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Vinge's masterpieces together at last, in one epic volume The Hugo Award winning A FIRE UPON THE DEEP and its epic companion novel A DEEPNESS IN THE SKY, set in the same universe but 20,000 years earlier, were benchmarks for SF in the last decade of the 20th century. In FIRE 'Vinge presents a galaxy divided into Zones - regions where different physical constraints allow very different technological and mental possibilities. Earth remains in the "Slowness" zone, where nothing can travel faster than light and minds are fairly limited. The action of the book is in the "Beyond", where translight travel and other marvels exist, and humans are one of many intelligent species. One human colony has been experimenting to find a path to the "Transcend", where intelligence and power are so great as to seem godlike. Instead they release the Blight, an evil power, from a billion-year captivity.' Publisher's Weekly In DEEPNESS, 'the story has the same sense of epic vastness despite happening mostly in one isolated solar system. Here there's a world of intelligent spider creatures who traditionally hibernate through the "Deepest Darkness" of their strange variable sun's long "off" periods, when even the atmosphere freezes. Now, science offers them an alternative. Meanwhile, attracted by spider radio transmissions, two human starfleets come exploring - merchants hoping for customers and tyrants who want slaves. Their inevitable clash leaves both fleets crippled, with the power in the wrong hands, which leads to a long wait in space until the spiders develop exploitable technology. Over the years Vinge builds palpable tension through multiple storylines and characters.' Dave Langford… (more)
User reviews
Against this backdrop humans have long made it to the Beyond, and in this series we also encounter some of the most memorable, original and endearing aliens I've read in science fiction. In A Fire Upon a Deep there are the dog-like Tines who have packs that form one individual mind, and the Riders--something like potted plants--or potted sea weed. In A Deepness in the Sky there are the "Spiders" of Arachna. And in both cases they interesting not just as races but as individuals. The second book is a prequel to the first, with Pham Nuwen, one of the most intriguing human characters in the series as the common factor.
Peaking at reviews a lot of people expressed disappointment in the third book, a direct sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. I beg to differ though--I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and found the third book just as suspenseful and moving as the previous novels in Zones of Thought trilogy--or, I think, series, since given where this ends this demands more. Maybe that's why some found this a let down. Either of the first books could be read as stand alones. There's a good case to be made for reading either of those first two books first. That's not true of The Children of the Sky. It's no standalone, and I'm glad I had recently read A Fire Upon the Deep otherwise I imagine I might have been a bit lost. Children of the Sky begins two years after the first book ends. We meet a lot of old friends again: Pilgrim, Woodcarver, Amdi, Ravna, Johanna, Jefri--and well, others not so cuddly. But there are new characters, alien and human into the mix. If I have any criticism, it's that one development that is supposed to be a shock I could see coming a mile away--although my clue was this writerly thing that those who don't pay close attention to technique might not notice. Otherwise I'm still very charmed by the dog-like Tines, still find Vinge a remarkable storyteller, and I'm looking forward to the next (and last?) book in this series.