Paul J. McAuley
Author of Fairyland
About the Author
Image credit: Paul J. McAuley - Photo: © Szymon Sokół
Series
Works by Paul J. McAuley
Something Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was: A Tor.Com Original (2016) 17 copies, 2 reviews
Recording Angel {novelette} 10 copies
Dead Men Walking 8 copies
The Two Dicks 7 copies
Incomers 6 copies
Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 47, No. 11 & 12 [November/December 2023] — Contributor — 5 copies
Asimov's Science Fiction: Vol. 46, No. 3 & 4 [March/April 2022] (2021) — Contributor — 5 copies, 1 review
Sea Change with Monsters 5 copies
The Temporary King [short fiction] 5 copies
The Passenger 4 copies
Macy Minnot's Last Christmas on Dione, Ring Racing, Fiddler's Green, the Potter's Garden (Short story) (2012) 4 copies, 1 review
Naming The Dead 3 copies
All Tomorrow's Parties 3 copies
Cross Roads Blues 3 copies
Războiul liniștit 2 copies
The Madness Of Crowds 2 copies
Inheritance 2 copies
The Man (Short story) 2 copies
A Brief Guide To Other Histories 2 copies
Wild Honey {short story} 2 copies
The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 7 — Contributor — 2 copies
Meat (short story) 2 copies
Transcendence [Short story] 2 copies
Elves of Antarctica {short story} 2 copies
Assassination Of Faustino Malarte 2 copies
Rocket Boy (novelette) 2 copies
Shadow Life (short story) 2 copies
Bone Orchards 2 copies
Interstitial 2 copies
Residuals 2 copies
The Heirs of Earth [Short story] 2 copies
The Airs of Earth [Short story] 2 copies
Rats Dream Of The Future 1 copy
Edna Sharrow 1 copy
Maryon's Gift 1 copy
Back Door Man 1 copy
Blade And Bone 1 copy
Novacon 28 Special: Alien TV 1 copy
The Gardens of Saturn 1 copy
Danger: Hard Hack Area 1 copy
Karyl's War 1 copy
Life As We Know It 1 copy
Take me to the river 1 copy
Planet of Fear (novelette) 1 copy
Straight to Hell 1 copy
Child of the Stones 1 copy
Space Fever 1 copy
Antarctica Starts Here 1 copy
Adventure 1 copy
Penance 1 copy
Before The Flood 1 copy
Alien Tv 1 copy
The Rift 1 copy
I Spy 1 copy
The Proxy 1 copy
The Secret Of My Success 1 copy
Prometheus Warps the F-Ring 1 copy
Heaven Is A Place 1 copy
Associated Works
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Nineteenth Annual Collection (2002) — Contributor — 531 copies, 5 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Seventeenth Annual Collection (2000) — Contributor — 517 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twentieth Annual Collection (2003) — Contributor — 502 copies, 1 review
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Sixteenth Annual Collection (1999) — Contributor — 485 copies, 1 review
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Eighteenth Annual Collection (2001) — Contributor — 481 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection (1998) — Contributor — 444 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection (2007) — Contributor — 436 copies, 7 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirteenth Annual Collection (1996) — Contributor — 424 copies, 4 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Ninth Annual Collection (1992) — Contributor — 423 copies, 4 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Sixth Annual Collection (2009) — Contributor — 398 copies, 2 reviews
The Best of the Best: 20 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction (2005) — Contributor — 378 copies, 19 reviews
Zima Blue and Other Stories [Night Shade Books] (2006) — Introduction, some editions — 342 copies, 12 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Seventh Annual Collection (2010) — Contributor — 287 copies, 6 reviews
The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Fourteenth Annual Collection (2001) — Contributor — 250 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Twenty-Ninth Annual Collection (2012) — Contributor — 245 copies, 5 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirtieth Annual Collection (2013) — Contributor — 222 copies, 3 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-First Annual Collection (2014) — Contributor — 176 copies, 2 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Third Annual Collection (2016) — Contributor — 161 copies, 2 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Three (2009) — Contributor — 144 copies, 2 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Six (2012) — Contributor — 143 copies, 4 reviews
The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Seven (2013) — Contributor — 141 copies, 3 reviews
The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of The Year's Best Science Fiction (2019) — Contributor — 134 copies, 1 review
The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy: Sixteen Original Works by Speculative Fiction's Finest Voices (2008) — Contributor — 132 copies, 4 reviews
The Year's Best Science Fiction: Thirty-Fourth Annual Collection (2017) — Contributor — 128 copies, 3 reviews
Nebula Awards Showcase 2002: The Year's Best SF and Fantasy (2002) — Commentary — 92 copies, 1 review
The Mammoth Book of Zombie Apocalypse! Fightback (Mammoth Books) (2012) — Contributor — 59 copies, 1 review
2001: An Odyssey in Words: Celebrating the Centenary of Arthur C. Clarke's Birth (2018) — Contributor — 55 copies, 13 reviews
More Human Than Human: Stories of Androids, Robots, and Manufactured Humanity (2017) — Contributor — 52 copies, 1 review
In the Shadow of Frankenstein: Tales of the Modern Prometheus (2016) — Contributor — 49 copies, 1 review
One Lamp: Alternate History Stories from The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction (2003) — Contributor — 46 copies
Twelve Tomorrows - Visionary stories of the near future inspired by today's technologies (2013) — Contributor — 35 copies, 1 review
Postscripts Magazine, Issue 15: Worldcon 2008 Special (2008) — Contributor, some editions — 14 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction March 1999, Vol. 96, No. 3 (1999) — Contributor — 11 copies
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction November 1988, Vol. 75, No. 5 (1988) — Author — 10 copies
Terra Nova vol. 3: Antología de ciencia ficción contemporánea (2014) — Contributor — 6 copies, 1 review
Subterranean Magazine Spring 2009 — Contributor — 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- McAuley, Paul J.
- Legal name
- McAuley, Paul James
- Other names
- McAuley, Paul
- Birthdate
- 1955-04-23
- Gender
- male
- Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Stroud, Gloucestershire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- London, England, UK
St. Andrews, Scotland, UK - Occupations
- botanist
science fiction writer - Organizations
- Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America
- Awards and honors
- Guest of Honour, Eastercon, UK (1992)
Members
Reviews
Lists
io9 Book Club (1)
SF Masterworks (2)
Awards
You May Also Like
Associated Authors
Statistics
- Works
- 135
- Also by
- 151
- Members
- 6,116
- Popularity
- #4,026
- Rating
- 3.6
- Reviews
- 179
- ISBNs
- 210
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 6
The story is set partly on a future Earth where ecological disaster has resulted in devastation - the "Overturn" - and the growth of Brazil as a new world superpower, holding sway over both North and South America. The rest of the story is set amongst the moons of Jupiter and Saturn. For those used to absorbing their science fiction through visual media, we are firmly in the territory of The Expanse, which is unfortunate, as this novel precedes The Expanse by a couple of years. But the resemblances are there: an Earth in recovery from disaster, interplanetary travel via advanced fusion-drive spaceships, colonies on Jovian and Saturnian moons whose inhabitants are thought of as "Outers", and those colonies are dependant on a range of innovative technologies to create habitable environments.
And yet: McAuley's specialism is in botany and biology, and his colonists rely on genetic and bio-engineering to better adapt to their surroundings. This is one of the early issues with the book, as in the first quarter, McAuley does rather go a bit overboard on the info-dumping. Get past that, and there is a reasonable story about interplanetary political intrigue, with high-tech action set pieces to satisfy those who like that sort of thing. Characterisation is adequate, though McAuley introduces two characters in the opening chapters who then disappear for a large section of the book. Perhaps the most interesting of these is Dave 8, a cloned super-soldier created by the Brazilian government - or rather, one of the more important generals from the pre-eminent family in Brazilian politics - for unspecified missions in space. Dave 8's training is delivered in a Catholic seminary, and this setting and the internal doubts and questions of Dave 8 probably form the more interesting character of the book, precisely because a Catholic assassin may well be outside many readers' experience.
Otherwise, the casual reader might think that this was a bog-standard work of "military science fiction", which it is not. And it certainly isn't a fast-paced adventure story. Yet for those willing to engage with this book on a more intellectual level, there is plenty to engage with.… (more)