I read this book a while back and decided to pick it up again to fill in some gaps (both in my memory and in between reading other stuff).
I had forgotten about some of the things I disliked about the book. Which is a good thing, I believe. The thought of having "zones of thought" in which "normal" laws of nature no longer adhere is very interesting. However, why zones of thought? Strange. But anyway, Vinge fills his galaxy with fascinating aliens (usually aliens are better when they are not very humanoid; how big is the universe anyway?) and appropriately scaled levels of technology. I was fascinated by the "Beyond" and Transcended "Powers". While it is never made clear how this happens or why, there is enough of a mystery to create a kind of allure with these godlike beings. Even his little world that is stuck in the slow region of space he has crafty little sentient beings that work with a hive mind. Vinge pulls it off quite well.
I did not like the 'Net that much. It smacks of the world wide web (itself smacking of old usenets) too much, and puts way too much of a human face on the galactic civilizations. I give credit to Vinge for contemplating something like the 'Net back in the early 90's; for that, I am in awe of his imagination. But it just seems a little dated now. I guess that happens. =)
I did enjoy how the plot grew and the the little twists kept me coming back until I hit the climax of the story. Some of the progression of the old backwater aliens was too much like our Feudal era, but I guess that helps readers to get pulled into the story a little. It was interesting to watch how "high technology" was adapted to work in "slower" zones, to the point that the characters are discussing how best to jumpstart a civilization's tech tree as if there are dusty white papers on the topic floating around. And I do very much enjoy the glimpses of "high technology" that Vinge allows us to see. While I want more, I do appreciate that he had the good sense to enshroud it in enigma so as to allow the reader's imagination to fill in the gaps. Too often I find that the author goes overboard in detail and his imagination limits the story.
