Children of the Sky

Children of the Sky
The Children of the Sky  
Children of the Sky.bookcover.jpg
Author(s) Vernor Vinge
Country United States
Language English
Series Zones of Thought series
Genre(s) Hard science fiction
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date October 2011
Media type Print (hardcover and paperback)
Pages 448 pp
ISBN ISBN 0-312-85182-0
OCLC Number 24671893
Dewey Decimal 813/.54 20
LC Classification PS3572.I534 F57 1992
Preceded by A Fire Upon the Deep

The Children of the Sky is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a direct sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep and shares the Zones of Thought universe with A Deepness in the Sky. Unlike A Fire Upon the Deep, the novel is set completely on the Tines' world.

Plot

Two years pass after the Battle on Starship Hill on Tines World. The exiled Tine pack Vendacious travels to the city of East Home, seeking to ally with Tycoon, the world's richest businessman. Over the next year, Vendacious helps Tycoon expand his enterprise (using a stolen human dataset) and undertake an expedition to the Tropical Choir, a legendary mob of over one hundred million Tines living in the world's equatorial region. Meanwhile, Ravna Bergsndot has slowly begun reviving the human Children who have been kept in cold sleep pods since their flight from High Lab and the Blight at the galaxy's edge. Although the Blight was effectively destroyed by Countermeasure, its fleet survives stranded 30 light-years away from Tines World, presumably developing ramscoop technology to resume its journey. Ravna hopes to use the technical archives on the crippled Out of Band II (Oobii) to elevate Woodcarver's Domain and Tines World to a level of technology advanced enough to combat the Blight's remnant. The Blight may yet take decades or even centuries to arrive, but when the Zone boundaries briefly shift, those estimates become questionable.

Ten years after the Battle on Starship Hill, Ravna's plans begin to crumble. She learns of a faction of Children calling themselves the Disaster Study Group who believe that the Blight's fleet is a rescue party sent for them, and that Countermeasure, having destroyed countless civilizations by moving the Slow Zone to quell the Blight, is the true evil. When Ravna tries to explain to an assembly of Children the importance of adhering to her schedule for advancing Tines World, she is upstaged and betrayed by Nevil Storherte, who convinces most of the Children that Ravna is obsessed and misguided, and that he should be the one to lead them. Nevil then forces Ravna to turn over Sysadmin authority of Oobii to him, granting him access to its archives, systems, and weapons; however, Ravna secretly retains Command Privilege over the starship, a status that supersedes Sysadmin.

Over the following tendays (a Tinish reckoning of time), support for Nevil's leadership begins to falter as the medical advances he promised fail to bear fruit. Ravna, with the help of Johanna Olsndot and the pack Pilgrim, conspire to force Nevil to compromise. Before that can happen, three of the youngest Children are kidnapped, ostensibly by Tines from the Tropics. Nevil uses the opportunity to leverage more power. Later, while Johanna and Pilgrim decide to investigate the Tropics, Ravna is kidnapped herself, and Johanna and Pilgrim crash into Tycoon's Reservation in the Tropics. It is revealed that Nevil was behind all three incidents and for several years has been allied with Tycoon and Vendacious in order to undermine Ravna and Woodcarver. In the Tropics, Pilgrim is lost to the Choir and Johanna escapes aboard a Tropical ship bound for Woodcarver's Domain. Ravna, with the help of Jefri Olsndot, his friend pack Amdiranifani, and the pack Screwfloss (a rehabilitated Lord Steel), escapes her captors and attempts to return to Woodcarver's Domain to stop Nevil's tyranny. On the way, however, the four are re-captured and taken to the Tropics aboard two of Tycoon's airships. Back on Oobii, now under Nevil and his compatriots' control, Nevil's second-in-command Bili Yngva witnesses a massive Zone shift recorded by the ship's sensors. For a few minutes, Tines World is part of the Beyond and the "rescue party" fleet is estimated to close within 20 light-years.

Ravna and company arrive at Tycoon's Reservation, where they learn that Tycoon, under Vendacious' influence, is on the verge of forcing Woodcarver to accede to an alliance, thereby removing Woodcarver's Domain as a threat to Tycoon's exponentially-growing business empire. Later, when the meeting that Nevil had coordinated to force the "alliance" on Woodcarver and solidify his control over the Children occurs, it ends disastrously for him. Ravna regains control of Oobii with her Command Privilege, Vendacious is killed by a mutiny of his airship's crew, and Tycoon flees to the Tropics with Johanna (whom Tycoon believes killed his former pack brother, Scriber Jacqeramaphan) as an apparent hostage. Nevil and his fellow Disaster Study Group members (nearly half of all the Children) depart and establish their own settlement, "Best Hope", in a distant valley. Sometime later, Nevil announces that he remains allied with Tycoon, and Tycoon will soon return several hostages taken over the years: the two surviving Children kidnapped earlier and the packs Amdiranifani and Screwfloss. Ravna and Jefri are disappointed when Johanna is not returned as well, but Johanna secretly reveals to Ravna that she has since become Tycoon's advisor and that their support of Nevil is a temporary ruse. In reality, Tycoon is forging a business partnership with Woodcarver and Ravna, who can provide technical expertise from Oobii.

The story concludes as Johanna, in the Tropics with Tycoon, speculates that with Tycoon's industrial power and the condensed information of countless civilizations in Oobii's archives, a century's worth of technological progress could be made in a little over a year. In Woodcarver's Domain, Ravna prays that Tines World will be ready for the Blight, which to her knowledge is still 30 light-years away.

Sequel

Several plot threads are not resolved, such as the zone shifting, the advancement of the tropical choir, and the fate of Nevil's settlement. A further sequel is expected.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) — Infobox Single Name = World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) Artist = Bob Sinclar featuring Steve Edwards from Album = Western Dream Released = June 6, 2006 Format = Maxi single, CD single, 12 single Recorded = 2005 Genre = Electronica Length =… …   Wikipedia

  • World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) — «World, Hold On (Children of the Sky)» …   Википедия

  • World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) — Single par Bob Sinclar extrait de l’album Western Dream Face A World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) Axwell Remix 7:30 Face B World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) Joachim Garraud David Guetta …   Wikipédia en Français

  • World, hold on (children of the sky) — World, Hold On Single par Bob Sinclar Face A World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) Axwell Remix 7:30 Face B World, Hold On (Children of the Sky) Joachim Garraud David Guetta Remix 7:27 Sortie …   Wikipédia en Français

  • The Sky Is Falling (fable) — The Sky Is Falling , better known as Chicken Licken , Henny Penny or Chicken Little is an old fable about a chicken (or a hare in early versions) who believes the sky is falling. The phrase, The sky is falling, has passed into the English… …   Wikipedia

  • Children of the Storm —   …   Wikipedia

  • The Sky is Falling — may refer to:Literature: * The Sky Is Falling (fable). also known as Chicken Little or Chicken Licken . * The Sky is Falling (novel), a 2001 novel by Sidney Sheldon. * The Sky Is Falling (1954 novel), fantasy novel by Lester Del Rey. * The Sky Is …   Wikipedia

  • Children of the Corn (1984 film) — Children of the Corn Original 1984 theatrical poster Directed by Fritz Kiersch Produced by …   Wikipedia

  • Children of the Grave — Song by Black Sabbath from the album Master of Reality Released July 21, 1971 Recorded Record Plant, Los Angeles, California Genre …   Wikipedia

  • The Sky So Big and Black — is a science fiction novel by John Barnes that was published in 2002. The title itself refers to the clear sky as seen from the surface of Mars, to the nearness of the Martian horizon because Mars is a much smaller planet, and to the abrupt… …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”