Locus Online is reporting that Vernor Vinge has passed away at the age of 79 from Parkinson’s. He died on March 20. He was a mathmatician and hard science fiction writer.
Vinge is best remembered for two main things. He was the first person to postulate the Singularity. And he wrote the Zones of Thought series. the first book A Fire Upon the Deep, won the Hugo Award in 1992. He followed it up in 1999 with A Deepness in the Sky, which won the Hugo, the John W. Campbell, and the Prometheus awards. The third book, The Children of the Sky, came out in 2011. It doesn’t seem to have attracted the attention the first two did. Vinge also won a Hugo for his 2006 novel Rainbow’s End as well as Hugos for “Fast Times at Fairmont High” (2001) and “The Cookie Monster” (2003).
I’ve only read a little of Vinge’s short fiction. His novels look intrioguing, but I’ve not gotten to them due to their length. I’m afraid I’ll get bogged down and won’t finish them.
Our condolences to Vernor Vinge’s family and friends.
Yes, a sad loss. For (relatively) short Vinge fiction, I’d point you at “True Names”, a lovely tale of identity in real and cyberspace.
Good suggastion, Karl. I read that one in high and quite liked it.
Vernor had been ill for a number of years. My only ‘problem’ with him was he didn’t write more.
Fire, Deepness and Children are very good. I have read them twice. Rainbows End is set in San Diego, mostly at SDSU if I remember correctly. Being set on Earth in the near future makes it a very accessible read.