The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge

It's convenient to have most (unfortunately not all) of Vernor Vinge's short fiction together in one place, though I'd prefer to have it arranged in chronological order.

He started off as a writer of short stories, and he says himself that he had difficulty with novels, but I think it's fair to say by now that his novels are more impressive than his short stories. However, his novella “True names” (not included here!) was indeed impressive in 1981, and remains good.

The stories in this volume vary in quality but are all readable. My personal favourite is “The peddler's apprentice”, although it was co-written with his wife and isn't typical of his work; I also like “The Blabber”, in which the Tines and the Zones of Thought made their first appearance in fiction (although it turns out to be set much later in time than their other appearances!).

“The ungoverned”, “Original sin”, and “Fast times at Fairmont High” are interesting, and the latter won a Hugo award.

The rest of them are relatively minor stories, amiable enough, sometimes dated in content and style. I've read and reread them because they all come together, but I might not bother to buy them if they were sold individually.