Obituary: Vernor Vinge, writer

Mathematics professor Vernor Vinge was well qualified to become one of the most respected writers of "hard" science fiction. Conveying technologically complex subjects in fiction is not the easiest, but Vinge’s gripping prose was immediately loved by readers and respected by peers: he was a multiple winner of science fiction’s most prized award, the Hugo, twice for novella and three times for best novel. The Wisconsin-born author published his first story in 1965 and his debut novel, Grimm’s World, in 1969. The Zones of Thought series was his finest work: its first two novels, A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness In the Sky both won Hugos.

Vinge’s work was among the first to explore what is now known as cyberspace, and he also wrote about the technological singularity concept — that the evolution of high-tech would become unstoppable and irreversible. Vinge died on March 20 aged 79. — Agencies.