Finished A Fire Upon the Deep. Definitely sci-fi for nerds. I do like the Zones of Thought, it is an interesting premise for space travel, albeit apparently an attempt to make superhuman intelligience more entertaining for the reader (the inevitable singularity, according to Vernor Vinge).

However, now I know there is a sequel. And a prequel. And a sequel that was written before A Fire Upon the Deep. Given the lengths, I will probably not read any of these novels, although I did enjoy A Fire Upon the Deep as pretty good sci-fi.