Read Ebook {PDF EPUB} Walk in Silence by Catherine Asaro. Catherine Ann Asaro (born ( 1955-11-06 ) November 6, 1955 ) is an American and author, singer and teacher. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire. Contents. Biography Saga of the Skolian Empire series Mathematical fiction and Musical collaborations The Diamond Star Project Bibliography Awards References External links. Biography. Catherine Asaro was born on November 6, 1955 [1] in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, California. She attended Kennedy High School in Richmond, California as part of the Richmond Voluntary Integration Plan. [2] [3] She has a B.S. with highest honors in from UCLA, and both a Masters in and a PhD in chemical physics from . [4] When not writing and making appearances at conventions and signings, Asaro teaches math, physics, and chemistry. [5] She is the director of the Chesapeake Math Program and has coached various nationally ranked teams with home, private, and public school students, in particular the Chesapeake teams for national tournaments such as the Princeton and Harvard-MIT competitions. She also teaches a gifted program in math and science at the Yang Academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her students have placed at the top levels in numerous national competitions, including the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). [6] [7] [8] Asaro is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security. [9] She is also known for her advocacy of bringing girls and women into STEM fields and for increased diversity, and for challenging gender roles and literary expectations in her fiction. [10] [11] [12] She has been an invited speaker or visiting professor for various institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard, , NASA, The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), The Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, the New Zealand National ConText Writer's program, the University of Maryland, the US Naval Academy, and many other institutions. [13] [14] [15] [16] [17] [18] [19] A former ballet and jazz dancer, Catherine Asaro has performed with dance companies and in musicals on both coasts and in Ohio. She founded and served as artistic director and a principal dancer for two dance groups at Harvard: The Mainly Jazz Dance Company and the Harvard University Ballet. After she graduated, her undergraduate students took over Mainly Jazz and made it into a club at the college. She has completed two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) (2003–2005) and during her tenure established the Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. [9] [20] Her husband was John Kendall Cannizzo (1957–2018), an astrophysicist at NASA. [21] They have one daughter, a ballet dancer who studied maths at the and UC Berkeley. [22] [23] Catherine Asaro is the daughter of , the nuclear chemist who discovered the iridium anomaly that led the team of Luis Alvarez, , Frank Asaro, and Helen Michel to postulate that an asteroid collided with the Earth 66 million years ago and caused mass extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs. Saga of the Skolian Empire series. The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord. The plot of the book unfolds over several generations of characters and revolves around political intrigues, but also contains subplots regarding romance, physics, bio- enhancements, and virtual computer networks. Mathematical fiction and hard science fiction. Asaro is known as a hard science fiction writer for the scientific depth of her work. The amount of science varies from book to book, with novels such as Primary Inversion , The Radiant Seas , and Spherical Harmonic on the most scientifically dense end of the spectrum, including elements such as equations and diagrams of quantum mechanical wave functions and Klein bottles. , the long time editor of Analog magazine, wrote that Primary Inversion is "an impressive first novel; not just a good story, but the kind of speculation we too seldom see – really new science that just might be possible." Asaro is noted as one of the few female science fiction writers who also has a doctorate in hard science, in Asaro's case a PhD from Harvard in theoretical Chemical Physics. [24] Asaro is also noted for including sophisticated mathematical concepts in her fiction. The method of space travel used in the Skolian Empire books comes from a paper Asaro wrote on complex variables and special relativity that appeared in the American Journal of Physics . [25] [26] The novel Spherical Harmonic involves an imagined universe based on the described by the spherical harmonic eigenfunctions that solve the Laplace Equation, and some prose in the book is written in the shape of the sinusoidal waves found in the spherical harmonics. [27] Her novel is an allegory to quantum scattering theory and is dedicated to her doctoral advisors and mentors in the subject, Alex Dalgarno, Kate Kirby, and Eric J. Heller. [28] The novella "Aurora in Four Voices" includes topics ranging from to integration problems in calculus. In essays in the back of some of her novels, Asaro explains the mathematical and physics basis of the ideas used in the books, in particular Spherical Harmonic, The Quantum Rose, and The Moon's Shadow. In the anthology Aurora in Four Voices (which includes the novella of the same name), Asaro describes the mathematical basis of several stories in the anthology, including the use of Fourier transforms, Riemann sheets, and complex numbers in "The SpaceTime Pool." [29] Musical collaborations. The Diamond Star Project. The Diamond Star Project is a collaboration between Catherine Asaro and the rock musicians Point Valid. The project resulted in a CD, Diamond Star (Starflight Music, April 2009), which is a "soundtrack" for the book, Diamond Star (). The novel tells the story of Del-Kurj, a Ruby Dynasty prince who would rather be a rock singer than sit on the throne. The lyrics to the songs appear in the novel Diamond Star and were the inspiration for the CD. [30] Point Valid with Catherine Asaro (2008) Point Valid is an alternative band originating in , Maryland, with Hayim Ani on vocals and guitar, Adam Leve on drums and Max Vidaver on guitar. Ani wrote most of the music for the CD, and Asaro wrote most of the lyrics, as well as music for three songs. Ani also contributed three original compositions, both music and lyrics. Most of the vocals are by Ani, with a few by Asaro. The CD has twelve songs, eleven originals and a cover of "Sound of Silence". Asaro, who did not know how to sing, took voice lessons in preparation for the recordings, and continues to train and perform. Asaro has described how the collaboration inspired her work, as exemplified by the song "Emeralds", which she was not able to finish until she and Ani were in the studio recording his vocals. [31] During 2009, the Diamond Star Project expanded to include Donald Wolcott, a jazz pianist who accompanied Asaro in concerts. [31] [32] In 2010, Starflight Music released the EP Goodbye Note by Asaro and Wolcott, which includes the song "No Answers with in Paradisum" from the Diamond Star soundtrack, rewritten and sung by Asaro. [33] In 2010, Marty Pell joined the Diamond Star Project as an additional pianist, [34] and in 2011, Greg Adams replaced Wolcott as Asaro's primary accompanist. [35] Arlan Andrews. In 2018, Asaro teamed up with author and songwriter Arlan Andrews to do the Celtic rock song "Ancient Ages". [36] Bibliography. Awards. Primary Inversion , nominee, , first novel, 1996 Primary Inversion , finalist, 1996 , winner, Sapphire Award, best novel, 1997 Catch the Lightning , winner, UTC Readers Choice Award, best novel, 1997 Catch the Lightning , finalist, Audies, Science Fiction, 2003 The Last Hawk , nominee, , Best Novel, 1999 The Radiant Seas , winner, RT Book Club Reviewer's Choice Award, Best Science Fiction Novel 1999 The Radiant Seas , nominee, HOMer Award, Best Novel 2000 "Aurora in Four Voices", winner, AnLab (Analog Reader's Poll), 1999 "Aurora in Four Voices", nominee, , best novella, 1999 "Aurora in Four Voices", nominee, Nebula Award, best novella, 1999 "Aurora in Four Voices", winner, HOMer Award, best novella, 1999 "Aurora in Four Voices", winner Sapphire Award, best novella, 2000 "Aurora in Four Voices", nominee, Seiun Awards, overseas short fiction, 2000 "Aurora in Four Voices", Sixth Place, Locus Award, novella, 1999 The Veiled Web , winner, HOMer Award, best novel, 2000 The Veiled Web , winner, Prism Award, best novel, 2000 The Veiled Web , winner, National Reader's Choice Award, 2000 The Veiled Web , Second Place, Sapphire Award, 2001 The Quantum Rose , winner, Nebula Award for Best Novel 2001 [37] The Quantum Rose, winner, Affaire de Coeur Award, Best Science Fiction (2001) The Quantum Rose , Third place, Sapphire Award, Best Novel 2000 The Quantum Rose , nominee, Audies, Novel 2005 "A Roll of the Dice", winner, AnLab (Analog Reader's Poll), 2001 "A Roll of the Dice", winner, HOMer Award, 2001 "A Roll of the Dice", nominee, Hugo Award, best novella, 2001 "A Roll of the Dice", nominee, Nebula Award, best novella, 2001 "A Roll of the Dice", Second Place tie, Sapphire Award, best novella, 2001 Spherical Harmonic , winner, Affaire de Coeur Reader/Writer Poll for Best Futuristic, 2002 "Ave de Paso", Eleventh Place, Locus Award, novella, 2002 "Ave de Paso", nominee, Sapphire Award, Short Fiction, 2002 "Soul of Light", nominee, short fiction, Gaylactic Spectrum Awards, 2002 Ascendant Sun , winner, RT Book Club Reviewer's Choice Award, Best Science Fiction Novel 2003 Skyfall , winner, RT Book Club Reviewer's Choice Award, Best Science Fiction Novel 2003 Skyfall , finalist, Rita Award, Futuristic/Fantasy/Paranormal, 2004 Skyfall , Third Place, Sapphire Award, Best Novel, 2004 "Moonglow," winner, RRA Award, Best Novella, 2004 "Moonglow," winner, Sapphire Award, Best Novella, 2004 "Walk in Silence", winner, AnLab (Analog Reader's Poll), 2004 "Walk in Silence", winner, Prism Award, best novella, 2004 "Walk in Silence", nominee, Hugo Award, best novella, 2004 "Walk in Silence", nominee, Nebula Award, best novella, 2004 Outstanding Achievement Award, WRW, Washington D.C., 2005 "Stained Glass Heart", nominee, Sapphire Award, Best Novella, 2005 "The City of Cries", winner, Prism Award, Best Novella, 2006 "The City of Cries", winner, Prism Award, The Best of the Best, 2006 "The City of Cries", winner, Book Buyers Best, novella, 2006 "The City of Cries", Second Place, Sapphire Award, Best Novella, 2006 "The Misted Cliffs,", finalist, Rita Award, Paranormal, 2006 "The Space-Time Pool," winner, Nebula Award for Best Novella 2008 [37] "The Space-Time Pool," second place, AnLab (Analog Reader's Poll), 2008 Sunrise Alley , finalist, Audies, Science Fiction, 2009 "Deep Snows," Nominee, Best R&B Music Video, World Music and Independent Film Festival, 2012 "The Pyre of New Day," nominee, Nebula Award, best novelette, 2012 The Wallace S. North, Jr., PE Award for Contributions to the Maryland State Mathcounts Program, 2017 "Ancient Ages," The Blast-FM top 100, radio selection, 2020 [38][39] Related Research Articles. Constance Elaine Trimmer Willis , commonly known as Connie Willis , is an American science fiction and fantasy writer. She has won eleven Hugo Awards and seven Nebula Awards for particular works—more major SF awards than any other writer—most recently the "Best Novel" Hugo and Nebula Awards for Blackout/All Clear (2010). She was inducted by the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2009 and the Science Fiction Writers of America named her its 28th SFWA Grand Master in 2011. Kate Wilhelm was an American author. She wrote novels and stories in the science fiction, mystery, and suspense genres, including the Hugo Award–winning Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang , and she established the Clarion Workshop with her husband Damon Knight and writer Robin Scott Wilson. Nina Kiriki Hoffman is an American fantasy, science fiction and horror writer. Catch the Lightning is a novel by Catherine Asaro in the Saga of the Skolian Empire, also known as Tales of the Ruby Dynasty. The novel won the 1998 Sapphire Award for Best Science Fiction Romance and the UTC Readers Choice Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. Spherical Harmonic is a science fiction novel from the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro. It tells the story of Dyhianna Selei (Dehya), the Ruby Pharaoh of the Skolian Imperialate, as she strives to reform her government and reunite her family in the aftermath of a devastating interstellar war. Skyfall is a 2004 novel by Catherine Asaro which tells the story of how Roca met her husband Eldrinson, Bard of Dalvador, ruler of a province on Skyfall. The Saga of the Skolian Empire , informally called the Skolian Saga or Tales of the Ruby Dynasty, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas by Catherine Asaro, revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord. The plot of the book unfolds over several generations of characters and revolves around political intrigues, but also contains subplots regarding physics, bio-enhancements, virtual computer networks, romance, mathematics, and military conflict as it is affected by supraluminal space travel. The Quantum Rose is a science fiction novel by Catherine Asaro which tells the story of Kamoj Argali and Skolian Prince Havyrl Valdoria. The book is set in her Saga of the Skolian Empire. It won the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 2001 Affaire de Coeur Award for Best Science Fiction. The first third of the novel appeared as a three-part serialization in Analog magazine in the 1999 May, June and July/August issues. published the full novel in 2000. Primary Inversion is a science fiction novel in the Saga of the Skolian Empire by Catherine Asaro. As Asaro's debut novel, it first appeared as a hardcover in 1995. It was nominated for the 1996 Compton Crook/Stephen Tall Memorial Award and placed tenth on the list for the Locus Award for Best First Novel. is an American author and puppeteer. "Aurora in Four Voices" is a short science fiction novella written by Catherine Asaro and published in December 1998. It is part of the Skolian Empire series and was originally published in Analog Science Fiction and Fact . It was also available free online at Analog magazine's website. Aliette de Bodard is a French-American speculative fiction writer. She is of French and Vietnamese descent, born in the US, and grew up in Paris. French is her mother-tongue, but she writes in English. A graduate of École Polytechnique, she works as a software engineer specialising in image processing and is a member of the Written in Blood writers group. This is the complete bibliography of American and hard science fiction author Catherine Asaro. Nebula Awards Showcase 2003 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Nancy Kress. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in April 2003. Sarah Pinsker is an American science fiction and fantasy author. A nine-time finalist for the Nebula Award, Pinsker's debut novel won the 2019 Nebula for Best Novel while her story "Our Lady of the Open Road" won 2016 award for Best Novelette. Her fiction has also won the Philip K. Dick Award, the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award and been a finalist for the Hugo, World Fantasy, and Tiptree Awards. Nebula Awards Showcase 2007 is an anthology of award winning science fiction short works edited by Mike Resnick. It was first published in trade paperback by Roc/New American Library in March 2007. Nebula Awards Showcase 2013 is an anthology of science fiction short works edited by Catherine Asaro. It was first published in trade paperback by Pyr in May 2013. Nebula Awards Showcase 2017 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by Canadian writer Julie E. Czerneda. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Pyr in May 2017. Nebula Awards Showcase 2018 is an anthology of science fiction and fantasy short works edited by American writer Jane Yolen. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by Pyr in August 2018. Asaro, Catherine 1955– PERSONAL: Born November 6, 1955, in Oakland, CA; daughter of Frank and Lucille Marie Asaro; married John Kendall Cannizzo (an astrophysicist), August 9, 1986; children: Catherine Kendall. Education: University of California—Los Angeles, B.S. (summa cum laude), 1978; Harvard University, M.A., 1983, Ph.D., 1985; postdoctoral study at University of Toronto, 1985–87. Hobbies and other interests: Classical piano, ballet dancing, choir. ADDRESSES: Office —c/o Molecudyne Research, P.O. Box 1302, Laurel, MD 20725. E-mail —[email protected] CAREER: Physicist and novelist. Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, assistant professor of physics, 1987–90, affiliated scholar, 1990–91; Molecudyne Research, Laurel, MD, president, 1990–. Consultant to Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, 1978–83, Biodesign, 1987, and Harvard- Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, 1991. Visiting scientist at Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics, 1991–92. Principal dancer and artistic director, Mainly Jazz Dancers and Harvard University Ballet, c. 1980s. Teacher at Caryl Maxwell Classical Ballet Maryland; also teaches math for home-schooled children. Editor and publisher, Mindsparks: The Magazine of Science and Science Fiction , 1993–96. MEMBER: Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, American Association of Physics Teachers, American Physicists Society, Tau Beta Pi, Sigma Xi. AWARDS, HONORS: Nebula Award in novel category, 2001, for The Quantum Rose; Hugo Award nomination for best novella, 2004, for "Walk in Silence"; three Romantic Times Book Club awards for best science fiction novel, including for The Quantum Rose . WRITINGS: "SAGA OF THE SKOLIAN EMPIRE" SERIES. Primary Inversion , Tor (New York, NY), 1995. Catch the Lightning , Tor (New York, NY), 1996. The Last Hawk , Tor (New York, NY), 1997. The Radiant Seas , Tor (New York, NY), 1998. Ascendant Sun , Tor (New York, NY), 2000. The Quantum Rose , Tor (New York, NY), 2000. Spherical Harmonic , Tor (New York, NY), 2001. The Moon's Shadow , Tor (New York, NY), 2003. Skyfall , Tor (New York, NY), 2003. Schism (first book in the "Triad" subseries), Tor (New York, NY), 2004. The Final Key (second book in the "Triad" subseries), Tor (New York, NY), 2005. OTHER. The Veiled Web , Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1999. The Phoenix Code , Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2000. (With Mercedes Lackey and Rachel Lee) Charmed Destinies , Silhouette (New York, NY), 2003. The Charmed Sphere (fantasy novel), Luna (New York, NY), 2004. (Editor) Irresistible Forces , New American Library (New York, NY), 2004. Sunrise Alley , Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2004. The Misted Cliffs (fantasy novel; sequel to The Charmed Sphere ), Luna (New York, NY), 2005. Alpha , Baen (Riverdale, NY), 2006. The Dawn Star (fantasy novel; sequel to The Misted Cliffs ), Luna (New York, NY), 2006. Work represented in anthologies, including Christmas Forever , edited by David G. Hartwell, Tor, 1993. Contributor to periodicals and scholarly journals, including Analog, Journal of Chemical Physics, New York Review of Science Fiction, American Journal of Physics, International Journal of Quantitative Chemistry, Science Fiction Writers of American Bulletin, Science Fiction Age, Pirate Writings , and Physical Review Letters . Columnist, Tangent . SIDELIGHTS: Catherine Asaro is both a distinguished astrophysicist and a science-fiction writer. She earned her doctorate from Harvard University and taught at Kenyon College, subsequently serving as an affiliated scholar there while assuming the presidency of Molecudyne Research, which she founded in Maryland in 1990. Asaro is the author of the "Saga of the Skolian Empire." The saga includes such installments as Primary Inversion, Catch the Lightning , and The Quantum Rose , the last of which garnered Asaro the prestigious Nebula Award in 2001. Primary Inversion , the first book in Asaro's science-fiction saga, is a futuristic tale in which three galactic empires vie for domination of the galaxy. Inhabitants of Earth have ties to both the other empires, the Skolians and their enemies, the Traders. Skolian princess Sauscony Valdoria becomes drawn to Jaibriol Qox, son of the Trader emperor. Valdoria's sensory capabilities enable her to discover that Jaibriol, despite his ancestry, is her soul mate. However, she also learns that Jaibriol has been genetically manipulated to overpower her fellow Skolians. Primary Inversion met with praise from critics, including one Booklist reviewer who called it "an unusually masterful first novel." Asaro followed Primary Inversion with Catch the Lightning , which relates continued conflicts between the Skolians and the Traders. In Catch the Lightning Skolian Jagernaut Althor, who is destined to rule Skolia, lands his sabotaged space vehicle on an alternative Earth and befriends Tina Pulivok, a psychic teenager from 1980s Los Angeles. Inquisitive scientists, meanwhile, are conducting investigations into the capabilities of Althor's craft. Althor, with the help of Tina and her friends, determines to recover his ship and return to his own world to undermine the Trader antagonists. Several reviewers of Catch the Lightning maintained that Asaro's second novel does not live up to the expectations set by her debut. A Kirkus Reviews critic, for example, called it "an unexciting but solidly crafted, and at times absorbing narrative," adding that too many technical details and a slow plot weaken the book. A Publishers Weekly contributor similarly noted that the novel "fails to cohere and to deliver the vibrant reading experience that [Asaro's] first novel offered," but the reviewer did state that the book contains good characterization and "many fine passages." Asaro recounts another adventure featuring a Skolian hero in 1997's The Last Hawk , and returns to the lives of her beloved Sauscony and Jaibriol in the following year's The Radiant Seas . In the latter, the couple have faked their own deaths and stolen away to a secluded planet to raise children. They are drawn back into the conflict between their respective empires, however, and Sauscony must attempt her husband's rescue. Jackie Cassada, reviewing The Radiant Seas for the Library Journal , praised the author's "mix of romantic intrigue" and "large-scale dynastic" science fiction. Both The Quantum Rose and Spherical Harmonic take place in the same universe Asaro created in Primary Inversion , but each novel features a new cast of characters. The heroine of The Quantum Rose is Kamoj, the young governor of a province on a backwater planet. Kamoj is set to marry a fellow governor of a much more important province when she is swept off her feet by the wandering Skolian Vyrl. Together she and Vyrl eventually travel back to his home planet to fight for its independence. In Spherical Harmonic beautiful telepath Dyhianna Selei recovers from a case of amnesia only to discover her husband and son have disappeared and the empire thrust into chaos as a result of a political coup. The Quantum Rose provides what Roland Green termed in Booklist "the requisite happy ending," while fellow Booklist contributor Diane Tixier Herald added that "fans of Asaro's Saga of the Skolian Empire will not want to miss" Spherical Harmonic . A Publishers Weekly critic praised The Quantum Rose as well, noting that Kamoj is "as brainy as she is beautiful," and called the novel "a freestanding page-turner as a romance." Asaro continues to build her interstellar empire story in The Moon's Shadow , which "successfully combine[s] space opera, hard science, and romance," according to Roland Green in Booklist . The psiberweb that fostered communication between worlds has been destroyed by war, but Jaibriol, the son of Sauscony and Jaibriol from The Radiant Seas , has a secret. He is a Ruby Key, which means that he has the ability to reconstruct the psiberweb. When Jaibriol's uncle Xir learns his secret, intrigue and scheming soon ensue. The complicated plotlines and numerous characters in the book prompted a Kirkus Reviews critic to warn that "newcomers will be lost" if they are introduced to the series with this book. The Moon's Shadow was followed by a stand-alone installment in the Skolian saga titled Skyfall , which is set at a time that precedes the action in the other books to this point. Here, Roca Skolia, the mother to the heir of the Skolian empire, Kurj, falls in love with Eldrinson, a telepath from the technologically backward world of Skyfall. She becomes pregnant, and when Kurj rescues her from a castle that is being attacked by Eldrinson's enemies, he discovers this fact and feels that she has betrayed her family. Romance is emphasized in this book over technology, an element that a Publishers Weekly critic predicted would disappoint some fans, though the critic called the book "an enthralling standalone that fills in the early history of the empire." With Schism and The Final Key Asaro started a subseries within her Skolian universe that goes back to Sauscony's childhood. Against her father's wishes, she trains to be an Imperial Jagernaut, an elite part of the Skolian military that uses psychic powers. She is disowned by her father, and when her brother is kidnapped by the Aristo Trader Vitarex, war seems on the horizon. Meanwhile, the young Sauscony works to survive and excel in her training. In The Final Key , Sauskony finds herself the only one left in her family able to fight the Traders after her father is incapacitated trying to rescue his son and her mother is kidnapped as well. Critics of the series noticed several times the resemblance of the Skolian series to the books of Frank Herbert, with a dash of Georgette Heyer-esque romance mixed in. Reviewing Schism , a Publishers Weekly critic also remarked that "YA readers will identify with the mostly teenage protagonists." In another Publishers Weekly assessment, this time about The Final Key , a reviewer considered the series "a monumental work" that nevertheless falls somewhat short of masterful. Roland Green, however, concluded in Booklist that The Final Key is an "intelligent crowd-pleaser." In addition to the novels she has written about the Skolian and Trader empires, Asaro has written some books that take place outside her fictional world. Notable among these is 1999's The Veiled Web , featuring a Latina American heroine who is drawn to the Moroccan inventor of a new Internet technology. The Veiled Web was praised by some critics for its cultural sensitivity; for instance, a Publishers Weekly reviewer cited Asaro's "sensuous and respectful evocation of Islamic culture" as one of the novel's best features. Sunrise Alley is also a science-fiction stand alone book. The premise behind the story is that artificial intelligence technology has progressed to a stage where machines are becoming self-aware. Unfortunately, these "EI's" are also prone to emotional instability. When brilliant biotechnology engineer Samantha Bryton retires to a remote home to get away from her career, she one day discovers a man who has died only to be reborn with an artificial brain. He is an EI trying to escape the evil Charon, who wishes to kidnap him for the technology inside his head. Christine C. Menefee, writing in the School Library Journal , appreciated the author's blend of science fiction, thriller action, and romance in what she called "an epic chase across a near-future landscape." Booklist contributor Regina Schroeder asserted that with Sunrise Alley , "Asaro reinforces her reputation for combining high-tech adventure and romance." Venturing also into fantasy, Asaro has penned the books The Charmed Sphere and The Misted Cliffs , which feature a medieval-like realm in which magic works on rules based upon geometric principles. Critics of the books also appreciated the author's convincingly flawed yet sympathetic characters. Library Journal contributor Jackie Cassada described The Misted Cliffs as "an appealing combination of fantasy and romance." Frequently praised for her ability to blend romance and hard science in her novels and short stories, Asaro stated in an interview with Terry Hickman for the Market List Web site that she "made a conscious decision not to downplay the romantic elements. I like them," she explained further. "A great deal of good romantic literature exists. So I decided to talk about that as well as the other aspects of the books. That is the only way to counteract negative stereotypes." BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES: PERIODICALS. Booklist , February 15, 1995, review of Primary Inversion , p. 1064; December 1, 2000, Roland Green, review of The Quantum Rose , p. 698; November 1, 2001, Diane Tixier Herald, review of Spherical Harmonic; February 15, 2003, Roland Green, review of The Moon's Shadow , p. 1058; September 1, 2003, Roland Green, review of Skyfall , p. 73; August, 2004, Regina Schroeder, review of Sunrise Alley , p. 1912; January 1, 2005, Roland Green, review of Schism , p. 833; July, 2005, Diana Tixier Herald, review of The Misted Cliffs , p. 1907; December 15, 2005, Roland Green, review of The Final Key , p. 30. Kirkus Reviews , October 15, 1996, review of Catch the Lightning , p. 1500; March 1, 2003, review of The Moon's Shadow , p. 352. Library Journal , February 15, 1995, review of Primary Inversion , p. 186; November 15, 1996, review of Catch the Lightning , p. 92; December, 1998, Jackie Cassada, review of The Radiant Seas , p. 162; November 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of Spherical Harmonic; July 1, 2005, Jackie Cassada, review of The Misted Cliffs , p. 72. Publishers Weekly , November 18, 1996, review of Catch the Lightning , p. 66; November 8, 1999, review of The Veiled Web , p. 65; November 27, 2000, review of The Quantum Rose , p. 60; November 27, 2002, review of Spherical Harmonic , p. 41; August 18, 2003, review of Skyfall , p. 62; December 6, 2004, review of Schism , p. 48; October 17, 2005, review of The Final Key , p. 44. School Library Journal , January, 2005, Christine C. Menefee, review of Sunrise Alley , p. 158. CONtraflow X. Propped against the bookcase in Catherine Asaro's home is the 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 class. 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. Catherine is a bestselling author of science fiction and fantasy. She has won numerous awards, including the Nebula® for her novel The Quantum Rose and her novella “ The Space-time Pool .” Catherine’s latest book, The Bronze Skies , came out in September 2017 and was a stand alone science fiction mystery in the Major Bhaajan universe. Her story “ The Wages of Honor ,” set in the Ruby Dynasty universe, was included in Infinite Stars: Definitive Space Opera and Military Science Fiction , edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt. Her novella, “ Walk in Silence ,” appeared in Catalysts, Explorers & Secret Keepers: Women of Science Fiction , edited by Monica Louzon, Jake Weisfeld, Heather McHale, Barbara Jasny & Rachel Frederick. The anthology was a take- home exhibit by the Museum of Science Fiction. Catherine’s next work is the novel, The Vanished Seas , due out in the summer of 2020. Catherine earned her doctorate in theoretical chemical physics from Harvard. Until last year, she directed the Chesapeake Math Program and coached numerous students for competitions, including those sponsored by Harvard-MIT, Princeton, Mathcounts, and the USA Mathematical Olympiad. She is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government on future trends affecting national security. A popular speaker, she has given invited talks at many institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard, Georgetown, NASA, the New Zealand Context Writer's program, the US Naval Academy and the Hoover Public Library. She is also known for her advocacy in bringing girls and women into STEM fields, and for challenging gender roles in her fiction. Catalysts, Explorers & Secret Keepers Women of Science Fiction. The Museum of Science Fiction is pleased to announce Catalysts, Explorers & Secret Keepers, an anthology of science fiction showcasing how women have been an integral part of science fiction as authors, as readers, and as characters for more than a century. Catalysts, Explorers & Secret Keepers: Women of Science Fiction is a take-home museum exhibit celebrating women who, as both writers and characters, set new horizons for the science fiction genre. This anthology features stories about protagonists with agency who save lives, explore strange new worlds, prove their mettle, and voyage toward self-discovery. Curated by Museum of Science Fiction staff under the direction of lead editor Monica Louzon, this take-home exhibit is meant to be savored and shared. Featuring cover art by Hugo award-winning artist Julie Dillon and the following works: Eleanor Arnason - "A Ceremony of Discontent" Catherine Asaro - "Walk in Silence" Monica Byrne - "Free Fall" Betsy Curtis - "A Peculiar People" Kiini Ibura Salaam - "Battle Royale" N. K. Jemisin - "The Trojan Girl" Floris M. Kleijne - "Midnight on the the Space Station Alcatraz" Nancy Kress - "My Mother, Dancing" Naomi Kritzer - "Cleanout" AJ Lee - "Being Kitty" Karen Lord - "A New Panama" Pat Murphy - "Fix-It Shop" Seanan McGuire - "What We Knew Then, Before the Sky Fell Down" Sarah Pinsker - "Remember This For Me" Anthea Sharp - "Ice in D Minor" Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam - "The Greatest Discovery of Dr. Madeline Lightfoot" Carrie Vaughn - "For Fear of Dragons" Jane Yolen - "Juno in July", "Not So Great A Divide" & "The Physics of a Dying Star" Sarah Zettel - "Fool's Errand" Catherine Asaro. Catherine Ann Asaro is an American science fiction and fantasy author. She is best known for her books about the Ruby Dynasty, called the Saga of the Skolian Empire. Contents. Biography. Catherine Asaro was born on November 6, 1955 [1] in Oakland, California and grew up in El Cerrito, California. She attended Kennedy High School in Richmond, California as part of the Richmond Voluntary Integration Plan. She has a B.S. with highest honors in chemistry from UCLA, an M.A. in physics, and a PhD in chemical physics, both from Harvard University. [2] When not writing and making appearances at conventions and signings, Asaro teaches math, physics, and chemistry. She is the director of the Chesapeake Math Program and has coached various nationally ranked teams with home, private, and public school students, in particular the Howard Area Homeschoolers and the Chesapeake team for national tournaments such as the American Regions Mathematics League (ARML). She also teaches a gifted program in math and science at the Yang Academy in Gaithersburg, Maryland. Her students have placed at the top levels in numerous national competitions, including the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO) and the United States of America Mathematical Talent Search (USAMTS). [3] [4] [5] Asaro is a member of SIGMA, a think tank of speculative writers that advises the government as to future trends affecting national security. [6] She is also known for her advocacy of bringing girls and women into STEM fields and for challenging gender roles and literary expectations in her fiction. [7] [8] She has been an invited speaker or visiting professor for various institutions, including the National Academy of Sciences, Harvard, Georgetown University, NASA, The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), The Global Competitiveness Forum in Saudi Arabia, the New Zealand National ConText Writer's program, the University of Maryland, the US Naval Academy, and many other institutions. [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] A former ballet and jazz dancer, Catherine Asaro has performed with dance companies and in musicals on both coasts and in Ohio. She founded and served as artistic director and a principal dancer for two dance groups at Harvard: The Mainly Jazz Dance Company and the Harvard University Ballet. After she graduated, her undergraduate students took over Mainly Jazz and made it into a club at the college. She has completed two terms as president of Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) (2003–2005) and during her tenure established the Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy. [6] [16] Her husband is John Kendall Cannizzo, an astrophysicist at NASA. [17] They have one daughter, a ballet dancer who studied maths at the University of Cambridge and UC Berkeley. [18] [19] Catherine Asaro is the daughter of Frank Asaro, the nuclear chemist who discovered the iridium anomaly that led the team of Luis Alvarez, Walter Alvarez, Frank Asaro, and Helen Michel to postulate that an asteroid collided with the Earth 66 million years ago and caused mass extinctions, including the demise of the dinosaurs. Saga of the Skolian Empire series. The Saga of the Skolian Empire, informally called the Skolian Saga, is a series of science fiction novels, novelettes and novellas revolving around characters from an interstellar empire known as the Skolian Empire and their power struggle with the rival Eubian Concord. The plot of the book unfolds over several generations of characters and revolves around political intrigues, but also contains subplots regarding romance, physics, bio- enhancements, and virtual computer networks. Mathematical fiction and hard science fiction. Asaro is known as a hard science fiction writer for the scientific depth of her work. The amount of science varies from book to book, with novels such as Primary Inversion , The Radiant Seas , and Spherical Harmonic on the most scientifically dense end of the spectrum, including elements such as equations and diagrams of quantum mechanical wave functions and Klein bottles. Stanley Schmidt, the long time editor of Analog magazine, wrote that Primary Inversion is "an impressive first novel; not just a good story, but the kind of speculation we too seldom see – really new science that just might be possible." Asaro is noted as one of the few female science fiction writers who also has a doctorate in hard science, in Asaro's case a PhD from Harvard in theoretical Chemical Physics. [20] Asaro is also noted for including sophisticated mathematical concepts in her fiction. The method of space travel used in the Skolian Empire books comes from a paper Asaro wrote on complex variables and special relativity that appeared in the American Journal of Physics . [21] [22] The novel Spherical Harmonic involves an imagined universe based on the Hilbert space described by the spherical harmonic eigenfunctions that solve the Laplace Equation, and some prose in the book is written in the shape of the sinusoidal waves found in the spherical harmonics. [23] Her novel The Quantum Rose is an allegory to quantum scattering theory and is dedicated to her doctoral advisors and mentors in the subject, Alex Dalgarno, Kate Kirby, and Eric J. Heller. [24] The novella "Aurora in Four Voices" includes topics ranging from Fourier series to integration problems in calculus. In essays in the back of some of her novels, Asaro explains the mathematical and physics basis of the ideas used in the books, in particular Spherical Harmonic, The Quantum Rose, and The Moon's Shadow. In the anthology Aurora in Four Voices (which includes the novella of the same name), Asaro describes the mathematical basis of several stories in the anthology, including the use of Fourier transforms, Riemann sheets, and complex numbers in "The SpaceTime Pool." [25] The Diamond Star Project. The Diamond Star Project is a collaboration between Catherine Asaro and the rock musicians Point Valid. The project resulted in a CD, Diamond Star (Starflight Music, April 2009), which is a "soundtrack" for the book, Diamond Star (Baen Books). The novel tells the story of Del-Kurj, a Ruby Dynasty prince who would rather be a rock singer than sit on the throne. The lyrics to the songs appear in the novel Diamond Star and were the inspiration for the CD. [26] Point Valid is an alternative band originating in Baltimore, Maryland, with Hayim Ani on vocals and guitar, Adam Leve on drums and Max Vidaver on guitar. Ani wrote most of the music for the CD, and Asaro wrote most of the lyrics, as well as music for three songs. Ani also contributed three original compositions, both music and lyrics. Most of the vocals are by Ani, with a few by Asaro. The CD has twelve songs, eleven originals and a cover of "Sound of Silence." Asaro, who didn't know how to sing, took voice lessons in preparation for the recordings, and continues to train and perform. Asaro has described how the collaboration inspired her work, as exemplified by the song "Emeralds," which she wasn't able to finish until she and Ani were in the studio recording his vocals. [27] During 2009, the Diamond Star Project expanded to include Donald Wolcott, a jazz pianist who accompanied Asaro in concerts. [27] [28] In 2010, Starflight Music released the EP Goodbye Note by Asaro and Wolcott, which includes the song "No Answers with in Paradisum" from the Diamond Star soundtrack, rewritten and sung by Asaro. [29] In 2010, Marty Pell joined the Diamond Star Project as an additional pianist, [30] and in 2011, Greg Adams replaced Wolcott as Asaro's primary accompanist. [31] In 2013, Asaro and Adams recorded Paul Levinson's "Looking for Sunsets (in the Early Morning)" [32]