A Deepness In The Sky

Vernor Vinge

I haven't read sci-fi in a while now. I usually prefer fantasy to sci-fi, in the sf&f genre. But this one came well-recommended. It involves inter-stellar travel, contact with alien worlds, treachery, friendship. Bit of a soap opera, really. I loved it. It starts of with this trading culture called the Qeng Ho, who travel from world to world, setting up trade relations. The defining characteristic of this culture is it's religion is trade. The story posits some interesting concepts such as :

1. Each planet progresses in technology until it destroys itself and then rebuilds from the ashes, with little or no memory of the technology that it had acquired in the previous phase. The Qeng Ho, are not rooted to any particular planet and because of inter-stellar travel and other technological developements are able to watch planets progress in technological developments. And at the right moment, they drop in on the planet and establish trade relations that favour themselves. Hmm.... this sounds a bit like what industrialised nations are doing to the Third World countries.

2. A technology has been developed that allows people to sleep for years and years without aging, thus allowing their lives to span across hundreds or even thousands of years.

There are others but I won't spoil the entire book for you.

The elements I enjoy most in sci-fi and fantasy fiction are the imaginative cultures and societies that are developed by the author. If looked at closely, these are usually modified forms of cultures that we already have in the world, but it is interesting to see what imaginative minds can come up with.

Added to this is a good story, with unsuspected revelations along the way. The characters are interesting, and just when you think you've got one sussed out, the story reveals another side of him and you have to revise your opinion.

It's a highly enjoyable book, and if you like a good sci-fi story, this is it.