Rainbows End (Vinge novel)

Rainbows End

First edition cover
Author	Vernor Vinge
Cover artist	Stephan Martinière
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Tor Books
Publication date	16 May 2006
Media type	Print (Hardcover & Paperback)
Pages	368 pp. (first edition, hardback)
ISBN	ISBN 0-312-85684-9 (first edition, hardback)

Rainbows End is a 2006 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. It was awarded the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel. 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". 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).

"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."

Plot summary

The novel introduces us to Robert Gu, a man slowly recovering from Alzheimer's disease thanks to advances in medical technology. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. 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. This augmentation of reality is used for a variety of purposes:

• Commercial (large gaming areas sell gaming environments mixed with haptics)
• Functional (maintenance workers, for example, have access to a blueprint or [[schematic\\ of practically any location or object
• Communication (characters in the novel use live video chat and can send "silent messages", an action known as "sming", through their Heads-up Displays)
• Medical (doctors have access to a patient's vital signs)

There are characters who choose not to "wear" these virtual overlays, instead using laptops, considered relics in the novel. A user's skill in managing and producing augmented reality manifests itself in the details of the augmentation. For example, a character might project herself into a different room, but the shadows cast by this apparition, or the collision between the character and the furniture in the room might give away the apparition.

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. 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. 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). The Egan Soccer set piece can also be seen as a type of subscribed Belief Circle.

See also

• Ubiquitous computing
• Augmented reality

External links

• Rainbows End: an online copy of the book
• Rainbows End title listing 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.
• "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.