Paul McAuley
Encyclopedia
Paul J. McAuley a British botanist and award-winning author.
A biologist by training, UK science fiction author McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction
, dealing with themes such as biotechnology
, alternate history
/alternate reality, and space travel
.
McAuley began with far-future space opera
Four Hundred Billion Stars, its sequel Eternal Light, and the planetary-colony adventure Of the Fall. Red Dust, set on a far-future Mars colonized by the Chinese, is a planetary romance
filled with all the latest SF ideas: nanotechnology
, biotechnology
, artificial intelligence
, personality downloads, virtual reality
. The Confluence trilogy, set in an even more distant future (about ten million years from now), is one of a number of novels to use Frank J. Tipler
's Omega Point
Theory (that the universe seems to be evolving toward a maximum degree of complexity and consciousness) as one of its themes.
About the same time, he published Pasquale's Angel, set in an alternate Italian Renaissance
and featuring Niccolò Machiavegli (Machiavelli) and Leonardo da Vinci
as major characters.
McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings: Fairyland describes a dystopian, war-torn Europe where genetically engineered "dolls" are used as disposable slaves. Since 2001 he has produced several SF-based techno-thriller
s such as The Secret of Life, Whole Wide World, and White Devils.
Four Hundred Billion Stars, his first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award
and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel. "The Temptation of Dr. Stein", won the British Fantasy Award
. Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
(Long Form).
A biologist by training, UK science fiction author McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction
Hard science fiction
Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
, dealing with themes such as biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, alternate history
Alternate history (fiction)
Alternate history or alternative history is a genre of fiction consisting of stories that are set in worlds in which history has diverged from the actual history of the world. It can be variously seen as a sub-genre of literary fiction, science fiction, and historical fiction; different alternate...
/alternate reality, and space travel
Spaceflight
Spaceflight is the act of travelling into or through outer space. Spaceflight can occur with spacecraft which may, or may not, have humans on board. Examples of human spaceflight include the Russian Soyuz program, the U.S. Space shuttle program, as well as the ongoing International Space Station...
.
McAuley began with far-future space opera
Space opera
Space opera is a subgenre of science fiction that emphasizes romantic, often melodramatic adventure, set mainly or entirely in outer space, generally involving conflict between opponents possessing advanced technologies and abilities. The term has no relation to music and it is analogous to "soap...
Four Hundred Billion Stars, its sequel Eternal Light, and the planetary-colony adventure Of the Fall. Red Dust, set on a far-future Mars colonized by the Chinese, is a planetary romance
Planetary romance
Planetary romance is a type of science fiction or science fantasy story in which the bulk of the action consists of adventures on one or more exotic alien planets, characterized by distinctive physical and cultural backgrounds...
filled with all the latest SF ideas: nanotechnology
Nanotechnology
Nanotechnology is the study of manipulating matter on an atomic and molecular scale. Generally, nanotechnology deals with developing materials, devices, or other structures possessing at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometres...
, biotechnology
Biotechnology
Biotechnology is a field of applied biology that involves the use of living organisms and bioprocesses in engineering, technology, medicine and other fields requiring bioproducts. Biotechnology also utilizes these products for manufacturing purpose...
, artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence is the intelligence of machines and the branch of computer science that aims to create it. AI textbooks define the field as "the study and design of intelligent agents" where an intelligent agent is a system that perceives its environment and takes actions that maximize its...
, personality downloads, virtual reality
Virtual reality
Virtual reality , also known as virtuality, is a term that applies to computer-simulated environments that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds...
. The Confluence trilogy, set in an even more distant future (about ten million years from now), is one of a number of novels to use Frank J. Tipler
Frank J. Tipler
Frank Jennings Tipler is a mathematical physicist and cosmologist, holding a joint appointment in the Departments of Mathematics and Physics at Tulane University. Tipler has authored books and papers on the Omega Point, which he claims is a mechanism for the resurrection of the dead. It has been...
's Omega Point
Omega point
Omega Point is a term coined by the French Jesuit Pierre Teilhard de Chardin to describe a maximum level of complexity and consciousness towards which he believed the universe was evolving....
Theory (that the universe seems to be evolving toward a maximum degree of complexity and consciousness) as one of its themes.
About the same time, he published Pasquale's Angel, set in an alternate Italian Renaissance
Italian Renaissance
The Italian Renaissance began the opening phase of the Renaissance, a period of great cultural change and achievement in Europe that spanned the period from the end of the 13th century to about 1600, marking the transition between Medieval and Early Modern Europe...
and featuring Niccolò Machiavegli (Machiavelli) and Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci was an Italian Renaissance polymath: painter, sculptor, architect, musician, scientist, mathematician, engineer, inventor, anatomist, geologist, cartographer, botanist and writer whose genius, perhaps more than that of any other figure, epitomized the Renaissance...
as major characters.
McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings: Fairyland describes a dystopian, war-torn Europe where genetically engineered "dolls" are used as disposable slaves. Since 2001 he has produced several SF-based techno-thriller
Techno-thriller
Techno-thrillers are a hybrid genre, drawing subject matter generally from spy/action thrillers, fantasy/war novels, and science fiction...
s such as The Secret of Life, Whole Wide World, and White Devils.
Four Hundred Billion Stars, his first novel, won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1988. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award
Arthur C. Clarke Award
The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. The award was established with a grant from Arthur C. Clarke and the first prize was awarded in 1987...
and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel. "The Temptation of Dr. Stein", won the British Fantasy Award
British Fantasy Award
The British Fantasy Awards are administered annually by the British Fantasy Society and were first awarded in 1971. The membership of the BFS vote to determine recommendations, short-lists and winners of the awards...
. Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History
Sidewise Award for Alternate History
The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year.The awards take their name from the 1934 short story "Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in which a strange storm causes portions of Earth to swap places with...
(Long Form).
Four Hundred Billion Stars Series
- Four Hundred Billion Stars. London: Gollancz, 1988. ISBN 0-575-04260-5 -- Philip K. Dick Award winner, 1988
- Secret Harmonies (vt US Of the Fall). London: Gollancz, 1989. ISBN 0-575-04580-9
- Eternal Light. London: Gollancz, 1991. ISBN 0-575-04931-6 -- BSFA Award nominee, 1991 and Clarke Award nominee, 1992
The Confluence Series
- Child of the River. London: Gollancz, 1997. ISBN 0-575-06427-7
- Ancients of Days. London: Gollancz, 1998. ISBN 0-575-06428-5
- Shrine of Stars. London: Gollancz, 1999. ISBN 0-575-06429-3
The Quiet War Duology
- The Quiet WarThe Quiet War (Novel)The Quiet War is a 2008 science fiction novel written by Paul McAuley.-Summary:The Quiet War is a space opera set in the 23rd Century. Some of the Earth's population has fled the planet due to war and catastrophic climate change...
: London, Gollancz, 2008. ISBN 978-0575079335—Clarke Award nominee, 2009 - Gardens of the Sun. London: Gollancz , 2009. ISBN 978-0575079373
Other Novels
- Red Dust. London: Gollancz, 1993. ISBN 0-575-05488-3
- Pasquale's Angel. London: Gollancz, 1994. ISBN 0-575-05489-1 -- Clarke and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 1995
- Fairyland. London: Gollancz, 1995. ISBN 0-575-06070-0 -- BSFA Award nominee, 1995; Clarke Award winner, 1996; Campbell Award winner, 1997
- The Secret of Life. London: Voyager, 2001. ISBN 0-00-225904-4 -- BSFA Award nominee, 2001; Clarke Award nominee, 2002
- Whole Wide World. London: Voyager, 2002. ISBN 0-00-225903-6
- White Devils. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 0-7432-3885-0 -- Campbell Award nominee, 2005
- Mind's Eye. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 0-7432-3887-7 -- Campbell Award nominee, 2006
- Players. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN 0-7432-7617-5
- Cowboy Angels: London: Gollancz, 2007. ISBN 978-0-575-07934-7
Novellas
- Making History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2000. ISBN 1-902880-08-0
- The Eye of the TygerThe Eye of the TygerThe Eye of the Tyger is an original novella written by Paul J. McAuley and based on the long-running British science fiction television series Doctor Who. It features the Eighth Doctor. It was released as a standard edition hardback, a deluxe edition featuring a frontispiece by Jim Burns, and...
. Tolworth, Surrey: Telos Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1-903889-24-3 (a Doctor WhoDoctor WhoDoctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
novellaTelos Doctor Who novellasThe Telos Doctor Who novellas were a series of tie-in novellas based on the long-running BBC science fiction television series Doctor Who, officially licensed by the BBC and published by Telos Publishing Ltd...
)
Collections
- King of the Hill. London: Gollancz, 1988. ISBN 0-575-05001-2
- The Invisible Country. London: Gollancz, 1996. ISBN 0-575-06072-7 -- Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 1998
- Little Machines. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1-902880-94-3
Selected Short Stories
- "Gene Wars" (1991)
- "The Temptation of Dr. Stein" (1996)
External links
- Paul J. McAuley's official site
- Infinity Plus profile of Paul J. McAuley
- Profile of Paul McAuley by Michael SwanwickMichael SwanwickMichael Swanwick is an American science fiction author. Based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he began publishing in the early 1980s.-Biography:...
- Review, The Secret of Life
- Review, The Book of Confluence trilogy
- Interview on Actusf
- Complete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novel