The Peace War

I tend to steer clear of fiction in general but read this because I was going to meet the author... Thank goodness! Thought provoking ideas abound, excellent characters that behave realistically in a 'realistic' story - suspended disbelief is not merely hanging by a thread here. I won't spoil it, but the ending does not blow sunshine up one's rear in an attempt to have that 'happily ever after' that I absolutely loathe about fiction. AND the author is a nice guy. Excellent book.

This book reminds me of "The Ringworld Engineers" in that it is
one of the only science fiction stories that I've read that
really tries to make its imaginary world function in a believable
way.

Vinge holds a doctorate in computer science, and it really shows.
There is a certain undeniable logic and elegance to his ideas.

This book is the first introduction of Vinge's idea of the Singularity (google for it, it's worth it).

Using its superior weapon, the Peace Authority grabbed control of the world. During the brief struggle an unknown nation released deadly biological agents. Billions died, and the Peace Authority stepped in to pick up the pieces. In many places civilisation was left to revert to feudalism.

So now its fifty years later and the world has had fifty years without a war. The Authority preserves the peace by stamping out all high energy physics research, they do not permit any biological experimentation and all large-scale weapons of war are forbidden.

But everything has its price. Peace has been achieved at the cost of crushing of the human spirit and the stagnation of human potential. The Authority also tries to suppress innovation by siphoning off the young intellectual cream to its stronghold, the former Livermore University campus. There they are trained to work for and think like the Peace Authority.

The organisation's power is derived from the possession of the ultimate weapon. The invincible, impenetrable force fields known as the `Bobble'. Any transgressors are immediately enclosed in this spherical force field and are trapped for all eternity dying slowly from asphyxiation in an airless tomb.

Unbeknown to the Authority, small groups have been working together on low energy, high tech research. The fruits of this research take the form of intelligent weapons, untraceable communications and computing power many orders of magnitude above anything the Peace Authority possesses. These groups known as the Tinkers also have as their ally Paul Hoehler the genius that invented the Bobble and unwittingly unleashed the Peace Authority on the world. Paul has been trying to for fifty years to undo this harm, but time is running out for Paul. He is now old and frail, he needs to find an apprentice to assume his mantle, but genius is a rare commodity and the Peace Authority is finally closing in on him.

This is a beautifully written novel detailing an ` David and Goliath' struggle between the Peace Authority and the Tinkers. It is also a graphic lesson in why totalitarianism doesn't work, no matter how good the intentions of the rulers (the road to Hell is paved with such good intentions!). There is no such thing as a good dictatorship.

While I was reading this story I couldn't help but note the many amusing parallels between the Tinker's struggle with the Authority and the Linux OS developers battle against a certain popular software company. Like the Tinkers the Linux community are innovative, adaptable, fast moving and technically advanced. Like the Authority the popular software company is a ponderous leviathan that is slow to react and frankly has trouble innovating. Who will win the struggle? Read this excellent book and decide for yourself.

I bought this book along with the seguel and i read both in a matter of three days it was just totally mind blowing the whole concept of going forward in time simply by "bobbling" yourself off, of exploring space in what would same to you a matter of minutes or weeks but in actuality a millenia ,of awakening in a distant future and the human race had vanished, like i said mind blowing an excellent read two thumbs way up!

I'm a new reader of this author and I have to say this book kept me going through the pages. The plot is well designed and the imagination involved is amazing. Vinge reminds me strangely of Orson Scott Card in that his characters aren't necessarily well-developed in their personalities but they are sufficient to move a well-crafted story to its purpose. I really liked the book and I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a fun read.