A Deepness in the Sky
A prequel set 30,000 years before A Fire Upon the Deep.
The story's setting is the Slow Zone, a region within the "zones of thought" universe that Vinge created.[1][2] Without faster-than-light travel or communication, the novel examines the difficulties of preserving an interstellar trading culture.[3] The Qeng Ho use seconds, kiloseconds, and megaseconds for time measurement, with their fundamental timekeeping system based on the Unix epoch.[3][1]
Quick Facts
- Author
- Vernor Vinge
- Cover artist
- Bob Eggleton
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Series
- Zones of Thought universe
- Genre
- science fiction
- Published
- 1999 (Tor Books)
- Format
- Print (Hardback, Paperback)
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
The book was first published on June 24, 1999, by Orion Millennium as a 607-page trade paperback.[2] A Deepness in the Sky won the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novel.[4] It also received the 2000 John W. Campbell Memorial Award and the 2000 Prometheus Award.[4] The novel won the 2004 Kurd-Laßwitz-Preis for Best Foreign Fiction.[4]
It was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel.[4] The book was also nominated for the 2000 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 2000 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.[4] A Fire Upon the Deep is the earlier novel that Deepness accompanies.[1] According to Joan D. Vinge, her book The Outcasts of Heaven Belt takes place in the same Slow Zone setting.[5]
What the cited sources add
Gevers noted that the novel's "shrewd triumph" is that neither optimism nor pessimism defeats the other.[2][6] John Clute lauded it as "the most extended example of dramatic irony ever published"[6] The Slashdot discussion mentions that the Qeng Ho computers use the Unix epoch as the most fundamental form of timekeeping.[1] The same source notes that Vinge explicitly discusses how competitive pressures can force over-integration of a system, making it vulnerable.[1]
The novel features "programmer archaeologists" who retain computer programs and systems over millennia.[3] Nick Gevers described Deepness as "one of the best constructed and most absorbing space operas of the decade."[2][6]
References
- "No More Coding From Scratch?", Slashdot, November 4, 2006. facts only, no text reused. ask.slashdot.org
- A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge, reviewed by Nick Gevers, at InfinityPlus.co.uk; published September 18, 1999; retrieved March 14, 2017. facts only, no text reused. infinityplus.co.uk
- Wikipedia, "A Deepness in the Sky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "No More Coding From Scratch?", Slashdot, November 4, 2006 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "A Deepness in the Sky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "2000 Award Winners & Nominees", Worlds Without End; "2000 Award Winners & Nominees", Worlds Without End; Awards, at the Libertarian Futurist Society; retrieved March 14, 2017; 2004, at Kurd-Lasswitz-Preis.de; retrieved March 14, 2017; "1999 Award Winners & Nominees", Worlds Without End; "2000 Award Winners & Nominees", Worlds Without End; "2000 Award Winners & Nominees", Worlds Without End (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "A Deepness in the Sky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Vinge, Joan D. (2008–11). "A letter to my readers." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "A Deepness in the Sky" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge, reviewed by Nick Gevers, at InfinityPlus.co.uk; published September 18, 1999; retrieved March 14, 2017; Excess of Candour: We are breathing in the dark, by John Clute, at SciFi.com, via archive.org; published no later than April 24, 2000 (date of earliest version (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article A Deepness in the Sky (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in Lore & History
Elsewhere in Murderbot Diaries
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced