ebolles's Full Review: Vernor Vinge - Fire upon the Deep
Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge is a fairly involved read, definitely not a book you can polish off during a few hours at the beach. The beginning of the book, especially, introduces some highly complex and unusual ideas that take a little time to get a handle on. But Vinge makes the story compelling enough that it’s easy to be patient and keep reading until you can figure out what the heck is going on. In fact, I thought that was half the fun.
Far in the future in our own dear Milky Way...
Something terrible, something ancient, something very evil has been unleashed in the galaxy. The troublesome homo sapiens are responsible, poking around in a “library” millions of years old, unwittingly awakening an entity that once nearly wiped out the galaxy and could easily do so again. The humans realize their mistake and try to flee, but it's too late and “the Blight” is far too powerful. It spreads, wiping out planets, solar systems, millions of lives and hundreds of species as it infects the galaxy. Some other species blame the humans and start destroying them, planets of them at a time if possible, their slogan “death to vermin” a rallying cry communicated across the galactic Net. And that is by no means the biggest of the remaining homo sapiens' problems...
Location, location, location.
There are some interesting aspects to this Milky Way galaxy. A species’ chances of evolving higher intelligence, technology, and eventually transcending to a higher state of being all depend on where they are located in the spiral. The inner, largest part of the galaxy is known as “the Unthinking Depths” and beings born there have the approximate of a snowball’s chance in hell of evolving to the point of simple technology, let alone space travel. Moving outward in the galactic plane, the next layer is known as “the Slow Zone”. Here things improve, with some intelligent, technology-capable species, but it’s still the wrong side of the tracks, nothing compared to where the real action is, in the outer ring known as “The Beyond”.
An acid trip of characters trying to save the universe...
Stopping the galactic apocalypse depends on a cast that includes a human librarian on an internship to an alien planet; two children; a pair of what can best be described as giant, intelligent cyborg sea anemones; a medieval society of dog-like creatures in which a single consciousness is formed by several different individuals functioning as one; and last but not least, a 30,000 year old Frankenstein-type creation, an amalgamation of ancient humans found in cryo-sleep, except this man is well put together, a heroic hunk whose past memories of conquering planets make him exactly the type of guy you’d want on your side in a bar brawl. He’s also skilled at making love in zero-g. (What more could a lonesome interplanetary librarian ask for?)
The plot won’t fit in a nutshell
The destinies of those in this odd group, along with a host of other aliens communicating over the galactic Net (much like our present day Internet), humans and even a few semi-divine beings known as “Powers” all intersect with the Blight. While the Blight chases down the one thing that might be able to stop it -- something on a human ship that managed to flee from it soon after its awakening – two humans and two aliens race to get there first. They are chased by other aliens acting out their endearing “death to vermin” campaign. The ships are affected by moving from the Beyond to the Slow Zone, where higher technology breaks down, complicating things for everyone. Meanwhile, on the planet where the human ship crash landed, two surviving children are caught up in power struggles among the “Tines”, lupine creatures with pack intelligence, who are eager to upgrade their medieval technology to the marvelous stuff that landed on their planet.
Variations on intelligence and consciousness
If it sounds just a bit over the top, it is, and it’s wonderful. It’s grand space opera with a complex, intelligent plot and filled with intriguing concepts. The characters are interesting, and although it may take some time to warm up to some of the more alien ones, they are all well drawn and most are far beyond any stereotypes (except that old, trite cyborg-sea-anemone bit...). At over 600 pages, it is no quick easy read, but along the way you get to explore the concept of pack intelligence and what life might be like if five or six bodies made up one “person.” Also what might happen if a pack-intelligence child is raised with an individual-intelligence child. And a few new twists on the idea of semi-divine creatures using lesser beings as their instruments. There is humor mixed into all this madness, and even a bit of romance, too.
5-Star Science Fiction A Fire Upon the Deep won the Hugo Award for best sci-fi novel in 1992. Unlike some Hugo winners, this novel is deserving. The drawbacks, if any, are minor. Perhaps the story could have been trimmed just a bit during the long space chase. A few of the human characters' reactions seemed a bit implausible at times, but never enough to make me lose interest. Any flaws are far outweighed by the unique and compelling plot. This story may not be for everyone, but for epic sci-fi fans, if you haven’t already read this, definitely check it out.
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