Deadly awakening When robotics expert Megan O'Flannery is offered the chance to direct MindSim's cutting-edge program to develop a self-aware android, it's the opportunity of a lifetime. But the project is trouble plagued--the third prototype "killed" itself, and the RS-4 is unstable. Megan will descend into MindSim's underground research lab in the Nevada desert, where she will be the sole human in contact with the RS-4, dubbed Aris. Programmed as part of a top-secret defense project, the awakening Aris quickly proves to be deviously resourceful and basically uncontrollable. When Megan enlists the help of Raj Sundaram, the quirky, internationally renowned robotics genius, the android develops a jealous hostility toward Raj--and a fixation on Megan. But soon she comes to realize that Raj may be an even greater danger--and that her life may depend on the choice she makes between the man she wants to trust and the android she created.
"Thoughtful and imaginative...A near-future layering of East and West...and of love and its loss--all woven into an intriguing tapestry." --Diana Gabaldon
"Known for her brilliance at combining science, adventure, and riveting characterization, Catherine Asaro breaks new territory with a compelling story set in the world we know, at the dangerous intersection of cutting-edge technology and the age-old conflict of culture and the human heart. A romance of ideas as well as the story of a man and a woman attempting to build a bridge between two very different societies, The Veiled Web is a thought-provoking and entertaining tale for the dawn of a new millennium." -- Mary Jo Putney, New York Times bestselling author of The Wild Child
Propped against the bookcase in Catherine Asaro's home office is the framed diploma of her Harvard Ph.D. in chemical physics. Nearby, dangling from the doorknob, is a bag stuffed with the tights and leotards she wears when she pulls herself away from her writing for ballet classes. A former professional dancer, this California native has little time for the ballet barre these days. Instead, she's fielding speaking offers and meeting deadlines for her novels.
Winner of the Nebula (R) Award for her novel, THE QUANTUM ROSE, and her novella, "The SpacetimePool," Catherine blends exciting adventure, science, world building, romance, and strong characterization into her fiction. Her latest science fiction novel is DIAMOND STAR (Baen), and her most recent fantasy is THE NIGHT BIRD (Luna). She also writes thrillers, including ALPHA and SUNRISE ALLEY.
DIAMOND STAR (is about a rock star in the future. The book's release is the culmination of what Catherine describes as "one of the most exciting collaborations I've ever done." Working with the Baltimore rock band Point Valid, she recorded a music CD that offers readers a soundtrack to the book. Starflight Music released the CD, also titled Diamond Star, performed by Point Valid--Hayim Ani, Adam Leve, and Max Vidaver--with Catherine as a guest artist. Catherine wrote the lyrics for most of the songs, and Hayim wrote the music with Point Valid. Catherine also composed several cuts on the album, and Hayim offered her several of his original compositions.
After Point Valid dispersed to college, jazz pianist Donald Wolcott joined the project as the accompanist for Catherine's vocals. Asaro and WOlcott perform and book conventions and other venues, doing selections from the soundtracks to Catherine's books as well as jazz and pop songs.
Catherine's short fiction has appeared in Analog magazine and various anthologies, including "Walk in Silence," "A Roll of the Dice," and "Aurora in Four Voices," which all won the Analog Readers Poll for best novella, and were nominated for both Nebula(R) and Hugo Awards. Her novella, "The Spacetime Pool" (Analog, March 2008), is currently up for the Nebula(R). Catherine has also published reviews and essays and authored scientific papers in refereed academic journals. Her paper,"Complex Speeds and Special Relativity" in the The American Journal of Physics (April 1996) forms the basis for some of the science in her fiction. Among the places she has done research are the University of Toronto, the Max Planck Institut für Astrophysik, and the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. She was a physics professor until 1990, when she became a consultant and writer.
In Catherine's youth, the arts were her focus. She studied ballet from age of five, trained in classical piano, and spent hours curled up with books. She successfully pursued London's Royal Academy of Dance syllabus through the first professional level and enrolled at UCLA as a dance major. Then she discovered she loved math and science. "I hadn't studied it much in high school, but at UCLA I ended up taking a lot of science and math," she remembers. "I struggled at first and sometimes I felt like I had no clue. Then one day I read the chapter in my chemistry book on quantum theory--and I was hooked. It felt more right than any other subject I had studied." She went on to earn a BS with Highest Honors from UCLA, a masters in physics from Harvard, and a doctorate in chemical physics, also from Harvard.
Catherine attributes her ability to entertain a broad reading audience in part to her upbringing. "My father is one of the four scientists who postulated that a comet hitting the earth caused mass extinctions, including the demise of dinosaurs. My mother was a student of English literature who loved to write, so from the beginning I was influenced by both the sciences and arts." While pursing her degrees, Catherine continued to dance, founding the Mainly Jazz Dancers and Harvard University Ballet. Perennially on deadline, she now focuses more on her writing than research, but she often speaks on the intersection of science and art at venues such as the Library of Congress and Georgetown University.
Catherine is also proud to coach the Howard Area Homeschoolers, whose students have distinguished themselves in numerous national math programs, including the USA Mathematical Olympiad, MathCounts, and the American Regional Mathematics League. She has served two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. (SFWA).
Born in Oakland, California, Asaro grew up in El Cerrito, north of Berkeley. A challenger of rules since her childhood, she explores the boundaries of genre fiction in her novels. "It's like stretching different muscles for dance class," she says, adding that dancing and math aren't as dissimilar as people may think. "There is a beauty in seeing a math problem come together just as there is in performing a ballet. And the discipline it takes to do ballet well is similar to that needed to do math." But no matter what the style of her novels, she writes from the heart. "The flashy adventure is fun," she says, "but the characters mean the most to me, both as a reader and as a writer."
This review is from: The Phoenix Code (Mass Market Paperback)
Catherine Asaro continues to give us another excellent Science Ficton novel with a good romantic plot. The novel tells the story of a young scientist, Megan O'Flannery who is offered the chance to develop a self-aware android, Aris. A shy robitics genius, Raj Sundaram, aids her after Aris becomes unstable.
The tempo of the book keeps you riveted. I stayed up til 2:00 AM to finish it. An excellent protrayal of an autistic character adds to the realism.
I highly recommend the book to anyone enjoys Science Fiction, Robotics, and Romance. Warning: You will not be able to put down the book until the last page is read.
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This review is from: The Phoenix Code (Mass Market Paperback)
I found "The Phoenix Code" to be a bit repetitive and heavy handed throughout most of the middle of the book, but the beginning was skillful enough to capture my interest, and the ending was exciting, well done and sufficiently rewarding that I can recommend this book.
The characterization was very well done, with Megan, Ander and Raj quite fleshed out (an android pun?) and believable. The plot was not very complex, but I found it intriguing and worthwhile.
All in all, not an important read, but a good one.
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This review is from: The Phoenix Code (Mass Market Paperback)
In 2021, humanity is on the brink of combining artificial intelligence with a perfect robotic body that will lead to Homo superior. Some conservative scientists fear the future for mankind, but the Department of Defense believes their superman is the ultimate operative.
Robotics expert Megan O'Flannery sees both sides of the issue, but concludes that a hybrid is the best next step. Working for cutting edge company, MindSim, Megan secures the assistance of Raj Sundaram in teaching the prototype robot Aris how to be human. However, Aris' circuits scramble and he takes his mentors hostage. While in captivity, Raj and Megan fall in love with one another, but what will happen to their future once his secret is revealed to her?
One of the pioneers of science fiction romance, Catherine Asaro creates another exciting, sensual tale that will elate sub-genre fans. Cleverly, the author provides no solutions to complex ethical questions that leave readers with lingering thoughts about right and wrong. The romance is hot, but this novel is clearly science fiction first with a dynamic climax that will stun the unsuspecting audience who will fail to break THE PHOENIX CODE before Ms. Asaro reveals the ending of this keeper.
Harriet Klausner
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