Free Fictional Female Scientists

For those of you out there who like science fiction, here are a couple of free stories that feature female scientists:

The first is the eco-thriller The Rhesus Factor from Australian science fiction writer Sonny Whitelaw:

Marine engineer Kristin Baker advises the Pacific Island nation of Vanuatu on environmentally sustainable development projects. After meeting US Navy Commander Nicholas Page, she discovers her unwitting role in the Exodus Project, a scheme to protect the West's interests in the face of global warming. But what neither know is that a stealth virus has quietly become a global pandemic; one that health authorities cannot stop. For this virus hasn't emerged from an African jungle or a remote Chinese province, it's come from within our own DNA.

Whitelaw studied geography and anthropology as an undergraduate, and almost completed her Master's thesis on "sea level change and global warming", but gave up science to write fiction. You can download Rhesus Factor from Double Dragon Books or SonnyWhitelaw.com.

The June Issue of Hub Magazine includes the story "More than a Butterfly"by January Mortimer (pdf version, Mobi Pocket version, MS Reader version). As the SF UK Review sums it up: "It’s a story of genetic manipulation, fashion, butterflies and one woman’s passion for her work. There are some nice touches that help to flesh out the main character, showing her to be a complex person while hinting at the complexity of the subject without getting bogged down in technicalities."

If TV's more your thing, you might want to check out Dinosapian. The star is teenage Lauren, a counselor at her paleontologist mother's Dinosaur Explorer camp. The twist? You guessed it - real dinosaurs in the wilds of Canada. According to the review at SciFi.com, most of the supporting characters are pretty cardboard-like.

Beyond Lauren and Eno [the dinosaur], the writers do their best to people their world in the short half-hour. That doesn't leave much time to develop the secondary characters. The conceited best friend, the hunky counselor, the distracted mom, the bratty brother and sister and the rest come off as caricatures initially. Luckily, there's a season to get to know these characters.

Overall it got a positive review:

It's great to see a very accessible kids' show that works on so many levels for so many age ranges, and the special effects are just great. The younger kids will enjoy the dinosaurs, and the older kids will identify with Lauren's journey.

It definitely sounds better than some of the Saturday kids shows I've stumbled on. It's shown on Saturdays on Discovery Kids (BBC Kids in Canada).

Tags: Sonny Whitelaw, January Mortimer, Dinosapien