← Back to search
Cover of A Fire Upon The Deep

A Fire Upon The Deep

Vernor Vinge (2010-04-01)

Subgenre
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingR
Pages626 (Doorstopper (600+))
Setting
CSM age16+

Content levels

ViolenceStrong
Sexual contentNone
LanguageMild

Synopsis

Now with a new introduction for the Tor Essentials line, A Fire Upon the Deep is sure to bring a new generation of SF fans to Vinge's award-winning works. A Hugo Award-winning Novel! “Vinge is one of the best visionary writers of SF today.”-David Brin Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology, can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence. Fleeing this galactic threat, Ravna crash lands on a strange world with a ship-hold full of cryogenically frozen children, the only survivors from a destroyed space-lab. They are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. Tor books by Vernor Vinge Zones of Thought Series A Fire Upon The Deep A Deepness In The Sky The Children of The Sky Realtime/Bobble Series The Peace War Marooned in Realtime Other Novels The Witling Tatja Grimm's World Rainbows End Collections Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge True Names At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Tags

Hard Science FictionSpace OperaMilitary Science FictionAlien Contact

Is A Fire Upon The Deep appropriate for my child?

Suitable for most readers 16 and up.

This hard SF novel contains strong violence including the destruction of thousands of worlds, enslavement of civilizations, and children used as pawns in medieval alien power struggles. Complex themes and genocidal-scale conflict make it mature reading.

What to know going in

This book has strong violence, no sexual content, and mild language. Content notes include child harm, genocide, slavery, captivity, and mass death (see the full list above).

Who'll love this

Teens who love ambitious space opera with mind-bending concepts about intelligence, alien cultures, and galactic-scale threats will be captivated by this Hugo winner.