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https://boingboing.net/2024/03/21/hard-sf-master-vernor-vinge-dead-at-79.html>
'Triple Hugo Award-winning author Vernor Vinge died Wednesday at 79.
Vinge sold his first science-fiction story in 1964, "Apartness", which
appeared in the June 1965 issue of New Worlds.
In 1971, he received a PhD (Math) from UCSD, and the next year began
teaching at San Diego State University. It wasn't until almost thirty years
later, in August 2000, that he retired from teaching to write
science-fiction full time.
Start with
True Names, a cyberpunk novel from 1981 that had it all.
The story follows the progress of a group of computer hackers (called
"warlocks") who are early adopters of a new full-immersion virtual reality
technology, called the "Other Plane". Warlocks penetrate computers around
the world for personal profit or curiosity. They must keep their true
identities ("True Names") secret even from each other and from the "Great
Enemy", the United States government, as those who know a warlock's True
Name can force him to work on their behalf, or cause a "True Death" by
killing the warlock in real life.'
RIP,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
