Dvorkin, Daniel 1969-

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Dvorkin, Daniel 1969-

PERSONAL: Born February 28, 1969, in Houston, TX; son of David (a writer) and Leonore (a translator and foreign language tutor) Dvorkin; married Andrea (marriage ended). Education: Attended University of Colorado; Metropolitan State College (Denver, CO), B.S.

ADDRESSES: Home—Denver, CO. Office—Intelligent Imaging Innovations, Inc., 5124 North Washington Street, Denver, CO 80216. E-mail—dna@netherworld.com.

CAREER: U.S. Air Force, medic, served in Operation Desert Storm; Intelligent Imaging Innovations, Denver, CO, programmer; science-fiction writer.

WRITINGS:

(With father, David Dvorkin) The Captain's Honor, Pocket Books (New York, NY) 1989.

(With father, David Dvorkin) Dawn Crescent, Wildside Press (Holicong, PA) 2003.

SIDELIGHTS: A writer and the son of writers, Daniel Dvorkin first collaborated with his father, David Dvorkin, on a "Star Trek" novel, The Captain's Honor. The story is based on an episode from the original Star Trek series, "Bread and Circuses," in which the Enterprise crew encounters a planet with a mix of twentieth-century technology and a civilization remarkably similar to the Roman Empire. The novel takes this neo-Roman civilization about a century forward, into the time of Star Trek: The Next Generation, when the Magna Romans have joined the Federation. The story centers on the very different philosophies of the Magna Romans and the crew of Captain Jean Luc Picard in dealing with catlike aliens threatening the peaceful peoples of another planet.

Dvorkin again teamed up with his father to write Dawn Crescent, an alternative history novel based in part on his own experiences as a medic during Operation Desert Storm. In the novel, the first President Bush finds himself overwhelmed when his invasion of Iraq does not go as well as planned, instead spreading violence throughout the region and draining the United States of substantial resources. Forced to step down, Bush is replaced by Dan Quayle, who turns out to be a figurehead for a secretive, anti-democracy group. At the same time, a charismatic Muslim leader turns the war to his advantage, to the chagrin of both Saddam Hussein and the United States. Chronicle contributor Don D'Ammassa found Dawn Crescent "a tense, sometimes chillingly convincing thriller," and Denver Post reviewer Fred Cleaver noted "a tone of eerie familiarity with some delightfully cruel portraits of figures who are once again in power."