A Fire Upon The Deep (Zones of Thought)
by Vernor Vinge
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
space opera lovers, science fiction readers
Review originally published at Dusk Before the Dawn
Winner of the 1993 Hugo
Vernor Vinge is in the list of SF/Fantasy novelists with the most Hugo/Nebula awards. Yet I had not yet read any of his works. This is my first; it is excellent and imaginative space opera, with at least three alien species that are well thought through and intertwines micro and macro plot elements.
The macro element involves a Transcendent being cal...more
Winner of the 1993 Hugo
Vernor Vinge is in the list of SF/Fantasy novelists with the most Hugo/Nebula awards. Yet I had not yet read any of his works. This is my first; it is excellent and imaginative space opera, with at least three alien species that are well thought through and intertwines micro and macro plot elements.
The macro element involves a Transcendent being cal...more
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Read in January, 2005
recommends it for:
anyone who's ever thought they could possibly stomach science fiction
I want to make it clear that I don't lightly write rave reviews. Please read the following sentence twice:
This is an absolutely fantastic book.
On the outskirts of the Galaxy, far from the physical constraints of the Galactic core, faster-than-light travel is possible, and Transcended intelligences flourish to a complexity that dwarfs human comprehension. Scavenging for buried knowledge on a dead world, a party of humans awakes an ancient evil: an archive containing an entity so ...more
This is an absolutely fantastic book.
On the outskirts of the Galaxy, far from the physical constraints of the Galactic core, faster-than-light travel is possible, and Transcended intelligences flourish to a complexity that dwarfs human comprehension. Scavenging for buried knowledge on a dead world, a party of humans awakes an ancient evil: an archive containing an entity so ...more
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recommends it for:
any science-fiction fan
The first third of this book is some of the best science-fiction I have ever read: good writing, fast pace, some breathtaking action, excellent balance between narrative and explanation, and some really, REALLY cool ideas thoroughly thought-out and implemented. Several times my brain practically crackled and I said, "wow" out loud when certain ideas Vinge had been hinting at "clicked" and became clear. Vinge is also pretty skilled at keeping the vast hard-sci-fi-space-oper...more
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Read in June, 2008
The book was pretty OK overall if maybe a little overly long. The last 100 pages were definitely exhilirating. The most interesting ideas:
1. The Galaxy being divided up into three diferent zones of consciousness which govern how intelligent a species can be
2. The presence of Group Minds which is based on a form of audible communication in a different range than just speaking to one another. This is why the Tines can't get to close to each other lest their thoughts get muddled.
3. The integ...more
1. The Galaxy being divided up into three diferent zones of consciousness which govern how intelligent a species can be
2. The presence of Group Minds which is based on a form of audible communication in a different range than just speaking to one another. This is why the Tines can't get to close to each other lest their thoughts get muddled.
3. The integ...more
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Read in January, 1993
This is one of my all time Top 10 sci/fi novels. Like most great science fiction, the intrigue is not in the characterization, but in the "power of the premise" and the fascinating worlds in which amazing adventure takes place. Vernor Vinge is a master of the power-premise. By hypothesizing a few unique "laws" of physics, he creates an utterly unique universe and then creates the fascinating interstellar society which might result from his new physics. This alone sets the...more
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Read in March, 1999
[from my book lover's journal at the time of reading]
Blueshell, Ravna Bergnsdot, Jefri & Johanna Olsndot, Pham Nuwen, Woodcarver, Pilgrim (Wickwrackrumscar), Steel, Flenser, Vendacius--memorable characters cuz i even know their names! Like other BIG BOOKS, it's about BIG THINGS but not big in a philosophical way; it's a big event story. I mean, saving the galaxy, literally changing the physical nature of an entire galaxy is no little threat. Perhaps Vinge's trying out a fictional way of ex...more
Blueshell, Ravna Bergnsdot, Jefri & Johanna Olsndot, Pham Nuwen, Woodcarver, Pilgrim (Wickwrackrumscar), Steel, Flenser, Vendacius--memorable characters cuz i even know their names! Like other BIG BOOKS, it's about BIG THINGS but not big in a philosophical way; it's a big event story. I mean, saving the galaxy, literally changing the physical nature of an entire galaxy is no little threat. Perhaps Vinge's trying out a fictional way of ex...more
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Read in July, 2008
My dad recommended this book to me based on how much I liked Ender's Game, and, although it turns out that his memory of the book was more positive than it was the second time he read it, there was a lot here to appreciate. I'm not by nature a Science Fiction lover, but I'm totally open to good books in any genre.
A Fire Upon The Deep is solidly a good book, and one with ideas that seemed remarkably new and fascinating to me. I'm a lover of plot, though, and ideas alone won't inspire me to f...more
A Fire Upon The Deep is solidly a good book, and one with ideas that seemed remarkably new and fascinating to me. I'm a lover of plot, though, and ideas alone won't inspire me to f...more
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It had been quite a while since I'd read a plot driven novel, let alone a good old-fashioned Scifi, and maybe that's why it took a while to get into this one. But once I turned down my snob dial and stopped looking for weaknesses, it happened. I became absorbed, and resistance was futile!
At times the characters come off as two-dimensional, but that's okay. My biggest nitpick is that Vinge's overall macro setting is extremely interesting, but poorly defined. His theory is that the galaxy is d...more
At times the characters come off as two-dimensional, but that's okay. My biggest nitpick is that Vinge's overall macro setting is extremely interesting, but poorly defined. His theory is that the galaxy is d...more
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Read in April, 2008
This is a great book! If you like science fiction it's a must read for you, especially if you enjoy varied, interesting alien species.
I only had two minor problems with this book. I could never really buy the author's idea of "zones of thought" and found it to be distracting as I was reading. Also, this book switches perspective - a lot! I found myself getting exasperated occasionally when I really wanted to know what was going on with one of the characters, and found myself seein...more
I only had two minor problems with this book. I could never really buy the author's idea of "zones of thought" and found it to be distracting as I was reading. Also, this book switches perspective - a lot! I found myself getting exasperated occasionally when I really wanted to know what was going on with one of the characters, and found myself seein...more
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Has a copy to sell/swap
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
long-standing SF fans
This is a dense book with a somewhat opaque start. Those who are familiar with the SF genre and are somewhat well-read will be able to enjoy the opening chapters. Vinge has the ability to fully submerse the reader in his world with little to no preamble, and whereas this can be disconcerting for some, I find it thoroughly enjoyable and enhances the reading experience to no end.
The premise of this book is certainly one of the most interesting among the many SF novels I've read - I enjoyed the...more
The premise of this book is certainly one of the most interesting among the many SF novels I've read - I enjoyed the...more
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I loved the ideas I was introduced to in this book, including Vinge's technological singularity and the Zones of Thought, an interesting ploy to be able to still write human stories in a universe where the singularity has already happened. The concept of a low-bandwidth intergalactic internet that forces text as the most far-reaching means of communication, along with all the attendant filtering and interpretation required, was a lot of fun.
The book was a very well-constructed space opera. ...more
The book was a very well-constructed space opera. ...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Tony by:
Elise Matthesen
Overall this was a very good read. I particularly enjoyed Vinge's vision of the Known Net and how societies depend on it for communication. The Tines cultures were also fun. As with many alien sci-fi cultures, there are many parallels between them and human cultures, some of them plausible, some of them not. However, the way he sets up the conflict between the Flenserists and the Woodcarvers is intriguing, and the characters involved interesting and engaging.
The only major criticism I ha...more
The only major criticism I ha...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
librarians
When I read this book, I thought it offered fantastic new perpectives on the impact of gravity on time and space and the construction of conscious thought. Now that I am in library school, I can see that this book could have been titled "Where's a Librarian When You Need One?" I think librarians will understand what I mean when they read the book, as information mismanagement lies at the heart of all the problems that challenge the heroes. In fact the heroine is a sort of librarian, th...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommends it for:
star gazers, anyone with a sense of wonder, anyone with a sense of self-importance
At first, I was considering giving this only 4 stars...simply because it is SO long and took SO much time get through...but why penalize a great story for my shortcomings?
This is a book that will make your imagination hurt.
Such sweeping, huge ideas...unimaginable distances and spaces...bottomless expanses of time. Vinge handles the macro (the VERY macro) and the micro with the same finesse and an endless sense of possibility...it is mind blowing.
And for all that the novel covered ...more
This is a book that will make your imagination hurt.
Such sweeping, huge ideas...unimaginable distances and spaces...bottomless expanses of time. Vinge handles the macro (the VERY macro) and the micro with the same finesse and an endless sense of possibility...it is mind blowing.
And for all that the novel covered ...more
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Read in January, 2004
recommends it for:
Anyone
This book is one of my favorites. Vernor Vinge is one of the best creative minds writing science fiction today. He is obviously well educated, especially in computer science, and has equally obviously spent some time writing software. His portrayal of high technology civilizations and far future technology is therefore more thoughtful and frankly more interesting than it could be otherwise. This book is a grand 'space opera' in the tradition of Asimov, but updated and expanded using a curren...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
anyone
This is a fantastic pseudo-sequel to the book " A deepness in the sky".
Vinge continues to do a fantastic job of wrapping a very complicated human drama and plot twists any author would pat themeselves on the back for, all in a far future universe populated with wonderful characters/creatures/worlds/technology. If you like science fiction, you have to read this book - it's ...more
Vinge continues to do a fantastic job of wrapping a very complicated human drama and plot twists any author would pat themeselves on the back for, all in a far future universe populated with wonderful characters/creatures/worlds/technology. If you like science fiction, you have to read this book - it's ...more
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Read in October, 1993
This book was a lot of fun, though there were some characters I was more interesting in following than others (and so when a chapter would end with a cliffhanger involving an interesting set of characters and the next chapter would move to a different set, I'd skip those chapters until I found out what happened to the characters I was interested in). I liked the idea of different zone in space with different laws of physics, and found this book very enjoyable.
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recommends it for:
sci fi geeks with a lot of time
this is not a short book, so be prepared. Author creates a dizzying universe of technology, Artificial Intelligence and Aliens. I've read a lot of Sci-Fi and this one is unique. The main problem is I failed to identify with any of the characters. I can remember the events and the unusual aliens (the wolves were something I'd never conceived) and the entire story line, but I cannot remember a single character.
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recommends it for:
sci-fi lovers
This is one of the weirdest books I've ever read. It was amazingly creative and clever, and is easily one of the best sci-fi books I've ever laid hands on. The only problem is that it is written in such an extreme third-person viewpoint that people not experienced with sci-fi material will have trouble understanding what is going on; as such, I can only recommend it to experienced sci-fi readers.
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Absolutely awesome. One of my favorite scifi novels of all time. Be warned I think Vernor Vinge writes some of the nastiest villains in any book series I've ever read. there are some awesome ideas in this book. It's rare that I get caught up in how cool a concept is but this book has that in spades. There are several awesome ideas in here that will leave you laying awake for nights on end.
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