"Tin Soldier" is a 17,500-word

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

novella by American writer Joan D. Vinge, her first published work. It was originally published in ''

Orbit In celestial mechanics, an orbit (also known as orbital revolution) is the curved trajectory of an object such as the trajectory of a planet around a star, or of a natural satellite around a planet, or of an artificial satellite around an ...

14'', edited by

Damon Knight Damon Francis Knight (September 19, 1922 – April 15, 2002) was an American science fiction author, editor, and critic. He is the author of " To Serve Man", a 1950 short story adapted for ''The Twilight Zone''.Stanyard, ''Dimensions Behind ...

, in 1974. "Tin Soldier" was first reprinted in the 1977 anthology ''Women of Wonder'', edited by

Pamela Sargent Pamela Sargent (born March 20, 1948) is an American feminist, science fiction author, and editor. She has an MA in classical philosophy and has won a Nebula Award. Sargent wrote a trilogy concerning the terraforming of Venus that is sometim ...

.Joan D. Vinge Bibliography. .

Plot

"Tin Soldier" tells the story of Maris - an ex-soldier who, following wounds sustained in battle, has received cybernetic implants that, as a side effect, slow his aging to "about five years for every hundred" (he is 115 years old as the story begins, though physically he looks "about twenty-five") - and Brandy (short for Branduin), a female starship crewmember. Maris has started a bar named "Tin Soldier" in the spaceport town of New Piraeus. None of his customers know his real name and call him "Tin Soldier" - or "Soldier" for short - after his bar. Only women are allowed to crew starships, since male bodies cannot handle the stresses of space travel. Since trips between star systems require decades (while the female crew do not age due to relativistic effects), Soldier does a brisk business among starship crews because, apparently never ageing, he is the only familiar face they can see, decade after decade, whenever they come into port. Brandy is "maybe eighteen" and assigned to her ship which only visits Soldier's planet every 25 years, when she first meets Soldier. Because of the relativistic effects of space travel, she only ages a few years between visits, while Soldier ages even less. The novella follows the relationship that develops between two people who fall in love, but through circumstances can only see each other for a few days every 25 years.

Popularity

As the author said in the introduction to "Tin Soldier" published in the 1979 Vinge collection ''Eyes of Amber and Other Stories'':

Inspiration

According to Joan Vinge, "Tin Soldier" had two primary inspirations. The first was the song "

Brandy (You're a Fine Girl) "Brandy (You're a Fine Girl)" is a 1972 song by American pop rock band Looking Glass from their debut album, '' Looking Glass''. It was written by Looking Glass lead guitarist and co-vocalist Elliot Lurie. The single reached No. 1 on both the ...

" by the band

Looking Glass A mirror, also known as a looking glass, is an object that Reflection (physics), reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror forms an image of whatever is in front of it, which is then focused through the lens of the eye or a camera ...

, which had been a ''Billboard'' Hot 100 #1 hit in 1972, shortly before Vinge wrote the story. The second, as the title suggests, was

Hans Christian Andersen Hans Christian Andersen ( , ; 2 April 1805 – 4 August 1875) was a Danish author. Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogue (literature), travelogues, novels, and poems, he is best remembered for his literary fairy tales. Andersen's fai ...

's short story "

The Steadfast Tin Soldier "The Steadfast Tin Soldier" () is a literary fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen about a tin soldier's love for a paper ballerina. The tale was first published in Copenhagen by C.A. Reitzel on 2 October 1838 in the first booklet of ''Fair ...

" and its tale of a crippled toy soldier who falls in love with a paper ballerina. Vinge commented: The Martin story inspired by "Brandy" is titled "Fast-Friend" and has been collected in '' Sandkings''.

References

{{The Steadfast Tin Soldier American science fiction novels Works based on The Steadfast Tin Soldier Novels based on works by Hans Christian Andersen