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Liked It1 of 1 members found this review helpful “Sci-fi set in Vinge's [u]Fire upon the Deep[/u] universe, it's described by [a href="http://www.salon.com/tech/feature/1999/04/05/vinge/print.html"] salon magazine[/a] as[br] [tt]a look at what the universe would be like if the technological optimists are not right.[/tt][br] ...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“One of the all time best sci-fi books, in my opinion. This author has some great ideas and I just cant put down one of his books”
Erik H wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“Excellent. Love the characters and also explains the Qeng Ho in detail. The aliens are also very entertaining.”
Butch F wrote this review Thursday, September 10 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“As all good books, the first 100 pages is just reading. After that the story gathers momentum and the imagination of Vince seems to have no bounadries.
Joost A wrote this review Wednesday, May 13 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I liked it a lot.”“Pretty damn good. Not my usual cup of tea, but I found myself getting wrapped up in this one. It's sci fi in the old school tradition, but really compelling. ”
imagisme wrote this review Monday, February 23 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“If you're a fan of hard science fiction you've probably already read this. As with his earlier book "Fire Upon the Deep", the book to which this is a loosely attached prequel, Vinge tells a thick, rich story filled with mind-bending tech concepts and surprising plot twists.
Milo wrote this review Tuesday, July 1 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
His descriptions (for example, characters struggling to get through a lake suddenly made weightless in zero G) are very well written.
Mostly, he does a really great job of creating a sense of what alien minds might work like. Here, it's intelligent spiders. In Fire Upon the Deep, the aliens are packs of dogs with group minds. But instead of trying to rehash the previous story, he takes elements from the first book- protagonist Pham Nuwen, aliens, and cool science-- and lets them go their own way. You'd think that such a long, dense tome would have you skipping to the end. But he keeps you in there all the way through. In the world of hardcore sf, Vinge is among the elite.”
“Oh, wait this is the best book ever, 11/10.”
Daniel C wrote this review Monday, June 16 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“"A Fire on the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky" are masterpieces of science fiction. These tales are so compelling and interesting that I can't imagine finishing 'A Fire on the Deep' without immediately wanting to start 'A Deepness in the Sky'.
Mark W wrote this review Wednesday, April 2 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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“I loved the way that the author made me see the different groups involved in the story. The familiarity of the "aliens," and the strangeness of the "humans" was a nice twist. That part of it actually reminded me a bit of Octavia Butler and how she twists humanity in on itself and gets a new look at it. A really long book, but I enjoyed it a lot.”
zdislaw wrote this review Wednesday, March 12 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Although it takes place chronologically before (by tens of thousands of years) A Fire Upon the Deep, I firmly believe that it should be read afterwards, in the order it was written. That said, I thought A Fire Upon the Deep was a great book, and yet I felt A Deepness in the Sky was still a significant improvement over it. The characterization here is a lot more detailed and the characters feel very real, despite their foreignness. My only word of caution about this book is that it's best to read slowly and carefully. Rather than explain things directly to the reader, Vinge likes to detail what's happening and let the reader figure it out, and as a result I've heard of some people reading about the Spider alien race and not even realize that they aren't humans. But as always, Vinge's writing style is excellent, his ideas are both original and fascinating, and the characters and storyline are compelling throughout. ”
Steve H wrote this review Friday, January 11 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“One of the best books (not just sci-fi) that I've ever read. Very engrossing and thought provoking- don't expect a fast and easy read, do expect to want to continue reading it even after the last page is through- thankfully this is a pre-qual. The Aliens are truly alien and they felt completely 'real'. Amazing bit of writing.”
Trevolyn wrote this review Friday, January 11 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
