Order of Book Series
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Vernor Vinge Books in Order

Vernor Vinge has written 18 books, published between 1969 and 2011. The first book is Tatja Grimm's World (1969) and the newest is After the Battle on Starship Hill (2011). Publication order is the reading order below.

Books
18
Published
1969–2011
Pages on record
4,757 in 12 of 18 books
Reading time
79–119 hours

Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 4,757 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 12 of 18 titles with a page count on record.

See all 18 books in order Printable Vernor Vinge checklist
Photo of Vernor Vinge, author

Vernor Vinge, who lived from 1944 to 2024, was an American science fiction author and a professor of mathematics and computer science at San Diego State University. Vinge popularised the technological singularity more widely than anyone before him and was among the first writers to put a fictional cyberspace on the page. Hugo Awards followed for the novels A Fire Upon the Deep (1992), A Deepness in the Sky (1999) and Rainbows End (2006), and for two novellas. Eighteen titles are catalogued, starting with Tatja Grimm's World (1969).

How many Vernor Vinge books are there?

Vernor Vinge has 18 books, released between 1969 and 2011. They include 3 series and 9 titles listed outside any series.

Vernor Vinge Books in Publication Order

The table lists all 18 Vernor Vinge books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.

  1. Cover of Tatja Grimm's World by Vernor Vinge, book 1 of the Tatja Grimm series (1969)
  2. Cover of Grimm's World by Vernor Vinge, book 2 of the Tatja Grimm series (1969)
  3. Cover of The Witling by Vernor Vinge (1976)
  4. Cover of The Peace War by Vernor Vinge, book 1 of the Across Realtime series (1984)
  5. Cover of Marooned in Realtime by Vernor Vinge, book 2 of the Across Realtime series (1986)
  6. Cover of True Names... and Other Dangers by Vernor Vinge (1987)
  7. Cover of Threats... and Other Promises by Vernor Vinge (1988)
  8. Cover of A Fire Upon The Deep by Vernor Vinge, book 1 of the Zones of Thought series (1992)
  9. Cover of A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge, book 2 of the Zones of Thought series (1999)
  10. Cover of Fast Times at Fairmont High by Vernor Vinge (2001)
  11. Cover of Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge (2006)
  12. Cover of The Children of the Sky by Vernor Vinge, book 3 of the Zones of Thought series (2011)
  1. 1
    Tatja Grimm's WorldTatja Grimm #11969 · 283 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1969283
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  2. 2
    Grimm's WorldTatja Grimm #21969 · 176 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1969176
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  3. 3
    The Witling1976 · 224 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1976224
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  4. 4
    The Peace WarAcross Realtime #11984 · 304 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1984304
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  5. 5
    The Barbarian Princess1986 · confirmed 1/4
    1986–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  6. 6
    Marooned in RealtimeAcross Realtime #21986 · 288 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986288
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  7. 7
    Across RealtimeAcross Realtime #31986 · 545 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1986545
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  8. 8
    True Names... and Other Dangers1987 · 275 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1987275
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  9. 9
    Threats... and Other Promises1988 · 336 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1988336
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  10. 10
    A Fire Upon The DeepZones of Thought #11992 · 430 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1992430
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  11. 11
    A Deepness in the SkyZones of Thought #21999 · 792 pages · confirmed 1/4
    1999792
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  12. 12
    True Names2001 · confirmed 1/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  13. 13
    Fast Times at Fairmont High2001 · confirmed 1/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  14. 14
    The Collected Stories of Vernor Vinge2001 · confirmed 1/4
    2001–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  15. 16
    Rainbows End2006 · 400 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2006400
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  16. 17
    The Children of the SkyZones of Thought #32011 · 704 pages · confirmed 1/4
    2011704
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK
  17. 18
    After the Battle on Starship HillZones of Thought #42011 · confirmed 1/4
    2011–
    Buy at Amazon USAmazon UK

Vernor Vinge books grouped by series

Each title below is a row in the publication-order table above. None of these groups has a reading-order page of its own on this site.

Zones of Thought in order

4 books
  1. 1. A Fire Upon The Deep
  2. 2. A Deepness in the Sky
  3. 3. The Children of the Sky
  4. 4. After the Battle on Starship Hill

Across Realtime in order

3 books
  1. 1. The Peace War
  2. 2. Marooned in Realtime
  3. 3. Across Realtime

Tatja Grimm in order

2 books
  1. 1. Tatja Grimm's World
  2. 2. Grimm's World

Standalone books

9 books

9 Vernor Vinge titles here are not listed as part of any series.

Do you have to read Vernor Vinge books in order?

You only need to read Vernor Vinge books in order within each series: the books listed here span 3 separate series, and each series has its own publication order.

Where to start with Vernor Vinge

Start with Tatja Grimm's World (1969), the earliest published title.

What is the newest Vernor Vinge book?

After the Battle on Starship Hill (2011) is the newest Vernor Vinge book released so far.

Is there a new Vernor Vinge book coming?

No next Vernor Vinge book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.

Awards Vernor Vinge has won

Wikidata records 14 awards and 22 nominations for Vernor Vinge. The most recent 12 are listed here. Each row states whether the title won or was shortlisted, and the year the award was given.

Vernor Vinge at a glance

Died
Vernor Vinge died in 2024, according to Wikidata.
Last book
The newest book credited to Vernor Vinge on record dates from 2011.
Release pace
Vernor Vinge books have appeared about one every 3 years on average.
Length
4,757 pages across the 12 of 18 books with a recorded length, a median of 320 pages each.
Busiest decade
Most Vernor Vinge books, 6 of 18, were published in the 1980s.

What the Vernor Vinge books are about

11 of the 18 Vernor Vinge books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: science fiction is tagged on 10 of 11. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.