Rainbows End

By: Vernor Vinge

Narrated by: Eric Conger

Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

Vernor Vinge doesn't write novels very quickly, but when he writes one, it's well worth the wait. His last two novels have won the coveted Hugo Award for Best Science Fiction Novel of the year. Rainbows End is set in the same near future as his novella "Fast Times at Fairmont High", which won the Hugo Award in 2002 for Best Novella. Set a few decades from now, Rainbows End is an epic adventure that encapsulates in a single extended family the challenges of the technological advances of the first quarter of the 21st century. The information revolution of the past 30 years blossoms into a web of conspiracies that could destroy Western civilization. At the center of the action is Robert Gu, a former Alzheimer's victim who has regained his mental and physical health through radical new therapies, and his family. His son and daughter-in-law are both in the military, but not a military we would recognize, while his middle-school-age granddaughter is involved in perhaps the most dangerous game of all, with people and forces more powerful than she or her parents can imagine.

Filled with excitement and Vinge's trademark potpourri of fascinating ideas, Rainbows End is another triumphantly entertaining novel by one of the true masters of the field.

©2006 Vinge Vernor (P)2007 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

• 2007 Hugo Award winner, Best Novel

"This [is] top-drawer hard SF - fast-paced, packed with action, intellectually challenging and, above all, capable of invoking SF's grail: a genuine sense of wonder." (Publishers Weekly)

Incomprehensible worldbuilding

If you’ve listened to books by Vernor Vinge before, how does this one compare?

A lot of time is spent describing augmented reality worlds. But it doesn't really move the story along; it's like those sci fi novels where they spend half the book describing how cool the spaceship is. Vinge names fantastical creatures without describing what they look like, as if you already knew what they were, so when they do things, it's impossible to visualize. There just wasn't enough effort put into the human or non-human characters.

A promising premise for me, but I was very disappointed, coming off of A Fire Upon the Deep. The last third of the book was nearly incomprehensible to me.

I was sure what to expect

I heard about the book in a youtube interview. I recently started going through cyberpunk titles. I'm glad I took the chance in listening to this one.

In the overall, I loved the story and how the Vinge integrated technology in the 21 century society. For me it wasn't overalls technical. And the use cases were relatable.

I especially enjoyed the voice narrations. Conger did a great job. It definitely helped in keeping track of the conversations.

The only shortfall for me was the end. I felt there were one or two things left unanswered.

From the original Cyberspace Author

It's interesting to note how far thinking has come since Vernor Vinge's original "True Names" story about what we later came to call Cyberspace. In this novel, he gives us some glimpses into trends that are happening in social network software, computer hardware, bio-engineering and an entire raft of other things that are going on today. It's interesting to see how his thinking has changed from Cyberspace type visions to Augmented Reality and pervasive computing.

Disappointed

Even after reading through some of the the other luke warm reviews, I decided to go with this book. I generally like the techno-geeky genre other's don't relate to. But this story was busy, difficult to follow at times and the author seemed more interested in throwing in descriptions of his universe than developing the plot and characters.

WOW

This author has put enough thought into his work that I enjoyed it the first time and immediately started again from the beginning. His world is a complex and believable concept of the near future. He has woven estimated psychological, physical and technological extrapolations from the present into the future and used them as the backdrop for an end of the world type crisis. The story line is entertaining but one can lose oneself in his vision of the everyday lives of our grandchildren.

W.O.W.

Science fiction at it's best. Constant entertainment (well, it slows down now and again). Very interesting new concepts that keep you going WOW, cool idea. I listen and read a lot of science fiction and this is one of the best.

A Science Fiction Classic

This is a great story from a fabulous author. I really enjoy it when an author brings you into a story in a way that helps you suspend your disbelief. There were a few places where things went a bit overboard -- but the story was still quite enjoyable.

kind of fun but not worth a re-read

at several points I got lost in the techno jargon, the story is a little bit thin but it was still enjoyable, some interesting ideas about where the internet and gaming could end up in 20 years. I agree with another reviewer who said it would have made a great short story, but stretched into a novel it became a little light.

Gripping!

If the ending had been as strong as the rest, I would have given 5 glowing stars. Great development of the ideas, but weak on closure, especially regarding Rabbit.

Another vinge masterpiece.

A great techno thriller with all the right plausibilities for incredible imagination. Vinge truly is a visionary in his other works far flung and far reaching, this one is much closer to home and our reality. The characters are all compelling and the development is great. The stakes are high while keeping a lightheartedness. A great addition to any sci-fi lovers library.