There is something reminiscent of Asimov in the twists to many of these stories and something reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarke in the way Vinge pushes at how technology might drive a very radical change in what is human.
"Bookworm, Run!" - This 1966 story is the first one Vinge wrote that he ever was able to sell--he was still in high school at the time. I really liked his chimpanzee protagonist. Four Stars
"True Names" - I own The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge and there's a lot of overlap. In fact, four of the five stories in this collection can be found there. The exception is "True Names," a novella that runs for nearly a hundred pages. It says a lot about that story, that I'm not willing to discard this book and lose that story. It's a story that imaginatively blends fantasy and science-fiction tropes. In a virtual reality "warlocks" manipulate cyberspace through a fantasy realm interface. Five Stars
"The Peddler's Apprentice" -- Written with his (then) wife Joan Vinge, this is an imaginative time-traveler story with a take I haven't seen elsewhere. Three Stars
"The Ungoverned" - This is a cult classic among libertarians and had even been pointed to me as an argument for anarcho-capitalism. Color me skeptical it would change any minds, but it certainly is memorable and thought-provoking. Five Stars
"Long Shot" - About the odyssey of a space probe, this has a fantastic premise and is among Vinge's best stories--one of the most likely to be found in anthologies or mentioned in lists of best science fiction shorts. Five Stars
