Easton, Thomas A

Entry updated 10 July 2023. Tagged: Author, Critic.

(1944- ) US critic, author and biology teacher (he holds a PhD in theoretical biology) who is best known for the Reference Library book-review column he wrote for Analog from 1979 to 2008, where he covered a wide range of titles with strict fairness, though he was not often granted the room to delve deep; a selection of 250 individual reviews from the 1980s and 1990s was assembled as Periodic Stars (coll 1997). His first story was "Next" for Adam in 1974, and he has since published at least 50 tales in magazines, sometimes as Sam Atwood. Bigfoot Stalks the Coast of Maine and Other Twisted Downeast Tales (coll 2000) assembles works mostly from the 1980s; since 2000, Easton has published little short fiction.

The sf novels in the Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny sequence – Sparrowhawk (1990), Greenhouse (1991), Woodsman (1992), Tower of the Gods (1993) and Seeds of Destiny (1994) – focus on an Earth rather mechanically dominated by a biological revolution, with genimals – genetically engineered animals – replacing cars and indeed almost anything imaginable; by the fifth volume, the bioengineering Gypsies have been driven into space by the Engineers, who are machine-oriented, and a conflict between the two principles – it is one common to late twentieth-century sf – begins to wage throughout the galaxy. Reversals of this sort are generally effected for purposes of Satire, but it is clear that for Easton the perils and pleasures of the invention have been sufficient. Later novels include Silicon Karma (1995 Serendipity Systems on disk; 1997), with duplicated personalities at risk in a decaying Virtual Reality world; Alien Resonance (2000), a First Contact tale; and the Felix Webb sequence set in a Ruined Earth where a city of hidden science may soon be discovered, and comprising Unto the Last Generation (2000) and Stones of Memory (2000).

From 2000 Easton has edited a number of anthologies, all but the first in collaboration with Judith K Dial. [JC]

Thomas Atwood Easton

born Bangor, Maine: 17 July 1944

works

series

Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny

Sparrowhawk (New York: Ace Books, 1990) [Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny: pb/Dennis Beauvais]
Greenhouse (New York: Ace Books, 1991) [Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny: pb/Joe Burleson]
Woodsman (New York: Ace Books, 1992) [Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny: pb/Pat Morrissey]
Tower of the Gods (New York: Ace Books, 1993) [Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny: pb/Shawn Lux]
Seeds of Destiny (New York: Ace Books, 1994) [Sparrowhawk: Organic Destiny: pb/Blas Galego]

Felix Webb

Unto the Last Generation (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [Felix Webb: pb/]
Stones of Memory (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [Felix Webb: pb/]

individual titles

Silicon Karma (Atlanta, Georgia: White Wolf, 1997) [first published on disk in 1995 by Serendipity Systems: pb/]
Alien Resonance (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [first appeared electronically in 1990: pb/]
Bigfoot Stalks the Coast of Maine and Other Twisted Downeast Tales (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [coll: pb/]
The Electric Gene Machine (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [coll: pb/]
The Great Flying Saucer Conspiracy (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2002) [hb/]
Firefight (Gillette, New Jersey: Betancourt and Company, 2003) [hb/]
The Last Masters: A Mosaic Novel (Cabin John, Maryland: Wildside Press, 2022) [pb/]

nonfiction

Periodic Stars (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1997) [nonfiction: coll: pb/]
Frontiers of Wonder: Science Essays, Fiction, Poems (no place given: Rocket ebook, 1999) [coll: ebook: mostly nonfiction: na/]
Off the Main Sequence (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2006) [nonfiction: #31 in the publisher's I O Evans Studies in the Philosophy and Criticism of Literature series: hb/]

works as editor

series

One-Sitting Reads

Science Fiction for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads (New York: Fantastic Books, 2017) with Judith K Dial [anth: One-Sitting Reads: pb/Alvin Helms]
Fantasy for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads (New York: Fantastic Books, 2018) with Judith K Dial [anth: One-Sitting Reads: pb/Alvin Helms]

individual titles as editor

Gedanken Fictions: Stories on Themes in Science, Technology, and Society (Gillette, New Jersey: Wildside Press, 2000) [anth: Thought Experiment: pb/]
Visions of Tomorrow: Science Fiction Predictions That Came True (New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2010) with Judith K Dial [anth: pb/]
Impossible Futures (Auburn, Massachusetts: Pink Narcissus Press, 2013) with Judith K Dial [anth: pb/Duncan Eagleson]
Conspiracy!: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction Stories (Framingham, Massachusetts: NESFA Press, 2016) with Judith K Dial [anth: pb/Bob Eggleton]

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