The A Fire Upon the Deep reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Jul-2004 (provided by Fixed Reference: snapshots of Wikipedia from wikipedia.org)

A Fire Upon the Deep

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.

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 postulates that the galaxy is divided up into "zones of thought," where near the center of the galaxy, only simple machines and animal-like intelligences are possible; ranging out to the outer edges of the galaxy, where superhuman intelligences, nanotechnology, and FTL travel are possible. In other words, the laws of physics vary according to location.

• The Unthinking Depths is the lowest level, centered on the galatic core.
• The Slow Zone is the next layer. FTL travel is not possible because computers cannot run fast enough to do the calculations necessary. 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 is possible, along with many other technological advances, but there are still limits.
• The Transcend is where super beings known as Powers reside.

A prequel to this book was subsequently written, A Deepness in the Sky, set twenty thousand years earlier in the "Slow Zone" near Earth.

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