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)

God damned amazing at all scales

Vernor Vingeb is an absolute genius, you must read this book. I loved 'A Fire Upon the Deep' but this was so much better in almost every regard.

Fantastic gripping story

I loved the way the book kept giving me new an fantastic twists and turns

Classic science fiction

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

One of those books that it slowly dawns upon you that you’ve read before and enjoyed, but forgotten the plot - so you strap in for a joyride of rediscovery. This book is well-wrought and epic in scope, with many memorable scenes and characters and a setting that is both unique and striking. Very well performed. One star withheld on ‘Story’ as it is, at times, a tad too predictable and some overarcing story elements fit too neatly, but makes up for it with its quirky and delightful environments. Highly recommended to classic sci fi fans.

Needs some editing

The beginning of this novel was so slow and so overinclusive I almost gave up on it several times. However the last half of the novel picked up in pace and plotting and was quite enjoyable.

It became over inclusive again at the end; the plot definitely needed to be tightened up. For that reason I give it a three.

It was a very interesting concept however.

A landmark of hard sci fi

If you are a fan of The Expanse you absolutely cannot miss this book, which I'm convinced it is majorly inspired by to the point of nearly being based on. A supreme achievement in world building that gets richer on reread/listen.
"So high, so low, so many things to know".

Not exactly a page turner

31 chapters of mind numbing world building before things start to get interesting. Basically if you joined at the halfway point you’d probably find it a good read. However this book makes me re-evaluate how much stock I put in the value of the Hugo award winning status a book holds. I truly cannot see how this even made it to the qualification round in the competition let alone be considered the winner.

Complex and Interesting

A good story arc with nice plot twists and turns. Imaginative, brutal, and now I look forward to A Fire In The Deep.

Characters and their aspects

I loved it! What an amazing adventure and inventive first contact story . Looking forward to the sequel!

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”.