votes:

10, 10, 10, 10, 9, 9, 8, 8

(MSullivan vote: 9)

GJER:

Vernor is one of his two idols in hard SF; Greg Egan is the other.
I admire him because he thinks very deeply about what he writes.
He doesn't just spin an story out; he starts with an idea, and
works out the implications.

Shaped SF at least as much as Gibson;
Gibson has many imitators, but hard to imitate Vinge.

"True Names" was tremendously influential on the Geek
set. (Gregory gave a short summary and introduction to
 that story.)

Vinge was the first Singularity person; the first to promulgate
the idea that humanity was headed for a singularity.

(summarized "True Names")

GJER sees Brin and Benford as being influenced, also Pohl and
Poul Anderson.

When GJER first read _Fire_, he and the geeks greatly disliked
Usenet. But now he sees it as a funny joke.

(JGallman's main complaint about the book is also Usenet)

//////

JGallman:

_Fire_ does everything that SF ought to. Not because of the
science; the science is nifty, but the ideas are amazing.
Almost every fictional trick in the book: Interrupted action,
Well-rounded characters; lots of small things, lots of big
things; Powers, and religious implications thereof; politics
and *trade* as what holds it all together. 

GJER, you can have your science: This is a good book, without
the gimmicks! It's a damn good story.

Expansiveness of imagination!

Tines were fascinating; 

(DaW: scene where Amdi meets Jefri is wonderful!)

DaW:

Liked the book *a lot*, but wanted perfection; there was one
little thing that bothered her: The melodramatic, ending.
Crucifying Pham seemed *crude*.

Also, seemed like an imbalance between the software
Perversion and a concrete, nanotech.

PK:

Specific question: If the Straumli Perversion is totally
unstoppable, isn't it a reasonable solution to increase the
storm.

KG:

Why did the mold bother you? All those aliens.

Beth Gallman points out that everything in the book
is really *building* toward the solution.
What would be the appropriate replacement for the
mold?

DaW: Her preference would be to put the Tines in the
solution, and to make the human / Tine interface
central to the solution.

She sees Amdijefri as an interesting new species that
should be interesting and central.

JGallman: Asking about the Powers.

The Transcend made JG think about Emerson. (GJER: and
Louisa May Alcott!)

Are the Powers basically Greek gods?

PK: (biological) Viruses are fascinating, strange, alien.

Villains are interesting! Steel can manipulate on many
levels.

One nice thing: The Tines are medieval but *not* stupid
or primitive; Steel is completely ruthless, but brilliant,
and quite plausible, and you think that he *might* succeed
in expanding, and capturing, much of the galaxy.

WickRackRum -> WickRackScar is PK's favorite scene in
the book!

Raja's complaints: insufficiently alien aliens (GJER agrees,
but nobody else), occasionally
clumsy prose (nobody cares ;-)

PK: likes _Deepness_ but loves _Fire_ more, could well be
because of the Tines! Good gestalt aliens, with identity
crisis thrown in!

Raja points out that it's rigged to be like 1930s space
opera; JGallman points out that it's also very reminiscent
of 19th Century novel! (Beth: Very Dickensian)

