is a fun and exciting story that breaches not only into sci-fi, but also fantasy. The Tines story reads closer to The Blade Itself rather than any standard sci-fi story, while the OOB story is much more inline with what you'd come to expect from sci-fi. This blend kept things interesting, as well as expanding the setting. A Fire Upon the Deep truly felt like a universe-spanning story, and was certainly a bright spot of the book.
With many alien planets comes many alien characters. Specifically, learning about the Tines world was a great, in-depth dive into just one of these alien races. The concepts of a hivemind were fleshed out to a great degree here, with the struggle for power on this medieval world front and center. Vernor Vinge keeps the reader in the loop well during these sections, as I never felt like I was losing my grasp of how these creatures acted. He posits that certain human qualities are present no matter the alien race through the galaxies, which is more or less shown through the tines creatures. Whether that be an intentional story point or a flaw in writing characters of alien origins, I failed to notice a discernible difference.
The greatest boon for space operas is the vast world-building that can be played with, and A Fire Upon the Deep is second to none in this. Similar to Hyperion, this book truly presents a scope so large that it is hard to wrap your head around. I really haven't read too many space operas before this, so my sci-fi reading is generally more contained. One of my main complaints about this book is that it was slow to start, which could be attributed to the amount of threads that required attention during the set up of the story. Once these threads were under control, however, I felt truly immersed in the story. If you can find it in your heart to endure a slow beginning, I feel you will be rewarded with a rich story with cosmic heroes and villains.
I quickly wanted to shout out the concept of the 'zones of thought', which this book is widely praised for. This was unlike any idea I've seen in sci-fi before, and Vinge clearly had fun working around it. The amount of stories that you could craft around this leaves me excited to pick up the next book.
A Fire Upon the Deep is worth the read for all sci-fi readers, and possibly even fantasy readers who want to dip their toes into the genre. There is something for every one here, and I will be thinking of this story for a long time now.
Interesting ideas, but the writing was kind of average in my opinion. It was hard to stay engaged.