Channeling Cleopatra, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Ace Books, 2002
It has been discovered that within the human DNA strands of every person is a mechanism that is constantly re-encoding. At the moment of death, a person's character, personality and memories are recorded in a helix. It is little more than an interesting scientific discovery until a method is developed to download those recordings into human hosts. Suddenly grave robbery is a major growth industry.
Leda Hubbard is happy in the dull world of forensic anthropology. One day, Gabriella, her old college roommate, recruits her to search for the remains of Cleopatra, on behalf of a corporation called Nucore. A rich client named Gretchen Wolfe fears that her husband, Wilhelm, is developing an eye for other women. Who better than Cleopatra to keep him interested?
Leda brings along Duke, her father and an ex-cop, along to Alexandria, Egypt, as head of security on the dig, and to watch her back. It turns out that other people are looking for Cleopatra, including Gabriella, but with more sinister intentions. Meantime, a powerful, amoral industrialist named Rasmussen isn't looking to "receive" anyone; he wants to put himself into several of his subordinates as his own brand of immortality.
Leda finds the remains of Cleopatra. Gretchen downloads what she thinks is Cleopatra, but is actually Duke, Leda's father. He is later found dead. After some initial difficulties, the two get along with each other. To Duke, Gretchen doesn't need Cleopatra to keep her husband interested as much as she needs some well-fitting leather clothing.
This one is a gem. The initial premise is excellent, the story is interesting, well done and a good piece of writing from start to finish.
Showing posts with label scarborough. Show all posts
Showing posts with label scarborough. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Saturday, August 4, 2012
Past Lives, Present Tense
Past Lives, Present Tense, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough (ed.), Ace Books, 1999
It has been discovered that DNA is not only a complete record of a person's physical makeup, it also records their memories and personalities. Through a simple process, viable DNA, even from someone dead for hundreds of years, can be turned into a form that can be installed in another person. Sitting in front of what looks like an eye doctor's examination machine, the new DNA can be shot into a person's brain through the optic nerve. The two personalities are then "supposed" to blend into one person. This group of science fiction stories look at the possibilities inherent in this process.
A couple of attempts are made to download Jesus Christ. A female religious revival singer who has lost the faith gets it back with the help of a 12th century female saint. Babe Ruth and a twentysomething software millionaire have different ideas about how to experience life. A domineering mother tries to revive her comatose daughter, who wants to explore Mars, with the help of explorer Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. A feminist academic downloads Anne Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry the Eighth, and finds that Anne isn't quite the person in the history books. A basement scientist looks for help in his quest for a perpetual motion machine from Leonardo da Vinci.
These stories are quite good. The basic concept is intriguing, and the stories are well done, and less repetitive than one may think.
It has been discovered that DNA is not only a complete record of a person's physical makeup, it also records their memories and personalities. Through a simple process, viable DNA, even from someone dead for hundreds of years, can be turned into a form that can be installed in another person. Sitting in front of what looks like an eye doctor's examination machine, the new DNA can be shot into a person's brain through the optic nerve. The two personalities are then "supposed" to blend into one person. This group of science fiction stories look at the possibilities inherent in this process.
A couple of attempts are made to download Jesus Christ. A female religious revival singer who has lost the faith gets it back with the help of a 12th century female saint. Babe Ruth and a twentysomething software millionaire have different ideas about how to experience life. A domineering mother tries to revive her comatose daughter, who wants to explore Mars, with the help of explorer Meriwether Lewis, of Lewis and Clark fame. A feminist academic downloads Anne Boleyn, one of the wives of Henry the Eighth, and finds that Anne isn't quite the person in the history books. A basement scientist looks for help in his quest for a perpetual motion machine from Leonardo da Vinci.
These stories are quite good. The basic concept is intriguing, and the stories are well done, and less repetitive than one may think.
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
The Godmother's Web
The Godmother's Web, Elizabeth Ann Scarborough, Ace Books, 1998
Cindy Ellis is the type of person always willing to help a friend, so she thinks nothing of traveling to Arizona to train a horse at riding trails in the desert. It also helps her get away from the pressure of being lover and employee of Ray Kinkaid, also known as Raydir Quantrill, famous rock musician.
Alone in the desert, Cindy runs into an old Indian woman who she thinks is an elderly mental patient who wandered away from her caretaker. She soon learns differently. The woman, known to everyone as Grandma, takes Cindy on a journey through life as a present-day Native American. Cindy sees firsthand the less-than-happy relations between the Navajo and Hopi peoples, mostly over land ownership. She sees differing conceptions of right and wrong. Cindy sees lots of pain and heartache, and lots of love, too.
Having been a nurse on the Hopi reservation, Scarborough certainly knows her way around the world of Native Americans. This is a very realistic novel, with several Indian myths and stories included. Well worth the reader's time.
Cindy Ellis is the type of person always willing to help a friend, so she thinks nothing of traveling to Arizona to train a horse at riding trails in the desert. It also helps her get away from the pressure of being lover and employee of Ray Kinkaid, also known as Raydir Quantrill, famous rock musician.
Alone in the desert, Cindy runs into an old Indian woman who she thinks is an elderly mental patient who wandered away from her caretaker. She soon learns differently. The woman, known to everyone as Grandma, takes Cindy on a journey through life as a present-day Native American. Cindy sees firsthand the less-than-happy relations between the Navajo and Hopi peoples, mostly over land ownership. She sees differing conceptions of right and wrong. Cindy sees lots of pain and heartache, and lots of love, too.
Having been a nurse on the Hopi reservation, Scarborough certainly knows her way around the world of Native Americans. This is a very realistic novel, with several Indian myths and stories included. Well worth the reader's time.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)