John Scalzi channels Robert Heinlein (including a wry sense of humor) in a novel about …
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4 stars
It's a good and well written book, the only thing that really keeps me from getting hooked is an ultimate goal, there seems to be no end to this war and what follows is a never ending story. This doesn't have to be the case, it is also a short book and as such could very well be just a build up to some ultimate goal to come in a sequel.
"Ten years have passed on Tines World, where Ravna Bergnsdot and a number of human …
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2 stars
The Children of the Sky is a really good book in its own right, that being said, Vernor Vinge didn't do himself any favours making this a sequel. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) and A Deepness in the Sky (1999) set up a massive universe and with that a lot of possibilities where the story could go, so The Children of the Sky (2011) could only fail in some regards. What many people wanted out of this book is a resolution to the story arch, that began in the first book what happened to the Blighter Fleet. It would be fine, if the story would be left open to imagination, but Book 3 constantly shows us, that the Blighter Fleet is still there and somehow progressing with the Zoneshifts. So instead of a nice open end, we get an unsatisfying progression. This also won't change, since Vinge sadly passed …
The Children of the Sky is a really good book in its own right, that being said, Vernor Vinge didn't do himself any favours making this a sequel. A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) and A Deepness in the Sky (1999) set up a massive universe and with that a lot of possibilities where the story could go, so The Children of the Sky (2011) could only fail in some regards. What many people wanted out of this book is a resolution to the story arch, that began in the first book what happened to the Blighter Fleet. It would be fine, if the story would be left open to imagination, but Book 3 constantly shows us, that the Blighter Fleet is still there and somehow progressing with the Zoneshifts. So instead of a nice open end, we get an unsatisfying progression. This also won't change, since Vinge sadly passed away in 2024.
Anyway... Let's get to The Children of the Sky, while I personally felt some parts of the book just stretched on for too long, it still is a wonderful concept and reflects the Zeitgeist. Where facts are basically irrelevant, because they aren't what I want them to be. With the essential setup of Nevil and the Disaster Study Group (Grown up kids from the stasis pods) not believing, that their parents could have made any mistakes and with that could never have caused the Blight, completely ignoring/questioning the evidence OOB provides. Ultimately Nevil just wants power and uses the DSG to his advantage.
It's a good political sci-fi thriller because of that, it is just not, what the readers wanted.
