A Fire Upon the Deep (Zones of Thought #1) (Hugo Award Winner)

by Vernor Vinge Narrated by Peter Larkin

Overview

A Fire Upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale.

Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit 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 the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization.

A Fire Upon The Deep, which began the Zones of Thought series, is the winner of the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

Editorial Reviews

Analog Magazine

The reader grows breathless, carried away in a way that only the very best science fiction can manage.

From the Publisher

Against a background depicting a space-time continuum stratified into 'zones of thought,' the author has created a rarity—a unique blend of hard science, high drama, and superb storytelling.” —Library Journal

“A tale that burns with the brazen energy of the best space operas of the golden age. Vinge has created a galaxy for the readers of the '90s to believe in...immense, ancient, athrum with data webs, dotted with wonders.” —John Clute, Interzone

“Vast, riveting, far-future saga...The overall concept astonishes; the aliens are developed with memorable skill and insight, the plot twists and turns with unputdownable tension. A masterpiece of universe building.” —Kirkus Reviews

“Fiercely original...Compelling ideas in the book include problems and advantages of group mind, galactic communications turbidity, and the prospect of civilizations aspiring to godhood.” —Stewart Brand, founder of the Whole Earth Catalog

Product Details

BN ID:	2940169138740
Publisher:	Macmillan Audio
Publication date:	01/18/2010
Series:	Zones of Thought Series , #1
Edition description:	Unabridged

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