Peter Watts's wonderful dystopias under a CC license

By Cory Doctorow at 3:32 am Sunday, Jul 24

Peter Watts is the wildly imaginative dystopian science fiction writer whose novels Starfish, Maelstrom, and Behemoth B-Max/Behemoth Seppuku track the progress of a work-gang of sociopaths who are relegated to a geothermal work-station on the ocean's floor, their bodies and minds heavily modified to survive the intese pressures (see my post about Maelstrom for more).

Peter's a PhD Marine Biologist, and his scientific background and dark sensibility combine in unexpected ways -- for example, a credible account of the co-evolution of human and computer viruses.

Now Peter's put his first two novels online under a Creative Commons license allowing for unlimited noncommercial redistribution and the creation of derivative works (fan art, music, translations, films, audiobooks, etc). I'd love to get a podcast of these books being read aloud by someone who loves them as much as I do.

Peter's pledged to put Behemoth online shortly, and in the meantime, fans of his work are already converting them to formats well-suited to PDAs. Link