Books by Vernor Vinge
Vernor Vinge Biography & Notes
Vernor Steffen Vinge (pronounced VIN-jee, rhyming with 'stingy') (born February 10, 1944) is a mathematician, computer scientist and science fiction author who is best known for his Hugo award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep, and for his 1993 essay "The Technological Singularity", in which he argues that exponential growth in technology will reach a point beyond which we cannot even speculate about the consequences.
Vinge published his first short story, "Bookworm, Run!", in 1965 in Analog Science Fiction, then edited by John W. Campbell. He was then a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including adapting two of his stories into a short novel, Grimm's World (1969), and publishing a second novel, The Witling (1975).
Vinge came to prominence in 1981 with his novella "True Names", which is one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to stories by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and others (and particularly to the cyberpunk genre).
His next two novels, The Peace War (1984) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), concern the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable force fields called "Bobbles" (with other properties which aren't revealed here as they are spoilers for the former book). These books built Vinge's reputation as an author who would explore his science fictional ideas to their logical conclusions and in novel and particularly inventive ways. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for both books, but in each case lost to novels by William Gibson and Orson Scott Card.
These two novels and "True Names" also emphasized Vinge's interest in the technological singularity. "True Names" takes place in a world on the cusp of the singularity. The Peace War shows a world in which the singularity has been postponed by the Bobbles, while Marooned in Realtime follows a small group of people who have managed to miss the singularity which otherwise encompassed Earth.
Vinge finally won the Hugo Award with his 1992 novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. In it, Vinge envisions a galaxy that is divided up into "zones of thought", in which the further one moves from the center of the galaxy, the higher the level of technology one can achieve. Earth is in "The Slow Zone", in which the speed of light cannot be achieved. Most of the book, however, takes place in a zone called "The Beyond," where the computations necessary for faster than light travel is possible, but transcendence beyond the Singularity to superhuman intelligence is not. Thus Vinge could write a classic space opera despite his belief that the technology required for such stories would push us past the singularity. Fire includes a large number of additional ideas making for an unusually complex and rich universe and story.
A Deepness in the Sky (1999) was a prequel to Fire, following competing groups of humans in The Slow Zone as they struggle over who has the rights to exploit a technologically emerging alien culture. Deepness also won a Hugo Award in 2000.
Vinge has also won Hugos for his novellas, "Fast Times at Fairmont High" in 2002, and "The Cookie Monster" in 2004.
Vinge retired in 2002 from teaching at San Diego State University in order to write full-time.
His ex-wife Joan D. Vinge is also an accomplished science fiction author.
Vinge published his first short story, "Bookworm, Run!", in 1965 in Analog Science Fiction, then edited by John W. Campbell. He was then a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s, including adapting two of his stories into a short novel, Grimm's World (1969), and publishing a second novel, The Witling (1975).
Vinge came to prominence in 1981 with his novella "True Names", which is one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to stories by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and others (and particularly to the cyberpunk genre).
His next two novels, The Peace War (1984) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), concern the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable force fields called "Bobbles" (with other properties which aren't revealed here as they are spoilers for the former book). These books built Vinge's reputation as an author who would explore his science fictional ideas to their logical conclusions and in novel and particularly inventive ways. He was nominated for the Hugo Award for both books, but in each case lost to novels by William Gibson and Orson Scott Card.
These two novels and "True Names" also emphasized Vinge's interest in the technological singularity. "True Names" takes place in a world on the cusp of the singularity. The Peace War shows a world in which the singularity has been postponed by the Bobbles, while Marooned in Realtime follows a small group of people who have managed to miss the singularity which otherwise encompassed Earth.
Vinge finally won the Hugo Award with his 1992 novel, A Fire Upon the Deep. In it, Vinge envisions a galaxy that is divided up into "zones of thought", in which the further one moves from the center of the galaxy, the higher the level of technology one can achieve. Earth is in "The Slow Zone", in which the speed of light cannot be achieved. Most of the book, however, takes place in a zone called "The Beyond," where the computations necessary for faster than light travel is possible, but transcendence beyond the Singularity to superhuman intelligence is not. Thus Vinge could write a classic space opera despite his belief that the technology required for such stories would push us past the singularity. Fire includes a large number of additional ideas making for an unusually complex and rich universe and story.
A Deepness in the Sky (1999) was a prequel to Fire, following competing groups of humans in The Slow Zone as they struggle over who has the rights to exploit a technologically emerging alien culture. Deepness also won a Hugo Award in 2000.
Vinge has also won Hugos for his novellas, "Fast Times at Fairmont High" in 2002, and "The Cookie Monster" in 2004.
Vinge retired in 2002 from teaching at San Diego State University in order to write full-time.
His ex-wife Joan D. Vinge is also an accomplished science fiction author.
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Al final del arcoiris/ Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge ( 2008) |
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Bodyguard of Lightning by Vernor Vinge, Stan Nicholls ( 2003) |
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A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge ( 2000)
A return to Arachna, the world of the award-winning A Fire Upon the Deep, journeys back in time thirty thousand years as the Qeng Ho battle the Emergents, and only Pham Numen has a chance to foil the horrendous Emergents' plan. Winner of the Hugo Award. Reissue.
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Fire upon the Deep by Vernor Vinge ( 1993)
A space saga awesome in conception, and a riveting novel of conflict, love, loss, and survival...
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Marooned In Realtime by Vernor Vinge ( 2004)
On a distant future Earth where the human race has inexplicably dwindled to some three hundred members, a secretive person harbors a deadly secret that he or she is willing to kill in order to protect. By the Hugo Award-winning author of A Deepness in the Sky and A Fire Upon Deep.
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The Peace War by Vernor Vinge ( 2003)
Having escaped capture by the Authority, who would continue to use his bobble technology as a weapon, maverick inventor Paul Hoehler works in an underground network of independent scientists and takes on a promising young apprentice who may hold the key to their survival.
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Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge ( 2006)
In a near-future western civilization that is threatened by corruptive practices within its technologically advanced information networks, a recovered Alzheimer's victim, his military son and daughter-in-law, and his middle school-age granddaughter are caught up in a dangerous maelstrom beyond their worst imaginings. By the Hugo Award-winning author of A Deepness in the Sky.
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The Skylark of Space by Edward Elmer Smith ( 2001) |
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Tatja Grimm's World by Vernor Vinge ( 2006)
Leaving her aborigine tribe to find intelligent beings, Tatja Grimm travels to Ocean, a medieval mecca of intelligence and technological innovation, but a disillusioned Tatja soon realizes that to find truly superior intelligence she must turn to the stars.
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Threats and Other Promises by Vernor Vinge ( 1988) |
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True Names and Other Dangers by Vernor Vinge ( 1987)
Collects five science fiction short stories about adventures in the strange world of the future.
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True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier And the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier by James Frenkel, Vernor Vinge ( 2002)
This timely collection includes original works by the Hugo Award-winning author of A Fire Upon the Deep about the concept of cyberspace, his novella Neuromancer, and related articles by technology notables such as Patricia Maes and Richard Stallman.
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Witling by Vernor Vinge ( 2006)
An exploration team from Earth becomes trapped between warring alien factions as they fall into the hands of the inhabitants of Giri, who view science as unnecessary and technological advances as playthings for the unintelligent, in a new edition of a classic science fiction saga by the Hugo Award-winning author of Rainbows End. Reprint. 15,000 first printing.
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