This solo hike led to a magical reading spot.
The Book: A Fire Upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge
My Rating: 5/5
Book blurb from Amazon.com:
A Fire Upon the Deep is the big, breakout book that fulfills the promise of Vinge's career to date: a gripping tale of galactic war told on a cosmic scale.
Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space, from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these "regions of thought," but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artifact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.
Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines, an alien race with a harsh medieval culture, and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue mission, not entirely composed of humans, must rescue the children-and a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization.
A Fire Upon The Deep is the winner of the 1993 Hugo Award for Best Novel.
My Review:
The book blurb doesn't do this novel justice. This is space opera at its best. Incredible universe-building, heart-racing action, and grandiose ideas pack its pages. The hive-mind, wolf-like Tines are one of my favorite alien species, perhaps only topped by one of Vinge's other species, the Spiders in A Deepness in the Sky.
The characters are only so-so and the plot is a bit unevenly paced, but I can't say I cared that much when I was devouring it cover-to-cover.
While there's technically a sequel, it works great as a standalone book.
The Place: Gem Lake near Snoqualmie Pass, WA
My Rating: 3/5 normally, but 4/5 on this particular day.
My Review:
This popular trail is easy and well-worn, winding up through the trees to a saddle overlooking Snow Lake.
The dawn October air was chilly, and I wore only thin gloves, but I couldn't believe the payoff I was getting for my early drive into the mountains. As I walked along the shore of Snow Lake, I was afraid to breathe lest I disturb the water. It was the kind of view that made me wish I had a real camera instead of a cell phone, but I took pictures anyway:
After skirting the shore, I followed the signs to Gem Lake. I soon hit patches of the season's first snow. A round-eared little pika kept me company for a while, but other than that I was all alone.
Gem Lake was smaller but still stunning.
I didn't see anyone else for a couple of hours, but the return hike was packed with people who were just going to Snow Lake, which had lost its luster in the harsh noon light. So my suggestion: Go at sunrise on a calm day in autumn, and thank me later.
More Info:
Difficulty: Moderately easy.
Total distance: 10 miles.
Elevation gain: 1800 feet.
Guide: Directions and details on WTA's Snow Lake page and supplementary information on the Gem Lake page.
Book + Place Pairing
My Rating: 4/5
Now I have to admit to doing something stupid. Along the shore of Gem Lake, there was a steep bank with some rocks that looked fun to climb. I left my pack and book on the shore and struck out toward it. And that's when I slipped and fell into the lake.
The worst part wasn't the cold or the wet - it was seeing the ripples from my fall break the water's mirror-like surface.
Fortunately, I found some nice rocks in the sun. I stripped down to my underwear and lay all my clothes and shoes out to dry. Then I reclined on the biggest rock and took my book out.
I headed into the deepest reaches of the universe, all while surrounded by a lovely part of my home planet. It would have been perfect if I hadn't been terrified that another hiker would come along and see me lying there half-naked.
Wait, what is adventure reading?
My favorite hobby! I am a bookworm who loves to travel, so I usually just shove a book in my pack and go. I try to find the most scenic reading spots and spend some time taking it all in, letting the story and the place mingle.
A couple years ago, I started photographing the page I was on. (It’s not a pretty process, since I have to hold the phone with one hand and poking at the screen with my nose to focus.)
All of these posts will have the tag #adventurereading, and I would love to see you add to it - even if the place is your living room or favorite coffee shop!