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Popkes, Steven

(1952-    ) US author who began publishing sf with "A Capella Blues" in Asimov's for 1982. Caliban Landing (1987) interestingly depicts a human expedition to map a new planet (Caliban) – and the complex consequences of its landing there (see Colonization of Other Worlds) – from the viewpoint of an Alien female, who becomes embroiled in the humans' heated interactions. After a fairly conventional start, the tale expands into a complex exploration of the personalities thus thrust together. Slow Lightning (January 1989 Asimov's; much exp 1991) [see Checklist for details] is part of the Shared World Future Boston sequence, by various writers working together and independently, set in a Near Future Boston, Massachusetts, suffering inundation as the oceans rise (see Climate Change). [JC]

Steven Earl Popkes

born Santa Monica, California: 9 October 1952

works

• Caliban Landing (New York: Congdon and Weed, 1987) [in the Isaac Asimov Presents ... series: hb/Bob Walters]
• Slow Lightning (New York: Tor, 1991) [anth: short version appeared January 1989 Asimov's: published to imitate dos format, adding Poul Anderson's novelette "The Longest Voyage" (December 1960 Analog): pb/Wayne Barlowe]

links

• Steven Popkes
• Internet Speculative Fiction Database

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 03:21 am on 14 May 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/popkes_steven>