Name: A Deepness in the Sky
ISBN: 9780812536355

A Deepness in the Sky

From inside cover Tor First Edition March 1999: Thirty thousand years before the events of A Fire upon the Deep, Pham Nuwen is living in anonymity among the Qeng Ho interstellar trading fleet. In high orbit above the planet Arachna, they wait for the awakening of its dormant population, the Spiders, who have burrowed deep into the planet, awaiting the relighting of the On/Off star their planet orbits. For when light returns, Arachna will at long last explode into a Golden Age of technology and commerce. But the slumbering Spiders' vulnerability has attracted another lurking presence -- the Emergents, a band of traders whose plans for Arachna are more sinister than anything the Qeng Ho could envision. Reluctant to share their spoils with the Qeng Ho, the Emergents unleash an attack unlike any seen in the Qeng Ho's millennia-long history of exploration, reducing their fleet to serfdom... and then to something worse. Reaching into memories so old and painful he can barely recall them, Pham gathers the other "survivors" about him and makes a final attempt to be worthy of a reputation as ancient and storied as the history of the Qeng Ho itself. But time is running out, for soon the Emergents' assault will strip Arachna bare.

What Hacker News says

lwarfieldOct 2026

Von Nuemann is one of those names that when ever it comes up I sarcastically mentally note "John f***ing Neumann, AGAIN!". It's happened so many times in my studies that I think he might be the most important scientist to have ever lived.

He's also the inspiration for one of favorite characters in fiction, Sherkaner Underhill from A Deepness In The Sky*. :)

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EvanAndersonOct 2026

> He's also the inspiration for one of favorite characters in fiction, Sherkaner Underhill from A Deepness In The Sky.

Oh, hell-- that totally makes sense and I completely missed it until now. Thanks for mentioning that-- it adds some additional depth to a book and a character I already enjoy a ton.

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db48xOct 2026

Have you read _A Deepness in the Sky_, by Vernor Vinge? If so, do you remember the “Help” button?

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chessnodeOct 2026

Which books did you read at least twice? Please give author, title, and how often you have read it.

For me the (probably incomplete list) is:

Connie Willis: Doomsday Book (three times)

Neal Stephenson: Cryptonomicon, Anathem, Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World (twice or three times)

Frank Herbert: Dune (three times)

Tolkien: Lord of the Rings (three times)

Stephen King: Salem's Lot, The Shining, It (three times each)