Here are the books:
the RED MARS, GREEN MARS, and BLUE MARS series written by Kim Stanley Robinson. A little strange starting out, but overall a good yarn.
and,
FALLEN ANGELS by Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle, and Michael Flynn. An excellent yarn. If you know the authors involved it is easy to pick them out, plus they mention Steven Barnes, if not by name then by character. And for once, the main characters DOES NOT have to solve a murder or crime of any sort.
becoming a bookworm
Jet