(1948-    ) US writer, with a degree in anthropology from San Diego State University; she has been married twice, to VernorVINGE 1972-1979 and to JimFRENKEL from 1980. She began publishing sf withTin Soldier (inOrbit 14, anth1974, ed DamonKNIGHT;1990 chap dos), whose theme (like much of her later work) is taken from fairy tale orMYTHOLOGY and rewritten in sf terms, the source in this case being a story by Hans Christian Andersen (1805-1875). Before she began to publish novels, Vinge had considerable success with her short fiction, some of which deals withCOMMUNICATION between humans andALIENS, including the title story ofThe Crystal Ship: Three Original Novellas of Science Fiction (anth1976) edited by RobertSILVERBERG. Early work was collected inFireship (coll1978; vtFireship; and Mother and Child UK) andEyes of Amber and Other Stories (coll1979); the title story of the latter, "Eyes of Amber" (June 1977ANALOG), another good communications tale, won a Hugo for Best Novelette. A further collection of six stories wasPhoenix in the Ashes (coll1985).

Vinge's first novel,The Outcasts of Heaven Belt (February-April 1978ANALOG;1978), pits an egalitarian society with strong women against male-dominated, collapsing societies in anASTEROID belt; its title homages BretHARTE, whose isolated California towns often feature sympathetic portraits of strong women. The novel belongs to theHeaven Belt series of stories, and was later assembled with a novella from the series, "Legacy" (inBinary Star No 4, anth1980, ed JamesFRENKEL), asHeaven Chronicles (omni1991). More impetuous is theCat series, begun withPsion (1982) and continued withCatspaw (1988), the two collected asAlien Blood (omni1988).Psion, which unlike its successor was published as aYOUNG ADULT tale, is actually a development, years later, of the first long fiction Vinge wrote as a teenager. Cat, an orphan (half human, half Hydran, a race despised by humans) with catlike eyes andPSI POWERS, has full-blooded, melodramatic,SPACE-OPERA adventures. None of these books remotely approach the scope and power of her second novel, which remains her finest work to date.

The Snow Queen (1980; rev1989) won a 1981HUGO. Though the title and some of the plot again come from Hans Christian Andersen, this is an essay inANTHROPOLOGY, much of it founded in the pseudoscientific mythopoetic explorations of RobertGRAVES as expounded inThe White Goddess: A Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth (1948), which Brian MSTABLEFORD argued in a review "is rather like a chemistry graduate writing a story whose plot hinges on the phlogiston theory". The broad romantic sweep of the tale, however, carried most doubters with it (just as Graves's work has remained a central source for romantic alternative takes on the submerged origins of our secular world). A primitive planet with a long year is supported by off-worldTECHNOLOGY (brought in by transmission viaBLACK HOLE) in its long winter, at the end of which the Winter Queen will be supplanted by the Summer Queen, and the offworlders will leave. The Winter Queen plots to renew her reign (via cloning) in summer. The fact that this novel's power as aPLANETARY ROMANCE rested more in generic dexterity (much of it taken fromHEROIC FANTASY) than in conceptual strength may help explain why, after such a strong beginning, Vinge has not, despite expectations to the contrary, been reckoned one of the major sf writers of the 1980s. The other books in theSnow Queen series areWorld's End (1984);The Summer Queen (1991), an extremely extended direct sequel toThe Snow Queen in the form of a family romance; andTangled Up in Blue (2000), set at the time of the original novel and featuring a crime investigation told in noir terms.

Much of the rest of Vinge's output from the mid-1980s comprises filmTIES, starting with the juvenileStar Wars: Return of the Jedi Storybook * (1983 chap) and including:Tarzan, King of the Apes * (1983);The Dune Storybook * (1984 chap), juvenile;Return to Oz: A Novel * (1985);Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome * (1985);Ladyhawke * (1985);Santa Claus, the Movie: A Novel * (1985);Santa Claus: The Movie Storybook * (1985 chap), juvenile;Willow * (1988);Lost in Space * (1998); andCowboys & Aliens * (2011), novelizing a Western set in the nineteenth century, in a town invaded byALIENS.

In an interview Vinge has said that the first sf she grew to love was by AndreNORTON; it may be as a colourful exponent of the tradition of thePLANETARY ROMANCE, to which Norton belonged (and which she did much to establish in its mature, template form) – in which mythic themes are patterned into a world that is only superficially science-fictional – that Vinge will be best remembered. [PN/JC]

see also:ASTOUNDING SCIENCE-FICTION;UPLOAD.

Joan Carol Dennison Vinge Frenkel

born Baltimore, Maryland: 2 April 1948

died

works

series

Heaven Belt

• The Outcasts of Heaven Belt (New York: Signet Books,1978) [first appeared February-April 1978ANALOG:Heaven Belt: pb/VincentDi FATE]
  • Heaven Chronicles (New York: Warner Books/Questar,1991) [exp of the above as coll, with "Legacy", which first appeared inBinary Star No 4 (anth1980) edited by JamesFRENKEL: pb/Donald Clavette]

Snow Queen

• The Snow Queen (New York: The Dial Press,1980) [Snow Queen: hb/Leo and DianeDILLON]
  • The Snow Queen (New York: Warner Books/Questar,1989) [rev of the above: pb/MichaelWHELAN]
• World's End (New York: Bluejay Books,1984) [Snow Queen: hb/Leo and DianeDILLON]
• The Summer Queen (New York: Warner Books,1991) [Snow Queen: hb/Leo and DianeDILLON]
• Tangled Up in Blue (New York: Tor,2000) [Snow Queen: hb/MichaelWHELAN]

Cat

• Psion (New York: Delacorte Press,1982) [Cat: hb/Leo and DianeDILLON]
• Catspaw (New York: Warner Books,1988) [Cat: hb/MichaelWHELAN]
  • Alien Blood (New York: Nelson Doubleday,1988) [omni of the above two:Cat: hb/Dean {MORRISSEY}]

individual titles

• Star Wars: Return of the Jedi Storybook (New York: Scholastic,1983) [chap: tie to the filmSTAR WARS: EPISODE VI – RETURN OF THE JEDI: for younger readers: pb/uncredited]
• Tarzan, King of the Apes (New York: Random House,1983) [tie to the filmTarzan, King of the Apes (1983):TARZAN: pb/uncredited]
• The Dune Storybook (New York: G P Putnam's Sons,1984 chap) [tie to the filmDUNE: FrankHERBERT: for younger readers: hb/uncredited]
• Return to Oz: A Novel (New York: Ballantine Books/Del Rey,1985) [tie to the filmReturn to Oz (1985): pb/uncredited]
• Mad Max III: Beyond Thunderdome (New York: Warner Books,1985) [tie to the filmMAD MAX BEYOND THUNDERDOME: pb/Richard Amsel]
• Ladyhawke (London: Piccolo,1985) [tie to the filmLadyhawke (1985): pb/Susan Hunter]
• Santa Claus, the Movie: A Novel (New York: Berkley Books,1985) [tie to the filmSanta Claus: the Movie (1985): pb/uncredited]
• Santa Claus: The Movie Storybook (New York: Grosset and Dunlap,1985) [tie to the filmSanta Claus: the Movie (1985): for younger readers: pb/uncredited]
• Willow (New York: Random House,1988) [tie to the filmWillow (1988): pb/uncredited]
• Lost in Space (New York: HarperPrism,1998) [tie to the movie {LOST IN SPACE}:ROBINSONADE: pb/uncredited]
• Cowboys & Aliens (New York: Tor,2011) [tie to the film {COWBOYS & ALIENS}: pb/]

collections

• Fireship (New York: Dell Books,1978) [coll: pb/StephenHICKMAN]
  • Fireship/Mother and Child (London: Sidgwick and Jackson,1981) [coll: vt of the above: hb/uncredited]
  • Joan D. Vinge Omnibus (London: Sidgwick and Jackson,1983) [omni containingFireship/Mother and Child andThe Outcasts of Heaven Belt: hb/]
• Eyes of Amber and Other Stories (New York: Signet Books/New American Library,1979) [coll: pb/uncredited]
• Phoenix in the Ashes (New York: Bluejay Books,1985) [coll: hb/Susan Collins]

about the author

• MarleenBARR, Richard Law and Ruth Salvaggio.Suzy McKee Charnas; Octavia Butler; Joan D. Vinge (Mercer Island, Washington: Starmont Press,1987) [chap: pb/]

links

• Joan D Vinge