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Vernor Steffen Vinge (; born October 2, 1944) is an American
science fiction author This is a list of noted science-fiction authors (in alphabetical order): A *Dafydd ab Hugh (born 1960) *Alexander Abasheli (1884–1954) *Edwin Abbott Abbott (1838–1926) *Kōbō Abe (1924–1993) * Robert Abernathy (1924–1990) *Dan Abn ...
and retired professor. He taught mathematics and
computer science Computer science is the study of computation, automation, and information. Computer science spans theoretical disciplines (such as algorithms, theory of computation, information theory, and automation) to Applied science, practical discipli ...
at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
. He is the first wide-scale popularizer of the
technological singularity The technological singularity—or simply the singularity—is a hypothetical future point in time at which technological growth becomes uncontrollable and irreversible, resulting in unforeseeable changes to human civilization. According to the m ...
concept and perhaps the first to present a fictional "
cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...
".. Revised and expansed from "Viewpoint",
Communications of the ACM ''Communications of the ACM'' is the monthly journal of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). It was established in 1958, with Saul Rosen as its first managing editor. It is sent to all ACM members. Articles are intended for readers with ...
32 (6): 664–65, 1989,.
He has won the
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
for his novels ''
A Fire Upon the Deep ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a communication medium res ...
'' (1992), '' A Deepness in the Sky'' (1999), '' Rainbows End'' (2006), and novellas ''
Fast Times at Fairmont High ''The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Vernor Vinge. The stories were first published from 1966 to 2001, and the book contains all of Vinge's published short stories from that ...
'' (2002), and '' The Cookie Monster'' (2004).


Life and work

Vinge published his first short story, "Apartness", in the June 1965 issue of the British magazine ''
New Worlds New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz (South Korean band), The Boyz Albums and EPs * New (album), ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartn ...
''. His second, "
Bookworm, Run! "Bookworm, Run!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vernor Vinge. His second published work of fiction, it appeared in '' Analog Science Fiction Science Fact'' in 1966, and was reprinted in '' True Names... and Other Dangers'' in 19 ...
", was in the March 1966 issue of ''
Analog Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'', then edited by
John W. Campbell John Wood Campbell Jr. (June 8, 1910 – July 11, 1971) was an American science fiction writer and editor. He was editor of ''Astounding Science Fiction'' (later called ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'') from late 1937 until his death ...
. The story explores the theme of artificially augmented intelligence by connecting the brain directly to computerised data sources. He became a moderately prolific contributor to SF magazines in the 1960s and early 1970s. In 1969, he expanded the story "Grimm's Story" ('' Orbit 4'', 1968) into his first novel, ''
Grimm's World ''Grimm's World'' is a 1969 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. Background In 1968, Damon Knight published Vinge's novella "Grimm's Story" as part of Orbit 4. Knight told Vinge that if he expanded the novella to book-length, then he woul ...
''. His second novel, ''
The Witling ''The Witling'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge, about the planet Giri, whose humanoid inhabitants, the Azhiri, are able to teleport. This ability varies from person to person: those without the talent at all are called ''witling ...
'', was published in 1976. Vinge came to prominence in 1981 with his novella ''
True Names ''True Names'' is a 1981 science fiction novella by American writer Vernor Vinge, a seminal work of the cyberpunk genre. It is one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to cyb ...
'', perhaps the first story to present a fully fleshed-out concept of
cyberspace Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...
, which would later be central to
cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting that tends to focus on a "combination of lowlife and high tech", featuring futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyber ...
stories by
William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...
,
Neal Stephenson Neal Town Stephenson (born October 31, 1959) is an American writer known for his works of speculative fiction. His novels have been categorized as science fiction, historical fiction, cyberpunk, postcyberpunk, and baroque. Stephenson's work exp ...
and others. His next two novels, '' The Peace War'' (1984) and ''
Marooned in Realtime ''Marooned in Realtime'' is a 1986 murder mystery and time-travel science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a technological singularity or alien invasion. ...
'' (1986), explore the spread of a future
libertarian Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's e ...
society, and deal with the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable
force fields Force field may refer to: Science * Force field (chemistry), a set of parameter and equations for use in molecular mechanics simulations * Force field (physics), a vector field indicating the forces exerted by one object on another * Force field ( ...
called ' bobbles'. These books built Vinge's reputation as an author who would explore ideas to their logical conclusions in particularly inventive ways. Both books were nominated for the
Hugo Award The Hugo Award is an annual literary award for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year, given at the World Science Fiction Convention and chosen by its members. The Hugo is widely considered the premier a ...
, but lost to novels by
William Gibson William Ford Gibson (born March 17, 1948) is an American-Canadian speculative fiction writer and essayist widely credited with pioneering the science fiction subgenre known as ''cyberpunk''. Beginning his writing career in the late 1970s, his ...
and
Orson Scott Card Orson Scott Card (born August 24, 1951) is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is the first and (as of 2022) only person to win both a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for both ...
. Vinge won the Hugo Award (tying for Best Novel with ''
Doomsday Book Domesday Book () – the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book" – is a manuscript record of the "Great Survey" of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 by order of King William I, known as William the Conqueror. The manusc ...
'' by
Connie Willis Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis (born December 31, 1945), commonly known as Connie Willis, is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than ...
) with his 1992 novel, ''
A Fire Upon the Deep ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a communication medium res ...
''. ''
A Deepness in the Sky ''A Deepness in the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel (set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992). The title is coined by ...
'' (1999) was a
prequel A prequel is a literary, dramatic or cinematic work whose story precedes that of a previous work, by focusing on events that occur before the original narrative. A prequel is a work that forms part of a backstory to the preceding work. The term " ...
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'' won the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2000. His novellas ''
Fast Times at Fairmont High ''The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Vernor Vinge. The stories were first published from 1966 to 2001, and the book contains all of Vinge's published short stories from that ...
'' and '' The Cookie Monster'' also won Hugo Awards in 2002 and 2004, respectively. Vinge's 2006 novel '' Rainbows End'', set in the same universe and featuring some of the same characters as ''Fast Times at Fairmont High'', won the 2007 Hugo Award for Best Novel. In 2011, he released ''
The Children of the Sky ''The Children of the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a direct sequel to ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' and shares the Zones of Thought universe with ''A Deepness in the Sky''. Unlike ''A Fire Upon the Deep'', ...
'', a sequel to ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' set approximately 10 years following the end of ''A Fire Upon the Deep''.Interview with Vernor Vinge
Norwescon Norwescon is one of the largest regional science fiction and fantasy conventions in the United States. Located in SeaTac in Washington state, Norwescon has been running continuously since 1978. "Norwescon" was also the name of the 8th World S ...
website, October 12, 2009.
Vinge retired in 2000 from teaching at
San Diego State University San Diego State University (SDSU) is a public research university in San Diego, California. Founded in 1897 as San Diego Normal School, it is the third-oldest university and southernmost in the 23-member California State University (CSU) system ...
, in order to write full-time. Most years, since its inception in 1999, Vinge has been on the
Free Software Foundation The Free Software Foundation (FSF) is a 501(c)#501(c)(3), 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Richard Stallman on October 4, 1985, to support the free software movement, with the organization's preference for software being distributed ...
's selection committee for their
Award for the Advancement of Free Software Free Software Foundation (FSF) grants two annual awards. Since 1998, FSF has granted the award for Advancement of Free Software and since 2005, also the Free Software Award for Projects of Social Benefit. Presentation ceremonies In 1999 it was pr ...
. Vernor Vinge was Writer Guest of Honor at ConJosé, the 60th
World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
in 2002.


Personal life

His former wife,
Joan D. Vinge Joan D. Vinge (; born April 2, 1948 as Joan Carol Dennison) is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award–winning novel ''The Snow Queen'' and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and ...
, is also a science fiction author. They were married from 1972 to 1979.


Bibliography


Novels


Realtime/Bobble series

* '' The Peace War'' (1984) — Hugo Award nominee, 1985 * ''
Marooned in Realtime ''Marooned in Realtime'' is a 1986 murder mystery and time-travel science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a technological singularity or alien invasion. ...
'' (1986) —
Prometheus Award The Prometheus Award is an award for libertarian science fiction novels given annually by the Libertarian Futurist Society. American author and activist L. Neil Smith established the award in 1979, but it was not awarded regularly until the newl ...
winner, Hugo Award nominee, 1987


Zones of Thought series

* ''
A Fire Upon the Deep ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' is a 1992 science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a space opera involving superhuman intelligences, aliens, variable physics, space battles, love, betrayal, genocide, and a communication medium res ...
'' (1992) — Hugo Award winner, 1993; Nebula Award nominee, 1992; Campbell and Locus SF Awards nominee, 1993 * ''
A Deepness in the Sky ''A Deepness in the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. Published in 1999, the novel is a loose prequel (set twenty thousand years earlier) to his earlier novel ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' (1992). The title is coined by ...
'' (1999) — Hugo, Campbell, and Prometheus Awards winner, 2000; Nebula Award nominee, 1999; Clarke and Locus SF Awards nominee, 2000 * ''
The Children of the Sky ''The Children of the Sky'' is a science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge. It is a direct sequel to ''A Fire Upon the Deep'' and shares the Zones of Thought universe with ''A Deepness in the Sky''. Unlike ''A Fire Upon the Deep'', ...
'' (2011)


Standalone novels

* ''
Grimm's World ''Grimm's World'' is a 1969 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge. Background In 1968, Damon Knight published Vinge's novella "Grimm's Story" as part of Orbit 4. Knight told Vinge that if he expanded the novella to book-length, then he woul ...
'' (1969), expanded as '' Tatja Grimm's World'' (1987) * ''
The Witling ''The Witling'' is a 1976 science fiction novel by Vernor Vinge, about the planet Giri, whose humanoid inhabitants, the Azhiri, are able to teleport. This ability varies from person to person: those without the talent at all are called ''witling ...
'' (1976) * '' Rainbows End'' (2006) — Hugo and Locus SF Awards winner, 2007; Campbell Award nominee, 2007


Collections

* ''Across Realtime'' (1986) ** '' The Peace War'' ** " The Ungoverned" ** ''
Marooned in Realtime ''Marooned in Realtime'' is a 1986 murder mystery and time-travel science fiction novel by American writer Vernor Vinge, about a small, time-displaced group of people who may be the only survivors of a technological singularity or alien invasion. ...
'' * '' True Names ... and Other Dangers'' (1987) ** "
Bookworm, Run! "Bookworm, Run!" is a science fiction short story by American writer Vernor Vinge. His second published work of fiction, it appeared in '' Analog Science Fiction Science Fact'' in 1966, and was reprinted in '' True Names... and Other Dangers'' in 19 ...
" ** "
True Names ''True Names'' is a 1981 science fiction novella by American writer Vernor Vinge, a seminal work of the cyberpunk genre. It is one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to cyb ...
" (1981, winner 2007 Prometheus Hall of Fame Award) ** "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with
Joan D. Vinge Joan D. Vinge (; born April 2, 1948 as Joan Carol Dennison) is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award–winning novel ''The Snow Queen'' and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and ...
) ** "The Ungoverned" (occurs in the same milieu as ''The Peace War'' and ''Marooned in Realtime'') ** "Long Shot" * '' Threats... and Other Promises'' (1988) (These two volumes collect Vinge's short fiction through the late 1980s.) ** "Apartness" ** "Conquest by Default" (occurs in the same milieu as "Apartness") ** "The Whirligig of Time" ** "Gemstone" ** "Just Peace" (with William Rupp) ** "Original Sin" ** "The Blabber" (occurs in the same milieu as ''A Fire Upon the Deep'') * ''
True Names and the Opening of the Cyberspace Frontier True most commonly refers to truth, the state of being in congruence with fact or reality. True may also refer to: Places * True, West Virginia, an unincorporated community in the United States * True, Wisconsin, a town in the United States * Tr ...
'' (2001) (contains "True Names" plus essays by others) * ''
The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge ''The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge'' is a collection of science fiction short stories by American writer Vernor Vinge. The stories were first published from 1966 to 2001, and the book contains all of Vinge's published short stories from that ...
'' (2001) (hardcover) or (paperback) (This volume collects Vinge's short fiction through 2001 (except "True Names"), including Vinge's comments from the earlier two volumes.) ** "Bookworm, Run!" ** "The Accomplice" ** "The Peddler's Apprentice" (with
Joan D. Vinge Joan D. Vinge (; born April 2, 1948 as Joan Carol Dennison) is an American science fiction author. She is known for such works as her Hugo Award–winning novel ''The Snow Queen'' and its sequels, her series about the telepath named Cat, and ...
) ** "The Ungoverned" ** "Long Shot" ** "Apartness" ** "Conquest by Default" ** "The Whirligig of Time" ** "Bomb Scare" ** "The Science Fair" ** "Gemstone" ** "Just Peace" (with William Rupp) ** "Original Sin" ** "The Blabber" ** "Win a Nobel Prize!" (originally published in
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
, Vol 407 No 6805 "Futures") ** "The Barbarian Princess" (this is also the first section of "Tatja Grimm's World") ** "Fast Times at Fairmont High" (occurs in the same milieu as ''Rainbows End''; winner 2002 Hugo Award for Best Novella)


Essays

* "The Coming Technological Singularity: How to Survive in the Post-Human Era" (1993), ''
Whole Earth Review ''Whole Earth Review'' (''Whole Earth'' after 1997) was a magazine which was founded in January 1985 after the merger of the '' Whole Earth Software Review'' (a supplement to the ''Whole Earth Software Catalog'') and the ''CoEvolution Quarterly ...
'' * "2020 Computing: The creativity machine" (2006), ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' * "The Disaster Stack" (2017) ''Chasing Shadows''


Uncollected short fiction

* "A Dry Martini" (''The 60th
World Science Fiction Convention Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...
ConJosé Restaurant Guide'', page 60) * " The Cookie Monster" (''
Analog Science Fiction ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' is an American science fiction magazine published under various titles since 1930. Originally titled ''Astounding Stories of Super-Science'', the first issue was dated January 1930, published by William C ...
'', October 2003) (winner 2004 Hugo Award for Best Novella) * "Synthetic Serendipity", IEEE Spectrum Online, 30 June 2004 * "A Preliminary Assessment of the Drake Equation, Being an Excerpt from the Memoirs of Star Captain Y.-T. Lee" (2010) ('' Gateways: Original New Stories Inspired by Frederik Pohl'', 2010) *"BFF's first adventure", (originally published in ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'', Vol 518 No 7540 "Futures") *"Legale", (originally published in ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'', Vol 548 No 7666 "Futures")


References


External links

* * *


About Vinge

*
Vernor Vinge
at Worlds Without End * official website *


Essays and speeches



* ttps://archive.org/download/conversationsnetwork_org/conversationsnetwork_org.zip/ITC.AC05-VernorVinge-2005.09.17.mp3 Accelerating Change 2005: Vernor Vinge Keynote Address(64 kbit/s MP3 audio recording, 40 minutes long)
Seminars About Long-term Thinking: Vernor Vinge
(Summary and MP3 audio recording of a 2007 speech, 91 minutes long)

from ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
'' magazine, 23 March 2006.
Vernor Vinge's keynote address at the 2006 Austin Games Conference.


Interviews


Interview
on ''
Fresh Air ''Fresh Air'' is an American radio talk show broadcast on National Public Radio stations across the United States since 1985. It is produced by WHYY-FM in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The show's host is Terry Gross. , the show was syndicated to 6 ...
'', 2000 (audio) * Interviews on the podcast series ''The Future and You''
April 8, 2006May 1, 2006
(audio)
Interview by Glenn Reynolds and Helen Smith
April 26, 2006 (podcast)

by ''
Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...
'', 2007
Interview for the singularity symposium
2011 (podcast) {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinge, Vernor 1944 births Living people 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American science fiction writers American technology writers American computer scientists Writers from California Novelists from Wisconsin Hugo Award-winning writers People from Waukesha, Wisconsin Mathematics educators San Diego State University faculty American male short story writers American transhumanists 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Singularitarians 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers University of California, San Diego alumni