jr_mooneyham's Full Review: Vernor Vinge - A Deepness in the Sky
Though I've enjoyed lots of science fiction novels from lots of different authors over the years, there are very few that I'd rate as perfect in practically every way. This book is one of those select works.
Vinge has come a long way in developing his powers as a story-teller. Over the years he has become one of my favorites, though his earlier works often required a bit of tolerance on the reader's part here and there, much like most other novels these days. For instance, the central group politics/murder mystery/detective story theme of Marooned in Realtime often bogged down for me, as I much preferred the book's other sections detailing fantastic technologies and their implications, as well as Vinge's future history and the beguiling nature of the Singularity, and one particular deep space explorer's adventures in the uncharted void.
But Vinge seemed to reach a new level in a Fire Upon the Deep, for which A Deepness in the Sky is a sort of prequel.
In a Fire Upon the Deep, Vinge first introduced us to Pham Nuwen, a once great human space explorer and visionary of a famous galactic trading alliance called the Qeng Ho. In Fire we don't meet Nuwen himself exactly, but rather an artificial recreation (or replicant) of the man-- and an enslaved replicant at that.
The replicant is the hero of a Fire Upon the Deep, forcibly placed into the role by a God-like being called a Power, in an effort to stop another, evil Power from enslaving the galaxy. The 'good' Power apparently created the Nuwen replicant from comprehensive records of the original man, though how and why the Power obtained those records is never divulged (so far as I recall).
The Nuwen replicant in Fire is a tragic, tortured figure fully aware of his replicated and enslaved nature, but incapable of changing the circumstances, despite the fact his creator Power itself is destroyed soon after making him.
In Fire we get a glimpse here and there of the original Nuwen's fabulous past; but only that-- a glimpse. The replicant's memories are incomplete or perhaps manipulated for a variety of reasons. But in Fire the reader does come to respect, admire, and empathize with the replicant. And root for him deeply in his lop-sided struggle with the evil Power.
As you might guess from the above, having previously read a Fire Upon the Deep may leave you with a strong desire to read A Deepness in the Sky too, once you discover Deepness is about the original Nuwen character and his adventures in the previous history of the galaxy.
All the God-like Powers of Fire are missing from Deepness, as humanity has not yet traveled far enough to encounter them. But the Qeng Ho are perhaps in their prime, and the original Nuwen himself, though already famous for previous deeds, may yet have even greater adventures ahead of him.
The technologies in Deepness likewise are much reduced in sophistication from the best described in Fire-- again, because the setting is an earlier time, and as readers of Fire will recognize, the region of the galaxy where the story is set doesn't allow such things as true artificial intelligence, faster-than-light transport, or robust nanotechnology (a Vinge story supposition from a Fire Upon the Deep, separating the galaxy into several different regions of ultimate technological potential).
Deepness itself explores several issues perhaps uncomfortably close to home for humanity of the early 21st century. Such as mind control/slavery, ubiquitous surveillance, and computer-aided manipulation of the masses. In Deepness the bad guys have learned how to 'focus' people in regards to subjects they love and/or have a talent for, to remake them as artificial idiot savants of virtually any specialty desired. That is, after being focused the victim will be brilliant in their area of specialization, but also consumed with it to the point that they cannot care for themselves or others and will automatically and continuously serve their masters for whatever purpose is put to them-- until they die.
We're talking here about turning part of humanity into the equivalent of intellectual cattle to gain greater computing power and reliability than might otherwise be possible-- while also subjecting everyone else to a level of surveillance and control which might be impossible to overthrow afterwards.
It's the ultimate totalitarian wet dream. Orwell's "1984" made still more chilling via updates of 22nd or 23rd century technology.
Vinge makes you feel you are there as the slave masters use their secret focused herds of humanity to overcome the Qeng Ho fleet. When the subsequent Qeng Ho attempts at overthrow not only crash upon the rocks of superior surveillance and control systems, but are cleverly exploited to cover up atrocities by the slave masters and also shame the remaining Qeng Ho into improved obedience, the reader too is rocked by the events.
The struggle by the Qeng Ho to regain their freedom is forced to creep along in slow motion over decades. Cryogenic technologies used for lengthy space travel allow the crews to greatly extend their lives as only a portion remains awake and on duty at a given time. Other tools of the slave masters such as mind scrubs allow them to periodically erase troublesome suspicions and memories from those unfocused Qeng Ho who happen to realize the deeper secrets of what's going on, or manage to become a threat to the masters in some other way.
Those at the top of the heap indulge themselves in all manner of horrific debauchery with their thousands of enslaved subjects, in an example of absolute power corrupting absolutely. Thousands are tortured, killed, or focused into mind slaves. The closely controlled masses are successfully deceived as to the fates of these victims.
The enslavement techniques even allow bonafide heroes to be easily turned into unswerving, unquestioning minions of the slave masters. This point is illustrated brilliantly by Vinge in the story.
However, as the Qeng Ho possessed by way of their galactic trading millennia of experience with innumerable groups, varying technologies, and military tactics, the slave masters somewhat underestimated the Qeng Ho fleet in their initial battle for control.
This led to both sides being sorely damaged by the early conflict, and forced to wait in the isolated local solar system until a strange alien race of spiders there might develop their own world industries to levels suitable for rebuilding the Qeng Ho and slave master starships. The spiders of course would remain oblivious to the parties in the void until the proper time came for them to reveal themselves.
And speaking of the alien spiders...Vinge offers the reader a delightful view into a race of man-sized intelligent spiders struggling through a period of history very much like humanity's own 20th and 21st centuries. Besides the awesome challenges suggested by that alone, the spiders must also cope with a weird phenomena in their host star which essentially allows them only 35 years of normalcy alternating with 215 years of frozen airless darkness. The spiders must hibernate during the darkness, until their technology might free them of the need.
Unlike the acoustically networked group dog consciousness of the "Paks" described by Vinge in a Fire Upon the Deep, the spiders in Deepness are much easier to understand and empathize with-- Vinge renders them in thought and behavior as much like human beings simply ensconced in different physical forms. I myself found this suspect on Vinge's part, as the man seems to possess a capability on par with David Brin concerning the creation of believable alien races. Perhaps Vinge merely wanted to make sure the reader would sympathize with the spiders, and to maximize the plausibility of the spider culture resonating with some parts of the human contingent in the system, as it does in Deepness. But somehow I suspect more...especially when this tidbit is connected with the other strange aspects of the spider's solar system, as concocted by Vinge.
But regardless of Vinge's future literary intentions, the reader will adore the spiders, especially the primary hero among their number, Sherkaner Underhill. Take the brilliance of Albert Einstein, the tinkering wonder and astonishing technological output of Nicolai Tesla, and the courage and tenacity of Winston Churchill. Mix it with the good will and altruism of Franklin D. Roosevelt, and you get Sherkaner Underhill. The single spider most directly responsible for the technological and social breakthroughs which will position the spider civilization for the climax of this tale.
Unfortunately, the slave masters hidden in the void above the spider world decide to use their superior technologies and prodigious processing power to meddle in the spider civilization's political and military affairs-- with a strong bias against the nation of Sherkaner Underhill. Worse yet, when the slave masters finally strike, Underhill is already an elderly spider who's seen his best days, and suffering mightily from injuries inflicted in his younger years.
A Deepness in the Sky is perhaps the best and most thoroughly entertaining work of science fiction I've read in 25 years. I now feel compelled to re-read a Fire Upon the Deep, in order to see the Pham Nuwen replicant and his fragmented memories and character from this new perspective.
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