A Fire Upon the Deep

I’m about 50 pages into this book. So far it seems to be a story about advanced humans finding a medieval race if sentient wolves — almost more of a fantasy novel. Does it get better?

Edit: thanks for the encouragement. I’m going to keep at it. Sounds like most people really enjoy this book.

After many years I'm re-reading A Fire Upon The Deep and something I've never understood about this book (one of many things actually, ha) is what exactly are "automations"? He talks about automations working better in the Beyond than in the Slow Zone due to FTL communication, and talks about Powers in the Transcend using automations as almost a sort of currency in commerce with the Beyonders. Just what the hell are these automations? It seems so vague. Are they constructed AI? Quantum processes that modify perceived reality? Something else entirely? Halp!

Hi everyone,

I lead a college science fiction book club. After finishing a book we usually watch a related sci-fi movie. We just finished Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, and I'm wracking my brains for a movie that deals with similar themes and worldbuilding—space opera, near-omnipotent superintelligence with unclear intentions, etc.

The only thing I can think of is Star Trek: The Motion Picture as V'Ger fits the bill. Still, that's a pretty unimaginative pick. Any other suggestions?

Thanks!

After reading several Expanse novels I decided I wanted to check out a classic space opera and Vernor Vinge's "A Fire Upon the Deep" was my first choice because I heard it was like Mass Effect.

I am having loads of fun reading it. I loved the world Vinge has created and it has given me the same sense of wonder the first Mass Effect game has given me.

What other books are like it?

And I also must say A Fire Upon the Deep has brought back the joy of reading sci fi for me. I love diving into new and exciting worlds.

If you finished the books and are in withdrawal I would like to recommend A Fire Upon the Deep by Vinor Vinge. Space opera with grand scale.

It won the Hugo Award in 1993.

*Please note English is not my native language and there isn't a translated copy available.

I m actually looking for a good space opera/hard SciFi. I've literally read everything translated into my language! To help you understand my level in English, I finished the "Old man's war" and "Bobiverse" series and found them quite easy, but I couldn't get into Reynolds "House of Suns".

Thank you!

I finished and loved A Fire Upon the Deep. The Zones of Thought premise in particular I thought was really cool, but looking at the sequels it looks like they're both set in the Slow Zone, which seems to me like it would make it impossible to engage with that premise anymore. My question is, do the sequels still use the Zones of Thought idea or is it more standard science fiction?

I have just finished this three book ( A fire on the Deep, A Deepness in the sky and Children of the sky) series and I feel cheated.

The first book A fire upon the Deep is brilliant. First class writing.

The second book, A Deepness in the Sky is similarly excellent, although has nothing to do with the first book. (i.e brand new characters, different story plot)

The third book Children of the Sky, is to say the least, mediocre writing. But what is the worst for me is that it has NOTHING to do with the second book, but rather is a continuation of the first book.

So basically, the second book is a stand alone book. A good story indeed, but has nothing to do with the series.

Amazon sells them as a Qeng Ho series, implying they are all interconnected. Other than brazen cheating by the publishers and Amazon, am I perhaps missing something?

As the title states, I just started this book expecting a mind blowing scifi space opera but instead I am reading a medieval adventure with sentient wolves? I am usually very patient with the beginning of long epics, but this one is bothering me more than usual. Was expecting a story with advanced alien empires and a massive cosmic threat, but instead I feel like I discovered a medieval world while playing a game of Stellaris. I just hope we can get off this wolf planet soon and get back to space. If half the book is here then I'm out.

Forgive my venting.

PS I love Stellaris. I am not making a dig at it.

First time reading a Vernor Vinge book. I'm about a quarter of the way into A Deepness in the Sky. Starting to get to a point where I'm wondering about references made in the book to the larger human space. Is the first book tightly tied to backstory of the Qenq Ho and Emergents or Should I continue with Deepness in the Sky and read the first book on its own later?

Just finished A Fire Upon The Deep and it's probably my fav sci fi book of all time. The plot was engaging, the characters were great, specially the 'Tines and the whole Zone thing was mind blowing. If anyone want a good sci fi read, highly recommended.

I like the Culture series a lot too, though I just read two books of it, Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Player of Games was good, but Use of Weapons was much much better. Iam not gonna get into details but you should read it too, you won't regret it. The man Zakalwe is great.

Iam actually looking for sci-fi books with an unique universe or world. You can say Iam looking for good space operas ; like Culture or AFUTD. The rest of the Culture series and The deepness in the sky (sort of a prequel of AFUTD) is in my tbr list.

Pls suggest me something like these two series.

Thanks

Finally had a chance to read Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep - totally blown away by how many interesting ideas it weaves together into one amazing story!

Its also one of the first books to look at the idea of the technological singularity (AI self-improving and rapidly surpassing human intelligence), and I loved the idea here of super-advanced AI effectively becoming gods. What other books do you think explored possible futures with AI in a good way?

Fire is set in an interconnected, multi-species galaxy. A colony of humans starts tinkering with an old artifact, and naturally, they awaken an ancient power. The reborn AI sets off on a reign of destruction, and soon is killing even other AI deities.

The key to saving the universe is on a primitive, medieval world populated by doglike aliens called Tines. The Tines are pack beings joined by telepathic communication, allowing 4-8 singletons to function as a single individual. That unique biology has all kinds of wild implications, making them some of the most interesting aliens in all of sci fi.

Then there are the Scroderiders - essentially trees riding segways. Their mounts also give them short term memory, and they periodically unplug to take a break and exist in the moment. As such, they're an incredibly interesting way to think about the existential value of technological and knowledge-seeking progress versus contentment, and what truly makes us happy.

Vinge was also spot on about the future downsides of the internet. Many of the chapters start out with messages or comments threads on the Galactic Internet that show how other species and entities are reacting to the plot of the story. However, much of the information on the net isn't true, and its clear many people are spinning larger events to their own benefit - serious prescience for a book published in 1992, given the current state of the internet, and the propaganda and outright lies being spouted by all kinds of countries and individuals.

And finally, the whole book is tied together into an incredibly tight plot that keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole time. Vinge doesn’t have to step out of the story to convey his themes and ideas, and at the end everything lands at once, and its exciting as hell. If you haven't read it, do yourself a favor and check this one out!

P.S. did a full review for the Hugonauts if you're into podcasts - search Hugonauts on your podcast app of choice (or here's the if you're more into video). Happy reading everybody!

Just wanted to start a discussion about this book and its concepts. I have to say I think there were more new/original ideas shoved into this book than I've ever seen before. Love the original races, thought the many-billion-year-old universe setting was quite well put together, and the concept of the various zones of the galaxy was amazing.

I did find it was a tough book to read, and pages ~100-~300 were a bit of a slog.

Curious to others' opinions?

Finally had a chance to read Vernor Vinge's A Fire Upon the Deep, and I am so impressed! It had so many big ideas / themes, but they're woven together seamlessly into such a tight plot that I absolutely could not put it down. I never would have thought you could do so much one in book! Absolutely deserves the Hugo award it won for best sci fi novel in 1993.

FUTD is set in an interconnected, multi-species galaxy. A colony of humans starts tinkering with an old artifact, and naturally, they awaken an ancient power. The reborn AI sets off on a reign of destruction, and soon is killing even other AI deities.

The key to saving the universe is on a primitive, medieval world populated by doglike aliens called Tines. The Tines are pack beings joined by telepathic communication, allowing 4-8 singletons to function as a single individual. That unique biology has all kinds of wild implications, making them some of the most interesting aliens I've ever read about.

Then there are the Scroderiders - essentially trees riding segways. Their mounts also give them short term memory, and they periodically unplug to take a break and exist in the moment. As such, they're an incredibly interesting way to think about the existential value of technological and knowledge-seeking progress versus contentment, and what truly makes us happy.

Vinge was also spot on about the downsides of the internet. Many of the chapters start out with messages or comments threads on the Galactic Internet that show how other species and entities are reacting to the plot of the story. However, much of the information on the net isn't true, and its clear many people are spinning larger events to their own benefit - serious prescience for a book published in the early 90s, given the current state of the internet, the propaganda and outright lies being spouted by all kinds of countries and individuals.

I loved the idea here of super-advanced AI effectively becoming gods, and it feels like its definitely one of the best sci fi books about AI. What do you think are the other contenders? Also loved Ancillary Justice, would love other recommendations in that shared vein!

PS did a full review for the Hugonauts if you're into podcasts - search Hugonauts on your podcast app of choice. Happy reading everybody!