| SF Reviews by Aaron M. Renn | By Author - By Title - By Date Reviewed |
Conclusion: Worth Reading
This book, one of Vinge's first, is far shorter than A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky - and that's a good thing. While not bad exactly, this book has little of the grandeur of those two more recent works. Perhaps this makes Vinge somewhat the opposite of what you often hear of people. You know, "I like his early stuff, but the new stuff is crap". It seems like the later the work by Vinge, the more I like it.
Sometime around the present day, a researcher for the US DoD discovers a way to create impenetrable bubbles of space time to permanently separate small regions of space from the normal universe. These "bobbles" as they are called are immediately put to foul use by a group within the Lawrence Livermore labs. These rouges use the bobble generator to encapsulate all military and government facilities on earth and set themselves up as a dictatorial Peace Authority.
Fast forward several years. The inevitable underground ragtag band of heroes is none too pleased with the Authority. This group includes the inventor of the bobbles and a super-genius kid. Together, pursued by the master hunter of the Authority, they set out to eliminate the Authority and restore freedom to mankind.
The idea of the bobbles was excellent. Alas, the plot was rather weak. This one has the feel of a beefed up novella. Nevertheless, it reads quickly and you won't feel cheated at the end. Just don't go in expecting the richness of more recent works.
%A Vinge, Vernor %T The Peace War %I Bluejay Books %D 1984-08 %G ISBN 0-312-94342-5 %P 286 pp. %O hardover, US$16.95 (original price)
Reviewed on 2002-12-29
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