meghar 's review for:

A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge

5.0

adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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Summary can’t do this book justice, it is so tightly crafted, so complex yet compelling and has one of the most original alien societies in fiction (Vinge’s skill at showing, not telling, as we meet the characters in this society and gradually, with perfect pace, work out what’s going on, is flawless.) I don’t know how a human came up with any of this, much less kept track of and tied up every single plot thread satisfyingly by the end. Everything has relevance, the characters are fascinating and likeable, and the conceit of the setting (technological progress is dictated by your geographical position in the galaxy) is wielded expertly. At the risk of repetition, to try and sum up the plot of this book would require writing a review the same length as the book itself - go in blind to this and immerse yourself within one of the most interesting and enjoyable stories written.