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Fast Times at Fairmont High
In a near future where wireless mind links and wearable computers blur the line between artificial reality and "real" reality, it's final exam time at San Diego's Fairmont Junior High. Juan Orozco and his friends have a killer idea for their off-line project. But can a bunch of 13-year-olds really figure out the secret of what's going on at Torrey Pines Park?
3 pages, Audio CD
First published November 1, 2001
5 people are currently reading
422 people want to read
About the author
Vernor Vinge
121 books2,624 followersVernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels
A Fire Upon The Deep
(1992),
A Deepness in the Sky
(1999) and
Rainbows End
(2006), his Hugo Award-winning novellas
Fast Times at Fairmont High
(2002) and The Cookie Monster (2004), as well as for his 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity", in which he argues that exponential growth in technology will reach a point beyond which we cannot even speculate about the consequences.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/vernor...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/vernor...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
August 12, 2022
Una novela corta que presenta una sociedad tecnológica de realidad aumentada y muy digitalizada.
Una ambientación muy original, unos personajes correctos y una trama -en la que unos chavales están preparando un trabajo de clase- que no me ha convencido tanto.
Esta novela corta sentó la base de una novela ganadora del Hugo y Locus en 2007, 'Al final del arcoiris', que igual está fenomenal, pero ésta se me ha quedado corta.
Una ambientación muy original, unos personajes correctos y una trama -en la que unos chavales están preparando un trabajo de clase- que no me ha convencido tanto.
Esta novela corta sentó la base de una novela ganadora del Hugo y Locus en 2007, 'Al final del arcoiris', que igual está fenomenal, pero ésta se me ha quedado corta.
May 14, 2013
Originally posted at FanLit. http://www.fantasyliterature.com
Juan is an eighth grader in a near-future San Diego. Final exams have arrived and Juan and his friends are under a lot of pressure to perform well because those who don’t keep up in this fast-moving information-driven virtual-reality society are left behind. That’s what happened to Juan’s father. Juan is determined to succeed, so much so that he’s experimenting with cognition-enhancing drugs.
For one of their exams, students must work with a partner on a project of their choosing without outside assistance. That means that Juan and his partner Miriam can’t access any information or help that’s not already been downloaded into their wearable computers and networked brains. If they’re caught communicating with anyone from outside, even remote students, they’ll fail. While Juan and Miriam are working on their project in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, they come across a new species of intelligent mice acting strangely in the park. If they want to get their own theory out there before someone else makes the discovery, they have to integrate a lot of sketchy facts very quickly and make some wild guesses about what’s going on in Torrey Pines. They also have to worry about a remote virtual student who may be trying to steal their project.
Vernor Vinge presents a possible future that’s not too hard to believe in. In order to just keep up with their peers, kids are required to be hooked into a global network were they can access and assimilate huge amounts of information in a very short time. Those who can’t handle the new technology and who can’t absorb a lot of data rapidly will end up on the bottom rungs of society. Parents and grandparents who haven’t learned to use the new technology or to adapt to a barrage of new knowledge are quickly becoming obsolete. Juan feels so much pressure that he’s willing to cheat by using drugs.
Fast Times at Fairmont High is supposed to be scary — and a warning, I think — but as a college professor and the mother of an unmotivated eighth grader, the thought that kids would be so driven to learn and excel sort of excited me. In reality I think that even if (or when) we have these technologies in the future, most eighth graders will still be more interested in playing games and socializing with friends than worrying about their future socioeconomic status. I can’t see Vinge’s future actually coming to pass, but it’s fascinating to think about and I wouldn’t be surprised if kids are someday, in the not too distant future, using the cool technology that Vinge describes.
Fast Times at Fairmont High is set in the same world as Vernor Vinge’s novel Rainbow’s End which is on my TBR stack. Fast Times at Fairmont High won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella. I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version which is just under three hours long and is nicely narrated by Eric Michael Summerer.
Juan is an eighth grader in a near-future San Diego. Final exams have arrived and Juan and his friends are under a lot of pressure to perform well because those who don’t keep up in this fast-moving information-driven virtual-reality society are left behind. That’s what happened to Juan’s father. Juan is determined to succeed, so much so that he’s experimenting with cognition-enhancing drugs.
For one of their exams, students must work with a partner on a project of their choosing without outside assistance. That means that Juan and his partner Miriam can’t access any information or help that’s not already been downloaded into their wearable computers and networked brains. If they’re caught communicating with anyone from outside, even remote students, they’ll fail. While Juan and Miriam are working on their project in the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve, they come across a new species of intelligent mice acting strangely in the park. If they want to get their own theory out there before someone else makes the discovery, they have to integrate a lot of sketchy facts very quickly and make some wild guesses about what’s going on in Torrey Pines. They also have to worry about a remote virtual student who may be trying to steal their project.
Vernor Vinge presents a possible future that’s not too hard to believe in. In order to just keep up with their peers, kids are required to be hooked into a global network were they can access and assimilate huge amounts of information in a very short time. Those who can’t handle the new technology and who can’t absorb a lot of data rapidly will end up on the bottom rungs of society. Parents and grandparents who haven’t learned to use the new technology or to adapt to a barrage of new knowledge are quickly becoming obsolete. Juan feels so much pressure that he’s willing to cheat by using drugs.
Fast Times at Fairmont High is supposed to be scary — and a warning, I think — but as a college professor and the mother of an unmotivated eighth grader, the thought that kids would be so driven to learn and excel sort of excited me. In reality I think that even if (or when) we have these technologies in the future, most eighth graders will still be more interested in playing games and socializing with friends than worrying about their future socioeconomic status. I can’t see Vinge’s future actually coming to pass, but it’s fascinating to think about and I wouldn’t be surprised if kids are someday, in the not too distant future, using the cool technology that Vinge describes.
Fast Times at Fairmont High is set in the same world as Vernor Vinge’s novel Rainbow’s End which is on my TBR stack. Fast Times at Fairmont High won the 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella. I listened to Brilliance Audio’s version which is just under three hours long and is nicely narrated by Eric Michael Summerer.
February 11, 2014
The main protagonist is Juan who has to achieve an "offline" school project with Miriam given the restriction that they have to do it without connection to the Internet - a hard task for those always-connected teenagers. In addition, the project has to generate income for the school - Miriam found strange goings-on in Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park where FoxWarner corporation setout for an interactive entertainment series. In the night, Juan, Miriam and her grandfather go to the park and find intelligent mice - being a secret labor experiment or artificial, I don't know. Somehow this will give the highschool an inside scoop of the movie and lead to an A grade.
In the background looms Juan's suspicious virtual partner Bertie who gave him drugs so that he is able to analyse information much faster and some biological gadgets to be tested in the offline project.
The novella is Juan's coming-of-age story - he has to get free from Bertie's influence in several ways: from the drugs and from being used as a "doormat" (in Miriam's wording).
It won the Hugo Award in 2002 and seems to be a kind of a test-balloon, because Vinge evolved it to the 2007 novel Rainbows End: San Diego in the year 2025, former Alzheimer patient Robert Gu recovering from his illness, his niece Miriam in the highschool Fairmont High, their top-military parents. And all the lovely gadgets which I find to be a very valid near future projection of what we have.
Some might not like the short-story like open-end, others might have difficulty with the geekness of the gadget's descriptions. But you'll find no one with a better background for writing this novella than former San Diego computer science professor Vernor Vinge who is really in his element here.
Very convincing and recommended!
I read the novella in the huge anthology The Hard SF Renaissance which includes excellent introductions and great works from the 90s - for example the excellent Beggars in Spain (My Review)
In the background looms Juan's suspicious virtual partner Bertie who gave him drugs so that he is able to analyse information much faster and some biological gadgets to be tested in the offline project.
The novella is Juan's coming-of-age story - he has to get free from Bertie's influence in several ways: from the drugs and from being used as a "doormat" (in Miriam's wording).
It won the Hugo Award in 2002 and seems to be a kind of a test-balloon, because Vinge evolved it to the 2007 novel Rainbows End: San Diego in the year 2025, former Alzheimer patient Robert Gu recovering from his illness, his niece Miriam in the highschool Fairmont High, their top-military parents. And all the lovely gadgets which I find to be a very valid near future projection of what we have.
Some might not like the short-story like open-end, others might have difficulty with the geekness of the gadget's descriptions. But you'll find no one with a better background for writing this novella than former San Diego computer science professor Vernor Vinge who is really in his element here.
Very convincing and recommended!
I read the novella in the huge anthology The Hard SF Renaissance which includes excellent introductions and great works from the 90s - for example the excellent Beggars in Spain (My Review)
August 1, 2016
As this is a novella, it's quite short (<3 hours). I just couldn't get into it. The technology in it was interesting, but that was about the only part I found enjoyable. It's about a bunch of middle school kids at a high-tech school.
The main character Juan has been convinced by his friend to partner up with Miriam, a girl he doesn't know for their "offline" project, where they aren't allowed to make use of net that is even more prevalent in their lives as it today with today's smart phones.
I've been told this is set in the same world as Rainbows End, which I haven't read. Mr. Vinge does set up an interesting world, even if this particular story isn't very interesting, so if that's true, maybe I would enjoy that novel better.
Audio book: The audio reader: Eric Michael Summerer was alright, but nothing special. His accent for William kept reminding me of George Takei.
The main character Juan has been convinced by his friend to partner up with Miriam, a girl he doesn't know for their "offline" project, where they aren't allowed to make use of net that is even more prevalent in their lives as it today with today's smart phones.
I've been told this is set in the same world as Rainbows End, which I haven't read. Mr. Vinge does set up an interesting world, even if this particular story isn't very interesting, so if that's true, maybe I would enjoy that novel better.
Audio book: The audio reader: Eric Michael Summerer was alright, but nothing special. His accent for William kept reminding me of George Takei.
July 1, 2024
In this novella set in what has become an alternate present (~2025) Juan Orozco is an eighth grader in San Diego, California. The times are different than they were in the ancient history of the 20th century. They're fast now. What their parents had years to learn, their children now have only days. Everything so moves so fast that what was an employable skill a year ago is now completely obsolete. You've got to be as adaptable as possible and willing to do whatever it takes. Not only are you expected to make full use of your own talents, you also need to use AI and networks, both human and digital. What you personally know doesn't matter anywhere as much as knowing how to find out who knows, whether that's AI or some arbitrary person anywhere in the world. That's what the ambient Internet of Things is for. If you aren't enough on your own, then you'll have to use drugs and implants. It's your own fault if you can't keep it up. You'll just have to join the mass of unemployables. No one may be able to differentiate between what's real or not any longer, but that doesn't matter. Common sense and non-marketable knowledge are irrelevant. All that matters is that you don't become obsolete. If you aren't employable, then you're dead weight on everyone. Don't be a loser. Dedicate all that you are to becoming the best contributor that you can be.
Juan thinks he had it made with his nootropics and Bertie Todd, a remote classmate, both in the sense of not being physically present and being emotionally distant. Sure, he's being manipulated, but that comes with its benefits. Then there's Miriam, Miri, Gu. She's a top student whose parents were sent to Chinese American detainment camps during the war, though her mother was and remains part of the US military. For them it's time for their final exams. The students are graded on how much they contribute, whether financially or scientifically. The minimum for a passing grade is three times the cost of their tuition. If you aren't able to make a lot of money, then you don't deserve to graduate. One of the exams is an unaided skills test, which is clearly unfair and barbarous. How can anyone bear to be away from their smart devices, let alone do anything without them? Surely the rule is meant to be broken and then not to be found out.
This is mildly interesting and amusing, but nothing more than that. It doesn't go anywhere other than presenting its world and the characters are merely adequate. That suffices for me and it was enough to win a Hugo Award. I haven't read the book, Rainbows End, that takes place in this setting or the one its title comes from, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so I can't say how they're related. Reading this hasn't made me want to read the novel, so I may not, though I'll read more from Vinge at some later time, as I've yet to read anything novel length from him. This was suggested for me to read.
Juan thinks he had it made with his nootropics and Bertie Todd, a remote classmate, both in the sense of not being physically present and being emotionally distant. Sure, he's being manipulated, but that comes with its benefits. Then there's Miriam, Miri, Gu. She's a top student whose parents were sent to Chinese American detainment camps during the war, though her mother was and remains part of the US military. For them it's time for their final exams. The students are graded on how much they contribute, whether financially or scientifically. The minimum for a passing grade is three times the cost of their tuition. If you aren't able to make a lot of money, then you don't deserve to graduate. One of the exams is an unaided skills test, which is clearly unfair and barbarous. How can anyone bear to be away from their smart devices, let alone do anything without them? Surely the rule is meant to be broken and then not to be found out.
This is mildly interesting and amusing, but nothing more than that. It doesn't go anywhere other than presenting its world and the characters are merely adequate. That suffices for me and it was enough to win a Hugo Award. I haven't read the book, Rainbows End, that takes place in this setting or the one its title comes from, Fast Times at Ridgemont High, so I can't say how they're related. Reading this hasn't made me want to read the novel, so I may not, though I'll read more from Vinge at some later time, as I've yet to read anything novel length from him. This was suggested for me to read.
January 9, 2022
Been meaning to read this since it won the Hugo (oops, those many years ago already?). It turns out it is a sort of prequel, or draft and was expanded in Rainbows End. Which I got waiting to be read (in hardcover no less) way back at the foundations of my TBR. Moving it up, because this universe and characters were very interesting, I want to know more about the grandfather and Miriam and all but the story arc here was both somewhat confusing and leaving more interesting plot and character interactions unresolved.
January 8, 2020
Set in a near future where everyone wears a bunch of augmented reality gadgets. Follows a middle school kid as he works with a classmate on a strange school project. Somehow the project requires them to go to the Torrey Pines State Natural Reserve Park and they find a mystery there.
The main character is in 8th grade and middle grade language is used throughout. If you're not used to reading middle grade books then the prose will sound quite simplistic.
Maybe I didn't read carefully enough but it didn't feel that the school project that drives the plot is well explained. What are they trying to accomplish with the project? Just to explore some random location in real life? The characters use a ton of gadgets and a lot of jargon about their use is thrown about. A lot of this description seemed unnecessary and was somewhat confusing.
The students' exploration and discoveries are less exciting because I was not sure why they were doing their exploration in the first place.
The main character is in 8th grade and middle grade language is used throughout. If you're not used to reading middle grade books then the prose will sound quite simplistic.
Maybe I didn't read carefully enough but it didn't feel that the school project that drives the plot is well explained. What are they trying to accomplish with the project? Just to explore some random location in real life? The characters use a ton of gadgets and a lot of jargon about their use is thrown about. A lot of this description seemed unnecessary and was somewhat confusing.
The students' exploration and discoveries are less exciting because I was not sure why they were doing their exploration in the first place.
April 24, 2020
On the one hand, I appreciate Vinge's effort to make Juan's school fairly multi-cultural. On the other hand, I'm glad authors have gotten a lot less clunky about it in the last 20 years, and that Own Voices have been raised higher, and hopefully will continue to gain even more prominence.
I personally didn't find the novella to be very enjoyable, because I didn't understand many things that seemed important, but having discussed it with my reading group, I guess maybe that was the point.
There were some interesting questions presented, which were particularly interesting to be asking at this current turning point, during Shelter In Place. But the biggest point it seemed to drive home to me was just how much I'm not missing by passing up so many "classic" white male scifi authors.
I personally didn't find the novella to be very enjoyable, because I didn't understand many things that seemed important, but having discussed it with my reading group, I guess maybe that was the point.
There were some interesting questions presented, which were particularly interesting to be asking at this current turning point, during Shelter In Place. But the biggest point it seemed to drive home to me was just how much I'm not missing by passing up so many "classic" white male scifi authors.
April 6, 2024
In honor of Vernor Vinge's passing, I checked to make sure I had read all his published works. Since I missed this one, I gave it a go. It wasn't amazing and it was a tiny bit dated, but the characters were enjoyable and it had that classic "a day in the life of a person in the future" feel to it. I'm also not 100% sure where he wanted the readers to think the story was going. I like that in a book. It means I cannot totally write it off in my brain as "done."
January 24, 2018
Since I read Rainbows End first, it was fascinating to read this to see how Vinge first put out these concepts and first shared these characters.
August 29, 2018
I always like Vernor Vinge but I'd forgotten that this is not complete story which is kind of aggravating.
April 2, 2019
Technology; same fictional world as "Rainbow's End"
July 31, 2020
Short, enjoyable, to the point vignette with a few of the characters from _Rainbows End_.
March 5, 2022
Vernor Vinge consigue en este relato transmitir una sociedad súper tecnológica, un futuro al que quizás nos estamos acercando sin darnos cuenta. Las relaciones de los jóvenes entre sí o con sus padres, los avances científicos, el colegio, la realidad virtual y aumentada, con todo ello deben convivir los protagonistas mientras se enfrentan a un reto que deben resolver.
Muy interesante.
Muy interesante.
July 30, 2013
Fast Times at Fairmont High: The future of middle school?
Juan is an eighth grader in a near-future San Diego. Final exams have arrived and Juan and his friends are under a lot of pressure to perform well because those who don’t keep up in this fast-moving information-driven virtual-reality society are left behind. That’s what happened to Juan’s father. Juan is determined to succeed, so much so that he’s experimenting with cognition-enhancing drugs.
For one of their exams, students must work with a partner on a project of their choosing without outside assistance. That means that Juan and his partner Miriam can’t access any information or help that’s not already been downloaded into their wearable computers and networked brains. If they’re caught communicating with anyone from outside, even remote students, they’ll fail. While Juan and Miriam are working on their project in the Torrey ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
Juan is an eighth grader in a near-future San Diego. Final exams have arrived and Juan and his friends are under a lot of pressure to perform well because those who don’t keep up in this fast-moving information-driven virtual-reality society are left behind. That’s what happened to Juan’s father. Juan is determined to succeed, so much so that he’s experimenting with cognition-enhancing drugs.
For one of their exams, students must work with a partner on a project of their choosing without outside assistance. That means that Juan and his partner Miriam can’t access any information or help that’s not already been downloaded into their wearable computers and networked brains. If they’re caught communicating with anyone from outside, even remote students, they’ll fail. While Juan and Miriam are working on their project in the Torrey ... Read More:
http://www.fantasyliterature.com/revi...
December 20, 2013
A rather intriguing glimpse of the future society where technologies have risen to an unprecedented high, where it becomes somewhat scary. It is a story that shows our dependence on technology is not necessarily a good thing to our mind. It also displays a society in which learning is represented by a series of exams and various abilities and strategies, which, while improving well-rounded of capabilities. is not all pleasant in that it blurs relationships and exerts compelling pressure on quotidian matters.
It doesn't really have the kind of traditional closure the average reader expects, but it poses a lot of inspiring questions in its context.
It doesn't really have the kind of traditional closure the average reader expects, but it poses a lot of inspiring questions in its context.
June 22, 2012
The test run for Rainbows End. Focused on Juan
Fast times : vinge's thoughts on education--learnng to learn. Is this how he sees it actually happening, or is it meant to be more conceptual?
Juan's parents are a great contrast for their unintuitive future-proofness: personal service & flexible local smarts vs. Slavish technical mastery of a specific tech
SD turns out to be a very interesting cocktail for a future setting, when mined properly by vinge. USMC, tech industru, race mixture, geisel library, art community, etc (I may not have given SD a fair shake)
Fast times : vinge's thoughts on education--learnng to learn. Is this how he sees it actually happening, or is it meant to be more conceptual?
Juan's parents are a great contrast for their unintuitive future-proofness: personal service & flexible local smarts vs. Slavish technical mastery of a specific tech
SD turns out to be a very interesting cocktail for a future setting, when mined properly by vinge. USMC, tech industru, race mixture, geisel library, art community, etc (I may not have given SD a fair shake)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 14, 2013
Vinge turned cyberpunk on it's head by turning the revolutionary new media that sparked such violent individualism in Gibson's (for example) world into something that is just the texture and backdrop of storytelling that is at the same time independent of the technological elements and unthinkable without them. Here is the story of a few teenagers passing and their final exams, all told in a world where reality is fluid and connections ubiquitous.
April 18, 2013
I totally failed to see why this book is so highly thought of and recommended. The entire story is essentially Juan coming to realize what is clear to everyone else - including the reader - from the very beginning. Vinge's vision of the future was nothing special; kids are really smart and get to use neat technology, whoopty do. Even though the story is relatively short, I found it difficult to stay interested though I did, finally, manage my way through it.
March 2, 2016
What an interesting view of where we might be in another generation or two.. Totally plausible, a little scary. This one plays on my personal fear of being left behind -technologically. Where things move so fast that time is talked about in seconds not years, and parents are out of work because what took 3years to learn now takes kids hours.. I'd like a longer version set in this universe please.
Read
January 8, 2010Fictionwise multiformat ebook
Read
January 9, 2010Fictionwise multiformat ebook
August 22, 2015
Coming of age, SF story about small changes.
September 8, 2011
As a teacher, this gave me all kinds of ideas. I have already started to adapt some of his speculation into actual lessons for my English students.
February 8, 2014
The ideas were developed later in "Rainbow's End", and are all that matters in this short-story.
April 25, 2014
A fast-paced story that explores some of the ideas to be elaborated in Rainbows end. Worth the couple of hours.
June 20, 2016
Clearly a precursor to "Rainbows End" and should probably be read beforehand. There are easy reconciled inconsistencies, but introduces the reader to the landscape and main characters.
September 1, 2016
Es muy bueno aunque se esta quedando anacrónico muy rápidamente.
July 30, 2016
This is a companion to Rainbow's End.
February 19, 2014
This was good, but way too short. I thought I had to read this before Rainbow's End. No need.
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