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A Deepness in the Sky Hardcover – February 15, 1999

by Vernor Vinge (Author)

369 customer reviews

Book 2 of 3 in the Zones of Thought Series

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After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. 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 two hundred and fifty 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.

A Deepness in the Sky is a 1999 Nebula Award Nominee for Best Novel and the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

This hefty novel returns to the universe of Vernor Vinge's 1993 Hugo winner A Fire Upon the Deep--but 30,000 years earlier. 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. In the sky, hopes of rebellion against tyranny continue despite soothing lies, brutal repression, and a mental bondage that can convert people into literal tools. Down below, the engagingly sympathetic spiders have their own problems. In flashback, we see the grandiose ideals and ultimate betrayal of the merchant culture's founder, now among the human contingent and pretending to be a senile buffoon while plotting, plotting... Major revelations, ironies, and payoffs follow. A powerful story in the grandest SF tradition. --David Langford, Amazon.co.uk

From Library Journal

A war between two rival civilizations over trading rights to the planet Arachna results in the virtual enslavement of the Qeng Ho by the victorious Emergent culture. As the Spider-folk of Arachna evolve in their customary cyclical pattern, unaware of the threat that lies in their near future, a few Qeng Ho rebels work desperately to free themselves and save Arachna from conquest. This prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep (Tor, 1992) demonstrates Vinge's capacity for meticulously detailed culture-building and grand-scale sf drama. Recommended for most sf collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product details

Series: Zones of Thought Sequel (Book 2)
Hardcover: 608 pages
Publisher: Tor Books; 1st edition (February 15, 1999)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0312856830
ISBN-13: 978-0312856830
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.9 x 9.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
Average Customer Review: 369 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #554,634 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2441 in Books > Science Fiction & Fantasy > Science Fiction > Hard Science Fiction
- #69202 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States

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A MUST for SF readers but with a warning about format

September 1, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

I read this book the first time when it was first published and considered it a masterpiece of SF, with so many ideas and themes that it really
NEEDED its 700+ pages. I am re-reading it again for my book group and am pleased to report that on re-reading I still feel the same way. EVERY SF fan should read this book.
BUT THIS TIME I read it on my kindle (for only $2.99 thanks to Matchbook pricing, since I bought my hardcopy edition from Amazon in 1999), and I cannot really recommend this book on Kindle without a warning. Like many books, this one switches scenes within the same chapter, e.g., from humans to the "Spiders". The hardcopy contains the conventional blank line that warns the reader of the shift. The Kindle format does not, and the reader is often brought up short as they realize something has changed. My immersion in Vinge's world is interrupted, and my enjoyment suffers.
If the publisher is listening, please reformat your ebook.
Prospective readers, DO get this book, but the choice of medium may be more difficult than usual.

21 people found this helpful22 people found this helpful

Deep thoughts. Amazing space opera. Mind blown.

July 16, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is the second book in the series and contains the prequel of Pham Nuwen adventures that lead up to his being found in the first novel.

The first novel gave us a species of alien that were a race of collective beings/intelligence. This one turns the bug war theme on its head and shows us a sympathetic species of arachnids. This species is being watched by group of Queng Ho and an antagonistic rival, the Emergent with the hopes the arachnids will develop the technology that will save the humans and allow them to go home.

Spanning over 40 years of objective time, Vinge spins one of the most imaginative SciFi stories I have ever encountered. We have vivid description of the advancing of an alien civilization, we have the back history of the Queng Ho and Pham Nuwen and the conflict between space faring cultures. Vernor Vinge is a mind boggling visionary.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

Qeng Ho, let’s go!

May 15, 2016

Format: Mass Market PaperbackVerified Purchase

“Humankind had often imagined, but never created a general assembler”. Nothing is easy in Vernor Vinge’s Qeng Ho universe. No short cuts are allowed, neither for science nor for humans or aliens. Golgothas have to be climbed, sacrifices have to be made, decades, centuries or even millennia have to crawl before dreams are realized or, more often than not, betrayed.

A Deepness in the Sky is science fiction at its very best with believable aliens and even more believable humans. The concepts are mind-boggling, the ideas are abundant and the culmination to the climax is a masterclass.

Vernor Vinge takes his time. 770 pages were needed to reveal, one after the other, the secrets and the evolution of an exotic, and not anthropomorphically bipedal alien civilization (remember, nothing is easy) along with the struggles of human space traders, their ruthless human opponents and the personal apotheosis of one of science fiction’s most intriguing characters, the one and only leader of the Queng Ho, Pham Nuwen.

A Deepness in the Sky is one of the rarest diamonds of science fiction which give the genre a good name.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

One of the greatest sci fi books ever

January 1, 2016

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is probably one of the greatest plotted novels in all of science fiction, even of fiction in general. Only Vinge could bring humanity to spiders on a far away world.

The book is gripping from beginning to end, spanning thousands of years in narrative. There are dozens of threads going on throughout the book and Vinge manages to keep them all clear and progressing to a very satisfying conclusion.

If you haven't read this book, you are missing out on the best science fiction has to offer, and one hell of an author.

I do recommend reading the first book in this series first. While it is not necessary from a plot angle (as the two stories take part thousands of years away from each other) one of the characters (sort of) in both is more appreciated if encountered in the first book first. The character is one of the best ever in science fiction. I won't say who it is.

4 people found this helpful5 people found this helpful

Really Old Baby

As expected! Thumbs up.

May 10, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This a typical Vinge book in that it's full of interesting concepts and characters, but the first 75% of this chewy, nutritious "meal" of a book requires that the reader literally slog through boredom and or apathy for most of the buildup to the end (I found myself often exiting my Kindle app to check FB or Twitter through the first half of the book because I felt so understimulated). THAT SAID, there's a whirlwind of twists and fruition of plans that will keep you glued to the last quarter of the book. I also like the way Vinge gives enough closure at the ends of his stories, but never totally explains or resolves some problems, nor does he give you so much closure that you stop wanting a little more story. I would personally recommend reading this story before A Fire Upon the Deep, as it's chronologically first in the Zones of Thought universe and helps create a better understanding of a few characters in the other books in the series.

2 people found this helpful3 people found this helpful

Kristopher M. Schnee

June 21, 2015

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

This is the sort of novel that it's said can't win awards anymore: science fiction where the science matters, plot and character come before any "message", and what ideological ax-grinding exists is smoothly made part of the plot and presents liberty of thought and action as a Good Thing.

It's set in the far future and the main action is spread over a century or so, with characters spending much of their time in cryo-sleep, living on huge starships, so it can be a little hard to relate to. Still, the characters' attempts to stay human and think about normal things like green space, art and family are central to the story. The action is split between the human spacers and the native "Spiders", who are sometimes jarringly human-like. Cleverly, though, Vinge implies that the Spider chapters look this way because of how the humans' translators work, and the anthropomorphism is crucial to the plot. Nicely done.

I came to this book without having read "A Fire Upon the Deep" and had no problems understanding it.

3 people found this helpful4 people found this helpful

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