I was very taken with the portrayal of the Queng Ho in 'A Deepness in the Sky'. I liked the idea that a trading culture would foster technological development a

I was very taken with the portrayal of the Queng Ho in 'A Deepness in the Sky'. I liked the idea that a trading culture would foster technological development across a large swath of space by broadcasting "here's how you bootstrap an advanced civilization" instructions to anyone who got as far as inventing radios. Then they'd wander around at relativistic speeds, trying to time their visits to each system to coincide with periods of high-tech development so they could do some trading (before each civilization inevitably choked on its own complexity. That part was a bummer)