Status
Available
Call number
Series
Publication
Tor Books (2011), Edition: 1, 448 pages
Description
"Ten years have passed on Tines World, where Ravna Bergnsdot and a number of human children ended up after a disaster that nearly obliterated humankind throughout the galaxy. Ravna and the pack animals for which the planet is named have survived a war, and Ravna has saved more than one hundred children who were in cold-sleep aboard the vessel that brought them. While there is peace among the Tines, there are those among them--and among the humans--who seek power...and no matter the cost, these malcontents are determined to overturn the fledgling civilization that has taken root since the humans landed. On a world of fascinating wonders and terrifying dangers, Vernor Vinge has created a powerful novel of adventure and discovery that will entrance the many readers of A Fire Upon the Deep. Filled with the inventiveness, excitement, and human drama that have become hallmarks of his work, this new novel is sure to become another great milestone in Vinge's already stellar career. "--… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member ben_a
Disappointing. I might even go so far as to say hugely disappointing, given the source and the precedent.
LibraryThing member rakerman
An interesting story about the crew of a crashed spaceship trying to get a planet from zero technology to starships in a single generation (with the help of an intelligent and somewhat friendly alien race). Unfortunately this story (sort of what it would be like to play the game Civilization for
Most disappointingly, neither the race to civilization nor the political intrigue stories are resolved. The characters are moved around like pieces on a game board, and by the end of the book some of them have changed position and importance, and a few pieces have been eliminated, but nothing fundamental has changed; the book's ending is just the set up for another sequel.
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real) is buried completely under an interminable and improbable political intrigue story in which all the good people are completely naive and lacking in insight and all the bad people are endlessly clever and mostly sociopathic. For those who look to Vinge for incredibly imaginative ideas about technologies and societies, there is not much here to enjoy.Most disappointingly, neither the race to civilization nor the political intrigue stories are resolved. The characters are moved around like pieces on a game board, and by the end of the book some of them have changed position and importance, and a few pieces have been eliminated, but nothing fundamental has changed; the book's ending is just the set up for another sequel.
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LibraryThing member brightcopy
No real specific spoilers in this review, but some general discussion on the ending.
A good book that was a few flaws short of being a very good book. The main plot of the book felt a bit overused: the righteous "good" people are cleverly made out to look like the "bad" people and spend most of the
This also happened quite a bit in A Fire Upon the Deep. However, the surviving bad guys were all remnant/reformed Tines that had the ability to drastically change due to their unique biology. It makes less sense with humans. In that, it's perhaps less realistic. I don't see the ringleader being allowed to get away with murder. Multiple murders, in fact.
Plus, the overall plot advanced very little since Fire. Where Fire ended with major unresolved plot lines, Children outdid it. We can only hope Vinge will manage to finish the tale one day while he still has the knack.
I give it 3.5 stars. It lost a half star due to the ending (and I even had my hopes down because I knew it had a bit of an unresolved ending before reading it) and because of the unsatisfying outcome of the main plot.
A good book that was a few flaws short of being a very good book. The main plot of the book felt a bit overused: the righteous "good" people are cleverly made out to look like the "bad" people and spend most of the
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book trying to get vindication. Only it never truly comes. That's one of the unsatisfying things of the book. Sure, it's probably more true to how real life is, but it's far less fulfilling as a piece of fiction. One character pays for his crimes, but the rest mostly escape punishment.This also happened quite a bit in A Fire Upon the Deep. However, the surviving bad guys were all remnant/reformed Tines that had the ability to drastically change due to their unique biology. It makes less sense with humans. In that, it's perhaps less realistic. I don't see the ringleader being allowed to get away with murder. Multiple murders, in fact.
Plus, the overall plot advanced very little since Fire. Where Fire ended with major unresolved plot lines, Children outdid it. We can only hope Vinge will manage to finish the tale one day while he still has the knack.
I give it 3.5 stars. It lost a half star due to the ending (and I even had my hopes down because I knew it had a bit of an unresolved ending before reading it) and because of the unsatisfying outcome of the main plot.
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LibraryThing member ChrisRiesbeck
Long and unmemorable. If you last read A Fire Upon the Deep when it came out 20 years ago, you better have a good memory, because this book makes no attempt to explain references to prior events. Worse, there is no reasons to care about the characters and their plights. The book coasts on whatever
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residual interest you may have from before. SFnally, the best parts are several brief passages where Vinge plays with an emergent "distributed computing" variant on the multi-actor Tine intelligence. Hardly worth the price of such a long read, though. Show Less
LibraryThing member LisaMaria_C
Peaking at reviews a lot of people expressed disappointment, so I didn't expect much from this sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. I beg to differ though--I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and found this just as suspenseful and moving as the previous novels in Zones of Thought trilogy--or, I think, series,
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since given where this ends this demands more. Maybe that's why some found this a let down. Either of the first books could be read as standalones. There's a good case to be made for reading either of those first two books first, the second book, A Deepness in the Sky being a prequel. That's not true of The Children of the Sky. It's no standalone, and I'm glad I had recently read A Fire Upon the Deep. This begins two years after the first book ends. We meet a lot of old friends again: Pilgrim, Woodcarver, Amdi, Ravna, Johanna, Jefri--and well, others not so cuddly. But there are new characters, alien and human into the mix. If I have any criticism, it's that one development that is supposed to be a shock I could see coming a mile away--although my clue was this writerly thing that those who don't pay close attention to technique might not notice. Otherwise I'm still very charmed by the dog-like Tines, still find Vinge a remarkable storyteller, and I'm looking forward to the next (and last?) book in this series. Show Less
LibraryThing member eichin
While it's got basically none of the sophistication of Fire upon the Deep, and perhaps my time would have been better spent re-reading that, I still think it's a reasonable (if *narrow*) sequel, as a stepping stone to a future work in which the galaxy pulls itself back together somehow, which moves
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the characters around (and introduces some major new ones) in mostly convincing ways to set the stage for a real second act. Show Less
LibraryThing member Guide2
As usual, full of interesting ideas, but this one did not feel as well wrapped up together as the previous one. There were so many bad people/Tines clans with different loyalties that some of the changes or events were hard to believe at times.
LibraryThing member travelster
This isn't really science fiction and should be labelled as such. I LOVE everything else I've read/listened to by this author, but this book I did not like. It's a well-written and great story, but IT IS NOT science fiction. More like fantasy.
LibraryThing member section241
It's been far too long since I read Fire Upon the Deep and this novel isn't constructed in a way to quickly refresh your memory of who the characters are and what their predicament is. My biggest problem with the book is the entire concept of the Blight; I can't recall the details behind the Blight
This was an engaging read, even though not much changes in the course of its 600+ pages: one enemy is dispatched, one enemy becomes an ally and another enemy becomes mostly irrelevant.
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from the previous book and they're the driving force behind the split in the humans' ranks. Each side has an opinion about the Blight, but I'll be damned if I can recall the facts about the Blight.This was an engaging read, even though not much changes in the course of its 600+ pages: one enemy is dispatched, one enemy becomes an ally and another enemy becomes mostly irrelevant.
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LibraryThing member joeyreads
Nowhere near the fun of A Fire Upon the Deep or subtlety of A Deepness in the Sky. Took the least interesting part of AFUtD, the part that drags for me most when I read it, and expanded it to a whole book. Also added lots of airships, presumably because steampunk sells these days.
Disappointing,
Disappointing,
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but I do hope the obvious sequel is written. Show Less
LibraryThing member Karlstar
Vinge pickes up where Fire Upon the Deep left off. There are still some stranded humans way out on the border in 'slow' space, with the wolf-packish, group intelligence Tines. The humans have had a predictable affect on technology, though the extreme differences with the aliens sends this off on a
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bit of a different course. I really enjoyed the previous book, but I found this one hard to get into. Show Less
LibraryThing member Fledgist
Sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep. Takes up the story some years later. It suffers from the middle book problem. We have a deeper appreciation of the Tines, of the humans cast into their complex society, but we have no resolution at the end. That is clearly to come.
LibraryThing member dgold
Not as immediately immersive as A Fire Upon the Deep, somewhat disappointing after part-readin A Deepness In The Sky recently, I'd have to described this as a curate's egg. The world building, given we've been here before, is wonderfully well handled, as is the integration of the High Lab humans
The tines are the most realised aspect of the book - Woodcarver is, thankfully, largely absent from this book, as is (sadly) Pilgrim. The replacement cast, among them Amdi and others from the first book, is given great depth, and the reader can feel a real connection to these characters, this strength extends to some of the humans, but by no means all.
What isn't handled well is the passage of time - the novel takes huge leaps without real purpose, leading to some frankly bewildering passages. The division of the human society is also mystifying - no understandable motivation is given, other than some hand-waving around Ravna's influence in society.
All in all, a good book, but by no means a great one, and in that respect, I guess its a disappointment.
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into the Tinish Society.The tines are the most realised aspect of the book - Woodcarver is, thankfully, largely absent from this book, as is (sadly) Pilgrim. The replacement cast, among them Amdi and others from the first book, is given great depth, and the reader can feel a real connection to these characters, this strength extends to some of the humans, but by no means all.
What isn't handled well is the passage of time - the novel takes huge leaps without real purpose, leading to some frankly bewildering passages. The division of the human society is also mystifying - no understandable motivation is given, other than some hand-waving around Ravna's influence in society.
All in all, a good book, but by no means a great one, and in that respect, I guess its a disappointment.
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LibraryThing member DanTarlin
This is the sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, which was a great book. That was a page-turner with multiple stories all converging thrillingly to a satisfying climax. This one moves slower... much slower. The first book had action onboard a ship heading to the Tines World, a deadly blight in hot
And really, the fleshing out of a civilization of Tines is fascinating. The creatures form packs of 4 to 8 canines, joined by telepathy into one coherent "person". But down in the tropical region they are more numerous and apparently uncivilized, clumped together in a "choir" that terrifies the pack northerners and that destroys anything that ventures into its midst. And there is the problem of what happens to single dogs or remnants of former packs who lose a member to death. It's all drawn up with fascinating imagination.
But the book takes a long time to develop- it doesn't move quickly until the last 200 pages, which are great. I'm not sure if this is the middle book of a trilogy or an end in itself- he published this one 19 years after Fire Upon the Deep. The ending begs for more, so I hope he's working on the next one.
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pursuit, and children stranded in two separate places on Tines World along with a race of telepathic, intelligent canines. Yes, it sounds silly- but Vinge must have been fascinated with his creation of the Tinish creatures, and this book is all set on that world, continuing the story of the Humans and Tines and their planet's development of higher technology.And really, the fleshing out of a civilization of Tines is fascinating. The creatures form packs of 4 to 8 canines, joined by telepathy into one coherent "person". But down in the tropical region they are more numerous and apparently uncivilized, clumped together in a "choir" that terrifies the pack northerners and that destroys anything that ventures into its midst. And there is the problem of what happens to single dogs or remnants of former packs who lose a member to death. It's all drawn up with fascinating imagination.
But the book takes a long time to develop- it doesn't move quickly until the last 200 pages, which are great. I'm not sure if this is the middle book of a trilogy or an end in itself- he published this one 19 years after Fire Upon the Deep. The ending begs for more, so I hope he's working on the next one.
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LibraryThing member rbrohman
I'm not a huge fan of the "fallen god" sort of books, where remnants of a technologically advanced race struggle to rebuild after some catastrophe sends them back to pre-technology life. But the collective minds of the Tine world adds an interesting twist, and I enjoy the concept of the Zones of
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Thought, so this wasn't a bad read. I'm looking forward to the next book where presumably we see the children return to former tech levels. Show Less
LibraryThing member tlockney
Seemed about on par with the previous two books in this series (A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky). None of them blew me away, but all were solid and enjoyable reads.
LibraryThing member DLMorrese
I first heard of Vernor Vinge when I saw him at the 100 Year Starship Symposium in Orlando in 2011. This is the second of his books I’ve found at the library and read. The first was Rainbow’s End.
The Children of the Sky is the third book in his ‘Zones of Thought Series.’ As I did not (yet)
What I liked most:
- This is a character driven story of political power and manipulation. The advanced tech from the wrecked human starship, much of which does not work, does not dominate the story and neither does the limited psychic ability of the native sentient species.
- The story has an overall positive mood, and you can see the beginnings of an industrial age if not a philosophical enlightenment emerging. These provide promise that the future will be a better one. The ending is a setup for a sequel, not quite a cliffhanger, but with enough unresolved issues to provide plenty of material for another story to explore how well this promise is achieved.
- The fictional world of the “Tines” is very imaginative. However...
What I liked least:
- Back to the Tines. I felt I was being asked to suspend too much disbelief to imagine that a species without hands (or the equivalent), and which has difficulty even approaching one another physically, could develop what amounts to an early industrial age technology.
- I like that this is a ‘character based’ story, but the characters did not evoke much empathy for me. We see some of their inner turmoil, especially with Ravana, but not enough to make me care much about what happens to her.
- The principle villain in this is simply evil. There is no explanation for why or what he is trying to achieve other than personal power. Still, there is enough here for the reader to loath him by the end of the book, but his ultimate and well-deserved demise happens almost between scenes.
- A good deal could have been left out, which may have improved the pace without sacrificing the plot. I suppose much of this can be attributed to editing. Authors sacrifice a lot when they choose to go through a traditional publisher and they should expect to receive value in return. In this case, a little rewriting, tightening the prose, and even catching a few grammar and punctuation errors would have done a lot to improve the book.
The Children of the Sky is the third book in his ‘Zones of Thought Series.’ As I did not (yet)
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read the first two, this was my first exposure to this world. Fortunately, enough backstory is provided to develop the characters and explain how humans arrived on this planet.What I liked most:
- This is a character driven story of political power and manipulation. The advanced tech from the wrecked human starship, much of which does not work, does not dominate the story and neither does the limited psychic ability of the native sentient species.
- The story has an overall positive mood, and you can see the beginnings of an industrial age if not a philosophical enlightenment emerging. These provide promise that the future will be a better one. The ending is a setup for a sequel, not quite a cliffhanger, but with enough unresolved issues to provide plenty of material for another story to explore how well this promise is achieved.
- The fictional world of the “Tines” is very imaginative. However...
What I liked least:
- Back to the Tines. I felt I was being asked to suspend too much disbelief to imagine that a species without hands (or the equivalent), and which has difficulty even approaching one another physically, could develop what amounts to an early industrial age technology.
- I like that this is a ‘character based’ story, but the characters did not evoke much empathy for me. We see some of their inner turmoil, especially with Ravana, but not enough to make me care much about what happens to her.
- The principle villain in this is simply evil. There is no explanation for why or what he is trying to achieve other than personal power. Still, there is enough here for the reader to loath him by the end of the book, but his ultimate and well-deserved demise happens almost between scenes.
- A good deal could have been left out, which may have improved the pace without sacrificing the plot. I suppose much of this can be attributed to editing. Authors sacrifice a lot when they choose to go through a traditional publisher and they should expect to receive value in return. In this case, a little rewriting, tightening the prose, and even catching a few grammar and punctuation errors would have done a lot to improve the book.
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LibraryThing member sussura
Wow - FANTASTIC sequel to Fire Upon The Deep. There's a paced and careful start (possibly a little too paced for me), that helps pull readers back into Tines' world. Then all hell breaks loose. Vinge's broad imagination, rich world and characters, and ability to surprise the most jaded reader are
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operating at full power here. I don't want to spoil a thing for anyone else. It's well worth it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Phrim
The Children of the Sky picks up right where A Fire Upon the Deep left off, with the librarian Ravna marooned with a shipload of children on a pre-industrial world inhabited by the alien Tines, a race of dog-like creatures whose consciousness spans across between 4 and 8 individuals each. While the
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last book ends with the nation of Tines wanting to take advantage of the humans being overthrown, this book introduces a new nation of Tines who want to utilize their unique mental abilities to start an industrial revolution and are generally hostile to humans. Additionally, the human factions splinter when the kids grow up, turning this into a multi-faceted political drama with the unique quirks of being among multi-organism consciousnesses. While the author does explore the peculiarity of the Tines a little, the book is mostly about politics and pretty much ignores the larger galactic picture painted in the original book. While that's fine, and I did enjoy the characters and their interactions, I did miss the wider picture. Show Less
LibraryThing member harroldsheep
Problem with this third book in the Zones if Thought series, is that I simply can't suspend my disbelief enough find the rise of the Deniers credible, especially with all the logs and data that were on the "Oobii" showing the true nature of the Blight.
With that always at the back my mind, the other
With that always at the back my mind, the other
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plot points just weren't plausible enough to make this a seamless reading as the previous books. Show Less
LibraryThing member SChant
Messy, too much thrown in without rhyme or reason, no logical plotline.
LibraryThing member Gwendydd
I didn't realize until I was most of the way through this book that it is the third in a series. Oops. There were definitely some places where I felt like I was missing some context, but I actually didn't have much trouble diving into the story.
There are a lot of interesting elements to this story.
I'm not quite sure what I thought of the story, and that's probably because this was a middle episode in a much longer story. It was certainly intriguing and suspenseful, and I cared about the characters and what happened to them.
I listened to the audiobook, and Oliver Wyman is one of my favorite narrators. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this in any other medium.
There are a lot of interesting elements to this story.
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I was fascinated by the idea of the Tines and their hive-minds, and the implications of their telepathic communication. The characters were convincing and likable, and the writing was good.I'm not quite sure what I thought of the story, and that's probably because this was a middle episode in a much longer story. It was certainly intriguing and suspenseful, and I cared about the characters and what happened to them.
I listened to the audiobook, and Oliver Wyman is one of my favorite narrators. I probably wouldn't have enjoyed this in any other medium.
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LibraryThing member ragwaine
This wasn't a bad story, but definitely disappointing compared to the first 2 books. Full disclosure, I read the other books more than 10 years ago so I don't remember a lot, but I do remember them blowing me away with cool concepts and sci-fi gadgetry.
This story is all restricted to one planet so
This story is all restricted to one planet so
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there was less going on, but that did help really focus in on the characters. Without reading the first 2 books and expecting this to be a spacefaring romp with a lot more lasers and aliens, I think I would have thought it was great. Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2012)
Prometheus Award (Nominee — Novel — 2012)
Locus Recommended Reading (2011)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2011-10
Physical description
9.53 inches
ISBN
0312875622 / 9780312875626