I bought the updated book, with the commentary from many major authors, but I believe even the author could not have predicted the enormous effect that this book would have on many of us. Many of the most outrageous seeming elements in this book have come home to roost in today's computer age. ( )

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 ( )

The title story made this a rather enjoyable collection of short stories. It took the territory that normally sits squarely in the fantasy genre and made it work in a pure science fiction setting. Like all computer-related stories, it will probably seem rather dated fairly quickly but, read with that in mind, is enjoyable. ( )

A collection containing the novella-length title story and four shorter works. Specifically:

"Bookworm, Run!": An intellectually augmented chimpanzee accidentally gains direct brain-to-computer access to a database full of military secrets, then makes a break for freedom. In his author's note on this one, Vinge mentions that he wrote it when he was a teenager. Unfortunately, it shows. The nerdy chimp has the potential to be an appealing, even rather droll character if he were developed more, but that's about all I can say for it.

"True Names": Proto-cyberpunk story about computer hackers who operate in a virtual reality fantasy setting in which they literally become computer wizards. Features a couple of vaguely cute ideas, but while it might have seemed fresh and original in 1980, when it was written, it feels pretty passé now.

"The Peddler's Apprentice": In what appears to be a distant, post-technological future, a strange peddler appears with some indistinguishable-from-magic tricks. The author's note on this one says that Vinge originally stalled out on it, unable to think of an ending, and his then-wife and co-author Joan D. Vinge finished it for him. Unfortunately, that kind of shows, too. The setup is decent, and the idea behind the peddler is an interesting one, but I found the climax unsatisfying.

"The Ungoverned": In a future in which the United States has become fragmented, the Republic of New Mexico attempts to invade the "ungoverned land" of Kansas, a place in which not just law enforcement but laws themselves are privately contracted. It sounds like yet another example of the kind of libertarian wish-fulfillment story that's surprisingly common in SF, and I guess it more or less is, but it's a non-obnoxious one, with a bit of clever world-building and a reasonable plot. Not an amazing story or anything, but it's probably the best in the collection. (It's also set in the same universe as a couple of Vinge's novels, which I read a zillion years ago and don't remember much about.)

"Long Shot": Short piece about an interstellar space probe sent to escape Earth's destruction by solar flares, told from the point of view of the probe's computer. Rather dry, but believably written. ( )