Vernor Vinge's "A Deepness in the Sky" Spoiler free review and ranking on the SF Shed Ladder.

Over the last year i have reread over 40 Hugo and/or Nebula award winning Science Fiction and Fantasy novels, and I have been ranking them on the ever growing SF Shed Ladder.
I use the following criteria to help me rank these wonderful novels.
1. Concept (how interesting/unique is the SF or F concept)
2. Execution of the concept
3. Characters (interesting character arcs, relatable, interesting)
4. Writing (how much did i enjoy the writing)
5. How memorable are these novels (the memory test)
6. Plot (interesting twists and turns)
7. Ending (does the ending satisfy)
Playlist of all the Hugo Winning Novels
• Hugo Winners
Playlist of all the Nebula Winning Novels
• Nebula Winners
The SF SHED RANKINGS to date.
Position Novel Author
1 Hyperion Dan Simmons
2 Dune Frank Herbert
3 Gateway Frederik Pohl
4 Way Station Clifford Symak
5 Doomsday Book Connie Willis
6 To Your Scattered Bodies Go Philip Jose Farmer
7 A Case of Conscience James Blish
8 Tehanu Ursula Le Guin
9 The Forever War Joe Haldeman
10 The Left Hand of Darkness Ursula Le Guin
11 This Immortal Roger Zelazny
12 The Fountains of Paradise Arthur C. Clarke
13 Stranger in a Strange Land Robert Heinlein
14 The Moon is a Harsh Mistress Robert Heinlein
15 Starship Troopers Robert Heinlein
16 Ringworld Larry Niven
17 The Claw of the Conciliator Gene Wolfe
18 The Man in the High Castle Philip K. Dick
19 The Demolished Man Alfred Bester
20 Moving Mars Greg Bear
21 A Fire Upon the Deep Vernor Vinge
22 The Windup Girl Paolo Bacigalupi
23 Redshirts John Scalzi
24 Flowers for Algenon Daniel Keyes
25 Rite of Passage Alexei Panshin
26 The Uplift War David Brin
27 A Deepness in the Sky Vernor Vinge
28 Startide Rising David Brin
29 Man Plus Frederik Pohl
30 Babel-17 Samuel R Delany
31 Where Late the Sweet Bird Sang Kate Wilhelm
32 Double Star Robert Heinlein
33 A Memory Called Empire Arkady Martine
34 Ancillary Justice Ann Leckie
35 The Terminal Experiment Robert J. Sawyer
36 The Quantum Rose Catherine Asaro
37 The Einstein Intersection Samuel R Delany
38 The Falling Woman Pat Murphy
39 The Fifth Season N.K Jemisin

[@rsh8057]

Thanks for the review. I had started reading this expecting it would be Pham's back story... and after 8-9 chapters stopped as he was only mentioned in passing. There were too many characters I didn't care about. I'll probably go back and finish it sometime. As for the aliens, I gave Vinge the benefit of the doubt w/ the Tines that they would wear jackets, use crossbows, and build castles... which was silly. Packs would clothe and build things that likely wouldn't be recognizable as human constructs. In this book, spiders' tech/development seemed just as silly and they may as well have been a human race evolved to hibernate... Perhaps I hadn't read enough but I also didn't quite follow the stakes as to why the Queng-Ho would want to trade (what was worth) or the Expanse would want to conquer. Spider planet have some tech or special web fluid/drug? Anyway, I went to Children of the Sky, the last novel, and it is much easier to get into. Unfortunately, it's just not that good either. Overall, I'd recommend sticking w/ a Fire in the deep and also reading the blabber.

[@thesci-fished]

It's true what you say about the Tines, but at least they had some something strange and inhuman as far as their group mind. It's a bit of a shame, I don't understand why these aliens couldn't really just be alien. One of the reasons I like James White and Sector General is for his alien aliens.

[@newsfromthegelding]

Never heard of this series. Larger books usually put me off, but I do like big sprawling space operas. It is a pity the alien race of spiders were just mirroring human achievements. Seems like a missed opportunity to explore some comparitive technological progression but with a vastly slanted perspective. Excellent review as ever, cheers Pete!

[@thesci-fished]

You're welcome a John and then you for the comment. I agree, a wasted opportunity but still a worthwhile read.

[@bartsbookspace]

I agree with your assessment of A Deepness being too long and at times boring; good story, good villain, bad pacing and too much fat. Oh, and you are 100% right about the aliens (and their tech) being indistinguishable from humans. Didn’t the spiders ride around in cars? 😂

[@thesci-fished]

Hehehe, thanks for the comment Bart, yes, a bit strange in places but still a worthwhile read.

[@vintagesf]

What do you think is the ideal length for a novel? My opinion is in the range of 250 pages. Almost all novels over 400 pages feel like they are padded or have unnecessary subplots.

[@thesci-fished]

Hi Richard, yes, I tend to agree with you, i think 200-300 pages is the sweet spot. But then again, one of my favourite space operas is Peter F Hamilton's Night Dawns Trilogy, which is around 3000 pages or so.

[@KToll5784]

A serious misunderstanding of the story. The spiders seem like humans because the human interpreters are actively interpreting their society, not just their language. This is explicitly explained. Trying to understand a completely alien language would be useless without some kind of social context.

[@thesci-fished]

Fair point, but all too human for me nevertheless