Her 1986 Campbell Award-winning novel
A Door Into Ocean shows her command of genetics and ecological science, as well as her commitment to pacifism and feminism. It depicts the ecosystem of a planet covered entirely by water, inhabited by an exclusively female race of genetic engineers.
Daughters of Elysium (1993),
The Children Star (1998), and
Brain Plague (2000) are loose sequels.
A serialization of her
The Children Star (1998) appeared in
Analog Science Fiction and Fact, a magazine known for hard science fiction.
Her most recent book,
Brain Plague (2000) depicts a world where intelligent microbes inhabit human brains. The microbial aliens have potential for great good as well as great evil. They evolve in the same way as pathogens such as the AIDS virus or as symbionts such as our digestive bacteria, which help keep humans healthy.
Brain Plague tells of a future in which genetic engineering, combined with nanotechnology can do everything from shaping our bodies to growing enormous buildings for us.
Novels
- Still Forms on Foxfield (1980) 1988 reprint ISBN 0380753286
- A Door Into Ocean (1986) ISBN 0877957630
- The Wall Around Eden (1989) ISBN 1557100306
- Daughter of Elysium (1993) ISBN 0380972220
- The Children Star (1998) ISBN 0312867166
- Brain Plague (2000) ISBN 0312867182