| Rainbows End | |
 First edition cover |
|
| Author | Vernor Vinge |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | Stephan Martinière |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction novel |
| Publisher | Tor Books |
| Publication date | 16 May 2006 |
| Media type | Print (Hardcover & Paperback) |
| Pages | 368 pp. Vernor Steffen Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha Wisconsin, U Stephan Martinière is a professional Artist, Cartoonist, Concept illustrator, and Animation director working primarily in the Science fiction The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Tor Books is one of two Imprints of Tom Doherty Associates LLC based in New York City Events 1204 - Baldwin IX Count of Flanders is crowned as the first Emperor of the Latin Empire. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. (first edition, hardback) |
| ISBN | ISBN 0-312-85684-9 (first edition, hardback) |
Rainbows End is a 2006 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. Vernor Steffen Vinge (ˈvɪndʒi (born October 2, 1944 in Waukesha Wisconsin, U It was awarded the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel. Winners of the Hugo Award for best science fiction or fantasy Novel, along with all the nominees are presented here The book is set in San Diego in 2025, in a variation of the fictional world Vinge explored in his 2002 Hugo-winning novella "Fast Times at Fairmont High" and 2004's "Synthetic Serendipity". The Hugo Awards are given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge is a collection of Science fiction short stories by Vernor Vinge. Vinge has tentative plans for a sequel, picking up some of the loose threads left at the end of the novel.
The many technological advances depicted in the novel suggest that the world is undergoing ever-increasing change, perhaps destined for a technological singularity, a recurring subject in Vinge's writing (both fiction and non-fiction). The technological singularity is a theoretical future point of unprecedented technological progress caused in part by the ability of machines to improve themselves using Artificial
- "Your hack was noticed. Back when I was young, you could have got a patent off it. Nowadays—"
- "Nowadays, it should be worth a decent grade in a high-school class. "
Contents |
Plot summary
The novel introduces us to Robert Gu, a man slowly recovering from Alzheimer's disease thanks to advances in medical technology. Alzheimer's disease ( AD) also called Alzheimer disease or simply Alzheimer's, is the most common form of Dementia. As his faculties return, Robert (who always has been slightly technophobic) must adapt to a very different world, where almost every object is networked and mediated-reality technology is commonplace. Technophobia (tek-nə-fō-bē-ə is the fear or dislike of advanced Technology or complex devices especially Computers. The ability to add to subtract information from or otherwise manipulate one's perception of reality through the use of a wearable computer Robert, formerly a world-renowned poet but with a notoriously mean-spirited personality, must also learn how to change and how to rebuild relationships with his estranged family. At the same time, Robert and his granddaughter Miri are drawn into a complex plot involving a traitorous intelligence officer, an intellect of frightening (and possibly superhuman) competence hiding behind an avatar of an anthropomorphic rabbit, and ominous new mind control technology with profound implications. A superhuman is an entity with intelligence or abilities exceeding normal human standards An avatar is a computer user's representation of himself/herself or alter ego whether in the form of a three-dimensional model used in computer games a two-dimensional Icon The White Rabbit is a fictional character in Lewis Carroll 's book Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Mind control is a broad range of psychological tactics able to subvert an individual's control of his own thinking, behavior emotions or decisions
As in Vinge's other work, the concept of security in such an increasingly digital/virtual world is a major theme of the novel. It examines the implications of rapid technological change that empowers both the disgruntled individuals who would threaten to disrupt society and those that would seek to stop them, and the implications for the age-old "who watches the watchers" issue. la ''Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?'' is a Latin phrase from the Roman poet Juvenal, variously translated as "Who watches the watchmen?" "Who watches Although 9/11 is only mentioned once, having been supplanted in the minds of the characters by more recent history, its overall impact is unmistakable; Vinge mentions offhandedly, "Chicago was more than a decade past. Chicago (ʃɪˈkɑːgoʊ is the largest City by population in the state of Illinois and the American Midwest of the United States. There hadn't been a successful nuclear attack on the U. S. or any of the treaty organization countries in more than five years. "
Belief Circles and Augmented Reality
In the novel augmented reality is dominant, with humans interacting with virtual overlays of reality almost all of the time. Augmented reality ( AR) is a field of Computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data This is accomplished by wearing smart clothing and contact lenses that can overlay and replace what the eye would normally see with computer graphics. In addition, haptic feedback is possible by overlaying graphics onto a physical machine such as a robot.
There are many realities to choose from in the novel; however, the largest and more robust of them are built by large user bases in the manner of a wiki or Second Life. A wiki is a page or collection of Web pages designed to enable anyone who accesses it to contribute or modify content using a simplified Markup language. Second Life ( abbreviated as SL) and its sister site Teen Second Life are Internet-based 3D Virtual The confederation of users that contribute to the virtual world is called a belief circle. Several belief circles are presented in the novel, including worlds based on authors such as H. P. Lovecraft, Terry Pratchett, and the fictional Jerzy Hacek. Howard Phillips Lovecraft ( August 20, 1890 – March 15, 1937) was an American author of horror, fantasy Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author. Also mentioned are worlds based on the artwork of M.C. Escher, and fictional entertainment companies such as SpielbergRowling (presumably a manager of the merged fictional universes of Steven Spielberg and JK Rowling). Maurits Cornelis Escher (17 June 1898 – 27 March 1972 usually referred to as M Steven Allan Spielberg, KBE (Hon (born December 18 1946 is an American Film director, Screenwriter and producer. Joanne "Jo" Rowling OBE (born 31 July 1965 who writes under the The Egan Soccer set piece can also be seen as a type of subscribed Belief Circle.
Trivia and release details
- Rather than the traditional book dedication to a person or group of people, Vinge dedicates the novel: "To the Internet-based cognitive tools that are changing our lives — Wikipedia, Google, and the others of their kind, now and in the future"
- In "Fast Times", Miri Gu's father and grandfather were called Bill and William. Dedication (Lat dedicatio, from dedicare, to proclaim to announce is to immerse oneself with sincerity into a certain subject or properly the setting apart ***************************************************************************************** * * Google Inc is an American public corporation, earning revenue from advertising related to its Internet search, e-mail, online In Rainbows End, they are changed to Bob and Robert, perhaps so that Miri's parents have the names of the cryptographic personalities, Alice and Bob. Cryptography (or cryptology; from Greek grc κρυπτός kryptos, "hidden secret" and grc γράφω gráphō, "I write" The names Alice and Bob are commonly used placeholders for archetypal characters in fields such as Cryptography and Physics. Eve is also present.
- Vinge makes a passing reference to his own 1992 novel, A Fire Upon the Deep: "Who heard of Tines anymore, or the Zones of Thought?"
- Vinge also refers to "True Names": "That is science fiction! There was even a movie—"
- Vinge makes several references to works of other science fiction authors, such as Robert watching kids playing virtual "Egan Soccer", similar to Quantum Soccer from Greg Egan's short story "Border Guards". A Fire Upon the Deep (1992 is a Science fiction Novel written by Vernor Vinge, an award-winning Space opera about superhuman True Names was the Science fiction Novella which brought Vernor Vinge to prominence in 1981 Greg Egan (born 20 August 1961) is an Australian science fiction author.
- Jerzy Hacek, a fictional author, is said to have written novels about a medieval or medieval style order of librarian knights. During a dispute among fans in the novel, Hacek is dismissed as "just counterfeit [Terry] Pratchett!"
- Two songs in the Fair to Midland album Fables from a Mayfly (Dance of the Manatee and April Fools and Eggmen) might reference this novel. Terence David John Pratchett, OBE (born 28 April 1948 is an English fantasy, Science fiction, and children's author. Fair to Midland is an American Art rock band formed in 1998 They are currently signed to Serj Tankian 's Serjical Strike label
- 2006, USA, Tor Books (ISBN 0-312-85684-9), Pub date 16 May 2006, hardback (First edition).
- 2007 A mass market edition paperback was published in April 2007. (Tor, 0-812-53636-3, $7. 99, 381pp, pb) Cover: Stephan Martiniere - [VERIFIED]
- During Q&A section of the [Long Now] DVD "What If The Singularity Doesn't Happen. " Vernor Vinge is asked if he (in Rainbows End) is trying to jump start the Singularity.
See also
External links
- Rainbows End: an online copy of the book
- Rainbows End publication history at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era, 1993 — An essay by Vinge about the possible causes and effects of technological singularity. Ubiquitous computing ( ubicomp) is a post-desktop model of Human-computer interaction in which information processing has been thoroughly integrated into Augmented reality ( AR) is a field of Computer research which deals with the combination of real-world and computer-generated data
- "Synthetic Serendipity" — one of Vinge's two novellas set in the same world as Rainbows End, complete with illustrations (This novella is an extract from Rainbows End, although a few names and details have changed. You need to be a member of IEEE to read this extract).
- Mike Villas's World — IEEE article discussing the technology of the book.
| Preceded by Spin by Robert Charles Wilson |
Hugo Award for Best Novel 2007 |
Succeeded by Unannounced |
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