A Fire upon the Deep

About “A Fire upon the Deep”

In 1992, Vernor Vinge wrote a science fiction novel set thousands of years in the future, where the universe is divided into regions based on the intelligence of beings. In the Transcend, superintelligent entities exist, while the Unthinking Depths contain only simple life and technology. A conflict between the Straumli realm leads to the release of a powerful force that destroys many worlds and enslaves all forms of intelligence. Ravna, a character in the story, crash-lands on an alien world with a ship full of frozen children, the last survivors from a destroyed space-lab. The children are captured by the Tines, an alien species with a strict medieval culture, and become involved in a dangerous power struggle.