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I think A Fire Upon the Deep would be a more enjoyable starting place for someone that likes the Culture series, even though A Deepness in the Sky is generally considered the better novel.

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That is probably true, and I was assuming that if you read A Deepness in the Sky, you would go on to read A Fire Upon the Deep.

But I got it backwards. While A Deepness in the Sky is set earlier than A Fire Upon the Deep, it was actually published later, as a prequel.

So I agree. Read the first-published one, and if you like it, read the other.

I wish I had read Deepness first as Fire sort of spoils it (granted, either direction will spoil some things)

OK now I reverse my reversal; you — and original me — are/am right: read Deepness first. First! haha

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