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Summary: Near and far futuristic fantasy
Review: For "The Peace War", the first of the short novels. This I thought was a brilliant piece of work. A classic struggle against an oppressive power through the use of technology and ingenuity. There is a wonderful mix of action and stealth to create this epic story. While this isn't the best of Vinge's work, I definitely see this book as potential for a high budget special effects film. "Marooned in Realtime" was an upset in my opinion. Vinge implausibly reunites several characters from "The Peace War" several hundred thousand years in the future. This book was more of a murder mystery than a sci-fi novel, and he used sci-fi as a device to justify his implausibilities.
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Summary: I've liked everything I've read of Vinge
Review: I liked the Deepness novels perhaps a little better, but just when I thought the Marooned was going nowhere it through me a surprize and got very interesting. Recommended!
Rating:
Summary: 3 stars for Peace War + 7 stars for Marooned in Realtime
Review: I read two of vinge's novels before I've started this one. So my expectations were very high from the start. and I wasn't disappointed for one second! The book contains two novels: 'Peace war' and 'Marooned in reatime'. both were interesting, entertaining and really, but really good.
English is not my native tongue, and it is hard for me to write a literature review - But please get the message that goes beyond my poor writing: You should read this excellent book that stand on the same level of Vinge's Hugo's winner books.
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Summary: Hard Science Fiction At It's Best
Review: I shall not bore you with another rehash of the outline of this novel, other than to say it is a sweeping saga spanning millions of years. Vinge really illustrates how we rely on our technology, and have largely lost our survival skills to cope with nature on an individual basis. Could we survive as a species if there were only a few hundred humans left? Vinge is a scientist by trade and it shows, he definitely makes you think! This novel has a very good base of scientific fact mixed with a great plot and excellent character developement, and can stand up to anything well known writers such as Asimov or Bradbury or Heinlein ever wrote, and that is saying a lot. As I began to read this book, I read perhaps ten or twelve pages a day, but I became so entranced by the story that later I found it hard to put down, it was so good. I loved the ending of the book, especially the last few paragraphs.
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Summary: Murder...He Wrote
Review: I'll be honest, this review is solely on "Marooned in Realtime", I acutally bought a copy of that book separately in a used book store. It seems from the reviews I've read that some people really love "The Peace War" and hate "Marooned" and others love "Marooned" and don't like "Peace War". I would probably fall somewhere in the middle. "Marooned" is a decent sci-mystery book, not really great, but it moves along well enough to be a good read. Short summary: one of the most prominent of the last survivors of humanity is murdered and former cop Wil Brierson is put on the case. Ultimately there's a huge conspiracy to co-opt and destroy the tiny human colony, which Brierson and his allies unravel. The story itself is pretty bland, but the background technology and concepts are more interesting. The reason that most of humanity disappears is unknown, but some people managed to unwittingly survive by putting themselves in stasis bubbles called "bobbles". More than a mystery, this also provides a sociological look at how to rebuild a fallen civilization. Overall, like I said, it's not great, but it's good. Read "Marooned" or "Peace War" separately or together, but "Marooned" is worth the money. P.S. - If you like sci-mystery, check out "The Icarus Hunt" by Timothy Zahn, the science end may not be as great, but I thought the mystery end was better.
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Summary: Marooned in Realtime -- Among the Best Ever
Review: Of the two books included in this reprinting I'll confine my remarks to the second -- Marooned in Realtime which I read recently. Written in 1986, this is probably one of the best science fiction works of the past 20 years. I can't believe it didn't win a Hugo the first time out. This book didn't receive the attention it deserved, and it is very fortunate that Vinge's later success has led to this reissue. My only explanation for the relative anonymity of the first work is that the ideas presented there were simply too audacious. The concept of the Singularity was introduced here and then continued in a 1992 article by Vinge published in the Whole Earth Review. It then seemed to disappear, until rediscovered by Kurzweil and Moravec around 2000. Without giving away the novel, Vinge makes a good case for why SETI will fail. Beyond some breathtaking ideas (of which the least is the total abolition of privacy -- novel in 1986, prosaic now) there's also a great murder mystery, and a poignant romance. Read it, but don't expect to get anything done until the book is done. ...
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Summary: Incredible. One of the best.
Review: One of the best, most mind bending sf books I've read in 20 years of sf reading. It's a space opera that takes place over billions of years, yet has unusual continuity. The way that time dilates from realtime to deep time really pleased my brain. It's a new way of thinking, and that is rare to get from a paperback book! Note that this is 3 short stories published as one book. It's great. You will love it, I am sure.
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Summary: A very uneven writer
Review: This book is actually two novels:"The Peace War" and "Marooned in Realtime".
"The Peace War" is very well written and places Vernor Vinge with the old time sci fi great writers.
"Marooned in Realtime" is a very bad mystery and with a very bad plot.
The result is a five star mixed with a one star for the whole book. It is worth buying for "The Peace War".
Rating:
Summary: One of the classics
Review: This is one of SF's true classics -- this falls in with The_Stars_My_Destination to Lord_Of_Light to the Hyperion series -- and is a thoroughly entertaining read.
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Summary: Worth It Just for "Marooned in Realtime"
Review: You know by now that this book comprises the novel "Peace War", the short story "The Ungoverned" and the novel "Marooned in Realtime." The first two stories are interesting, but probably not something that I would rush out to recommend to friends. However, "Marooned in Realtime" is an amazing joyride! If you like the big ideas, big consequences, big time-spans, all carried out their logical conclusions, this is the story for you! Vinge clearly shows his skills in writing stories with a "sense of awe and wonder" that he later showcases in his "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky" novels. If you liked those two novels, you'll most probably like "Marooned in Realtime". One note: If you wonder if you "need" to read the "Peace War" and "The Ungoverened" in order to fully enjoy "Marooned in Realtime," there are a couple of concepts and characters that are introduced that are important to fully understanding "Marooned in Realtime." In fact, the conclusion to the "murder mystery" in "Marooned" hinges on your being familiar with a certain character introduced in the earlier stories. I was surpirsed by this since I was hoping that "Marooned" could stand alone by itself without too much backreferencing.
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