A Fire Upon the Deep

My sister and I were only close because we’re only two years apart. But recently we’ve had some tragedy in our family, and that brought us closer.

While I was making this list of books, I was reminded of this story and how much I enjoyed it, not just for the prose, which I take notice of and will drop a book if it’s bad, but for that reminder of the brother and sister story here. Not to mention the rescue crew of odd characters which reflects a belief of mine: truth is universal.

Any human or alien can understand… show more.

A Fire Upon the Deep is a galaxy-spanning book that’s about as wide in scope as you can hope to find. As difficult as it is to boil down into a paragraph, it remains a character-driven story that we follow episodically as we learn how they all relate. Whether it’s a pair of human siblings integrating with a strange pack of telepathic alien canines, or a human employee of a vast alien communication network working with an ancient universal entity to help save the galaxy, Vinge never shrinks from the most exotic of alien concepts, but—astoundingly—never loses the humanity of… show more.

Vernor Vinge is so associated with popularizing the concept of the singularity that it’s often overlooked that his novels contain some of the best aliens out there. The Tines, who are introduced in A Fire Upon the Deep, are marvelous. A single Tine has about the intelligence of a very smart dog. However, as a group, the Tines’ intelligence increases hugely. Lacking hands, they cooperatively use their mouths—and eyes, and other senses—to achieve tasks a similar-sized group of humans would find difficult, if not impossible.

But Vinge’s books are full of “heart” as well as cool ideas, especially the challenges… show more.

This fascinating book asks “what if” someday we were to meet aliens who form group minds of three to eight individuals whose minds are connected into a collective intelligence by ultrasonic data transfer? With too few individuals such group minds wouldn’t be very smart. Minds with too many individuals would tend to be troubled by internal conflicts. 

When two group minds get too close to one another, the ultrasonic messaging from one confuses the other’s group mind. 

There are many other “what ifs” explored, including the idea that technology and brains work better in some areas of the galaxy, a… show more.

Vinge’s tines appear comfortably dog-like in the physical aspect, yet experience life from a perspective that is utterly alien to us. When individuals are close to one another their minds merge, creating a single pack-mind. What elevates this phenomenon above the usual “pack mind” is that the merger does not obliterate individual identities, but combines them into a new identity that reflects all its components. Tine intelligence requires at least four minds to function properly, so a pack that loses members also loses mental acuity. Single tines are pitiful creatures, desperately looking for a pack to join. As such they… show more.

One of the deepest and most compelling sci-fi novels I have read yet written so brilliantly that it is accessible despite its complexity. It covers so much, from superhuman intelligences to space battles to genocide to variable physics. You learn an incredible amount while reading this without ever feeling you are being lectured. It’s a truly mind-blowing work.