A Deepness in the Sky
Encyclopedia
A Deepness in the Sky is a Hugo Award–winning science fiction
novel
by Vernor Vinge
. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel
(set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep
(1992). The title is coined by one of the story's main characters in a debate, in a reference to the hibernating habits of his species and to the vastness of space.
species on a planet orbiting an anomalous star, dubbed On/Off because for 215 of every 250 years it is dormant, releasing almost no energy. During this period, the planet freezes and its fauna goes into hibernation
. The planet's inhabitants, called "Spiders" by the humans for their resemblance to arachnid
s, have reached a stage of technological development
very similar to that of Earth's humans in the early 20th century, although humans believe that they may once have been capable of space travel. If this is true, then whoever can establish ties with the aliens first could reap unimaginable rewards; humans have made contact with only one other intelligent (but non-technological) alien species in millennia of travel through the stars. Two human groups launch expeditions to the Spider world: the Qeng Ho ' onMouseout='HidePop("14023")' href="/topics/Zheng_He">Zheng He
), traders
who have developed a common interstellar culture for humanity; and the Emergents, an authoritarian civilization that literally enslaves selected human minds and has only recently re-emerged from a Dark Age.
During these events, a concurrent history of the Spider civilization unfolds – mainly through the picaresque
, and then increasingly political and technocratic, experiences of a small group of liberal-minded and progressive Spiders. Their struggles against ignorance and obsolescent traditions are coloured with oddly human-like descriptions and nomenclature, prefiguring some major plot revelations towards the end of the story.
Far above, after a close fight, the Emergents subjugate the Qeng Ho; but losses to both sides force them to combine and adopt the so-called "Lurker strategy", monitoring and aiding the Spiders' technological development, waiting until they build up the massive infrastructure and technological base that the visitors need in order to repair their vessels.
The mindrot virus originally manifested itself on the Emergents' home world as a devastating plague, but they subsequently mastered it and learned to use it both as a weapon and as a tool for mental domination. Emergent culture uses mindrot primarily in the form of a variant which technicians can manipulate in order to release neurotoxin
s to specific parts of the brain. An active MRI
-type device triggers changes through dia-
and paramagnetic biological molecules. By manipulating the brain in this way, Emergent manager
s induce obsession with a single idea or specialty, which they call Focus
, essentially turning people into brilliant appliances
. Many Qeng Ho become Focused against their will, and the Emergents retain the rest of the population under mass surveillance
, with only a portion of the crew not in suspended animation
. The Qeng Ho trading culture gradually starts to dilute this totalitarian regime, by demonstrating to the Emergents certain benefits of tolerated and restricted free trade
; the two human cultures merge to some extent over the decades of forced co-operation.
Pham Nuwen, the founder of the Qeng Ho trading culture, is living aboard the fleet under the pseudonym Pham Trinli, posing as an inept and bumbling fleet elder. He subverts the Emergents' own oppressive security systems through a series of high-risk ruses. During his plotting he begins to admire the Emergents' Focus technology, and begins to evaluate its usage in his own plans for the future of the fleet.
The plan to wrest fleet control from the Emergents, however, requires the co-operation of a much younger Qeng Ho who, through attrition, has become the Qeng Ho "Fleet Manager". His position as the unique liaison officer between Qeng Ho and Emergents leads him to despair, and he accepts Pham Nuwen's offer to join a plot against the Emergents as a way to personal redemption as well as to take revenge against the Emergents. However, his understanding of Pham's ambitions for Focus technology leads to a confrontation between them over the future use of Focus by the Qeng Ho.
Coming to an understanding, the two seize the critical moment when the Emergents attempt to provoke a nuclear war on the Spider home-world in order to seize power. By subverting the Emergents' management systems and by luck and human resilience, they defeat the ruling class of the Emergents.
The combined Emergent/Qeng Ho fleet now negotiates with the Spider civilization as a trading partner. Pham announces his plans to free all of the Focused in the entire Emergent civilization, and, if he survives that, to go to the center of the galaxy
to find the source of the On/Off star and the strange technology remnants that have clearly traveled with it. The story of that quest unfolds as part of the back-story in A Fire Upon the Deep. The latter novel also shows that Pham had been mistaken in identifying the center of the galaxy as the likely source of the artifacts: the outer portions of the galaxy had greater technological sophistication.
or to superluminal communication. Time-measurement details provide an interesting concept in the book: the Qeng Ho measure time primarily in terms of seconds, since the notion of days, months, and years has no usefulness between various star systems. The timekeeping system uses terms such as kilosecond
s and megasecond
s. An interesting feature of the Qeng Ho's computer and timekeeping systems is the advent of "programmer archaeologists": the Qeng Ho are packrats of computer program
s and systems, retaining them over millennia, even as far back to the era of Unix
programs (as implied by one passage mentioning that the fundamental time-keeping system is the Unix epoch, retained for backwards compatibility). This massive accumulation of data implies that almost any useful program one could want already exists in the Qeng Ho fleet library, hence the need for computer archaeologists to dig up needed programs, work around their peculiarities and bugs, and assemble them into useful constructs.
: the character of Pham Nuwen, the "Programmer-at-Arms", who appears in both books. Hints occur about the "Zones of Thought" mentioned in Fire; the story takes place in the Slow Zone, though Vinge does not explain the connections, and the characters in the story remain unaware of the zones' existence. The sun's inexplicably strange behavior, the unusual planetary system
(with only a solitary planet and several asteroid
-sized diamond
s), and the discovery of "cavorite mines" on the planet may indicate the system originated in the Transcend, though it is currently moving outward from the Unthinking Depths. Vinge's characters speculate that the Spiders descend from an ancient star-faring civilization, and that the antigravity material and other strange artifacts have connections with that civilization.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by Vernor Vinge
Vernor Vinge
Vernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels and novellas A Fire Upon the Deep , A Deepness in the Sky , Rainbows End , Fast Times at Fairmont High ...
. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel
Prequel
A prequel is a work that supplements a previously completed one, and has an earlier time setting.The widely recognized term was a 20th-century neologism, and a portmanteau from pre- and sequel...
(set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel A Fire Upon the Deep
A Fire Upon the Deep
A Fire Upon the Deep is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a conversation medium resembling Usenet...
(1992). The title is coined by one of the story's main characters in a debate, in a reference to the hibernating habits of his species and to the vastness of space.
Background
The plot begins with the discovery of an intelligent alienExtraterrestrial life
Extraterrestrial life is defined as life that does not originate from Earth...
species on a planet orbiting an anomalous star, dubbed On/Off because for 215 of every 250 years it is dormant, releasing almost no energy. During this period, the planet freezes and its fauna goes into hibernation
Hibernation
Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...
. The planet's inhabitants, called "Spiders" by the humans for their resemblance to arachnid
Arachnid
Arachnids are a class of joint-legged invertebrate animals in the subphylum Chelicerata. All arachnids have eight legs, although in some species the front pair may convert to a sensory function. The term is derived from the Greek words , meaning "spider".Almost all extant arachnids are terrestrial...
s, have reached a stage of technological development
Technological evolution
Technological evolution is the name of a science and technology studies theory describing technology development, developed by Czech philosopher Radovan Richta.-Theory of technological evolution:...
very similar to that of Earth's humans in the early 20th century, although humans believe that they may once have been capable of space travel. If this is true, then whoever can establish ties with the aliens first could reap unimaginable rewards; humans have made contact with only one other intelligent (but non-technological) alien species in millennia of travel through the stars. Two human groups launch expeditions to the Spider world: the Qeng Ho ' onMouseout='HidePop("14023")' href="/topics/Zheng_He">Zheng He
Zheng He
Zheng He , also known as Ma Sanbao and Hajji Mahmud Shamsuddin was a Hui-Chinese mariner, explorer, diplomat and fleet admiral, who commanded voyages to Southeast Asia, South Asia, the Middle East, and East Africa, collectively referred to as the Voyages of Zheng He or Voyages of Cheng Ho from...
), traders
Merchant
A merchant is a businessperson who trades in commodities that were produced by others, in order to earn a profit.Merchants can be one of two types:# A wholesale merchant operates in the chain between producer and retail merchant...
who have developed a common interstellar culture for humanity; and the Emergents, an authoritarian civilization that literally enslaves selected human minds and has only recently re-emerged from a Dark Age.
Plot summary
The Qeng Ho arrive at the On/Off star shortly before the Emergent fleet, a few years before the sun turns on, at which point the Spider civilization will "wake up" and continue its climb into a technological civilization. A reception held by the Emergents doubles as a vector to infect the Qeng Ho with a timed "mindrot" virus. The Emergents time an ambush to take advantage of the onset of symptoms.During these events, a concurrent history of the Spider civilization unfolds – mainly through the picaresque
Picaresque novel
The picaresque novel is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts, in realistic and often humorous detail, the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his wits in a corrupt society...
, and then increasingly political and technocratic, experiences of a small group of liberal-minded and progressive Spiders. Their struggles against ignorance and obsolescent traditions are coloured with oddly human-like descriptions and nomenclature, prefiguring some major plot revelations towards the end of the story.
Far above, after a close fight, the Emergents subjugate the Qeng Ho; but losses to both sides force them to combine and adopt the so-called "Lurker strategy", monitoring and aiding the Spiders' technological development, waiting until they build up the massive infrastructure and technological base that the visitors need in order to repair their vessels.
The mindrot virus originally manifested itself on the Emergents' home world as a devastating plague, but they subsequently mastered it and learned to use it both as a weapon and as a tool for mental domination. Emergent culture uses mindrot primarily in the form of a variant which technicians can manipulate in order to release neurotoxin
Neurotoxin
A neurotoxin is a toxin that acts specifically on nerve cells , usually by interacting with membrane proteins such as ion channels. Some sources are more general, and define the effect of neurotoxins as occurring at nerve tissue...
s to specific parts of the brain. An active MRI
Magnetic resonance imaging
Magnetic resonance imaging , nuclear magnetic resonance imaging , or magnetic resonance tomography is a medical imaging technique used in radiology to visualize detailed internal structures...
-type device triggers changes through dia-
Diamagnetism
Diamagnetism is the property of an object which causes it to create a magnetic field in opposition to an externally applied magnetic field, thus causing a repulsive effect. Specifically, an external magnetic field alters the orbital velocity of electrons around their nuclei, thus changing the...
and paramagnetic biological molecules. By manipulating the brain in this way, Emergent manager
Management
Management in all business and organizational activities is the act of getting people together to accomplish desired goals and objectives using available resources efficiently and effectively...
s induce obsession with a single idea or specialty, which they call Focus
Hyperfocus
Hyperfocus is an intense form of mental concentration or visualization that focuses consciousness on a narrow subject, separate from objective reality and onto subjective mental planes, daydreams, concepts, fiction, the imagination, and other objects of the mind...
, essentially turning people into brilliant appliances
Information appliance
In general terms, an information appliance or information device is any machine or device that is usable for the purposes of computing, telecommunicating, reproducing, and presenting encoded information in myriad forms and applications....
. Many Qeng Ho become Focused against their will, and the Emergents retain the rest of the population under mass surveillance
Mass surveillance
Mass surveillance is the pervasive surveillance of an entire population, or a substantial fraction thereof.Modern governments today commonly perform mass surveillance of their citizens, explaining that they believe that it is necessary to protect them from dangerous groups such as terrorists,...
, with only a portion of the crew not in suspended animation
Suspended animation
Suspended animation is the slowing of life processes by external means without termination. Breathing, heartbeat, and other involuntary functions may still occur, but they can only be detected by artificial means. Extreme cold can be used to precipitate the slowing of an individual's functions; use...
. The Qeng Ho trading culture gradually starts to dilute this totalitarian regime, by demonstrating to the Emergents certain benefits of tolerated and restricted free trade
Free trade
Under a free trade policy, prices emerge from supply and demand, and are the sole determinant of resource allocation. 'Free' trade differs from other forms of trade policy where the allocation of goods and services among trading countries are determined by price strategies that may differ from...
; the two human cultures merge to some extent over the decades of forced co-operation.
Pham Nuwen, the founder of the Qeng Ho trading culture, is living aboard the fleet under the pseudonym Pham Trinli, posing as an inept and bumbling fleet elder. He subverts the Emergents' own oppressive security systems through a series of high-risk ruses. During his plotting he begins to admire the Emergents' Focus technology, and begins to evaluate its usage in his own plans for the future of the fleet.
The plan to wrest fleet control from the Emergents, however, requires the co-operation of a much younger Qeng Ho who, through attrition, has become the Qeng Ho "Fleet Manager". His position as the unique liaison officer between Qeng Ho and Emergents leads him to despair, and he accepts Pham Nuwen's offer to join a plot against the Emergents as a way to personal redemption as well as to take revenge against the Emergents. However, his understanding of Pham's ambitions for Focus technology leads to a confrontation between them over the future use of Focus by the Qeng Ho.
Coming to an understanding, the two seize the critical moment when the Emergents attempt to provoke a nuclear war on the Spider home-world in order to seize power. By subverting the Emergents' management systems and by luck and human resilience, they defeat the ruling class of the Emergents.
The combined Emergent/Qeng Ho fleet now negotiates with the Spider civilization as a trading partner. Pham announces his plans to free all of the Focused in the entire Emergent civilization, and, if he survives that, to go to the center of the galaxy
Galactic Center
The Galactic Center is the rotational center of the Milky Way galaxy. It is located at a distance of 8.33±0.35 kpc from the Earth in the direction of the constellations Sagittarius, Ophiuchus, and Scorpius where the Milky Way appears brightest...
to find the source of the On/Off star and the strange technology remnants that have clearly traveled with it. The story of that quest unfolds as part of the back-story in A Fire Upon the Deep. The latter novel also shows that Pham had been mistaken in identifying the center of the galaxy as the likely source of the artifacts: the outer portions of the galaxy had greater technological sophistication.
Interstellar culture
The book discusses some of the problems of trying to maintain an interstellar trading culture without access to superluminal travelFaster-than-light
Faster-than-light communications and travel refer to the propagation of information or matter faster than the speed of light....
or to superluminal communication. Time-measurement details provide an interesting concept in the book: the Qeng Ho measure time primarily in terms of seconds, since the notion of days, months, and years has no usefulness between various star systems. The timekeeping system uses terms such as kilosecond
Kilosecond
A kilosecond is 1000 seconds , so there are 86.4 kiloseconds in a 24 hour day, and 604.8 kiloseconds in a week. The second is the International System of Units base unit of time, combine with the prefix kilo- which means 1000, results in the definition of a kilosecond...
s and megasecond
Megasecond
A megasecond is 1 million seconds, or roughly 11.6 days. There are roughly 31.5 megaseconds in a year. This page lists times between 1 and 1000 megaseconds , or 11.6 days and 31.7 years.*shorter times-1 year:...
s. An interesting feature of the Qeng Ho's computer and timekeeping systems is the advent of "programmer archaeologists": the Qeng Ho are packrats of computer program
Computer program
A computer program is a sequence of instructions written to perform a specified task with a computer. A computer requires programs to function, typically executing the program's instructions in a central processor. The program has an executable form that the computer can use directly to execute...
s and systems, retaining them over millennia, even as far back to the era of Unix
Unix
Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...
programs (as implied by one passage mentioning that the fundamental time-keeping system is the Unix epoch, retained for backwards compatibility). This massive accumulation of data implies that almost any useful program one could want already exists in the Qeng Ho fleet library, hence the need for computer archaeologists to dig up needed programs, work around their peculiarities and bugs, and assemble them into useful constructs.
Localizers
With this work, Vinge introduces "localizers" to his set of science-fiction concepts. Localizers are tiny devices which can contain a simple processor, sensors, and short-range communications. Vinge explores how intelligent control can use mesh networking of these devices in ways quite different from those of traditional computer networks.Relation to A Fire Upon the Deep
Only one concrete connection links A Deepness in the Sky with A Fire Upon the DeepA Fire Upon the Deep
A Fire Upon the Deep is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a conversation medium resembling Usenet...
: the character of Pham Nuwen, the "Programmer-at-Arms", who appears in both books. Hints occur about the "Zones of Thought" mentioned in Fire; the story takes place in the Slow Zone, though Vinge does not explain the connections, and the characters in the story remain unaware of the zones' existence. The sun's inexplicably strange behavior, the unusual planetary system
Planetary system
A planetary system consists of the various non-stellar objects orbiting a star such as planets, dwarf planets , asteroids, meteoroids, comets, and cosmic dust...
(with only a solitary planet and several asteroid
Asteroid
Asteroids are a class of small Solar System bodies in orbit around the Sun. They have also been called planetoids, especially the larger ones...
-sized diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s), and the discovery of "cavorite mines" on the planet may indicate the system originated in the Transcend, though it is currently moving outward from the Unthinking Depths. Vinge's characters speculate that the Spiders descend from an ancient star-faring civilization, and that the antigravity material and other strange artifacts have connections with that civilization.
Awards and nominations
- Nebula AwardNebula AwardThe Nebula Award is given each year by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America , for the best science fiction/fantasy fiction published in the United States during the previous year...
: nominated for Best NovelNebula Award for Best NovelWinners of the Nebula Award for Best Novel, awarded by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The stated year is that of publication; awards are given in the following year.- Winners and other nominees :...
, 1999 - Hugo AwardHugo AwardThe Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards...
: winner of Best NovelHugo Award for Best NovelThe Hugo Awards are given every year by the World Science Fiction Society for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The award is named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and was once officially...
, 2000 - Prometheus AwardPrometheus AwardThe Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society, which also publishes a quarterly journal Prometheus. L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newly founded Libertarian Futurist...
: winner of best libertarian science fictionLibertarian science fictionLibertarian science fiction is a sub-genre of science fiction that focuses on the politics and social order implied by libertarian philosophies with an emphasis on individualism and a limited state-- and in some cases, no state whatsoever....
, 2000 - John W. Campbell Memorial Award, winner, 2000
- Arthur C. Clarke AwardArthur C. Clarke AwardThe Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
: nominee, 2000 - Locus AwardLocus AwardThe Locus Award is a literary award established in 1971 and presented to winners of Locus magazine's annual readers' poll. Currently, the Locus Awards are presented at an annual banquet...
: nominee, 2000
Release details
- 1999, United States of America, Tor Books, ISBN 0-312-85683-0, Pub date March 1999, Hardback
- 2000, United States of America, Tor Books, ISBN 0-8125-3635-5, Pub date January 2000, Paperback
Translations
- Chinese (simplified): "天渊"
- 四川科学技术出版社(Sichuan Science and Technology Press), 2005: ISBN 9787536457355
- FinnishFinnish languageFinnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: "Taivaan syvyydet"- Like, 2002: ISBN 951-578-929-X
- RussianRussian languageRussian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...
: ""- AST, 2000: ISBN 5-17-002532-7
- AST, Yermak, 2003 (two editions): ISBN 5-17-020474-4/ISBN 5-9577-0665-5, ISBN 5-17-019900-7/ISBN 5-9577-0663-9.
- CroatianCroatian languageCroatian is the collective name for the standard language and dialects spoken by Croats, principally in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Serbian province of Vojvodina and other neighbouring countries...
: "Jazbina na nebu"- Algoritam, 2006: ISBN 953-220-424-5
- FrenchFrench languageFrench is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: "Au Tréfonds du Ciel"- Livre de Poche, (20 octobre 2004): ISBN 2253108693 / ISBN 978-2253108696
- Robert Laffont, (26 avril 2001): ISBN 2221090292 / ISBN 978-2221090299
- ItalianItalian languageItalian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...
: "Quando la luce tornerà"- Editrice Nord, 1999: ISBN 88-429-1107-0
- DutchDutch languageDutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second...
: "De Krochten van het Heelal"- Meulenhoff, 2001: ISBN 90-290-6594-X
- RomanianRomanian languageRomanian Romanian Romanian (or Daco-Romanian; obsolete spellings Rumanian, Roumanian; self-designation: română, limba română ("the Romanian language") or românește (lit. "in Romanian") is a Romance language spoken by around 24 to 28 million people, primarily in Romania and Moldova...
: "Adâncurile cerului"- Editura Nemira, 2010: ISBN 978-606-8134-31-4
- SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: "Un abismo en el cielo"- Ediciones B, 2002: ISBN 978-84-666-0862-6
- JapaneseJapanese languageis a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
: "最果ての銀河船団"- 東京創元社 (Sogensha Publishing), 2002: ISBN 9784488705039 (part 1/2)
- 東京創元社 (Sogensha Publishing), 2002: ISBN 9784488705046 (part 2/2)
- GermanGerman languageGerman is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
: "Eine Tiefe am Himmel"- ISBN 3453870638 / ISBN 978-3453870635
External links
- Review by Nick Gevers
- Review by John Clute
- A Deepness in the Sky at Worlds Without End