A Fire Upon The Deep

I have so many questions. Sound-based thought waves? The galaxy has speed zones? Ultimately though it was such a good story that I don't care much about the answers. I was super impressed by (since he was writing in 1993) and absolutely love Vinge's idea of a galaxy-wide internet that's hundreds of millions of years old and nobody knows who started it. That to me seems extremely plausible, given a universe with multiple sentient space-faring species. This was SO much fun, and anyone who loves science fiction should definitely read it.

I started reading Children of the The Sky, third and final in this trilogy but really a sequel to this book, so I just reread the beginning as a refresher (and coincidentally extolled its virtues to my neighborhood barista). This wasn't my first Vinge book, I'd read Marooned in Realtime before, which I enjoyed, but this is a far grander story, from the overarching framework of its universe down to the protagonists, including, especially, the non-human ones. The plot sort of drove me nuts with the why-can't-they-see-they're-being-fooled (now that I think about it, that's how I feel about the electorate), but the introduction to this edition ably spells out all the Hugo-winning virtues of this book, and let me just add: puppies.

Eigentlich ist es eine Mischung aus Fantasy und Science Fiction. Damit Vernor Vinge Superintelligenzen in seine Geschichte einbauen kann, muss er zwar physikalische Naturgesetze ändern, aber ich wüsste auch nicht, wie man Superintelligenz in ein menschliches Buch anders integrieren will. Der Autor stellt den Gegensatz zwischen Intelligenz und technischer Zivilisation dar. Letztlich sind es zwei orthogonale Achsen. Und - nach dem Buch kann ich mir tatsächlich vorstellen, dass es eine überindividuelle mentale Struktur, eine geteilte Seele von einzelnen Wesen gibt. Zeitweise hat es Längen und das Ende empfand ich als abrupt und etwas...unfertig nach der langen Einleitung und dem langen Hauptteil. Deswegen nur 4 von 5 Solos im Rudel.