Vernor Vinge - Read Order?

[ColdSun]

So, I'm seeing some decent reviews on Amazon for Verner. Is there a certain book I should start with? I would love a good series. I'm about to buy A Deepness in the Sky off Amazon. Is that the first book of a series? I see other books with the same series name (Zones of Thought) but no indication which is the first. I received a $100 gift card for Amazon for Father's Day and I still have plenty left!

[afireinside30x]

Publication order is as follows:
A Fire Upon the Deep
A Deepness in the Sky
The Children of the Sky

Chronological order is:
A Deepness in the Sky
A Fire Upon the Deep
The Children of the Sky

As far as I know, those are the only three "Zones of Thought" novels that have been released. I believe that there is at least one more coming, however.

Hope that helps!

[ColdSun]

It helps a lot! Thanks so much. I like to read in chronological order.

[Chuffalump]

As long as you read A Fire upon the Deep before Children of the Sky it doesn't really matter when you read Deepness.

[winterkill]

I think Deepness was meant as a prequel, so while it is chronologically first, it can just as easily be read after the other two. There's only a very tenuous relationship between Deepness and the other two. Basically, Deepness tells the distant past life-story of one of the primary characters from Fire but beyond that they are completely unrelated.

For my money A Deepness in the Sky is the best one, and one of my favorite novels.

[vrabinec]

Children of the Sky was the weakest of the three. I'd read the other two first.

[Colonel Worf]

www.fantasticfiction.co.uk will probably help you out the next time you want to see the chronological order of a series. That site is a lifesaver.

[vrabinec]

That's an awsome site, Worf. Thanks for the link.

[livens]

Love Vernor Vinge! Definitely read A Fire and Deepness, the order doesn't matter one bit IMO.

I was sooo excited when I heard that He was releasing "Children of the Sky". But after getting it and reading ~50 o so pages I lost interest quickly. Nothing seemed to be happening, or at least everything was going too slowly to keep my attention. I really should try to finish it just to see what happens... meh.

Also give the Realtime books a try. The first one was amazing and the follow up was good too, but the second book was so completely different from the first that it took me a bit to adjust to it.

[Smitty]

I just finished "A Fire Upon the Deep" for the second time last Thursday. I read it the first time when it first came out. because of all that was going on in my life at the time it took me something like 6 months to read! I did enjoy it but not nearly as much as this last time. I did it this time on audible during my commute, much quicker.
Anyway, I am not sure if I am going to read "A Deepness in the Sky" (read that already too) again or not. I saw "Children of the Sky" but a friend of mine says that it is horrible in comparision. I am also thinking about "The Peace War" which I have never read, but i think I want aliens. Curious, how would you categorize AFUTD, space opera or hard science fiction?

[ColdSun]

Thank you for that site, Worf. That is a great link!

[Chuffalump]

I was sooo excited when I heard that He was releasing "Children of the Sky". But after getting it and reading ~50 o so pages I lost interest quickly. Nothing seemed to be happening, or at least everything was going too slowly to keep my attention. I really should try to finish it just to see what happens... meh.

Keep going! I thought the same at the start, but by the end I was enjoying it as much as I did Fire.