computers in her novels, and her characters, such as Verity, the protagonist of Queen City Jazz, are positive and sometimes heroic, while cyberpunk concerns itself with anti-heroes. This has led to some SF critics dubbing a new subgenre 'nanopunk'. While her second novel, 1996's The Bones of Time (Tor), featured some elements of nanotechnology science within it, it is not part of the Quartet, and was not centered on these ideas. Instead, it mixes Hawaiian mythology with a spy thriller-type chase through Asia centered on the cloning of one of Hawaii's native rulers. This novel was an Arthur C Clarke Award finalist. Mississippi Blues (Tor) followed in 1997 as a direct sequel to Queen City Jazz, following the further adventures of her main character Verity along a Mississippi River radically changed by malfunctioning nanotech. It is somewhat of a tribute to the great American author Mark Twain, who appears in the book as two separate characters who have been programmed with nanotech into believing they are him. This novel won the Hall of Fame Darrel Award in conjunction with her short story "The Bride of Elvis" for their contribution to speculative fiction set in the Mid-South of America. Crescent City Rhapsody (HarperCollins) was published in 2000 as a prequel, explaining how the world of Queen City Jazz came about as the U.S. government conspired to introduce nanotechnology that was not tested for possible side effects. It was a finalist for the Nebula Award, and received high praise from her peers including such genre authors as Joe Haldeman, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, and Stephen R. Donaldson. Much of the novel takes place in New Orleans, and was written five years before Hurricane Katrina struck. Light Music, published in 2002 (HarperCollins), concludes the Nanotech Quartet. This novel looks at the further evolution of humanity under the influence of "bionan", and ties it in with an alien presence apparently responsible for "El Silencio", the great radio silence of Crescent City Rhapsody that paved the way for the nanotech takeover. Light Music received a starred review in Booklist and was also reviewed in the New York Times. Once more, other science fiction authors spoke highly of her work including Kim Stanley Robinson, David Brin, and, again, William Gibson. In War Times, published in 2007 (Tor), is set in World War II. This novel represents a major departure from her nanotech novels, mixing elements of