Stories don't go much better than this. One of my favorites universes.
I really love Vernor Vinges universe as well. One of the things I love about this book is all the great concepts in it. It's a very thought provoking book. One of my all time favorite Sci-Fi novels.
I have not read much SF, I lean more towards historical novels but would like to expand my reading experience. Would this book be a good launching place for a SF newbie?
It does feel like an historical novel, and I looooved this book, but maybe not because it's a thick book and pretty dense, so if science speculation makes you impatient, you might not enjoy it. It reads like a hi tech fairy tale?
If you can get it from the library you might scan it in places, see if it holds your interest.