[…] Ed is not nearly as good as A Deepness in the Sky or Marooned in Realtime but at the same time not much worse. It turns out that Vinge can produce […]

Oh shit! His new book is actually the real sequel to A Fire Upon the Deep !!

> After nearly twenty years, Vernor Vinge has produced an enthralling sequel to his memorable bestselling novel A Fire Upon the Deep.

I’d buy it blindfolded. I re-read Fire 2 months ago, diving back into this world is just great.

I believe it is on my list of books to read, though I don’t think it is in my next batch. I just placed an order yesterday, and I believe I skipped that one because I noticed it was set in the same universe and assumed it was a sequel so I decided to check it out at a later time.

His new book looks very promising.

I see you didn’t really like this one, but you also read Marooned in realtime, so you must have gotten on the guy’s style.

I recommend A Fire Upon the Deep if you haven’t read it yet.
I remember reading A deepness in the sky, and not really linking it (just like you), but the stories are related (Pham Nuwen appears in both), and I personally think Fire is WAY better.
Maybe a little childish sometimes, but his ideas on the networked galaxy and the Beyond are way more elaborated in Fire.

Give it a look if you have the time. It didn’t win the Hugo in ’93 for nothing :)