Zones of Thought
by Vernor Vinge · first published 2010
42% recommend58% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Space opera built on a speed limit for thought that varies by region of the galaxy, which sets up believable limits on FTL. Fans praise its alien minds (spiders, hive-mind mammals) and its civilization-building plots.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
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Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
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Surprised no one has mentioned Vernor Vinge's wonderful, awesome, mind exploding Zones of Thought novels[1]. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernor_Vinge#Zones_of_Thought_s...
on “Is The Speed of Light Everywhere the Same?” ↗I rather like the explanation for the lack of FTL travel/communication around here in Vernor Vinge's Zones of Thought books (first two are some of the best SF novels ever written, third one is pretty awful). Edit: Added "around here" - which is quite important.... ;-)
on “Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy and Physics: A Topical Index” ↗I acknowledge that I'm digressing into general Vinge talk here instead of Zones of Thought, but Rainbow's End was good, too, as more of a near-future vision that, these days, would barely be considered sci-fi. It's also got some elements that are scarily analogous to current trends in government/social…
on “A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (1992)” ↗Bootstrapping civilization is a bit of a sub-thread in the three Zones Of Thought books by Vernor Vinge. Definitely my favourite SciFi books
on “How SpaceX lands Starship (sort of)” ↗I enjoyed Permutation City by Greg Egan and the Zones of Thought books by Vernor Vinge.
on “The Realism of Our Times: Kim Stanley Robinson on how science fiction works” ↗Devices similar to this were a major plot point in the second book of the 'Zones of Thought' sci-fi series by Vernor Vinge[1]. It is a really great series that is often recommended on HN. My favorite thing about the series (as it relates to this story) is the way Vinge writes about about the…
on “Flying microchips size of a sand grain could be used for population surveilance” ↗If you're fiending for good hard sci-fi check "The Expanse" or the "Remembrance of Earth's past" trilogy. Vernor Vinge his "Zones of Thought" trilogy is also great :)
on “Brian Aldiss has died” ↗Vinge already cemented himself with the peace war books, but his ability to present otherness in the Zones of Thought books is probably his most impressive accomplishment. Spiders you both can and can’t understand, and then hive mind mammals… The facile approach would be to cut out the middleman and make hive insects,…
on “A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge (1992)” ↗Peter F. Hamilton’s Commonwealth series[0] and Vernor Vinge’s Zones of Thought[1] both scratch a similar itch to Stephenson novels for me [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commonwealth_Saga [1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep
on “Neal Stephenson reacts to Facebook name change” ↗…western white man, Māori non-binary person or even an AI. On topic, I deeply disagree with the original commenter, these books can easily stand shoulder to shoulder with series like The Expanse or the Zones of Thought trilogy (by Vernor Vinge).
on “Liu Cixin's Technologies of the Future” ↗Might be time to reread Vinge's Zones of Thought books. Sub in chiplets for motes. Also antennae are not the only side channel attack out there.
on “U.S. Focuses on Invigorating Chiplets' to Stay Cuting- Edge in Tech” ↗This totally misses Vernor Vinge, who ended up concocting "Zones of Thought". See his classic "A Fire Upon the Deep" for another work of fiction were something weird has to be in place to keep singularities from happening.
on “All Worlds End in an AI Singularity” ↗…like Banks' stuff, but I must recommend Glasshouse by Charles Stross. Far-future humanity, really interesting ideas re: war, identity, memory and infohazards. Also if you've not already read Vinge's "Zones of Thought" books, absolutely get on that.
on “Accelerando (2005)” ↗…societies do regard the Culture as being a bit immature in their insistence that they won't sublime. Incidentally, Subliming reminds me a bit of the transition from the Beyond to the Transcend in Vinge's Zones of Thought stories.
on “List of stories set in a future now past” ↗"reality is so limiting compared to what we can imagine" This is actually a central theme of the Zones of Thought novels by Vernon Vinge where a character in the far future describes our current time as the "Age of Failed Dreams" (GAI, nanotech etc.) - turns out that he is wrong but for rather neat reasons.... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Fire_Upon_the_Deep…
on “Water found on a potentially life-friendly alien planet” ↗