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    The Zones of Thought SeriesVernor Vinge

    The Zones of Thought Series

    Vernor Vinge · 2017

    This discounted ebundle of The Zones of Thought Series includes: A Fire Upon the Deep, The Children of the Sky, A Deepness in the Sky “Vinge is one of the best visionary writers of SF today.” —David Brin Thousands of years in the future, humanity is no longer alone in a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures, and technology, can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence. A Fire Upon The Deep — Fleeing a galactic threat, Ravna crash lands on a strange world with a ship hold full of cryogenically frozen children, the only survivors. They are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. The Children of the Sky — Ten years have passed on Tines World, and Ravna and the children have survived a war. While there is peace among the Tines, there are those among them—and among the humans—who seek power...and no matter the cost, these malcontents are determined to overturn the fledgling civilization that has taken root since the humans landed.

    Science FictionFiction & Literature
    Open LibraryAmazon
    Stats for nerds
    17recommend
    27mentions
    27people
    2013–2026years
    63% recommend37% neutral

    Mentions per year

    20132015201720192021202320252026

    What Hacker News says

    1. mikehollingerApr 2026
      Oh. Nice.

      I'd add the Zones of Thought series by Verner Vinge. [1]

      [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep

      thread
    2. joshstrangeMar 2025
      While it doesn’t touch on AI at all (that I remember, I think there is some basic ship AI but it’s not a major plot point and it never “talks”) the Honor Harrington series is “Horatio Hornblower in space” and I highly recommend it.

      Also I love the Zones of Thought series and The Culture.

      thread
    3. JackMorganMar 2024
      Another great book series on alien intelligence is the Zones of Thought series by Verner Vinge. Excellent books!
      thread
    4. pstormMar 2024
      While I haven't read 3BP yet, you might be interested in the Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge. Extremely grand and unique universe, some politics, diverse cast, lots of interesting tech. I use it as a benchmark for grand space operas.
      thread
    5. nanolithMar 2024
      His Zones of Thought series, especially, A Deepness in the Sky, remain some of my favorite science fiction. This one hits hard.
      thread
    6. mackatsolDec 2023
      Vernor Vinge - A fire upon the Deep, first in the Zones of

      Thought Series.

      Sarah Zettel - Fool's War

      David Brin's Uplift saga

      H Beam Piper's Fuzzy series

      thread

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