True Names

Vinge, Vernor. True Names. Novella 1981. Kokomo, IN: Bluejay, 1984.

Especially as the 1981 novella, True Names is "one of the earliest stories to present a fully fleshed-out concept of cyberspace, which would later be central to cyberpunk. The story also contains elements of transhumanism, anarchism, and even hints about The Singularity."[1] Characters in TN "link with the world-wide computer net via direct nerve connection, and thus they can manipulate the system as if they were themselves the central program . . .," using "icons drawn from fantasy games." Note for human/computer symbiosis and a variation on the computer take-over motif (Orth 10, source here and quote [see under Reference]). Rev. Dave Mead, Fantasy Review #78 (April 1985): 28. Cf. and contrast the "cyberpunk stories by William Gibson, Neal Stephenson and others" covered by this wiki.[2]