A Fire Upon the Deep
A Fire Upon the Deep (1992) is a science fiction novel written by Vernor Vinge. It combines superhuman intelligences, well-developed and believable aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, Usenet, and more into an exceptional space opera. A Fire Upon the Deep won the Hugo Award in 1993 (tied with Doomsday Book by Connie Willis).
Besides the normal print editions, the novel was included on a CD-ROM sold by ClariNet Communications along with the other nominees for the 1993 Hugo awards. The CD-ROM edition included numerous annotations by the author that reveal his thoughts and intentions about different parts of the book.
Vinge has been deeply concerned about the technological singularity which makes writing comprehensible and realistic high-tech SF novels nearly impossible. To sidestep the issue, he turns the Singularity sideways from time into space, postulating that the galaxy has been divided (by some unknown super-technology in the distant past) into "zones of thought":
- The Unthinking Depths is the lowest level, containing the galactic core. Even the simplest organic or machine intelligences function poorly, if at all. Space travel is nearly impossible, basically requiring big, dumb automated vessels with neolithic automation and massive redundancy. These properties make actual exploration of this zone problematic.
- The Slow Zone is the next layer. FTL travel and communications do not function, dependent as they are on some physical property of the universe which changes abruptly at the boundary between the Beyond and the Slow Zone. Intelligence above the level of human-equivalent is not possible. Molecular nanotechnology also doesn't function well, if at all. Earth is deep within the Slow Zone.
- The Beyond is where the majority of the action takes place in A Fire Upon the Deep. FTL travel and communication are possible, though the latter can be prohibitively expensive, often requiring planet-sized transceiver arrays. Antigravity and mind-machine interfaces, along with many other technological advances, work in the Beyond. The limits to organic and machine intelligence vary smoothly from the boundary of the Slow Zone (the "Bottom of Beyond") to that of the Transcend (the "Top").
- The Transcend is where super-intelligences known as Powers reside. Here there are no limits on nanotechnology, FTL travel is very fast (relative to the Beyond), FTL communications bandwidth is cheap, and there are no limits upon organic or machine intelligences or meldings between the two. Indeed, each of the Powers is a single consciousness created from the intelligences, both organic and inorganic, of an entire civilization. The Powers have passed through the technological singularity and their behavior is simply beyond human comprehension. They routinely create intelligent species from scratch, build Dyson Spheres, and in general perform near-miraculous feats of engineering on scales both atomic and cosmic. They regard involvement in the affairs of races in the Beyond in much the same way that humans would care about the competition for Alpha Male amongst a pack of wild animals.
Two major plotlines exist in the Fire, related to the appearance of a malevolent quasi-Power referred to as The Blight. Accidentally reconstituted by human explorers from instructions they find in an ancient library, this intelligence is able to infiltrate and control computer and biological systems, quickly infecting and taking over many star systems in the High Beyond.
With some understanding of what they have unleashed, a few humans escape from the research colony before it is fully absorbed by the Blight, and travel to the edge of the Slow Zone (where the Blight has difficulty operating). They take away some semi-living information about their enemy from the library, though they do not know how to use it.
They are forced to land their sleeper ship, with a cargo of children in suspended animation, on a planet with a medieval civilization of dog-like creatures (the Tines) that think in packs of 4 to 6 individuals. In other words, an individual consciousness is generated by the "marriage" or enlistment of several creatures, who coordinate their thoughts via high-frequency sound. A single creature is about as smart as a clever dog; two to three can think as well as a young human child; four to six is the standard; packs that are much larger rapidly degrade into incoherence, though a pack of eight is not unheard of. Other configurations are possible. Examples include long sentry lines with a continuous mental link and garrisoned slave teams.
The human adults quickly fall victim to a long-lived conflict between two Tine nations who fight over the ship. The closer group immediately attacks and kills the adults. The other group is led by the Woodcarver, so named for the artistic talent that first made her (sexual identity amongst mixed-gender packs being determined by majority) famous. They are helped to develop cannon and other technology by a survivor, a young human girl and an educational databank. The first group, led by Lord Steel in the absence of the much-feared Flenser (so named for his cruel research on other Tines), develops radio and cannon through the help of her younger brother and his communications with the outside world through the ship, as well as a well–placed spy in Woodcarver's camp. Each sibling is unaware of the other's survival and alliance with the opposing group.
Meanwhile, a mission is sent from the High Beyond in the form of a human woman, Ravna Bergsendot, a somewhat human man, Pham Nuwen (revived by a friendly Power called "Old One" from his stockpiled body along with parts from other bodies and infused with some of the memories of his former existence), and two Skroderiders, Blueshell and Greenstalk, who are part of an ancient species of aquatic beings with the appearance of large potted plants, with memory and thinking enhancements provided by the mechanical Skrodes they ride on.
"Old One", while being murdered by The Blight, manages to download as much of itself as can fit into Pham, providing him with subconscious instructions of how to activate the Countermeasure located on the downed ship. While fighting off an alliance of anti-human military forces (humans are known to be the cause of The Blight's reanimation and suspected of being its agents), they reach the planet.
After allying with Woodcarver and defeating Steel, Pham initiates the Countermeasure, a nanotechnological fungus-like substance/device. The Countermeasure (or possibly an intelligence it contacts that is even more advanced than the Powers) drastically alters the boundaries of the zones of thought in that sector of the galaxy, moving the Slow Zone out far enough to envelop and thereby destroy The Blight. However, this also ends up both killing Pham and stranding the protagonists and many human children on Tines' World in the depths of the Slow Zone. It is also implied that this event thrusts thousands of uninvolved civilizations into an environment where much of their technology no longer works, a situation analogous to an Earth where electricity ceases to exist.
Trivia
A prequel to this book was subsequently written, A Deepness in the Sky, set twenty thousand years earlier in the "Slow Zone" near Earth, detailing the earlier adventures of Pham Nuwen.
The name "Lord Steel" suggests Josef Stalin (Russian стал (stal) means steel; –ин (–in) is an adjectival suffix), as do many of the Flenserist society's names, mores and structures.
Several subtle references to computer science are found in the book. For example, at one point Woodcarver mentions that a particular arrangement of the parliament chamber was strangely effective—the arrangement resembles a hypercube.
The name of the starship Lynsnar is a liberal composite of the two Norwegian words lyn (noun for lightning, or adjective form of fast) and snar (fast). Many other names have a Norwegian sound to them. Arne is a common Norwegian male name. Vinge writes in the opening that he was partly inspired to write the book by a visit to Tromsø, a town in the arctic region of Norway.
See also
External link
- A Fire Upon the Deep title listing at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database