AI and ET and SETI, oh my!

"Edward M. Lerner has produced the best-ever guide to putting the science in science fiction, and he’s done it with clarity, wit, and panache."  

— Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author of Quantum Night

As an author, I'm best known for my science fiction and technothrillers, but I also write popular science. In particular, I've written a lot about the science that underpins many an SF plot -- including, as my subject suggests, artificial intelligence (by which I don't mean merely the advanced autocomplete that passes for AI these days), the possibility of alien life, and what first contact might be like. 

Long nonfiction story short, I'm speaking of my book -- newly returned to print and electrons -- Trope-ing the Light Fantastic: The Science Behind the Fiction.  

The expression to trip the light fantastic dates back to John Milton. I suspect he didn't have in mind, as I did, faster-than-light travel. FTL is just another of the SFnal tropes (science used other than literally ... or is it?) I explore in this IMO fun book. Human 2.0? Time travel? ESP? Yup, all there -- and more. Together with examples of how these topics are used -- and sometimes abused -- in SF both literary and dramatic. Plus lots of references to relevant science and tech, for when you want to delve deeper ...

This post being a commercial announcement, here are the Amazon links for the newly re-released Kindle, trade paperback, and hardback editions.

"A trove of wonderful information about the why and how of the science in the fiction. ... a must read for any science fiction fan."

— Sci-Fi Saturday Night

Calling all Niven (and Lerner) scholars

Newly organized notes, outlines, synopses, drafts, page proofs, etc. covering the development of the entire Fleet of Worlds series are now available to literary researchers (and the curious public). Many thanks to the Special Collections & Archives Department of the University Libraries at Northern Illinois University. 

"This collection houses materials pertaining to the 5-book Fleet of Worlds fiction series co-authored by Larry Niven and Edward M. Lerner from 2007-2012. It consists of manuscripts in various stages of development including partial drafts, copyedited versions, and publisher page proofs as well as research and correspondence between the collaborative authors."

You can read all about the Niven/Lerner collection here. 

Something to consider the next time you'll be near DeKalb, Illinois. 

(I posted about the similar availability of my solo authorial archive last year, in "A Milestone.")