Review: A Deepness in the Sky
May. 18th, 2007 11:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday I finished Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky, a sci-fi thriller. In this book you get to see what might happen if people evolved on a planet with an inconstant sun. You get to see how being a translator could be very exciting and learn a bit about translating and how the way you translate can affect people. (And then you realize the author is using all the same translating tricks himself. On you!) And you get to meet really scary bad guys.
In most thrillers, the hero has to do something quick to accomplish a goal. Not this one. In this one, there are many situations where a would-be hero better wait. A really long time. In most thrillers, the hero risks death or at least great injury to accomplish the goal. In this one, the decision isn't so easy.
As with A Fire Upon the Deep, Vinge toys with the fact that people rarely know the whole story and must make decisions anyway. Scary!
I am not a fan of suspense. Yes, it's all very exciting, but I really hate when you end a chapter with a cliffhanger and then move to a new topic in the next chapter (though this is apparently considered good form). Worse is when the next chapter is focusing on stuff I don't care about like how thick the carpet is. Or it's too repetitive. A got on the plane. B filmed A getting on the plane. C watched the film. Grr! I wanted to hear if D's phone call got through, if E believed him, if E was in any physical condition to respond, and if even a good response would work. See? Plenty of things to write about. Plenty of space to write about it in (almost 800 pages). But I have to read about transportation.
This is one of those books where a lot happens at the end and I wished it had been spread more evenly throughout the book. Of course, if you want to leave yourself room for a sequel, I understand why you might want to keep some characters missing in action. But there were a lot more details about the climax and near aftermath that I wanted to know. The author tried to make the ending satisfying, but it wasn't quite enough for me.
Did I mention? Really scary bad guys. If you're prone to nightmares based on books you're reading, and you think that's fun, you might like this book. It's not gory, but it's still frightening and horrifying. I really hated and feared and despised the bad guys. And not because they're one-dimensionally evil. They are just like us except for one tiny cultural difference. I still hate them.
You might think you get to see what might happen if people evolved from spiders. You don't quite, but that's explained in the book.
I'm not a very good reviewer. (Except maybe to Sally--I try really hard not have spoilers because I dislike that myself.) Except for those problems I have with suspense and too-quick wrap-ups (which normal people apparently don't mind), it was a very well-written book. You get sucked into three different cultures, you get lots of cool alien details, and definitely some fun with the lack of gravity. (One guy spills his drink deliberately in space and then moves it around into shapes as it floats before him. It's fun to play with your food in space.)
I quite liked the book and am very happy that someone loaned it to me. It motivated me to go to work (because I read while waiting for the bus) and that's very helpful, because I've been really annoyed with my job recently. But I don't think it's the type of book I'll read over and over. Four stars out of five.
In most thrillers, the hero has to do something quick to accomplish a goal. Not this one. In this one, there are many situations where a would-be hero better wait. A really long time. In most thrillers, the hero risks death or at least great injury to accomplish the goal. In this one, the decision isn't so easy.
As with A Fire Upon the Deep, Vinge toys with the fact that people rarely know the whole story and must make decisions anyway. Scary!
I am not a fan of suspense. Yes, it's all very exciting, but I really hate when you end a chapter with a cliffhanger and then move to a new topic in the next chapter (though this is apparently considered good form). Worse is when the next chapter is focusing on stuff I don't care about like how thick the carpet is. Or it's too repetitive. A got on the plane. B filmed A getting on the plane. C watched the film. Grr! I wanted to hear if D's phone call got through, if E believed him, if E was in any physical condition to respond, and if even a good response would work. See? Plenty of things to write about. Plenty of space to write about it in (almost 800 pages). But I have to read about transportation.
This is one of those books where a lot happens at the end and I wished it had been spread more evenly throughout the book. Of course, if you want to leave yourself room for a sequel, I understand why you might want to keep some characters missing in action. But there were a lot more details about the climax and near aftermath that I wanted to know. The author tried to make the ending satisfying, but it wasn't quite enough for me.
Did I mention? Really scary bad guys. If you're prone to nightmares based on books you're reading, and you think that's fun, you might like this book. It's not gory, but it's still frightening and horrifying. I really hated and feared and despised the bad guys. And not because they're one-dimensionally evil. They are just like us except for one tiny cultural difference. I still hate them.
You might think you get to see what might happen if people evolved from spiders. You don't quite, but that's explained in the book.
I'm not a very good reviewer. (Except maybe to Sally--I try really hard not have spoilers because I dislike that myself.) Except for those problems I have with suspense and too-quick wrap-ups (which normal people apparently don't mind), it was a very well-written book. You get sucked into three different cultures, you get lots of cool alien details, and definitely some fun with the lack of gravity. (One guy spills his drink deliberately in space and then moves it around into shapes as it floats before him. It's fun to play with your food in space.)
I quite liked the book and am very happy that someone loaned it to me. It motivated me to go to work (because I read while waiting for the bus) and that's very helpful, because I've been really annoyed with my job recently. But I don't think it's the type of book I'll read over and over. Four stars out of five.