Carbon Dreams

Carbon Dreams is a novel by Susan M. Gaines and an example of what has come to be known as Lab lit or "science in fiction". It was published by Creative Arts Book Company in 2000 and is Gaines' first novel.

Thomas Christensen writing for the San Francisco Chronicle has said, "In her debut novel, "Carbon Dreams," Susan M. Gaines gives us a work that's equal parts geology and romance. Gaines, who has degrees in chemistry and oceanography, has boldly built the novel around challenging scientific theories".

Karen Bushaw-Newton writing for the BioScience said, "Susan Gaines combined fact and fiction to depict the life and struggles of a female geochemist as her career developed. The book portrayed the scientific world in both positive and negative ways by highlighting the passion that scientists have for their research, the difficulties and frustrations of finding funding, and the politics of scientific discovery".

In New Scientist the book has been described as "It's all here: the fight for grants, intellectual ownership, a triumph at a conference (dream scene for any researcher), an affair or two and inevitable heartbreak as work edges out the lover. Gripping stuff."