Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Three Books Altering Humanity

Books, books, books! They fill up living space, accumulate under the bed, and get confused in the mind (who wrote DANIEL MARTIN, again?) But they're a joy of life, and who needs room to walk around in, anyway. Here are three new ones for your attention, all propelled by the possibilities of genetic engineering.

First is an ebook by new writer Craig Delancey, a collection of three stories that originally appeared in ANALOG. The trilogy concerns the Marrion experiment, a genetic-engineering endeavor to create people who care as much about future generations as they do about themselves -- with heart-breaking developments. The stories involve science, ethics, and politics, a sophisticated and fascinating thought experiment. Available for Kindle and Nook.

Ted Kosmatka's much-awaited first novel, THE GAMES, also centers on genetic engineering. The Olympic games have been expanded to include gladiatorial combat by genemod fighters. The only rule is that no human DNA must be used. The story is fast-paced and horrifying, counterbalanced by various emotionally satisfying father-son relationships. Print and ebook.

Finally, Arc Manor has issued a reprint collection of my older stories on genetic engineering, going all the way back to my first Nebula nominee in 1985 (it lost to John Varley), "Trinity." Six stories of various lengths explore ideas of genetically engineering (among others) ballet dancers ("Dancing on Air"), revenge ("Margin of Error"), aliens ("Flowers of Aulit Prison"), and the search for God ("Trinity"). Print and ebook.

2 comments:

dot3 said...

Thanks for bringing these to my attention. Have to say I'm already partial to Ted Kosmatka's writing. Once had the joy of being in a writer's group with him and know first hand the power of his writing voice.

Dorothy Emry
(Twitter: @dotscoolscience and @nerdwrites)

TheOFloinn said...

And if we don't do what we're told, we will be modified to do it.....

http://www.smatthewliao.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/HEandClimateChange.htm