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palaris's review against another edition
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
I was reading this when Vernor passed away sadly. I enjoyed this book more than the first one in the series. But the first one is needed to explain what's happening in this book, otherwise it'd be much more confusing. This book reads like a high-tech noir novel, it's very mysterious. I thought it was fun, there were some slow parts, but not a bad read. I'll miss you, Vernor.
jhallobc's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
empoi's review against another edition
4.0
A detective story set in a far future world after baubels ravaged the world. Classic whodunnit with interesting scifi plot elements. Some farfetched conclusions reaching a bit far away from a real good time.
jonathanpalfrey's review
5.0
This story presents a powerful and original vision of the future, and dramatizes the experiences of people living through it. The aspects of it that depend on bobble technology are unlikely, because bobble technology is implausible—but fascinating, because so much can be done with it. The other aspects of this future are more plausible and may well come about sometime.
In particular, Vinge used this book to talk about his idea of the Singularity: the idea that ever-accelerating technological changes will at some point turn humanity into something transcendental and unimaginable. Because it's unimaginable, he can't show it to us; instead, he shows what leads up to it, quite persuasively.
I give the book five stars because I'm impressed by the vivid vision of the future. There's also a murder mystery that runs through it, which is OK, but unlikely to impress connoisseurs of murder mysteries. The extracts from Marta's diary are quite interesting in a way, but they ramble on somewhat without advancing the plot much, and I tend to skim over them when rereading the book.
The characters of this story are varied, and competently drawn, but their behaviour is sometimes implausible. At one point we're told that Della Lu is 9000 years old, thanks to future medical technology, but it's impossible to portray someone of that age convincingly; and the hint of a romantic relationship between her and the 50-year-old Wil Brierson seems rather preposterous. Juan Chanson's life history, when we discover what it was, seems implausible in a different way.
In particular, Vinge used this book to talk about his idea of the Singularity: the idea that ever-accelerating technological changes will at some point turn humanity into something transcendental and unimaginable. Because it's unimaginable, he can't show it to us; instead, he shows what leads up to it, quite persuasively.
I give the book five stars because I'm impressed by the vivid vision of the future. There's also a murder mystery that runs through it, which is OK, but unlikely to impress connoisseurs of murder mysteries. The extracts from Marta's diary are quite interesting in a way, but they ramble on somewhat without advancing the plot much, and I tend to skim over them when rereading the book.
The characters of this story are varied, and competently drawn, but their behaviour is sometimes implausible. At one point we're told that Della Lu is 9000 years old, thanks to future medical technology, but it's impossible to portray someone of that age convincingly; and the hint of a romantic relationship between her and the 50-year-old Wil Brierson seems rather preposterous. Juan Chanson's life history, when we discover what it was, seems implausible in a different way.
bunrab's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent murder mystery as well as truly original science fiction concept.
carmiendo's review against another edition
4.0
i totally enjoyed reading this, but it wasn't mindblowing or anything. i'll probably keep reading books by this guy. and maybe someday start believing in / fearing the singularity in our future.
hagbard_celine's review against another edition
4.0
What a great Whodunnit! The ending didn't *quite* do it for me, but maybe that's because I demand unsubtle resolution from every book except Infinite Jest.
Ok, good manners require a SPOILER tag here:
I'm pretty sure that Our Hero's wife ascended the Godhead or whatever Singularity-speak is appropriate, and is involved periodically through the story, at the very least in the form of the final dream sequence. But I am also not great at piecing together implicit stuff like that in books.
So really I have no idea what really happened, but I had a helluva time getting to this point of fuzzy satisfaction.
Ok, good manners require a SPOILER tag here:
I'm pretty sure that Our Hero's wife ascended the Godhead or whatever Singularity-speak is appropriate, and is involved periodically through the story, at the very least in the form of the final dream sequence. But I am also not great at piecing together implicit stuff like that in books.
So really I have no idea what really happened, but I had a helluva time getting to this point of fuzzy satisfaction.
ninj's review against another edition
5.0
Just after starting it I was thinking this wasn't going to be quite what I thought, or where I thought it was going to go. But it all turned out quite fantastic, despite it being some time since I read the first book in the series.
rberenguel's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
After reading A Fire Upon the Deep, which is supposedly Vinge’s best book, I didn’t really think of reading anything else: I didn’t like it that much (it had some things, though). Marooned in Realtime was, by contrast, thrilling. If I didn’t finish in one day (a very, very long train trip) it was because I wanted it to be 2024s first book