Vernor Steffen Vinge (/ˈvɜːrnər ˈvɪndʒiː/ ⓘ; October 2, 1944 – March 20, 2024) was an American science fiction author and professor.

[4] The story explores the theme of artificially augmented intelligence by connecting the brain directly to computerized data sources.

His next two novels, The Peace War (1984) and Marooned in Realtime (1986), explore the spread of a future libertarian society, and deal with the impact of a technology which can create impenetrable force fields 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, but lost to novels by William Gibson and Orson Scott Card.

[9] A Deepness in the Sky (1999) was a prequel 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.