WRITING AS STEVEN HARPER
In 1998, Baen Books and I parted company, mostly because Baen wasn't interested in publishing the stories I wanted to tell. Roc Books, however, did want to publish them, and I have the tremendous good fortune to be working with Laura Anne Gilman as my editor there. Roc wanted me to start fresh with them, so they asked me to choose a pseudonymn. I did, and it's listed above.Later, I wrote other books under the same name. I was used to it, and so were various readers. I kept using it, and now I'm quite used to being both Steven Piziks and Steven Harper.
The following is a list of my Steven Harper books.
UNITY
A prophecy is fulfilled when Peter Attis is
rescued from the Cylons in order to save humanity with "the plague of
the tongue." Or so it seems . . . While harvesting algae for conversion into food, the beleaguered human/refugee fleet is discovered by a small group of Cylon raiders. A brief battle ends with the destruction of a Cylon basestar. A colonial-issue escape pod found floating among the debris reveals two survivors inside: Singer Peter Attis . . . and his captor, a Cylon Number Eight.
Soon after Peter's liberation, people begin babbling incoherently and dropping into comas. Unwittingly, Peter has been spreading a highly contagious, nerve-deteriorating Cylon biological weapon--and he has just performed for half the fleet. As Dr. Gaius Baltar begins work on a cure, word starts to spread that a fanatical sect believes that Peter is the religious leader who will save humanity and that the virus is their path to salvation. They are willing to do anything to keep Baltar's vaccine from being distributed.
While the fleet is in chaos, a larger Cylong force appears. A weakened humankind, now threatened on two fronts, may be unable to defend itself . . .
Read an excerpt.
DEAD MAN
ON THE MOON
Originally established as an international moonbase in 2101, Luna City has since grown into a thriving metropolis, complete with a major university, mining facilities, a casino, theaters, tourist traps . . . and crime.
Murder never used to be a problem on the moon, but now that the human population is climbing, so is the crime rate. With over three thousand people crammed into a single enclosed environment, bloodshed is inevitable.
Hence the need for Luna City Special Investigations, a small but highly efficient team dedicated to solving whatever homicides threaten the peace and security of the moon. But in a time and place where human cloning, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and microgravity can complicate a crime scene, even old-fashioned murder is seldom that simple . . .
A corpse is found on the airless surface of the moon, desiccated by the vacuum and missing a space suit. Pronouncing the man dead is easy. Figuring out hnow he got there is another story, especially since there are no apparent tracks from a lunar rover or any other vehicle. Even more puzzling, the victim's DNA matches no individual known to be present on the moon. Noah Skyler has just arrived at Luna City to start his new job as an investigator for LCSI--Luna City Special Investigations. The dead man is his very first case, and Noah is about to get a crash course in the bizarre realities of lunar life . . . and death.
Read an excerpt.
Originally established as an international moonbase in 2101, Luna City has since grown into a thriving metropolis, complete with a major university, mining facilities, a casino, theaters, tourist traps . . . and crime.
Murder never used to be a problem on the moon, but now that the human population is climbing, so is the crime rate. With over three thousand people crammed into a single enclosed environment, bloodshed is inevitable.
Hence the need for Luna City Special Investigations, a small but highly efficient team dedicated to solving whatever homicides threaten the peace and security of the moon. But in a time and place where human cloning, genetic engineering, nanotechnology, and microgravity can complicate a crime scene, even old-fashioned murder is seldom that simple . . .
A corpse is found on the airless surface of the moon, desiccated by the vacuum and missing a space suit. Pronouncing the man dead is easy. Figuring out hnow he got there is another story, especially since there are no apparent tracks from a lunar rover or any other vehicle. Even more puzzling, the victim's DNA matches no individual known to be present on the moon. Noah Skyler has just arrived at Luna City to start his new job as an investigator for LCSI--Luna City Special Investigations. The dead man is his very first case, and Noah is about to get a crash course in the bizarre realities of lunar life . . . and death.
Read an excerpt.
DREAMER
It is through first contact with an alien species that humanity learns of the Dream. It is a plane of mental existence where people are able to communicate with one another by their thoughts alone -- over distances of thousands of light-years. To ensure that future generations will have this ability, human genetic engineering produces newborns capable of finding and navigating the Dream.
It is through first contact with an alien species that humanity learns of the Dream. It is a plane of mental existence where people are able to communicate with one another by their thoughts alone -- over distances of thousands of light-years. To ensure that future generations will have this ability, human genetic engineering produces newborns capable of finding and navigating the Dream.
They became known as the Silent
Rust is just one planet
among many in the Empire of Human Unity. It’s
nothing special, nothing unusual . . . except for the fact that it is
home to an unknown boy who may be the most powerful Silent ever born --
a Silent with the ability to possess the bodies of others against their
will. This mysterious child may be causing
tremors within the Dream itself.
For now, only the
Children of Irfan know about him. A monastic-like order of the Silent, the Children protect
their members even as they barter their services with the governments
and corporations that control known space. But
power like that cannot be hidden, and soon every Silent in the
universe will know about the boy -- and every government will be
willing to go to war to control him.
And if the Children of Irfan cannot find him first, the Dream itself may be shattered . . .
SPECTRUM AWARD FINALIST, 2002
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NIGHTMARE
In the future, dreams keep the universe running. Dreamers, known as “Silent,” are able to look into other people’s dreams, communicate with other Silent across the galaxy, and speak to aliens. Silent construct dreams for themselves more vivid than reality.
But some dreams have become nightmares . . .
Kendi Weaver doesn’t know he’s Silent. Hijacked into slavery, he has resigned himself to a life of servitude. Then the discovery of his innate gift for Dream communiation changes everything. Suddenly Kendi is a very valuable commodity. He is resuced by the Children of Irfan -- a society dedicated to freeing enslaved Silent -- and taken to their planet Bellerophon.
But Bellerophon is hardly a safe refuge. A brutal serial killer is murdering silent in their telepathic dreams, and Kendi is soon embroiled in a world of madness and murder. To catch the killer, he must enter the victim’s dreams . . .
SPECTRUM AWARD FINALIST, 2003
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TRICKSTER
The Dream has been shattered, and the majority of Silent have been cast out by the event known as the Despair, unable to reenter. Now the remaining Silent still capable of linking to the Dream have become a valuable commodity to those in power seeking to keep the lines of galactic communication open . . .
In the midst of the Despair, Father Kendi Weaver and the crew of the Poltergeist have a limited window of opportunity to find the loved ones they have lost---including Kendi's parents and siblings, who were sold into slavery more than fifteen years ago.
But just as Kendi closes in on the whereabouts of his brother and sister, they are snatched away by a mysterious group intent on using them for their own secret agenda . . .
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OFFSPING
The lush and beautiful forest planet of Bellerophon is home to a cacophony of noises, but its resident psychics are known as the Silent. Previously they could travel to the Dream, a telepathic plane of existence where they could twist the laws of reality. But that time is over . . .
One madman's lust for power tore the Dream asunder. Now only a huandful of the Silent can enter it. Kendi Weaver is one of them.
As an election for
the governorship of Bellerophon begins, Kendi is caught in the
cross-fire. Attempts on his life--and a rash of Silent
kidnappings--point to a politcal enemy . . . or a personal one.
Either way, the future of the Dream is at stake. And Kendi fears
it may become a nightmare . . .
(Available November, 2004)Read an excerpt!
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