Take a story's temperature by studying its tone. Is it hopeful? Cynical? Snarky? Playful?
Neutral(ish)
Omniscient Neutral
Whether the POV takes that bird's-eye omniscient view or gives us the story filtered through some character's eyes, Vinge gives a pretty neutral account of things. For instance, the discovery of a potentially deadly virus doesn't get told in either a super nervous or a super triumphant way.
There were still good people at CDD. They were the same specialists who had saved the world in 2017. They quickly resolved the July 23 issue. Public Relations could now spin a more or less accurate statement… (Prologue.5)
Now, when we read about Public Relations putting "spin" on a story and giving a "more or less accurate" account, we might react in a certain way: we don't much like it. We react negatively when government agencies play a little fast-and-loose with the facts, especially when we're talking about a potentially deadly virus.
But Vinge's narrator doesn't call that PR department liars or get angry. The narrator seems pretty even-handed here; reminding us that the CDD helped prevent a worldwide catastrophe in 2017, and simply stating that the PR department is doing its job of making the CDD look fine.