A Fire Upon the Deep (Book Review)
Author: Christopher B. JonesPublished on: Sep 8, 2000
A Fire Upon the Deep (Book Review)
Stories with the depth to suck you right in are few and far between. As novels go, only three immediately pop into my head—The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien, Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee’s Rama series, and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. These are the kind of story that so hold you that they make breaking free of a black hole look like a piece of cake. It’s been quite a while since I read anything of this kind. But things change.
Earlier this year, I received an announcement that Vernor Vinge’s 1999 novel, A Deepness in the Sky had been released in paperback. This book is a prequel to his Hugo Award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep, a story that falls firmly into the aforementioned category of captivating tales. I was really excited to hear this news, and in anticipation of getting a copy, I decided to reread and review the first book.
At 613 pages, A Fire Upon the Deep isn’t what you’d call a quick read; it’s a nice thick block that’s a handful to carry on the train. But when you consider what Vinge does in those 613 pages, it’s amazing that it isn’t thicker.
The Milky Way galaxy as Vinge sees it is a magical place, arranged in one of the most creative ways ever set down in a work of science fiction. Lying somewhere between soft and hard sci-fi, Vinge’s universe is one where the laws of nature as we know them are not consistent at all points in space. Rather, his galaxy is one that is divided into zones. The farther you are from the galactic core, the more magical the technology you can create. This is a galaxy full of wonders.
And it’s old. Really old. There is a history here that, while Vinge never really lets you in on many of the details, makes you feel that that the events you are reading about are really just a grain of sand in the vast stretches of time.
Beyond this clever arrangement of the Galaxy, there’s a wide assortment of alien lifeforms, not all of whom are humanoids. There are sentient plants, intelligent gas clouds, and the star of the show, a lupine race who look like a cross between rats and dogs. These creatures live in packs and cannot function as individuals. Finally an attempt to think outside the box on aliens. There’s still a bit too much terrestrial influence, but let’s cut Vinge some slack. As long as we are of Earth, earthly forms will influence our imaginations. I expect most of us would be hard pressed to come up with truly unique creatures and still use them to tell a story.
And that’s what’s really important—the story. All these unique characters and this ancient galaxy are great, but to really hold you the story has to tell you something. A Fire Upon the Deep tackles a wide range of topics and does so in keeping with the great traditions of science fiction.
Within the fued between Tine packs can be found the evils that come with territorial instinct, the dangers of evolutionary manipulation, and the problems that arise when technological development outpaces social development—something that we humans understand all too well.
Vinge also demonstrates how the innocence of children can overcome fear brought on by ignorance. While adult Tine and human might hate each other, child Tine and human forge a friendship that cannot be broken. Eventually this spreads to the older generations.
We’ve seen some examples of this in recent years on our own world. Russians and Americans, once enemies, now work together in peace. The country in which I live was once a sworn enemy of my native land. We even dropped an atomic bomb on the city which my aunt calls home. But today Japan and the United States enjoy one of the closest ties that two nations can have. Despite this progress, however, we still have a long way to go.
These are but a few examples of issues addressed in A Fire Upon the Deep. If you haven’t already, I encourage you to pick up a copy and read it yourself. I’m sure you’ll find many more messages to ponder.
And even if you don’t, the shear immensity of this tale is something that you won’t want to miss. This is true sci-fi for the true sci-fi fan.
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