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The Witling
This second novel by multiple award-winner Vernor Vinge, from 1976, is a fast-paced adventure where galactic policies collide and different cultures clash as two scientists and their faith in technology are pitted against an elusive race of telekinetic beings.Marooned on a distant world and slowly dying of food poisoning, two anthropologists are caught between warring alien factions engaged in a battle that will affect the future of the world's inhabitants and their deadly telekinetic powers. If the anthropologists can't help resolve the conflict between the feuding alien factions, no one will survive.This edition features sixteen full-page illustrations by Doug Beekman.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1976
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405 people want to read
About the author
Vernor Vinge
121 books2,615 followersVernor Steffen Vinge is a retired San Diego State University Professor of Mathematics, computer scientist, and science fiction author. He is best known for his Hugo Award-winning novels
A Fire Upon The Deep
(1992),
A Deepness in the Sky
(1999) and
Rainbows End
(2006), his Hugo Award-winning novellas
Fast Times at Fairmont High
(2002) and The Cookie Monster (2004), as well as for his 1993 essay "The Coming Technological Singularity", in which he argues that exponential growth in technology will reach a point beyond which we cannot even speculate about the consequences.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/vernor...
http://us.macmillan.com/author/vernor...
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
August 23, 2010
So, it turns out that Vernor Vinge once wrote pulp sci-fi! I saw this book with his name on it in a used bookstore and picked it up for $1. I can only imagine that this was how he was learning his craft. The central idea is mildly interesting: a planet where the population (and indigenous creatures) are able to teleport (with varying strength) and only those without this skill ("witlings") resort to things like "science" and "technology." The expected confusion ensues when more advanced but non-telepathic humans (from our own future, possibly) encounter this planet. Since the book is titled "The Witling" (singular), I assume it refers to the indigenous prince who unfortunately cannot teleport, but since he's only a peripheral character around the two advanced humans (also witlings, plural), this is confusing. The characters are flimsy and predictable. Okay for pulp, but nowhere near what Vinge later achieved in terms of well-grounded technology dazzle and awesome characterization (A Fire Upon the Deep, A Deepness in the Sky).
May 22, 2013
I started out giving this book 3 stars, as a perfectly serviceable sci-fi adventure; although certainly not up to the standards of Vernor Vinge’s later work (I absolutely love Fire Upon the Deep).
It’s a First Contact story, and the premise is a little familiar, but not bad: anthropologists from Earth arrive at a seemingly non-advanced alien planet and gradually figure out that the native people have highly-developed mental abilities (teleportation). Those who lack these abilities are generally seen as useless slaves – Witlings – but in a twist, the crown prince is also a Witling. Naturally, he’s delighted to hear about a society where no one has the powers he lacks.
So – all that is fine. However, the ending of the book bothered me, and kept bothering me until I deducted a star. Does the author really have these opinions? I would like to think better of Vinge than that.
Oh, and the illustrations are juvenile and rather dreadfully inaccurate.
It’s a First Contact story, and the premise is a little familiar, but not bad: anthropologists from Earth arrive at a seemingly non-advanced alien planet and gradually figure out that the native people have highly-developed mental abilities (teleportation). Those who lack these abilities are generally seen as useless slaves – Witlings – but in a twist, the crown prince is also a Witling. Naturally, he’s delighted to hear about a society where no one has the powers he lacks.
So – all that is fine. However, the ending of the book bothered me, and kept bothering me until I deducted a star. Does the author really have these opinions? I would like to think better of Vinge than that.
Oh, and the illustrations are juvenile and rather dreadfully inaccurate.
August 7, 2025
While it most definitely doesn't compare to Vinge's later masterpieces "A Fire Upon the Deep" and "A Deepness in the Sky", which I absolutely loved, it's still perfectly serviceable as a thought provoking sci-fi adventure.
In the story, we are thousands of years in the future when highly developed space-faring humans discover a native planet, thinking the inhabitants primitive, but later learning they have the innate ability to teleport. Such teleportation is handled as a scientifically sound concept - the mechanics, forces, displacement of air, etc. is explained so well that it feels super real. While the characters lack the emotional depth of Vinge's later creations, each one has a little arc and maybe I'm not as big of a feminist as I thought but I didn't mind the little side love story either.
All in all, the story has interesting characters, a captivating "race the clock and go against all odds" action adventure, and some cool science concepts. If I hadn't read his later works and known what greatness he can achieve, this would've been a 4/5.
In the story, we are thousands of years in the future when highly developed space-faring humans discover a native planet, thinking the inhabitants primitive, but later learning they have the innate ability to teleport. Such teleportation is handled as a scientifically sound concept - the mechanics, forces, displacement of air, etc. is explained so well that it feels super real. While the characters lack the emotional depth of Vinge's later creations, each one has a little arc and maybe I'm not as big of a feminist as I thought but I didn't mind the little side love story either.
All in all, the story has interesting characters, a captivating "race the clock and go against all odds" action adventure, and some cool science concepts. If I hadn't read his later works and known what greatness he can achieve, this would've been a 4/5.
April 30, 2021
Early work. Holds up fairly well to rereading.
March 1, 2023
8/10.
This was a delightful little book that, while fairly brief, fits more charm and worldbuilding into itself than many books could triple its size. It has what I felt to be a very original magic system coupled with an interesting world (Giri), unique cultures, and mostly quality characters. It's not often that I've seen a book which is essentially a fantasy world portrayed from the perspective of a first contact story. This means that the teleportation magic people on Giri use can eventually be understood by the scientists that act as the main characters in this instance. They are trying to grapple with the world at the same time as the reader. It's a solid concept that was well executed even if the fantasy elements do suffer a bit at the expense of the sci-fi explaining them away.
This was a delightful little book that, while fairly brief, fits more charm and worldbuilding into itself than many books could triple its size. It has what I felt to be a very original magic system coupled with an interesting world (Giri), unique cultures, and mostly quality characters. It's not often that I've seen a book which is essentially a fantasy world portrayed from the perspective of a first contact story. This means that the teleportation magic people on Giri use can eventually be understood by the scientists that act as the main characters in this instance. They are trying to grapple with the world at the same time as the reader. It's a solid concept that was well executed even if the fantasy elements do suffer a bit at the expense of the sci-fi explaining them away.
February 12, 2013
There wasn't really a lot TO this book--it was entertaining enough, but it really suffers in comparison with his later books like A Deepness in the Sky and a Fire Upon the Deep, which I think are some of the most interesting alien books I've read.
I think someone mentioned this one on a mailing list I belong to, and it sounded kind of interesting: basically there's this planet where everyone has psychic powers, so they can teleport themselves and kill people at a distance and so on. People without the powers are called "witlings", hence the title. And the thing is that the crown prince guy is a witling! oh no!
But then these other people show up who are explorers from other worlds, or something like the Federation, I think, and of course they're witlings too, but they're not all embarrassed about it, and the crown prince is enthralled by the idea of a world where everyone is like him.
Oh, and then there's the 'charming' subplot where one of the explorers is this very surly woman, who is UGLY. but guess what, EVERYONE IS UGLY ON THE PSYCHIC PLANET. So the crown prince thinks she is BEAUTIFUL!! So they live happily ever after. The end.
(Of course, the many illustrations in the book don't show her as short and squarish, like she's supposed to be, even though the crown prince looks rather lumpish and featureless like HE is supposed to. Oh well.)
ONE MORE THING:
I just had to also mention that this book uses one of the absolutely lamest Lazy Plot Devices ever, (a favorite of Dan Brown) where you've been going along in a 3rd-person-omniscient-type narrative style, and then all of a sudden WE GO DEAF as the protagonist explains her brilliant plan to foil the bad guys, or discovers something that would ruin the plot if we knew about it.
E.g. "And then she said something SO SHOCKING that the archaeologists assembled there could HARDLY BELIEVE IT. Then she outlined the plan for the next three days of work, and they all nodded, greatly impressed. 'Let's get to it, boys!' she said, and picked up her sextant."
I think someone mentioned this one on a mailing list I belong to, and it sounded kind of interesting: basically there's this planet where everyone has psychic powers, so they can teleport themselves and kill people at a distance and so on. People without the powers are called "witlings", hence the title. And the thing is that the crown prince guy is a witling! oh no!
But then these other people show up who are explorers from other worlds, or something like the Federation, I think, and of course they're witlings too, but they're not all embarrassed about it, and the crown prince is enthralled by the idea of a world where everyone is like him.
Oh, and then there's the 'charming' subplot where one of the explorers is this very surly woman, who is UGLY. but guess what, EVERYONE IS UGLY ON THE PSYCHIC PLANET. So the crown prince thinks she is BEAUTIFUL!! So they live happily ever after. The end.
(Of course, the many illustrations in the book don't show her as short and squarish, like she's supposed to be, even though the crown prince looks rather lumpish and featureless like HE is supposed to. Oh well.)
ONE MORE THING:
I just had to also mention that this book uses one of the absolutely lamest Lazy Plot Devices ever, (a favorite of Dan Brown) where you've been going along in a 3rd-person-omniscient-type narrative style, and then all of a sudden WE GO DEAF as the protagonist explains her brilliant plan to foil the bad guys, or discovers something that would ruin the plot if we knew about it.
E.g. "And then she said something SO SHOCKING that the archaeologists assembled there could HARDLY BELIEVE IT. Then she outlined the plan for the next three days of work, and they all nodded, greatly impressed. 'Let's get to it, boys!' she said, and picked up her sextant."
March 29, 2025
Clearly Vernor was having some kind of nerdy, pedantic discussion about how it could possibly work if somehow teleportation was possible, and then built a book around that. Which, in my opinion, is precisely what books are for. It would have benefited from a bit more character development as Yoninne kind of has an arc but we don't really get a sense of her enough for it to hit home, but it was nice to have the book be short and sweet.
July 22, 2025
This book has a nice clear story with an unusual heroine, and a well-conceived and original scenario unlike any other I can think of. It makes use of teleportation and telekinesis; but the teleportation is not quite the same as Alfred Bester’s jaunting, and the difference has interesting effects on the resulting society.
It’s the story of two relatively normal humans marooned on an abnormal planet, so I’m reminded vaguely of Mission of Gravity and The Left Hand of Darkness.
As with Mission of Gravity, the situation is of more interest than the characters, but Vinge’s characterization is at least more interesting than Hal Clement’s.
It seems that some readers are disappointed because they read Vinge’s later books first, and came to this one expecting something similar. I think that’s an inappropriate comparison: this is a book from 1976, inspired by the sf of the 1950s and 1960s, which Vinge would have grown up reading. If you compare it with the sort of books that were around at that time, it’s a well-made and original novel and I value it. On reading it in 2025, I found it increasingly difficult to put down, even though I vaguely remembered the ending from reading it previously. I feel that the book deserves more than three stars, although I don’t reread it often enough to give it four.
The one thing I don’t like about it is the ending. The last chapter winds everything up in rather a hurry, and some of the details seem implausible. Furthermore, he claims it as a happy ending, but there’s an element of tragedy that I wish he could have avoided somehow. I’m a softie: I like an unambiguously happy ending.
It’s the story of two relatively normal humans marooned on an abnormal planet, so I’m reminded vaguely of Mission of Gravity and The Left Hand of Darkness.
As with Mission of Gravity, the situation is of more interest than the characters, but Vinge’s characterization is at least more interesting than Hal Clement’s.
It seems that some readers are disappointed because they read Vinge’s later books first, and came to this one expecting something similar. I think that’s an inappropriate comparison: this is a book from 1976, inspired by the sf of the 1950s and 1960s, which Vinge would have grown up reading. If you compare it with the sort of books that were around at that time, it’s a well-made and original novel and I value it. On reading it in 2025, I found it increasingly difficult to put down, even though I vaguely remembered the ending from reading it previously. I feel that the book deserves more than three stars, although I don’t reread it often enough to give it four.
The one thing I don’t like about it is the ending. The last chapter winds everything up in rather a hurry, and some of the details seem implausible. Furthermore, he claims it as a happy ending, but there’s an element of tragedy that I wish he could have avoided somehow. I’m a softie: I like an unambiguously happy ending.
February 4, 2022
Not a bad story, not up to Vinge’s later work.
I didn’t feel the story was really about “science” vs psionic ability. The story is about two explorers who are trying get home before they die of heavy metal poisoning from the native food. The natives appeared primitive because they use their psionic abilities instead of technology. There is a lot of information about the physics of teleportation. And all the animals on the planet have these abilities. The natives can’t go out to sea because the whales will kill them.
Spoiler!
The arc for the female character is pretty bad. She starts out bitter because she is single and unattractive and ends up brain damaged but happy because she has a boyfriend.
I didn’t feel the story was really about “science” vs psionic ability. The story is about two explorers who are trying get home before they die of heavy metal poisoning from the native food. The natives appeared primitive because they use their psionic abilities instead of technology. There is a lot of information about the physics of teleportation. And all the animals on the planet have these abilities. The natives can’t go out to sea because the whales will kill them.
Spoiler!
The arc for the female character is pretty bad. She starts out bitter because she is single and unattractive and ends up brain damaged but happy because she has a boyfriend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 22, 2024
It’s easy to tell that this is one of Vinge's earlier books. The characters and their interactions are a bit raw, but the world-building is excellent, and because of this, I would still consider it one of my favorite books.
The story follows a somewhat classic science fiction theme: a highly technologically advanced crew becomes stranded on a planet inhabited by a primitive species. But there’s a twist—despite being technologically primitive, the locals can teleport over long distances. One of the consequences of this ability is the unique arrangement of kingdoms. They don’t need to be territorial sections in close proximity; instead, it could be a chain of castles separated by 100 kilometers, each containing a special teleportation chamber.
The story follows a somewhat classic science fiction theme: a highly technologically advanced crew becomes stranded on a planet inhabited by a primitive species. But there’s a twist—despite being technologically primitive, the locals can teleport over long distances. One of the consequences of this ability is the unique arrangement of kingdoms. They don’t need to be territorial sections in close proximity; instead, it could be a chain of castles separated by 100 kilometers, each containing a special teleportation chamber.
November 15, 2017
A short first contact novel from the 70's, when PSI powers were "in". Here's a colony planet with people who have no need of high technology because they can teleport, kill with their thought etc. Except for a few unfortunates, who are called witlings. Then they get two visitors from neighbour colony planet who are regarded, naturally, as witlings. Very entertaining story, albeit a little weird (they have no doors between rooms because they teleport all the time??) and very male (the population seemed to consist solely of men because the only woman in the story was one of the visitors).
October 12, 2018
Книгата започва страхотно и първата половина се чете на един дъх. За съжаление от средата нататък проличава неопитността на автора (това е един от първите му романи). От момента, в който героите потеглят на своето пътешествие, нещата стават по-шаблонни и скучни. Виндж се опитва (и до известна степен успява) да поддържа интерес с множество обрати, но те са твърде нагъсто и изглеждат малко изсмукани от пръстите. Като цяло книгата е приятна, с интересни идеи и добро темпо, но й липсва достатъчно дълбочина.
November 4, 2019
This wasn't bad, wasn't great. Interesting concept, exotic local, just about the right length. I'm sure some of the physics stuff would get some readers excited and get their minds cranking along to prove or disprove the science, but I just took it for granted that Vinge knew what he was talking about.
Most of all I'm just glad I finally read it, this book (a 1976, 1st printing paperback) has been sitting on my shelf for probably more than 15 years.
Most of all I'm just glad I finally read it, this book (a 1976, 1st printing paperback) has been sitting on my shelf for probably more than 15 years.
December 17, 2019
This novel is a stark departure from Vernor Vinge's usual technocratic style. The Witling tells of two marooned travelers from a technologically advanced world struggling to survive and make sense of a world full of scientifically constrained magic. The Witling is a light read, more a novella than a full novel. The ending gets rushed, and so feels rather anti-climatic, but overall I enjoyed this book
Violence: PG
Language: PG
Sexuality: PG
Violence: PG
Language: PG
Sexuality: PG
September 24, 2017
Early Vinge novel before he really know how to put a story together. Has some early spark but not up with the later brilliance
December 21, 2018
A nice little story. Love how Vernor creates worlds and its creatures.
January 14, 2019
An unusual mix of high-concept science and fairly juvenile space adventure. I enjoyed it.
December 15, 2020
A clever little pulp sci-fi novella.
February 26, 2021
Fun, pulpy sci-fi yarn. Good ideas. Wish it were better.
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October 26, 2025Why you might like it: Foundational ideas and elegant puzzles. Rubric match: not yet scored. Uses your engineering/rigor/first-contact/world-building rubric. Tags: ideas, classic
December 31, 2019
Simplistic writing and short, but the schtick is interesting enough.
November 18, 2016
As far as I can tell, “The Witling” is Vernor Vinge’s second novel, and to some extent, it shows. I enjoyed reading it, but it doesn’t have the depths of Vinge’s later works like “A Fire Upon the Deep” or less-known but also good “The Peace War”. The book is only about 175 pages long; I’m not the fastest reader and I finished in two pretty short sessions, also unlike Vinge’s other novels.
The story opens with two humans who have become marooned on an alien world with human-like inhabitants. Only after being captured do the humans realize that the natives have what we would call supernatural abilities: transporting themselves or objects by will of the mind. The magnitude of this ability varies from person to person; those with the least ability are called witlings. The two humans, with no ability, fall into this category. The prince of the realm also happens to be a witling, which is a great source of shame for him. He is intrigued by the humans, especially the woman. The humans must get off the surface, as all the alien foods naturally contain heavy metals, and continued exposure will be fatal.
Although he provides no supporting science for the abilities of the aliens, Vinge does what I like best in sci-fi–he takes a simple premise and runs far with it. With these abilities, how would you imprison someone? How would you travel the world? Would you even need doors? How would you conduct warfare? These issues come up again and again through the book, and each time they are a delight.
Another interesting point touched upon is body image. The book starts with the human male describing the woman, Yoninne, as ugly and unpleasant, too stocky and temperamental. The aliens, who it’s hinted have a slightly stronger gravity, are stockier, and to them, Yoninne is close enough in build, but different enough to be exotic and tantalizing. I haven’t read much sci-fi of this era that deals with such issues of perception; unfortunately, this thread is not continued throughout the book.
The primary reason I rate “The Witling” as a 3/5 and not higher is because I found the ending unsatisfying. I won’t go into specifics in this review. The action was quite good and fun, but it conceptually bothered me.
With that caveat, I would recommend this book, especially to those who have read a lot of other works by Vernor Vinge. It’s interesting to see the form of his early, less perfect work, plus it’s a super quick read.
The story opens with two humans who have become marooned on an alien world with human-like inhabitants. Only after being captured do the humans realize that the natives have what we would call supernatural abilities: transporting themselves or objects by will of the mind. The magnitude of this ability varies from person to person; those with the least ability are called witlings. The two humans, with no ability, fall into this category. The prince of the realm also happens to be a witling, which is a great source of shame for him. He is intrigued by the humans, especially the woman. The humans must get off the surface, as all the alien foods naturally contain heavy metals, and continued exposure will be fatal.
Although he provides no supporting science for the abilities of the aliens, Vinge does what I like best in sci-fi–he takes a simple premise and runs far with it. With these abilities, how would you imprison someone? How would you travel the world? Would you even need doors? How would you conduct warfare? These issues come up again and again through the book, and each time they are a delight.
Another interesting point touched upon is body image. The book starts with the human male describing the woman, Yoninne, as ugly and unpleasant, too stocky and temperamental. The aliens, who it’s hinted have a slightly stronger gravity, are stockier, and to them, Yoninne is close enough in build, but different enough to be exotic and tantalizing. I haven’t read much sci-fi of this era that deals with such issues of perception; unfortunately, this thread is not continued throughout the book.
The primary reason I rate “The Witling” as a 3/5 and not higher is because I found the ending unsatisfying. I won’t go into specifics in this review. The action was quite good and fun, but it conceptually bothered me.
With that caveat, I would recommend this book, especially to those who have read a lot of other works by Vernor Vinge. It’s interesting to see the form of his early, less perfect work, plus it’s a super quick read.
October 30, 2008
REALLY BIG SPOILER ALERT.
I quite liked this book up until the last few pages. The last few pages utterly spoiled for me a big part of why I liked it.
There are two things I liked about this book.
1. In general I like the way Vinge takes an idea and thinks through a lot of the ramifications of that idea and builds a world and a plot on them. (He does a really good job of this in A Fire Upon the Deep which has a species in which a single entity is made up of a pack of telepathic bodies.)
In this book, the idea he explores is that the humanoids (and some other higher order animals) living on a particular plant can use telekinesis to teleport themselves and other things to certain locations. This creates a society where, for example, the "wings" of a palace can be spread apart over hundreds of miles, because the people inhabiting the palace can teleport easily from one wing to another. Because of this ability, these people never developed a lot of the technology that was primarily developed on Earth for getting people and things from one place to another.
2. One of the main characters is a human woman, a scientist who has come to study this planet. She is portrayed through the eyes of her partner (another scientist) -- and to some extent through her own eyes -- as very intelligent, physically unattractive (short, stout, and awkward), and having a brusque personality. None of this is a big deal. At the same time, the people native to this planet are even shorter and stouter, and so they see her as tall, willowy, and elf-like. She has some conflicted reactions to this. I don't see a lot of well-done explorations of body image in science fiction and especially in books written by men so I thought this was pretty cool.
Toward the end of the story, she becomes brain-damaged. At the very end of the story, she's back with humans who have the medical facilities to treat some of the damage, but she probably won't get her mind and intelligence back again. But that's OK, she's perfectly happy because someone is in love with her and that's all that matters.
Somehow I guess we are supposed to think this is a perfectly suitable ending for the character. But I think it's like crumpling the character up and throwing her in the wastebasket. Feh.
I quite liked this book up until the last few pages. The last few pages utterly spoiled for me a big part of why I liked it.
There are two things I liked about this book.
1. In general I like the way Vinge takes an idea and thinks through a lot of the ramifications of that idea and builds a world and a plot on them. (He does a really good job of this in A Fire Upon the Deep which has a species in which a single entity is made up of a pack of telepathic bodies.)
In this book, the idea he explores is that the humanoids (and some other higher order animals) living on a particular plant can use telekinesis to teleport themselves and other things to certain locations. This creates a society where, for example, the "wings" of a palace can be spread apart over hundreds of miles, because the people inhabiting the palace can teleport easily from one wing to another. Because of this ability, these people never developed a lot of the technology that was primarily developed on Earth for getting people and things from one place to another.
2. One of the main characters is a human woman, a scientist who has come to study this planet. She is portrayed through the eyes of her partner (another scientist) -- and to some extent through her own eyes -- as very intelligent, physically unattractive (short, stout, and awkward), and having a brusque personality. None of this is a big deal. At the same time, the people native to this planet are even shorter and stouter, and so they see her as tall, willowy, and elf-like. She has some conflicted reactions to this. I don't see a lot of well-done explorations of body image in science fiction and especially in books written by men so I thought this was pretty cool.
Toward the end of the story, she becomes brain-damaged. At the very end of the story, she's back with humans who have the medical facilities to treat some of the damage, but she probably won't get her mind and intelligence back again. But that's OK, she's perfectly happy because someone is in love with her and that's all that matters.
Somehow I guess we are supposed to think this is a perfectly suitable ending for the character. But I think it's like crumpling the character up and throwing her in the wastebasket. Feh.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2015
The idea of teleportation has always appealed to me, so a world where this is an inherent natural ability is interesting. Vinge thinks it through to a rich degree, describing novel uses for the ability, and limitations that stop it being all powerful, while still making sense within the narrative. In addition, there's a good plot, as the two human explorers try to contact home, and find a way off a planet whose abundance of heavy metals will, in due course, kill them.
There's some interesting work with the characters, who are well-enough drawn that the plot around them is believable. But it isn't amazing, with some awkward and occasionally problematic clichés. Overall the book feels like one of those science fiction novels where the plot and characters are only a vehicle for the idea. The ending was a touch abrupt, with a jarring note between the last two chapters that made the finale feel more like an epilogue, and it's not the kind of novel that's trying to move emotions over much. But it was a good read that didn't outstay its welcome, with a nice world and set of ideas to explore.
There's some interesting work with the characters, who are well-enough drawn that the plot around them is believable. But it isn't amazing, with some awkward and occasionally problematic clichés. Overall the book feels like one of those science fiction novels where the plot and characters are only a vehicle for the idea. The ending was a touch abrupt, with a jarring note between the last two chapters that made the finale feel more like an epilogue, and it's not the kind of novel that's trying to move emotions over much. But it was a good read that didn't outstay its welcome, with a nice world and set of ideas to explore.
January 20, 2013
Space travelers (from a human space colony) come to a new planet of humans with unusual mental powers.
The best thing about the book is the scientific discussions of the mental teleportation powers of the inhabitants of the planet. This includes even great speculations about the physics of teleportation. (Such as conservation of momentum and angular momentum. Of course this cannot work mathematically, but it still makes for fun speculation.)
The weak thing about the book is the plot which, although involved, is uncompelling.
The best thing about the book is the scientific discussions of the mental teleportation powers of the inhabitants of the planet. This includes even great speculations about the physics of teleportation. (Such as conservation of momentum and angular momentum. Of course this cannot work mathematically, but it still makes for fun speculation.)
The weak thing about the book is the plot which, although involved, is uncompelling.
July 28, 2010
Quite a short story, but entertaining. In typical Vinge style, the aliens' world is believable, although in this early book still a bit simplistic. Still, some entertaining ideas on how a race would develop when given extraordinary powers.
His really excellent later books do a much better job of imagining an alien civiliation that is utterly different from ours, but still make you feel part of it.
His really excellent later books do a much better job of imagining an alien civiliation that is utterly different from ours, but still make you feel part of it.
August 29, 2013
Two people, apparently descendents of earth, get stranded on a planet where the inhabitants have an unusual talent that has caused their society to develop in an unusual way.
I felt Vinge was altogether to taken with exploring how this unusual talent would work so that much of the book required an understanding of maths and physics to appreciate it.
There was some human interest, but it felt rather shallow.
The writing style did not draw me in.
I felt Vinge was altogether to taken with exploring how this unusual talent would work so that much of the book required an understanding of maths and physics to appreciate it.
There was some human interest, but it felt rather shallow.
The writing style did not draw me in.
December 23, 2015
Vernor Vinge has written some great novels, but The Witling definitely does not live up to his other works. Premises were interesting enough, but the story is not too captivating, and in its short length, really offers nothing substantial. The ending involves a gratuitous 20 pages where everything is suddenly "resolved" without really having any kind of climactic plot. Vinge is a great writer, but look elsewhere!
April 12, 2011
A fun and interesting read, but not as good as Vinge's other books. No surprise there, as this was one of his first. Interesting to see this snapshot of his development as a writer. His skill with character development was very strong, even at this early stage, but the story structure was less polished than, say, A Deepness in the Sky, or A Fire Upon the Deep.
March 26, 2011
This is the first book I've read by Vinge, and definitely plan to read others. This book is more about "ingenious people use science to save themselves" (and the strange natural ability of the inhabitants of Gira, and how they navigate), and that was good as far as it went, but I'm expecting more political philosophy from his others.
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