Steven Robert "Steve" Alten (born August 21, 1959, Philadelphia) is an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 author

Author

An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...

. He is best known for his Meg series, a set of novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

s around the fictitious survival of the megalodon

Megalodon

The megalodon and ὀδούς ) is an extinct species of shark that lived roughly from 28 to 1.5 million years ago, during the Cenozoic Era .The taxonomic assignment of C...

, a giant prehistoric shark

Shark

Sharks are a type of fish with a full cartilaginous skeleton and a highly streamlined body. The earliest known sharks date from more than 420 million years ago....

. Alten holds a bachelor's degree from Pennsylvania State University

Pennsylvania State University

The Pennsylvania State University, commonly referred to as Penn State or PSU, is a public research university with campuses and facilities throughout the state of Pennsylvania, United States. Founded in 1855, the university has a threefold mission of teaching, research, and public service...

, a master's in sports medicine from the University of Delaware

University of Delaware

The university is organized into seven colleges:* College of Agriculture and Natural Resources* College of Arts and Sciences* Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics* College of Earth, Ocean and Environment* College of Education and Human Development...

 and a doctorate in sports administration from Temple University

Temple University

Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...

. Alten is the founder and director of Adopt-An-Author, a nationwide secondary school reading program promoting works from six authors, including his own.
Alten resides in South Florida.

Critical Response

Some critics have pointed out that Alten's books feature poorly researched science and weak writing, while others have praised his character development, research and story-telling. Reviewer Steve Donoghue calls Alten's latest Meg novel (Meg: Hell's Aquarium) "the Moby Dick of giant killer shark novels." Reviewer Jason Frost said of Alten's Grim Reaper: End of Days, "This will not be one of the best books you will read this year. This will be one of the best books you will read, period." Mystery Book Review said of The Loch, "The blending of factual and fictional material as crafted by Alten for the book is both fascinating and credible." Paul Craig Roberts, former Wall Street Journal editor said of Alten's thriller, The Shell Game, "Alten’s book is a first-class thriller set in the real world of today. It is a perfect read for Americans who need their dose of reality to be watered down with fiction and delivered as entertainment."

Megalodon series

• Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror
  Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror
  Meg: A Novel of Deep Terror is a science fiction novel by Steve Alten, and was first published in July 1997. The novel, along with its sequels, follows the under water adventures of a U.S Navy deep sea diver, Jonas Taylor.-Plot summary:...
  
  (1997)
• The Trench
  The Trench
  The Trench is a 1999 science fiction novel by author Steve Alten. The book continues the adventure of Jonas Taylor, a paleobiologist, studying the megalodon.- Plot summary :...
  
  (1999)
• Meg: Primal Waters
  Meg: Primal Waters
  Meg: Primal Waters is a 2004 science fiction novel by author Steve Alten. The book continues the adventure of Jonas Taylor, a paleobiologist, studying the megalodon.- Plot summary :...
  
  (2004)
• Meg: Hell's Aquarium
  Meg: Hell's Aquarium
  Meg: Hell's Aquarium is a 2009 science fiction novel by author Steve Alten. The book continues the adventures of Jonas Taylor, a paleontologist studying the Megalodon.-Plot:...
  
  (2009)
• Meg: Origins (E-Book, 2011)

Other novels

• Goliath
  Goliath (novel)
  Goliath is a science fiction novel by Steve Alten. It is about the world's most dangerous machine controlled by a madman...
  
  (2002)
• The Loch
  The Loch
  The Loch is a science fiction novel and Legal thriller by Steve Alten, and was first published in 2005. The novel is the story of marine biologist Zachary Wallace.-Plot summary:...
  
  (2005) ISBN 978-0976165903
• The Shell Game (2008) ISBN 978-1599550947
• Grim Reaper: End of Days (2010) ISBN 978-1935142164

Film projects

• Meg was originally optioned by Disney's Hollywood Pictures in 1996 without a film being made. Next, New Line showed interest in the topic, but again no film was realized.

• In a 2008 interview producer Belle Avery spoke about doing preliminary work on film based on The Loch.

External links

• stevealten.com, Steve Alten's official site
• Los Angeles Times Book Review