Marooned in Realtime

A sequel to Vinge's The Peace War, but set millions of years in the distant future as the last three hundred humans struggle for their survival. These humans were bobbled at various point since the events of the first book, and all found themselves back in realtime when the human race has been erased, whether through war, alien invasion, or technological singularity no one is sure. A high-tech couple that bobbled forward has plans to restart the human race, and to do so they gather all the stragglers they can find, even roping in an isolated cell of Peacers and NM government officials. Everything is thrown into jeopardy when Marta, the primary architect of this plan, is left outside of the bobble as the community travels farther into the future for a more ideal setting. Her partner hires a detective from the old world to solve her murder, and it is through his eyes we experience this murder mystery in the future.

I will say that it's refreshing to have a sequel set far after the events of the first novel. Sure, a few of the same characters pop up, and lots of the exposition depends on your knowledge from The Peace War, but I appreciate Vinge's confidence to tell a completely different type of story.

The highlights of this sequel are by far the diary of Marta, as she experiences life, and survival, for the first time without the support of technology. Vinge does a great job of capturing the tragedy of her story, and it's the first time I felt strong emotion for a character across both of these novels. Outside of her story, most of the characters are wooden enough as to be forgettable. The other strong point is the world, the history of the world that it's set. I love Vinge's extrapolation of what the bobbling tech, cybernetics, and virtual immorality might lead to in terms of politics, warfare, crime, technology, exploration, ecology, and human nature itself. We see a people that are so utterly dependent on that high tech that they sometimes collapse into a coma-like state without it. Yet underneath that dependence is a irrepressible toughness of the human spirit, something we see firsthand in Marta during her struggle in realtime. Vinge's humanity, while weakened by the technology they love so much, are still optimistically portrayed both as individuals and as a community.

The conclusion to the mystery is, unfortunately, extremely suspect, and falls back onto tropes pretty badly. Yes, Marooned in Realtime doesn't hide that it loves all of those tropes, but it's eye-rolling painful when the detective at the end suggests that he essentially knew whodunit all along. The conclusion is rushed, both in the moment and in the setup, and the ending to me feels like the most important part of mystery like this. Otherwise why am I reading it? The author has made me buy into the tension, the drama of the mystery, and if the reveal is lackluster it will taint the rest of the book. Vinge is also dependent on long winded exposition blocks that rip you right out of the present moment of the story. I get that there's a lot to explain, but Vinge hardly tries to make those things come up naturally within the context of the narrative.

This is a diptych much more focused on ideas than on people, narrative, prose, or a strong thematic viewpoint. Yet I still enjoyed reading them. In terms of mid-tier SF that's focused on the ideas, it's actually pretty good. If this is your type of thing, I would recommend it for a good bit of fun, spending time 50 megayears from now.