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sebas83bi 's review for:
A Fire Upon the Deep
by Vernor Vinge
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I wanted a space opera, I got medieval hive-mind dogs in a fantasy world. The exobiology of hive-mind dogs and trees on wheels may be mildly interesting, but it doesn't need to be tread out in bloated 579 pages. It is a space opera in some sense, but everything is so small, you encounter more diversity of life in any Russian 19th century classic without leaving earth. Also, this is often described as if it were hard SF. Well, hard SF traces in a fantasy novel with 90s internet vibes. Really not a recommend. It was a slog.
One last positive thing: Vinge pulls it off without any exposition dumps, so this is an aspect of the book which is admirable.
One last positive thing: Vinge pulls it off without any exposition dumps, so this is an aspect of the book which is admirable.