A Deepness in the Sky

By: Vernor Vinge

Narrated by: Peter Larkin

Length: 28 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

After thousands of years searching, humans stand on the verge of first contact with an alien race. Two human groups: the Qeng Ho, a culture of free traders, and the Emergents, a ruthless society based on the technological enslavement of minds. The group that opens trade with the aliens will reap unimaginable riches. But first, both groups must wait at the aliens' very doorstep for their strange star to relight and for their planet to reawaken, as it does every 250 years

Then, following terrible treachery, the Qeng Ho must fight for their freedom and for the lives of the unsuspecting innocents on the planet below, while the aliens themselves play a role unsuspected by the Qeng Ho and Emergents alike.

More than just a great science-fiction adventure, A Deepness in the Sky is a universal drama of courage, self-discovery, and the redemptive power of love.

Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky, the second installment of the Zones of Thought series, is a 1999 Nebula Award nominee for Best Novel and the winner of the 2000 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

©1999 Vernor Vinge (P)2009 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

• Hugo Award, Best Novel, 2000

"This prequel to A Fire Upon the Deep demonstrates Vinge's capacity for meticulously detailed culture-building and grand-scale sf drama." ( Library Journal)
"Major revelations, ironies, and payoffs.... A powerful story in the grandest SF tradition." (Amazon.com review)

Incredible

One of the best epic Sci fis I've had the pleasure of coming across. Definitely recommend to anyone that's considering it

Great SciFi for fans of Heinlein-style epics.

The author displays an incredible ability to see the world from an alien perspective, more than once.
The story spans millennia and yet still manages to thread comprehensive and gripping character arks throughout.

The narrator is good, helping to bring the large number of characters to life, each in their in distinctive manner.

I found it a little difficult to keep up with all the names at first, if I had to name a critique.

A brilliant story

This story is brilliant, and it was a fun read, especially the climax, which necessarily takes a long time building, but is well worth the wait. I wish we could know more about the on-off star and its true history, but I guess that's the mark of a good mystery - it leaves you wanting more even if you know that no answer would satisfy.

My new favorite book!

This is the last book of the series I read. It stands separate from the rest of Vinge's great work in the series. I hoop he continues this adventure before finishing the others.

The book starts slow but paying attention to the details is well worth it. Narration was on point, very well done. I'm sad I'm finished. I hope this series continues, I'll read/listen to every word.

Vernor Vinge is a Master. It only gets better

I don’t know why it took me so long to discover Verner Vinge. This second book in the series is even better than the first. For anyone who is a fan of science fiction at its best (think Asimov, etc), be prepared for a ride. I read and listen to a lot of books. The Deepness series started as a side track for me. It ended up becoming my main track.

Different Reader ?

Might have been more enjoyable with a different reader. Felt very much like old Disney nature documentaries from the 70s.

Such a rich and deep story

Great characters whose personalities and choices shape the outcome of the story. Absolutely loved it.

Excellent listen! - narrator is great as well

so I was wondering if this was going to be worth it, its one of the few 2 credit books (at least it was at the time I got it) and so is the other one "A Fire Upon the Deep" which although it came out before this one it actually takes place 20,000 years after this one - there is sosposta be a sequel to this one called "Children of the Sky" which should be out in late 2011, so lets hope that Audible gets it in audio format as well

this is about a star that is named the "on-off star" because for 215 of every 250 years it is essentially a dead star outputting almost nothing and really dim - there are these "spiders" on the planet that orbits it and they are going into hibernation within really deep parts of the planet that they can survive in - the surface is covered with air snow and ice when the sun is dark and it freezes melts and refreezes into the atmosphere every time the sun goes on and off

a group of interstellar trading folks called the Qeng Ho (pronounced Cheng Ho and named after the explorer Zheng He) and the Emergents, an authoritarian civilization that literally enslaves selected human minds and has only recently re-emerged from a "dark age" - they both arrive at the on-off star and get into a battle and both sides are messed up really bad, but the Emergents are better off and take over with a stale mate because both sides cant afford anymore fighting - they cant go anywhere so they just wait for the star to re-light and the spiders to wake up and create a civilization that they can exploit to build new ships to return to the stars

the book is great, there is even some sorta nano-tech or whatever that has to be mined out of the rocks on the planet, no one knows what it is it just floats (anti-gravity) when enough of a refined form is put together

the end is great and really didnt need a follow up, except for it would be nice to revisit the characters in the up coming book "Children of the Sky" which is sosposta take place 10 years latter

A great read following “A Fire”

An amazing book that is on par with a fire in the sky. A different setting and earlier time, makes for an exciting history lesson in the context of “a fire”.

Fantastic and Unique

It was a little hard to get into, as the world was so unique. I, however was soon enveloped and couldn't shut it off!