Tatja Grimm's World
By Vernor Vinge

I'm quite a fan of Vernor Vinge's work but I've only written once about a novel he wrote: Across Realtime (actually an omnibus of two books). His most famous novels are A Fire Upon the Deep and A Deepness in the Sky, both of which I have read twice and loved. He is certainly not a flashy or literary writer, but very capable and full of ideas. He is also not one for the overly gory, explicit or cringe worthy. But he can give you an exciting and gripping story, with surprises. I'm sorry he died last year, so no more new work to enjoy but I still have The Witling to read and a lot of short stories.

Tatja Grimm's World is an early work from Vinge, expanded from a short story published in 1968, then a novel in 1968 and fully formed in 1987. It appears to be almost a fantasy story, with the setting on a world with low technology and little scientific knowledge. Progress is being made however and Vinge does a homage to the "golden" age of SF and the pulps of the 30's and 40's. This world has a big audience for "science-fiction" and "fantasy" type pulp magazines, and some of the publishing houses produce and, literally, ship the magazines to a far flung audience. It's fun reading about the highs and the lows of being a discerning editor on a pulp.

Tatja Grimm herself is a six foot misfit on this world: tall and striking, with a high intelligence and drive for knowledge. Very clever but, it turns out, also quite manipulative and calculating. A good actor as well and her initial saving of the day in a hostage rescue is brilliantly conceived and a lot of fun. There is much more to her than meets the eye then and she has big ambitions that progress as the story unfolds.

I think Tatja Grimm's World is a short, interesting and enjoyable novel from an author just getting going. Vinge is a big believer in the scientific method and its power to push human progress and he continues this theme in his later and better books. This story is an adventure that starts as a rough fantasy but slowly turns into more of a science-fiction tale. It kept my interest throughout and there's a decent ending. A harbinger of good novels to come from the author I think.

And finally, I thought I'd bring up a small bugbear of mine: book covers. To some people (and I'd include my younger and immature self), they can make or break a book.

I have the paperback edition with the cover I show above. It's not very good. In fact, it has no relevance I can discern to the story itself. This used to be very common with science-fiction books: a cover that bears absolutely no relationship to the story inside. So, as some sort of compensation, I thought I'd show a different paperback cover for Vinge's novel.

On the right is the cover from Baen Books' 1987 edition, and I think the artist is Tom Kidd (who is new to me). This representation of Tatja Grimm is not too far from her "Barbarian Princess" character in the book. If this intrigues you, then read the book!