Author Archives: Claire L. Evans

Computer One

Posted on May 25, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

Warwick Collins, among other things, is a one-time yacht designer now hell-bent on selling his alternate evolutionary theory to the scientific establishment. Computer One, an exercise in singularity paranoia, is his only sci-fi novel. Computer One is more of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

The Female Man

Posted on April 6, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

In the hotel room carpeting that is my life, The Female Man was a major event. It’s among the most important-feeling events of my career as a reader, but it’s also the kind of book that sounds crummy on paper. … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Recommended Reading

Posted on March 16, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

We are far from the halcyon days of mimeographed fan-zines, paperbacks, and magazines, which used to be the lifeblood of science-fiction. These were rich with epistolary rants from readers and first-run stories, crummy illustrations of sensuous monsters and their prey; … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

The Puppet Masters

Posted on March 11, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

In the opening passage of The Puppet Masters, Robert A. Heinlein asks, “Were they truly intelligent? By themselves, that is? I don’t know and I don’t know how we can ever find out. If they were not truly intelligent, I … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Parable of the Sower

Posted on February 23, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

People throw around words like “dystopia” and “post-apocalyptic” a lot when they talk about modern science fiction novels. I wonder, have those people read Parable of the Sower? Dystopia. Dissed Topia. Apocalytpic and Apocryphal-ictic. Parable of the Sower takes place … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , | 3 Comments

Sargasso of Space

Posted on February 15, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

Like James Tiptree Jr, Andre Norton was one of science fiction’s false men. Only her pseudonym wasn’t much of a secret, and “Andre” (or Andrew, or Allan, her other noms de plume) was definitely not as acerbic, depressive, epistolary, or … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Petting The Singularity

Posted on February 11, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

An announcement: an interview I conducted long ago with my friend Mark Von Schlegell, a great modern science fiction writer, a true intellectual of the genre, has been re-edited, supplemented, and posted over on Strange Horizons. As innocuous as this … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Up The Walls of the World

Posted on February 9, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

When James Tiptree Jr. first sent Up the Walls of the World to his/her editor, Judy-Lynn Del Rey, the latter protested against the novel’s use of the present tense, dismissing it as a “pseudo-literary trick.” Tiptree refused to change it … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , , | 3 Comments

All The Colours of Darkness

Posted on February 3, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

Man meets Aliens, Man hurts Aliens, Man and Aliens play tic-tac-toe and talk about Ethics, Man realizes that Aliens are Human, Man Saves Aliens, Aliens save Man(kind). NEXT BOOK: JAMES TIPTREE JR’S UP THE WALLS OF THE WORLD

Posted in Science | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Choice Of Gods

Posted on January 28, 2009 by Claire L. Evans

Clifford Simak’s A Choice of Gods is one of those science fiction books that dazzles with premise, not style. It also comes from a particular school of early 70s SF (and this is a nebulous designation to say the least) … Continue reading →

Posted in Science | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment