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Vernor Vinge established himself as one of our greatest living science-fiction writers with his critically acclaimed, best-selling, Hugo Award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep. Now he returns to the captivating universe of that book, transporting us back 30,000 years.
After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. There are two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds.The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches. But first, both groups must wait at the aliens' very doorstep for their strange star to relight and for their planet to reawaken, as it does every 250 years
Then, following terrible treachery, the Qeng Ho must fight for their freedom and for the lives of the unsuspecting innocents on the planet below, while the aliens themselves play a role unsuspected by the Qeng Ho and Emergents alike.
More than just a great science-fiction adventure, A Deepness in the Sky is a universal drama of courage, self-discovery, and the redemptive power of love.
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The storylines about the humans are all the more enthralling because these are characters you come to care about, and they're in a very sticky situation indeed. The way that the bad guys mess with their victims' minds and literally integrate them into their computer systems is chilling and memorable...
The spider-beings are another example of Vinge's greatness at inventing aliens. It's true that their society and actions are couched in human terms, but that made them all the more understandable without glossing over their alienness.
It did take a fair few pages to get me hooked, though. If you're looking for something that will grip you from page one, this might not be for you...
Perhaps it was a mistake to market this as related to A Fire Upon the Deep in any way; there are only tenuous cross-references and a reader hoping to "learn more" from this prequel will be disappointed. Rather, the story should be treated as an excellent - and involving - yarn in its own right.
The spider-analog aliens do have particularly human emotions. I thought that was the point. In the course of reading this you will develop genuine empathy for creatures most would find otherwise physically repugnant.
The plot follows a complex path alternating between human and spider-analog themes and the competition of rival factions within each. The crescendo is the final coming-together. Personally I found the development and conclusion highly imaginative and very rewarding.
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