Rainbows End

De: Vernor Vinge

Narrado por: Eric Conger

Duración: 14 h y 46 m

Resumen del Editor

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

• 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.

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.

Entertaining and fun look at the near future

I really enjoy "near future" science fiction, and this book is no exception. Vinge creates a world where we are always plugged in to the net --- and the younger generation is leading the way, as always. It explores this world from the point-of-view of an older man who has received a successful rejuvenation treatment and has learned that his old self was not actually someone he really liked. Cool tech, great characters.

was expecting more

What did you like best about Rainbows End? What did you like least?

brief action section was very engaging.
hard to say why, but found the beginning dragged and the end anticlimactic
unlike many sci-fi books there was a bit of character development, so kudo's for that

Would you be willing to try another book from Vernor Vinge? Why or why not?

perhaps, as other reviews suggest this is not his best work

Have you listened to any of Eric Conger’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

narrator gave a creditable performance, especially the surly protagonist

Did Rainbows End inspire you to do anything?

no

Any additional comments?

was expecting more from hugo winner

Erratic, but enjoyable if you are open to it

The setting and circumstances are intriguing. Vinge describes a believable, compelling, and fascinating world where a ubiquitous evolution of the Internet has reshaped human existence in the not-too-distant future. Particularly because of its role in education, this new technological medium has catapulted a generation of youth far beyond the capabilities and values of their parents.

As in other Vinge works, a broad, eclectic array of plot pieces are set into motion in order to arrive at a final climax. One moment you're reading about a miserable old poet who's been given a second chance on life, but must choose between his old talents and the brave new world. Then suddenly it's about children coming of age in a technological utopia. At one point it seemed to veer into a lecture on the merits of libertarian capitalism. For far too long it dwells on an unimportant sub-plot about teaching old dogs new technological tricks. And there's this grad student, desperate to find an original thesis. And then it's about a team of nostalgic rebels who fight against the violently rapid progress around them. Oh, and I almost forgot, there's a worldwide team of secret-agent anti-terrorist saviors who have been infiltrated and manipulated by a villain with a plan for world domination (except they drop that plot for such a long time that you forget if it was this book or another that you remember it from). And a husband-wife team of super military analysts. And a super-powerful AI screwing with all of them, just for fun. Oh, oh, and then there's a huge Pokemon battle! And some Bollywood executives, and some sort of worldwide technological catastrophe. No, I'm *not* making this up!

While it was never completely ridiculous, it was nevertheless frustrating to be constantly wondering, even well into the final 1/3 of the book, what the heck the main story was supposed to be, and how it all fit together. It does come together loosely, but then rushes into resolution and epilogue.

Stay Plugged In, San Diego

While those not used to traditional Science Fiction may find this read a little dense, it is SCIENCE Fiction. Based in a cyber mapped future, where practically everyone wears interfaces to the internet in their clothing, and information technology is used for good and evil, this story remains, at its heart, human. There is a reason this master crafted story won the Hugo- and that is because Vinge seems to not only understand the classic conflict of man vs machine, but he also realizes and typifies how much we love, hate and depend on being plugged in.

Good Read

The story is well written sci-fi that creates a near future reality that is easily believable and understandable. Within this setting you have the story of a gifted but difficult man, given a second chance to live. There is always a catch of course, in this case in comes in the form of a rabbit who is trying to save the world, end the world or possibly just looking for some fun. All in all, I highly recommend the audio book. If yoiu like sci-fi.. I think you'll enjoy it. I did.

Great... except for the Story

Well crafted characters, undergoing significant development, interacting in a captivating world, moving towards a climax from several directions... Why don't I like this? I asked myself several times during the listen and eventually realized that I was not invested in the story, despite the elements listed above. This strikes me a novel that began as a chapter, designed as the setup for a good piece of scifi, that just got stretched into a story line that I didn't really connect with.