Reviews

The Peace War, by Vernor Vinge

morninglightmountain's review against another edition

dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

thomcat's review against another edition

3.0

A quick read, this novel reveals the setting slowly, and I won't spoil that here. Suffice to say it is set in the area of California in an authoritarian near future. The tale is told from the perspectives of multiple characters, each also developed slowly. Very much a case of a rebellion against the authority.

It also has other aspects of Campbell's hero quest - the kid, the mentor, mundane vs special worlds, etc. One of the main characters is a young minority, the other a strong female pilot. Written in 1984, it also has aspects of cyberpunk. So what's not to like?

Institutionalized sexism and overt segregation, neither with a reason in the plot, are unnecessary baggage here. The extortion between Della and Michael doesn't really make sense. Technology is used in too-convenient ways - farmers have television and play old shows (on a local network?) in the evening together, but later in the book the authoritarians use this same method to broadcast propaganda.

This story finishes with "End Book I", and it is followed by a short story and another novel. Both this book and the short story stand alone fine; the two novels were collected in one book later on. It seems familiar enough that I read it in high school, but not memorable enough that I am sure. Overall a 3 star rating.

I liked this quote, a good fit for our increasingly authoritarian present. “To think that some lousy contractors could have brought down the greatest nation in history!”

vip1001's review against another edition

adventurous hopeful mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

martyfried's review against another edition

4.0

I've enjoyed all of the Vernor Vinge books I've read. They are always a bit different, and very imaginative. But he manages to draw me in and make the stories seem real, even when they are about dog-like people who can only exist as groups forming a single entity.

This one, the first of a series of 2 or 3 (evidently, the 2nd is not really an important part of the series) was a bit more conventional, but still very interesting. It's a post-apocalyptical story of a world that is politically very different from ours. We don't know exactly what happened, or even who the bad guys are in some ways, but it seems that science is mostly blamed for the problem, so people are now controlled fairly strictly, and forbidden to have many modern conveniences.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book; I think I will skip the middle "interlude" for now, and perhaps read it later.

iamcortney's review against another edition

4.0

A solid sci-fi with good stakes, realistic characters, and a story that develops at just the right pace to keep you turning pages.

Now for light spoilers.

I had seen some reviews mentioning racism and sexism in this book, so I went into it with that in mind. Vinge definitely draws a lot of attention to the race and gender of the characters in the book, but I honestly appreciated that the young genius was a black Spanish-speaking kid. There were two strong female characters as well. Vinge is far from perfect in his treatment of these minorities, but he puts them in positions of authority, respect, and value and other characters react to this. Of course it's not a great look that the black kid is a thief and the female government agent is shrugged off or uses her gender to infiltrate a group with less suspicion. But there is redemption too and the existence of these characters as more than stereotypes is something I appreciate when reading a slightly older sci-fi novel. His comments on the treatment of women in the society didn't seem like praise for their second-rate citizenship, especially since Allison

Spoiler

defies this hierarchy by finishing out the novel as a leader in gathering intelligence from the old world

and Della Lu

Spoiler

continually outsmarts and outshines her male colleagues and antagonists, even potentially sacrificing herself by realizing who the true "good guys" are just in time

.

As for a review of the novel in general, I love hard sci-fi and enjoyed it. The Peace Authority was an empathetic antagonist with good intentions. The post "apocalypse" setting with its mixture of high tech and medieval, while not a new concept, was an interesting world to experience. The fact that the underdogs had managed to

Spoiler

develop more advanced technology with less resources, while the Authority relied on the technology from the time they took over but with wider access to it

created a nice tension where it truly felt like either side could come out victorious.

Looking forward to the rest of the series.

garyp's review against another edition

3.0

An enjoyable read with some great sci-fi elements, but not something I see myself ever rereading. I'm definitely going to read the second book in the series though to see what happens next.

jmartindf's review against another edition

4.0

In 1997, scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory developed a device that could generate a persistent, spherical force field of arbitrary size and project it almost anywhere. The resulting “bobble” will completely cut off whatever is inside the field from the rest of the world. These scientists quickly act to use the bobble to encase nuclear weapons, military bases, cities, and governments. They declare themselves the Peace Authority and enforce peace by threatening to bobble anyone who rejects their authority.

The Peace War starts 51 years later, in 2048. The world has been at peace for as long as most people can remember. Not everyone is happy with the Peace Authority’s limitations on technology and freedom. Small bands of Tinkers have been clandestinely developing new technologies, in an attempt to overcome the Peace. And the original inventor of the Bobbler is still alive, a Tinker himself, and working hard to defeat the scientists who took his invention and used it to enslave the world.

Vernor Vinge does exactly what a good SF author should do: he poses a new technology and examines how it might change the world, for good and bad. I liked his depictions of how American society would change after the last year and enforced peace. I liked his depictions of how technology would progress in the face of severe restrictions against innovation. And I liked his depictions of how an insurrection might work when facing an enemy that not only had superior firepower but also had the ability to completely take pieces off of the map.

This was a very imaginative book and a great example of what “hard science fiction” should be. I highly recommend it.

kevinhendricks's review against another edition

4.0

A fascinating future dystopian sci-fi story where the ability to bobble up weapons—literally lock them away in giant mirror balls—has put an end to war and nations and created the Peace Authority. But it all starts to pop through the actions of some brilliant geniuses and bands of tinkers our of a Cory Doctorow novel. Fast-paced and fun.

ianvg's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

tasadion's review against another edition

4.0

Great ideas, fast paced, lots of action, this is entertaining SF.

The bobbling idea is a good one, and Vince also experiments with Cyberpunk and Sentient AIs as well. The writing is a little clunky in places, but the action, pace and originality more than make up for it.