Tangential, but I found one of my favorite books on a thread related to this topic, so I thought I would pass on the favor. Vernor Vinge's _A Fire Upon The Deep

Tangential, but I found one of my favorite books on a thread related to this topic, so I thought I would pass on the favor. Vernor Vinge's _A Fire Upon The Deep_ is based on the premise that physics changes throughout the galaxy. The inner "slow" sections have physics that is normal to us, but the outer sections allow faster than light travel and incredible AI.