Deepness proves Vinge a master of quality space opera

The Qeng Ho fleet was the first to arrive at the OnOff star. That might not matter. For the last fifty years of their voyage, they had watched the torch-plumes of the Emergent fleet as it decelerated toward the same destination.
This was a situation where treachery might be rewarded, and both sides knew [...]

The two Vernor Vinges (the short and the long of it)

I have read several of Vernor Vinge’s novels and found their quality to range anywhere from “good” to “outstanding.” Indeed, over the time period I read those books, I’ve come to regard him as a solid and reliable author, perhaps even a growing favorite. So it seemed like a no-brainer to get this [...]

Narrative hooks: some favorites

First a definition, courtesy of wikipedia:
A narrative hook (or hook) is a literary technique in the opening of a story that “hooks” the reader’s attention so that he or she will keep reading on. The “opening” may consist of several paragraphs for a short story, or several pages for a novel, but ideally is the [...]

Vinge: fiery and deep

I first became interested in Vinge a few months ago when I read one of his essays on the Singularity. So I decided it would be a good idea to give his fiction a try as well. I’m glad I did, good stuff this is, A Fire Upon the Deep, from 1992. [...]