Nagata, Linda 1960-

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NAGATA, Linda 1960-

PERSONAL:

Born November 7, 1960, in San Diego, CA; married Ron Nagata (with the U.S. National Park Service); children: one daughter, one son. Education: University of Hawaii, B.S. (zoology), 1982.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Hawaii. Agent—c/o Author Mail, Tor Books, 175 Fifth Ave., New York, NY 10010. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author. Currently works as a database programmer for Web sites.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Locus Award, best first novel, 1996, for The Bohr Maker; Nebula Award for best novella, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, 2000, for "Goddesses."

WRITINGS:

SCIENCE FICTION NOVELS

The Bohr Maker, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1995.

Tech-Heaven, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1996.

Deception Well, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1997.

Vast, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Limit of Vision, Tor (New York, NY), 2001.

Memory, Tor (New York, NY), 2003.

OTHER

Also author of the novella "Goddesses," published in Sci Fiction and at SciFi.com, July 5, 2000; also author of novelettes "Liberator," 1993, and "Hooks, Nets & Time" and "The Bird Catcher's Children," both 1997, all for Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and "Small Victories," 1993, for Analog. Contributor to books, including More Amazing Stories, edited by Kim Mohan, Tor Books (New York, NY), 1998; contributor to periodicals, including Analog: Science Fiction and Fact and the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

A sequel to Memory; two mainstream novels.

SIDELIGHTS:

In her critically acclaimed science fiction novels, Linda Nagata explores issues she believes will profoundly affect life in the next century: biology, evolution, and nanotechnology—technology on an extremely small and efficient scale. Nagata began writing after finishing college and moving to the island of Maui. Her first novel, The Bohr Maker, focuses on the struggles of Nikko, a genetically altered being near the end of his programmed existence. Nikko will do anything to obtain the outlawed Bohr Maker, a tiny machine that can erase his programming and thus save his "life." Nikko and others search for the microscopic device, a device that helps its current owner, a poor woman named Phousita, commit great acts of kindness.

In the New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas wrote that The Bohr Maker can be too complicated at times but that it contains "some provocative speculations on what limits human beings can and should set on their definition of 'human.'" Booklist contributor Carl Hays praised how "Nagata reinforces her compelling story line with a wealth of mind-bending ideas." Analog: Science Fiction and Fact contributor Tom Easton deemed The Bohr Maker "phenomenal," considering the novel an outstanding exploration of nanotechnology and observing that "few have done it in so convincing a way, and with such a sure touch. This one is a winner—grab it when you see it, and look for it on prize ballots." Easton's prediction proved accurate. The Bohr Maker received the 1996 Locus Award for best first novel.

Nagata's second novel, Tech-Heaven, also deals with the effects of technology on human lives. The plot focuses on the decision of Katie Kishida to place her severely injured husband, Tom, in cryonic suspension rather than let him die after a helicopter crash. This decision causes complications after the cryonic technology is later outlawed. Kliatt contributor Katherine E. Gillen admired Nagata's exploration of questions concerning life and death, and found the novel "a suspenseful read with a poignant, romantic twist." A Publishers Weekly reviewer praised Nagata's "vivid characterization" and "insightful socioeconomic and technological concepts." In a different review for Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, Tom Easton wrote that Nagata has created "a complex, poignant tale out of one woman's grief and loss and obsession," calling Tech-Heaven "an excellent portrayal of how nanotechnology may one day penetrate human society."

In Deception Well Nagata combines the concepts of space travel and spiritual quest. A Publishers Weekly reviewer commented that "fans of hard science fiction will find a rich and complex world in this third novel." Kliatt contributor Michael P. Healy wrote that Deception Well has "few ideas but a tremendous amount of plot," populated by "two-dimensional characters" in a story full of "nonstop action." Writing in the New York Times Book Review, Gerald Jonas said that Nagata's narrative structure is initially challenging because it takes the "sink or swim" method, immersing readers in an unknown world with few clues to allow them to make immediate sense of it. Though this approach demands that readers work harder to read the novel, Jonas emphasized that it offers great rewards, as "this story of love coerced, lost and (possibly) redeemed could not be told to greater effect with any other method."

Vast is a sequel to Deception Well. Both novels feature the character of Lot, son of the prophet Jupiter Apolinario. Lot led a rebellion against the elders of the city of Silk in Deception Well. In Vast, Lot and his followers leave Silk in search of the Chenzeme, a race that has created deadly forms of technology.

With her next two novels, Limit of Vision and Memory, Nagata begins steering away from nanotechnology to explore other ideas in the science fiction realm. " Limit of Vision came about because I didn't want to do nanotechnology any more," the author said on the Locus Web site. "I wanted to work on a different scale: micro, instead of nano. The story is set in the very near future, and centers on artificial life forms known by the acronym LOV (Limit of Vision) because in size they are just at the limit of what the human eye can see. In the story, LOVs were developed from living organisms. They are based on human neural tissue housed inside a diatom-like shell, but they have been modified so extensively that they can be called 'artificial.'" Memory, on the other hand, began as a concept for a fantasy novel, but evolved into science fiction despite the author's intentions. Nagata feels, nevertheless, that it is a very different novel from her earlier science fiction: " Memory is much more human in scale than many of my books have been. The people in it are a simpler people, and yet they have their own technology—which is, of course, related to nanotechnology, but with a completely different philosophy behind it. In a sense, Memory is a classic adventure. I want it to feel like fantasy—to have that emotional resonance—but to work like a science fiction novel."

Set in the near future, Limit of Vision is about an overpopulated world short on resources but still progressing technologically. An entrenched bureaucracy irritatingly governs the smallest aspects of people's lives while the larger, more important issues of society remain unresolved. A group of scientists have developed the LOV technology, and even though it is illegal to take their creation out of the lab, they implant the LOVs into their own bodies. The experiment is released into the Mekong Delta, where journalist Ela Suvanatat picks up the story and learns of a plot by the director of the International Biotechnology Commission to use the LOVs for his own personal gain. A Publishes Weekly contributor was fascinated by the author's "biotech hardware and gadgetry as well as clever extrapolations into nanotech potential," while John R. Alden, writing in the Plain Dealer, asserted that "Nagata's ideas about how science and culture might interact to change human society are considerably more interesting" than the technology itself.

Nagata's 2003 novel, Memory, is set in a bizarre world of the far-distant future. The people there live on an artificial world where a deadly substance called silver repeatedly appears to remake the landscape, creating strange buildings and killing any forms of life it encounters. Mechanical kobolds protect the people from this threat, and those who survive find themselves being reincarnated. The main character, Jubilee, goes on a quest with her uncle after her brother and father are killed by the silver and she feels threatened by a mysterious stranger who seems to know her and who believes that Jubilee's brother is still alive. "What they learn and do affects the fate of their world," wrote a Publishers Weekly reviewer, who added: "This poignant tale with the hones of hard science is bound to win Nagata new fans." Booklist contributor Sally Estes complimented Nagata for creating a "richly realized world in which a truly eerie landscape serves as the vibrant background" for an adventurous coming-of-age tale.

Despite the often troubled vision of the future that Nagata paints in her novels, the author has an optimistic view of civilzation. "It's a popular pastime to knock the society in which we live," she said on the Locus Web site, "and it certainly is far from perfect, but I still believe my children are growing up in a far better world than I grew up in. Sure there's violence, there's profanity—there always has been. But children today don't have the threat of a nuclear war hanging over their heads, and they're living in a world where—at least here in [my home] Hawaii—the fact that they're half-Japanese and half-Caucasian makes no difference whatsoever. It's a much more civilized world, and it's going in the right direction."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, September, 1989, Jay Kay Klein, "Biolog," p. 33; September, 1995, Tom Easton, review of The Bohr Maker, pp. 163-164; May, 1996, Tom Easton, review of Tech-Heaven, p. 144; March, 1999, review of Vast, p. 132; September, 2001, Tom Easton, "The Reference Library," p. 132.

Booklist, April 1, 1995, Carl Hays, review of The Bohr Maker, p. 1381; April 15, 2003, Sally Estes, review of Memory, p. 1456.

Kliatt, March, 1996, Katherine E. Gillen, review of Tech-Heaven, p. 20; July, 1997, Michael P. Healy, review of Deception Well, p. 18.

Library Journal, May 15, 2001, Jackie Cassada, review of Limit of Vision, p. 110; April 15, 2003, Jackie Cassada, review of Memory, p. 129.

New York Times Book Review, May 14, 1995, Gerald Jonas, review of The Bohr Maker, p. 24; February 23, 1997, Gerald Jonas, review of Deception Well, p. 20.

Plain Dealer (Cleveland, OH), April 29, 2001, John R. Alden, "Writing, Plot Sheer Delights in 'Perdido,'" p. I11.

Publishers Weekly, November 6, 1995, review of Tech-Heaven, p. 89; December 30, 1996, review of Deception Well, pp. 62-63; February 5, 2001, review of Limit of Vision, p. 72; June 4, 2001, review of Goddesses, p. 32; April 28, 2003, review of Memory, p. 54.

Science Fiction Studies, July, 2001, John Johnston, "Disputed Information: Complexity Theory in the Novels of Neal Stephenson and Linda Nagata," p. 222.