Eine Tiefe am Himmel

by Vernor Vinge

epub

English language

Published by Heyne.

ISBN:: 978-3-641-22902-3

(112 reviews)

A Deepness in the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel (set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep (1992). The title is coined by one of the story's main characters in a debate, in a reference to the hibernating habits of his species and to the vastness of space.

14 editions

technicat reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Vintage Vinge

5 stars

I've read a lot of great books in the science fiction section that I wouldn't really call science fiction, but this is science fiction in all the right ways. Fun characters (human and non - I found myself wishing for a listing of aliens, I was having trouble keeping track), deep thoughts on society and politics, plenty of action, and cool science - a key character in its own right and not just window dressing. Plenty of digs at AI, too, which, considering this book was published twenty-five years ago, shows good scifi stands the test of time.

Wes reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Is this my favorite spider uplift book?

4 stars

After reading Children of Time I felt like a had to come back to this. I read this at least 10 years ago so this is based on hazy memory. But I think I prefer this to Children of Time. I feel like he plays such a neat trick with the arachnids where you picture them as humans and then flip to picturing spiders.

I'm going to reread this soon and update my review after.

Alex reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge

Perfect winter book

5 stars

Sometimes it felt like a Cold war story complete with the capitalistic Good Guys, the mind ruling Bad Guys and the hint of mutually assured destruction or whatever. Then for the space twist: throw in some sentient spiders, weird astronomy and some trully brutal characters that makes you sick (without having to go into gory details, Vinge sure knows how to make a story pretty fucking dark) and you got an emotionally tough story on the cover.

Despite this, I was deeply hooked like never before! Usually there's some side story that makes you groan and cause a little struggle with a book, but here I was completely engulfed in each and every page, every side story engaging and contributing to the overall story. I've never had this strong engagement with a book before and I can't really articulate why. I guess my mind and mood was in a winter …

Anyway, I loved following the technological progression of the spiders, learning of the "legendary origins" of the Cheng Ho traders was interesting and I hated the sadistic Emergents. Thumbs up.

Roy Adams reviewed A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought series Book 2) by Vernor Vinge

Excellent 2nd book in the Zones of Thought series

5 stars

Start with a single planet orbiting a white dwarf star nicknamed the OnOff star because it is consistently dormant 215 out of every 250 years. Add in a sentient species that survives on the planet. Finally toss in two competing, space faring groups of humans come to investigate. Mix well and enjoy the result!

vinibaggio reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Not for me. Abandoned.

exterm reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Like the first book in the series, this is a really good exercise in speculative long term thinking - which, in my opinion, is really science fiction at its best.

Its story is not quite as gripping and original as the first one though.

loppear reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought)' on Goodreads

3 stars

A deep long operatic exploration of whether war and oppression and rebirth are necessary cultural cycles, with decently complex and conflicted characters. The backstory is the strongest part.

Felis reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

A masterpiece.

inga-lovinde reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

Deus ex machina really spoils the story ending.

OrangutansLibrary reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

A decent follow up to the excellent "Fires Upon thr Deep". Although set in the same universe, Vinge tackles a different aspect of a reality where the majority of mankind is trapped in a scientific and technological cage in a partitioned galaxy. The book only obliquely explores the reality of a species spread and separated across thousands of light years with only fraction of light speed travel to hand (though much more than in the previous book) - instead the primary focus is on interaction with a novel lesser developed species and a human civilization of slavery and tyranny. The writing is a times a little clunky, and there is a little bit too much melodrama for my tastes (with a few silly moments), with the overall feel more towards a feel-good space opera than hard sci-fi. But the ideas are there, and the space opera is fun and interesting …

windchime reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I'd give this 3 and a half stars if I could - it isn't quite a four star read for me, but 3 stars doesn't do it justice. Like some other reviewers, I found it slow going early on, and had to push myself to persevere, but I was very glad I did. Vernor Vinge can write alien intelligences and different cultures with an authenticity and a strangeness that few others achieve, and he does so wonderfully here, weaving the stories of the Qeng Ho, the Emergents and the Spiderkind together into a neat web of intrigue and action. It wasn't, for me, quite as brilliant as 'A Fire Upon the Deep', which he wrote first but which takes place after this book - but it's still a very worthwhile read, and adds insight to Pham's character which I hope will enrich a subsequent re-reading of 'A Fire Upon the …

Dennis A V Dittrich reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

pro-libertate.net/node/35

joeyh reviewed A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (Zones of Thought, #2)

Review of 'A Deepness in the Sky' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

I've read it at least three times, with varying experiences.

I think the first time I wanted more of AFOtD and didn't quite get it, but did get lots of other great stuff (particularly programmer-archaeologists who still knew about the unix epoch), and just want along for the thrill ride.

Second time I was focused on the Focused, and got a bit blindsided at the ending.

Third time, I read it quite slow and found a lot of things I'd not found before, including the exquisite way the last quarter was put together.