In honor of the late Vernor Vinge, I read Rainbows End.
What a wonderful visionary. In Vinge’s future (which is now), machine learning and internet search engines have made everyone smarter instead of stupider. Social media has made everyone kinder and more understanding of different cultures. People are living their best lives. The global economy is booming, and rich people sponsor bioengineers to make custom-tailored cures for their diseases, which has led to huge breakthroughs in medicine. They can cure Alzheimer’s and cancer. Also, kids constantly play games and education is fun. Everyone wears AR/VR contact lenses, no visors required, and there are touchy-feely haptics.
Doesn’t it sound nice? I want to live there.
Anyway, the plot is sort of a cross between A Man Called Ove and a 1980s feel-good movie. The main character is a grouch with a boomer attitude, and he needs to get off his high horse and team up with some kids in order to progress as a person. It’s great.
There is some silliness to the story, which might be a Vinge trademark, but my admiration for his work remains strong. Of all the sci-fi authors of that generation, he is my favorite.
Vinge is best known for A Fire Upon the Deep, which I discussed on a podcast with other fans of his work.
Also, I’ve surpassed 1300+ books read on Goodreads. Someday, maybe I’ll receive as many reviews as I’ve written, heh.
