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)

Believable and fun

Believable technology and an interesting main character. The vibe and energy reminded me of Neal Stephenson's Snow Crash, so if you liked that, you'll probably like this book as well. "The Rabbit" character that emerges could have come from William Gibson, and I'm hoping for a sequel featuring it.

Kind of two books shmushed together

Listened/read this for a book club, and the club's consensus (with a few outliers) was that while the storyline of Robert, a cantankerous old fart, who had been a world famous poet but at the start of the book is barely there as a result of alzheimer's but who is brought back to the living due to medical advances, was actually rather good... we were interested in him, we liked his granddaughter and wished more effort had gone into flushing out the characters of his son, wife, and daughter in law.... but then there's a whole 2nd story having to do this guy who's trying to achieve the perfect mind control technology --- so that he can make the world perfect because everyone will do what he wants them to... that 2nd story, which took up huge gobs of the book was disjointed, unsatisfying and essentially a complete waste. Also there were all sorts of little technical things we weren't buying --- and my book club includes a couple of professional geeks

This caused me to go on a Vinge binge

If you could sum up Rainbows End in three words, what would they be?

Three words with a 15 minimum requirement…I guess I'll go for alliteration…
Intensely Interwoven Intrigue

What other book might you compare Rainbows End to and why?

True Names.
Both use their understanding of the I'net as a tool to work toward their goals.

Which scene was your favorite?

The dancing library and events surrounding it.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Discovery of those tracking/helping the main character.

Any additional comments?

Reviews without Spoilers (my preference) are challenging.

Hard Core Speculative Fiction!

While not the most compulsive of narratives, “Rainbows End” will nevertheless be of great interest to hardcore fans of speculative fiction. Treading similar ground to Neal Stephenson, Vernor Vinge’s story set in the very near future pulses with ideas and possibility, yet lacks the formers wit and verve.
The story revolves around the central character of Robert Gu, Nobel prize winning poet, lost in the depths of Alzheimer’s. Of the three main narrative threads this is the strongest, and could have functioned as a novel on its own. Gu’s story is one of redemption, beautifully expressed, and worth the listeners effort. Of the other two threads, namely an earth shaking conspiracy and persona called “Rabbit”, I was ambivalent and found them to be hard work. Having said that, the unexplained “Rabbit” remained with me for several days, and after some reflection I wonder if the author was expressing something regarding the evolution of technology; aka Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s “Noosphere” .
The narration was of a high standard and I could not but help think that the character of Robert Gu sounded just like the voice of the actor Jason Robarts.

So, So

I picked this book up because I have heard so many good things about Vinge. I ended up forcing myself to listen to the whole book. The end was anti-climatic and really boring. The book was really about the characters and the technology and plot were nothing more than tools to delve into the character's mindset. If you are looking for a book that is more plot driven, this may not be for you. If you are looking for a more cerebral character driven story, you may enjoy this story.

Interesting vision of the future, but dragging

Conceptually fascinating, but the plot gets too bloated and bogged down in the geopolitics and cyber security details of the new world. Some of the peripheral characters and subplots are just plain uninteresting, and make the whole thing less enjoyable.

It felt like a novel constructed to illustrate the details -- both broadly interesting and painfully specific -- of this conceived near future, at the expense of good writing, character development, and plot structure.

Story was OK, characters underdevloped

The story did introduce a few interesting concepts - especially the notion of a behavioral control attack that is based on a biological vector that is triggered with specific sensory input.

But the character development left me feeling uninspired. I found it hard to convince myself to really care about them or their outcomes in the story.

Entertaining and fun, but not mind-blowing

Any additional comments?

This book started off very well. I was quite excited with where it was going; about halfway I felt it derailed. It was still worth the listen.

Great audio production

I enjoyed the story, but it is the audio production that wowed me. The story kept pulling me forward (good suspense).

Great Discovery

One of my favorite things about Audible, are the surprises you find if willing to take a chance on mixed reviews.

This has been the best treat so far. My thanks to the readers who didn’t get it.

Having never even heard of Vinge, I was totally captivated by his near future extension of present day trends, and, the new tech he invents.

Story line and world view worked well together, no excessive fluff explaining concepts, but enough back story to keep everything together.

This is now one of my top 5 books, I just hope this glowing review doesn’t spoil it for a future treasure hunter.