True Names

Vernor Vinge's science fiction novella imagines hackers, known as warlocks, who roam a full-immersion virtual reality called the Other Plane and break into computers around the world for profit or curiosity. Each must hide his real identity, his True Name, from fellow warlocks and from the government, since anyone who learns it can force him into service or kill him in the real world. When the government uncovers the True Name of the warlock Mr. Slippery, it compels him to hunt the Mailman, a mysterious newcomer suspected of subverting networks and databases on a vast scale. Among the first stories to give a fully worked out picture of cyberspace, it was a finalist for both the Hugo and Nebula awards.

Marc Andreessen urged readers who had not yet read it to start with the novella, which he said foresaw the modern internet with startling clarity.