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zifk's review against another edition
Characters have little to no development with the protagonist having absurd skills right from the start. Story feels like it's trying to make a weird political point in a very sloppy way.
grid's review
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
TW: Minor non-specific spoilers.
It's only a minor spoiler to say that this book features a singularity. And in this singularity, the entire human species disappears without a trace. In his afterward, Vinge makes it clear he thinks there is overwhelming evidence that we are falling into such a singularity. (Though he admits he thinks it unlikely it will result in such a clean vanishing.) I don't know whether he's right or wrong. But I'm just sad he won't be around to find out. In a way, the second half of this book was about profound loss. I can’t help but think about how it was Vinge’s death that prompted me to pick it up in the first place, and wonder at the coincidence. I hope I have time in my life to re-read the rest of Vinge's works, and enjoy them all again.
I think if there was a flaw in this story, it’s that too little happened “in realtime” while the protagonists were not present. Sure, species evolved, and geologic features continued their inevitable progress, but nothing truly unexpected. I think if we’ve learned anything as a short-lived species barreling toward our own singularity (if we are), it’s that things don’t always go as planned. There is more out of our control than in it. I don’t think that will change with our increased technology and power.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed this book!
I think if there was a flaw in this story, it’s that too little happened “in realtime” while the protagonists were not present. Sure, species evolved, and geologic features continued their inevitable progress, but nothing truly unexpected. I think if we’ve learned anything as a short-lived species barreling toward our own singularity (if we are), it’s that things don’t always go as planned. There is more out of our control than in it. I don’t think that will change with our increased technology and power.
Anyway, I very much enjoyed this book!
tato_gremlin's review
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
3.5
juanintentothesix's review against another edition
4.0
I liked the Peace War and Marooned in Realtime, so it was an interesting thing to stumble across a book set in the same universe, but only tangentially related to either. This book takes place after the Peace War and described an America that is ungoverned, with local militias hired to protect the people. What happens when the government of New Mexico decides to invade the ungoverned lands of Kansas? Well, let's just say it doesn't go the way they expect.
jonathanpalfrey's review against another edition
5.0
This book consists of two related novels that I've reviewed separately, [b:The Peace War|1280979|The Peace War|Vernor Vinge|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1182468901l/1280979._SY75_.jpg|1269997] and [b:Marooned in Realtime|1280978|Marooned in Realtime|Vernor Vinge|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1332038306l/1280978._SY75_.jpg|448211], plus a related novella, "The Ungoverned".
Altogether, they form a powerful and exciting vision of the future. It's not a future that's at all likely to happen, but then no fictional futures are ever likely to happen: the future is unimaginable. Nevertheless, there are aspects of this future that are interesting and perhaps educational.
A prerequisite for the two novels and the novella is the development of bobble technology. A bobble is a kind of spherical force field, but it has certain specific characteristics that have interesting implications.
Apart from that, in this future Vinge plays with the idea of anarcho-capitalism. He's saying, for the purpose of these stories, let's just suppose that anarcho-capitalism can be made to work—not as a kind of utopia, but working well enough to be usable.
Altogether, they form a powerful and exciting vision of the future. It's not a future that's at all likely to happen, but then no fictional futures are ever likely to happen: the future is unimaginable. Nevertheless, there are aspects of this future that are interesting and perhaps educational.
A prerequisite for the two novels and the novella is the development of bobble technology. A bobble is a kind of spherical force field, but it has certain specific characteristics that have interesting implications.
Apart from that, in this future Vinge plays with the idea of anarcho-capitalism. He's saying, for the purpose of these stories, let's just suppose that anarcho-capitalism can be made to work—not as a kind of utopia, but working well enough to be usable.
erika_is_reading's review against another edition
4.0
I loved this book. Vinge's characters are nicely complex, the ideas are not just clever but really thoughtful and then explored and pushed beyond the obvious, the plot is nicely complex, . . . and the underlying questions (or at least the ones that occurred to me) are all the ones I want to think about these days. When you combine an apocalypse / the singularity with the ability to extend life beyond anything we today can really get our minds around, you see to the heart of things, I believe, what people, individually and as a species, really are. And when your characters live 9000 years (biologically, albeit across an inconceivable stretch of time through bobbling), with virtual omniscience on account of technology / headbands / databases, and yet there are still not only distinct personalities but judgment calls and choices to be made, moral decisions, made differently, which seems right and true . . . well, that, to me, proves the essence of what we are. So this goes to a question that arose in my EFM class earlier this week. Why read apocalyptic literature? For me, because I am interested in man's relationship with truth and with God. I think it strips away all the variables.
leftylucyprivateeye's review against another edition
4.0
Unique, if somewhat dated, take on time travel and the singularity. Vinge always has big ideas that make you think outside of the box and while this may not be his strongest effort, I suspect I'll be thinking about it's implications for a while.
thestarman's review
3.0
VERDICT: 3 stars.
REVIEW: Ambitious but ponderous SF/Fantasy. First half cured my insomnia. Second half jumped the time-shark, but was interesting.
REVIEW: Ambitious but ponderous SF/Fantasy. First half cured my insomnia. Second half jumped the time-shark, but was interesting.
chutten's review
4.0
I prefer the Zones of Thought novels, but this was an enjoyable one-two punch. The characters fell a little flat (especially the women), but overall it was quite nice.