Rating: 
Summary: Neat ideas, but very slow moving book
Review: I found this book by looking at the Hugo award list from recent years, yet I can't see why this book won anything. The concepts in it are fun to read about, specifically life on (and in) a pile of space debris, and the intrigue between two different groups of people, one using enslaved humans as living computers and the other an ancient trading group.Unfortunately, I think a good book needs to be one which I look forward to reading, one which occupies my thoughts when I'm not in it and makes me rush home from school to pick it up, and this is no such book. The size is unneccessary, Vernor Vinge could have cut out about 200 pages of dreary, too-mundane descriptions of the daily life of the aliens. I cared nothing about the spider creatures and their extremely monotonous lives, which Vinge details over dozens of pages. Toward the end, as it became a question of "Will I finish this book at all?" I had to make a desperate move, and begin skipping big parts of chapters. I had no trouble keeping up with the plot at all, despite racing through the last half of the book, since so many pages are completely superfluous and totally uninteresting.
Rating:
Summary: Sloppy writing
Review: From the writing in this book it seems that English was not the author's first language. Things are often expressed in an unidiomatic way. Or maybe it's just sloppiness? Where was the editor? I don't mind difficult books where the difficulty is due to complex ideas (such as A Fire upon the Deep), but in this book the difficulties are due to poor writing. I agree with the other reviews stating that the book is bloated. A shorter version with tighter, clearer writing would be welcome. I would recommend that newcomers to Vinge read the first book, A Fire upon the Deep, and then take a chance with this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Another wonderful novel by Vinge
Review: Once again Vernor Vinge, author of "A Fire upon the Deep", weaves a tight, thrilling tale of slavery, tyranny, and misdirection. The story tells the tale of the Qeng Ho traders and the Emergent dictators as they meet at an unusual star system, both expecting to exploit it. It is also the story of the inhabitants of that star system; a species of spiders just emerging into a technological age. Once again Vinge spins the details of an alien culture with such precision and detail that they become real to the reader. I'm pretty hard of novels, I tend to easily become annoyed with poor writing, grammar, and plot. So, when I give a novel 5 stars, IMHO it REALLY deserves it. Very satisfying, very deserving of its Hugo Award.
Rating:
Summary: This might be my new favorite book
Review: Virginia says:
If you have not read _A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep_, stop reading this review and go read it. Now! And don't read any more of this review until you do. While the books are not related plot-wise, there are elements of AFUtD that will enjoy more (in my opinion) if you don't know too much about _A_Deepness_in_the_Sky_. If you have read _A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep_, and I hope you have, you might wonder if the Qeng Ho and Pham Nuwen were real (in the context of Vinge's fictional universe, of course). In _A_Deepness_in_the_Sky_ you'll find out. This book is amazing on many levels. It has interesting, emotionally engaging characters who grow and change before your eyes. It has a fascinating technological environment. It has an imaginatively conceived alien race who live on a very strange world. Most of all, it explores issues of freedom in a way that will make any person who thinks that people should be coerced by authority "for the good of society" think again. I was moved to tears more than once while reading this book, not only by the characters' pain, but also by their joy. I dearly hope that Vinge expands on this series. Considering the magnitude of his talent, I find it astonishing that so much of his work has fallen out of print...
Rating: 
Summary: Vernor Vinge possesses a deep understanding of human behavio
Review: Vernor Vinge is nothing if not a master of space opera. He is nothing if not a master at developing multi-dimensional characters - both human and non-human - in a complex web of relationships that samples the entire range of emotion, from love, empathy and understanding at one end to repugnance and hatred on the other. One reviewer here, in particular, was stunned at Vinge's characterization of a rape scene. It was disgusting and vile - no doubt about it - but it is undeniably a feature of human behavior. Likewise, the mark of a master of fiction is to draw from the continuum of human behavior and develop characters that embody all of these - because WE embody all of these. (No offense to the sensitivities of that reader). Further, he's done a competent job of illustrating how a star which cycles through extremes could give life to a planet while at the same providing a nucleus for religious movement, social mores and definitions of deviance to form. Though some readers have complained that the book was too long and hit a few slow spots, I felt Vinge did a remarkable job of illustrating how the social undercurrents, revenge conspiracies, market economy and stratified society formed by the "Focused", "unfocused" and Podmasters might take shape. In contrast to these strengths, however, one feels that the spiders could have been made more believable if Vinge had really put you inside of their heads; if he had made you feel and think how spiders do, rather than simply telling us. A work from Edward Levy, "The Beast Within" illustrates this vividly. One can almost feel the raw desire to run through the high grass when the human-turned animal smells the scent of prey in the night air. I think a similar device would have made the spiders more alien and our sympathy for them more pointed. Still, one finishes the book with an uplifted and optimistic feeling and a genuine fondness for the spiders. Again, I am deeply impressed by Vernor!
Rating:
Summary: Could have been 200 pages shorter
Review: I am a pretty heavy SF reader, and this is the first Vernor Vinge book I've read. I wanted to read this book first (because it is the prequel) before I read his award winning "A Fire upon the Deep". But I was somewhat disappointed at how so many pages of this book were devoted to nothing that mattered at the end (probably why this book didn't win any awards). About 200 pages in the middle of the book could be deleted for a much faster, more satisfying read. It's not to say details are unimportant, but when you get to the conclusion of the this book you start asking yourself "Did I miss something?" because very little if any of the character development and desciptions of daily life aboard the ship or on the spider world seems to matter much towards the end. The characters are pretty well established in the beginning and end. The end of the book happens lightening fast, too fast in my opinion. For instance, only a brief page or two is devoted to the crash landing of the "Invisible Hand" starship into the spiders world. I think this scene could have been described in much more detail and horror. It's like one minute they're plunging through the atmosphere and the next they're already down. Anyway, if you have a lot of time on your hands and don't mind about 200 pages of unnecessary detail, then you'll like this book. But if you're in the habit of reading a chapter at night before you fall asleep then you will forget a lot of stuff. I am looking forward to reading "A Fire upon the Deep" next.
Rating:
Summary: A deepness in a novel
Review: When I read the first chapter/introduction to this novel I thought I had read the best first chapter of any novel, ever. But I was quickly let down. First off, I would like to say that overall it's a good novel. But it's lacking something, in my opinion, which made his last novel, "A Fire Upon the Deep," so great. "A Deepness in the Sky" comes in at almost 800 pages. I recall somewhere in the beginning there being an obscure reference to "There and Back Again" (aka "The Hobbit"), and one of the Spiders' last name is Underhill -- hardly a veiled reference or deference to Tolkien. But, unlike Tolkien, Vinge fails to keep me enthralled for all 800 plus pages. There IS a good story here, but it is often buried under chapters and pages of trivialities. He'll often set a scene, introduce new characters and create a chapter just to tell us one small detail like, "they had a meeting." Some sci-fi readers may like these excruciating details, but I found them laborous and boring and they took me away from the more interesting plot lines and enchanting characters like Pham Nuwen. Vinge sets up a large universe here, but then keeps the story centered around one planet. Besides its unique star, this is a very dull solar system. But the largest problem I had with the story is the fact that the Spiders -- the alien race which live on the visited planet -- are not very alien at all. Sure they look grotesque, but one might as well be reading a book of human history. The Spider's rise into a space-faring global culture is impossibly dull, only because they mirror humanity's rise to the letter. I found this highly frustrating because I know from his last novel that Vinge is much more creative with alien species. It was hard to sit through 800 pages recounting human history with a spider face. The novel did have some redeeming aspects, however. The back story of Pham Nuwen is fascinating, though I didn't buy the Brisgo Gap fiasco where the founder of the trader society is ostracized from the inhabited worlds. Also, I find it hard to believe that no one ever thought of creating a trader culture before him. But that kind of plot hole is acceptable in epic stories like this because we need a central character unto which all things rotate. Here is an 800 page book with 400 pages of really good story, and 400 pages of the author being self-indulgent. Did I like it? Yes. Did I love it? Well.... ;)
Rating:
Summary: This one stayed with me
Review: I first read this book 18 months ago, and although I have read many, many books since then, I could answer questions about A Deepness In The Sky better than I could about the middling-to-average book I read just this week. Vinge is a master at painting a huge universe in astonishing clarity while never losing sight of the story he is trying to tell in it. You read the book and enjoy the story, but the sense that there are so many more stories to tell is powerful. The Qeng Ho were broadly outlined in a couple of pages in A Fire Upon the Deep but here the entire meta-civilisation Pham Nuwen created really comes alive. With surprisingly little information an image is created of a vibrant, exotic trading culture which deals with light-years at speeds lower than that of light. I have heard it said that science fiction is the only truly mind-expanding drug, and never has it been more true (for me at least) than here. There is nothing quite so exhilarating as the slightly vertiginous feeling that accompanies a new worldview opening up before you, and that is what this book offers.
Rating:
Summary: If you enjoy world-building sf, this book is for you
Review: Vernor Vinge is one of the most frustrating writers I know. He's frustrating because he doesn't publish often enough to suit me. As a reader, I can't think of higher praise. A Deepness in the Sky is one of those books that gives you a headache for the first hundred pages, trying to get your feet under you in a new universe. If you read A Fire Upon the Deep and think you've got a head start because Deepness is a prequel, forget it. This is a whole new ball game. I won't bother trying to offer a synopsis. It could only detract from a good read, if this book is for you, could only drive you away if you're not sure and is pointless if you aren't into sf world-building. (If you aren't sure what 'sf world-building is, it's a type of science fiction in which the author meticulously builds the world in which he sets his story, usually a world so different from our own the reader ends up being immersed in an entirely new experience. In Deepness, Vinge gives a two-fer, exploring both a huge interstellar trading empire and an isolated alien world.) If you've ever read a book that took you to another place, another time, another culture - Dune or Shogun, for example - and you were a little sad when the story was over and you had to leave that new world behind, you will probably enjoy A Deepness in the Sky.
Rating:
Summary: Delightfully detailed world creation
Review: Though a prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky stands on its own as a rich sci fi story (I read them in the wrong order by mistake). The world creations, flashbacks to earlier times, and societal descriptions are rich and detailed, and the characters, though not perfectly realistic, are better than in most sci fi books (or popular fiction in general). On this last point I would rank Deepness higher that Fire Upon the Deep. Although in the end Vinge makes it clear why the spider aliens are portrayed the way they are, it is a bit disconcerting to have a very alien species presented in such an obviously human manner. I mean, is it likely that extraterrestrial spiders would call their university town Princeton? Even so, we soon forget about that sort of thing, and realize in the end that Vinge pretty much knew what he was doing. I would also agree with another reviewer who pointed out that there is a plot twist which actually begins hundreds of pages before we even realize it is there. I understand providing a mystery and clues for the reader to figure out, but Vinge essentially had to remove the viewpoints of important characters to pull it off. My reaction was something like "Oh, that was going on. Whatever." Even with these gripes, Deepness was probably the best sci fi story I've read in years (I confess, I've largely neglected the genre lately, but this really was a good book). I'd like to give it more stars, but five just isn't quite justified. Overall, I don't think a sci fi reader will be disappointed, and even non sci fi fans may appreciate the discussions and philosophy contained. Actually, this really is worth mentioning more. Vinge really is an idea man. He likes to explore things that I've not seen done much. In a way, A Deepness in the Sky is a parable about the virtues of capitalism while acknowledging the potential dangers of technology, and in a way that's not at all preachy or anti science. Give it a look.
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