March 22, 2024: Vernor Vinge

One of my favorite science fiction authors, Vernor Vinge, has passed away. His work is not easy to sum up. Some of his stories were set in a tightly envisioned tomorrow . . . his novella True Names showed us cyberspace many years before reality caught up. Other tales, including the multiple-award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep, depicted a very distant future, yet one in which traces of our own lives could still be found.

As usual, File 770 has published a detailed and sensitive obituary for those who would like to know more about Vinge, or just to say goodbye to a writer who gave us so many futures. His books remain, and if you have not yet discovered Vernor Vinge, it's not too late.

-- Steve Jackson