Conviser, Josh

PERSONAL:

Married; children: one daughter. Education: Princeton University, graduated, 1996. Hobbies and other interests: Mountaineering, rock climbing, poi/fire spinning, travel/backpacking, skiing, kayaking, martial arts, photography.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Santa Barbara, CA. Home and office—Montecito, CA. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Author. During early career, worked as a movie screenwriter. Executive consultant on television series Rome, Home Box Office (HBO).

WRITINGS:

Echelon (novel), Del Rey (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Josh Conviser worked in Hollywood as a screenwriter before writing his first novel, Echelon. The story revolves around a National Security agency surveillance program that is established during the Cold War. It evolves over time into a monolithic project in the twenty-first century that sees all and knows all concerning new knowledge in the world, thus effectively eliminating all dissension. When the complex program begins to fail due to a conspiracy, deceased agent Ryan Laing is resurrected via nano-technology in order to investigate. "Echelon is about the creation of Big Brother, how that kind of world would come into existence, and how it might break down," Conviser explained to Shaun Farrell in Farsector. In Booklist, Regina Schroeder commented that the author "has crafted a tasty little thriller about a conspiracy really worthy of the twenty-first century." On the SFF World Web site, a contributor noted: "This is a pretty scary scenario, one that echoes writers like George Orwell and Philip K. Dick." The reviewer went on to admit that that the author "does present an eerily plausible future."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, May 15, 2006, Regina Schroeder, review of Echelon, p. 33.

Kirkus Reviews, May 15, 2006, review of Echelon, p. 502.

Library Journal, July 1, 2006, Jackie Cassada, review of Echelon, p. 70.

Publishers Weekly, April 17, 2006, review of Echelon, p. 169.

School Library Journal, July, 2006, Dana Cobern-Kullman, review of Echelon, p. 132.

ONLINE

Farsector,http://www.farsector.com/ (December 20, 2006), "Shaun Farrell interviews Josh Conviser."

Jive Magazine,http://www.jivemagazine.com/ (December 20, 2006), Sean Books, review of Echelon.

Josh Conviser MySpace.com,http://www.myspace.com/joshconviser (December 20, 2006).

Josh Conviser Home Page,http://www.joshconviser.com (December 20, 2006).

SF Crows Nest,http://www.sfcrowsnest.com/ (January 8, 2006), "Interview with Josh Conviser."

SFF World,http://www.sffworld.com/ (December 21, 2006), review of Echelon.