A Fire Upon the Deep
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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.
A prequel to this book was subsequently written, A Deepness in the Sky, set twenty thousand years earlier in the "Slow Zone" near Earth and detailing the earlier adventures of Pham Nuwen.
Two major plotlines exist in the Fire, related to the appearance of a malevolent quasi-Power referred to as The Blight. Accidentally released by human explorers from an ancient library, this intelligence is able to infiltrate and control computer and biological systems, quickly infecting and destroying many star systems in the High Beyond.
Apparently with some knowledge of what they are doing, some of the humans escaping from the infected research colony travel to the edge of the Slow Zone with (not fully known to them) semi-living information from the library. They are forced to land their sleeper ship 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 consists of several persistent biological entities, who share their thoughts through high-frequency sound. A single creature is as smart as a clever dog; two to three can form dim intelligence; four to six is the standard; packs of more rapidly degrade into incoherence, although a genius pack of eight was known as one exceptional case. Other configurations are possible. Examples include, long sentry lines with a continuous mental link and garrisoned slave teams.) The book follows a long-lived conflict between two groups of Tines who now fight over the landed ship (which the closer group immediately attacked) and their future status in the rest of the galaxy, which they previously had no conception of. One group, led by the Woodcarver, so named for her (sexual identity amongst multi-gender packs is fairly arbitrary) artistic abilities, is helped to develop cannon and other technology by a survivor, a young human girl, and her toy databank. The other group, led by Lord Steel ruling for the absent 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.
Simultaneously, a rescue mission is sent from the High Beyond in the form of a human woman, Ravna, a somewhat human man, Pham Nuwen (assembled by a Power from leftover body parts and infused with 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 movable Skrodes they maneuver with. The Power ("Old One") that created Pham has been killed by The Blight and downloaded as much of itself as could fit into Pham, providing Pham with subconscious knowledge of how to activate the Countermeasure located on the landed ship. While fighting off anti-human military forces (humans are purported to be the cause and furtherance of The Blight) they reach the planet and Pham initiates the Countermeasure, a nanotechnological fungus-like substance/device. The Countermeassure (or possibly an intelligence from outside the galaxy that the Countermeasure calls on) drastically alters the boundaries of the zones of thought, expanding the Slow Zone to envelop The Blight, where it is effectively neutralized. However, this also ends up both killing Pham and stranding the protagonists and many human children (up until then in suspended animation) on Tines' World in the depths of the Slow Zone. It is also implied that this event thrust thousands of civilizations, at least briefly, into an environment where technology needed to survive would no longer work; a situation analogous to the state of civilization on Earth were electricity to cease to function.
Trivia
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.