num_pages: 391
description: Vernor Vinge has shown, in books like True Names and The Peace War, a unique ability to write science fiction with a combination of scientific ideas that challenge the imagination and narrative drive that propels the reader through the book with tremendous excitement. With A Fire Upon the Deep, Vinge surpasses himself by creating something new—a vision of a future where intelligence in the universe is governed by strange rules at which we can only marvel&amp;38212;in a richly inventive, gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale.Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit the far reaches of space, from the Transcend where dwell superintelligent entities to the Unthinking Depths where only simple creatures and technologies can function. These "regions of thought" are a mystery, but when scientists in the Straumli Realm discover and release an ancient Transcendent artifact, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.Only a single ship escapes, aboard it a family of scientists with their two children. When they land on a planet in the Slowness the parents are killed and the children taken captive by the Tines: aliens of a medieval society locked in a bitter power struggle. The fate of races, worlds—interstellar civilization—depends on a rescue mounted by a crew of humans and aliens that is racing toward Tinesworld—and a Countermeasure that, if they can trigger in time, may stop the Blight that will otherwise bring a new dark age to the galaxy.
language: English
title: A Fire Upon the Deep
titlecomplete: A Fire Upon the Deep
characters: Jefri Olsndot, Johanna Olsndot, Ravna Bergsndot, Greenstalk, Tyrathect, Blueshell, Peregrine Wickwrackrum, Pham Nuwen, Steel, Flenser, Scriber Jaqueramaphan
genres: Fiction, Science Fiction, Speculative Fiction, Space Opera, Aliens, Science Fiction Fantasy, Space, Hugo Awards, Fantasy, Audiobook
ratings_count: 59160
series: Zones of Thought
awards: awardedAt: 725875200000
name: Hugo Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 694252800000
name: Nebula Award
category: Best Novel, awardedAt: 725875200000
name: Locus Award
category: Best SF Novel, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis
category: Bester ausländischer SF-Roman, awardedAt: 725875200000
name: John W. Campbell Memorial Award, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire
category: Traduction, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Premio Ignotus
category: Mejor novela extranjera, awardedAt: 725875200000
name: SF Chronicle Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 788947200000
name: Prix Cosmos 2000
publisher: Tor