The Children of the Sky

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 with a Deepness in the Sky . Unlike A Fire Upon the Deep , the novel is set completely on the Tines’ world. It was nominated for the 2012 Locus Award for Best Novel Science Fiction ^[1] and the Prometheus Award . ^[2]

Plot

Two years pass on the Stars 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 Tycoon helps expand its enterprise and uses 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 to revive the human children who have been kept alive by the galaxy’s edge. Although the Blight was actually destroyed by Countermeasure, its fleet survivors stranded 30 light-years away from Tines World, presumably developing ramscoop technology to resume its journey.Out of Band II ( Oobii ) to elevate Woodcarver’s Domain and Tines World to a level of technology advanced enough to fight the Blight’s Remnant. The Blight may yet be taken into account, but when the area boundaries briefly shift, those estimates become questionable.

Ten years after the Battle on Starship Hill, Ravna’s plans begin to crumble. She believes that the Blame is a rescue party, and that it is countermeasure, having destroyed countless civilizations by moving the Slow Zone to 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 one to lead them. Nevil then forces Ravna to turn over sysadmin authority of Oobiito him, access to its archives, systems, and weapons; However, Ravna secretly retains Command Privilege over the starship, a status that supersedes sysadmin.

Support for Nevil’s leadership begins to falter as he advances his medical care to fruit. Ravna conspires with Johanna Olsndot and the pack Pilgrim to force Nevil to compromise. Before you can be here, you are kidnapped, ostensibly by Tines from the Tropics. Nevil uses the opportunity to leverage more power. Later, while Johanna and Pilgrim travel to investigate the Tropics, Ravna is kidnapped herself, and Johanna and Pilgrim crash into Tycoon’s Reservation in the Tropics. It is revealed that Typhoon and Vendacious to undermine Ravna and Woodcarver. In the tropics, Pilgrim is lost to the Choir and Johanna escapes to Tropical trade convoy bound for Woodcarver’s Domain. Ravna, with the help of Jefri Olsndot, his friend pack Amdiranifani, and the pack Screwfloss (rehabilitated Lord Steel), escapes his captors and attempts to return to Woodcarver’s Domain to stop Nevil’s tyranny. On the way, however, the oven is re-captured and taken to the Tropics aboard two of Tycoon’s airships. Back onOobii , now under Nevil’s control, Nevil’s second-in-command Bili Yngva witnesses a massive Shift Zone 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 to 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, thus removing Woodcarver’s Domain as a threat to Tycoon’s growing 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 Oobiiwith her Command Privilege, Vendacious is killed by a mutiny of his airship crew, and Tycoon flees to the Tropics with Johanna (whom Tycoon believes to have killed his brother-pack, Scriber Jacqeramaphan) as an apparent hostage. Nevil and his fellow Disaster Study Group members (nearly half of all the Children) start and establish their own settlement, “Best Hope”, in a distant valley. Sometime later, Nevil announces that he remains with Tycoon, and Tycoon will take several hostages over the years: the two survivors among the Children kidnapped earlier, and the Amdiranifani and Screwfloss packs. Ravna and Jefri are disappointed when Johanna secretly reveals that she has become a Tycoon’s advisor and that their support of Nevil is a temporary trick.Oobii .

The story concludes as, in the Tropics with Tycoon, speculates with Tycoon ‘s industrial power and the condensed information of countless civilizations in Oobii’ s archives, decades’ worth of progress could be made in a couple of years. 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.

References