PREUSS, Paul

(1942-)

   US writer who worked in film production for a decade before beginning to write popular-science articles. He began to publish sf with The Gates of Heaven (1980) which, with Re-Entry (1981), comprises a veryloose sequence, its main linkage being the assumption that BLACK HOLES may be used to travel through both space and time. The second volume in particular demonstrates considerable virtuosity in its presentation of a SPACE-OPERA venue which is opened up - though at times rendered almostincomprehensibly complicated-through a plot which encompasses various timelines, the protagonist's discovery that he is his own beloved guru, and much action. Later novels back away sharply from such exuberance, gearing themselves more strictly to extrapolations based on contemporary science. The first of these, Broken Symmetries (1983), concerns the human and political implications of the markedly plausible discovery by SCIENTISTS of a subatomic particle of explosive military potential; thetone of the book has several times been compared with that of Gregory BENFORD's TIMESCAPE (1980). HUMAN ERROR (1985) similarly examines theethical implications of a development in GENETIC ENGINEERING, bearing some resemblance to the practically simultaneous BLOOD MUSIC (1985) by Greg BEAR; while Starfire (1988) gives a verismo view of a NEAR FUTURE spaceexpedition.Rather less interestingly, PP then became involved in the Venus Prime sequence of novels tied to works and some concepts generated byArthur C. CLARKE. The sequence - Breaking Strain * (1987), Maelstrom * (1988), Hide and Seek * (1989), The Medusa Encounter * (1990), The Diamond Moon * (1990) and The Shining Ones * (1991) - features the long hegira of its bio-engineered protagonist, Sparta, in her search through the Solar System for the secret of her birth (or, perhaps, fabrication). It closeswith the 6th volume, and it may be hoped that the 1990s will see PP once again apply his sharp abilities to fully independent work.

   JC

   See also: ASTEROIDS; BIOLOGY.