Only took a few nights to read this monster sequel to Fire Upon the Deep. The basic plot of the two novels is simple: humans hoping to achieve some kind of Singularity and transcend into "god"-like status (as other species have done) by mining an ancient computer archive active the biggest AI virus ever (The Blight) and in the ensuing chaos only manage to save their children by crash-landing them on a medieval world inhabited by Tines, dog-like creatures that hive themselves in groups of 4-12 as single minds. Yup, simple! Like most sci-fi, you can't ask too many questions: they were going to transcend to god-like status, but only had one spaceship and so sent off the children to be saved.... hello? But if you like intricate worlds and very believable characterizations of personalities and interactions of "alien" species interacting with humans (the variety among the humans is just as diverse as the variety of the Tines) then these novels are great. Children of the Sky is a fast read; I found myself easily skimming without losing much coherence. Most of the novel is focused on exploring small group dynamics and political intrigue (a favorite of Vinge's is Man-in-the-Middle where two conspirators are never sure that some intermediary mechanism of communication- electronic, relay, etc. isn't messing with them by transmitting plausible but different messages to both sides, so they both think they are on the same page until suddenly too late they realize they have set each other up etc. He brilliantly used a one-sided version in Deepness in the Sky, a novel that is fiendishly more complex than these two, and one that I actually enjoy re-reading swathes for fun... quite clever writing).
Leave a comment