Paul J. McAuley

File:Paul McAuley 2005.JPG

Paul McAuley at Worldcon 2005 in Glasgow

Paul J. McAuley (born 23 April 1955) is a British botanist and science fiction author. A biologist by training, McAuley writes mostly hard science fiction. His novels deal with themes such as biotechnology, alternative history/reality, and space travel.

McAuley began writing science fiction with the far-future space-opera novel Four Hundred Billion Stars, its sequel Eternal Light, and the planetary-colony adventure Of the Fall. The novel Red Dust, set on a far-future Mars colonized by the Chinese, is a planetary romance featuring many emerging technologies and science fiction motifs: nanotechnology, biotechnology, artificial intelligence, personality downloads, and virtual reality. His Confluence series, set in an even more distant future (about ten million years from now), is one of multiple novels that use Frank J. Tipler's Omega Point Theory as a theme; in this theory, the universe seems to be evolving toward a maximum degree of complexity and consciousness.<ref name="infplus">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Around the same time, McAuley published the novel Pasquale's Angel, set in an alternative Italian Renaissance; it features Niccolò Machiavegli (Machiavelli) and Leonardo da Vinci as major characters.

McAuley has also used biotechnology and nanotechnology themes in near-future settings: the novel Fairyland describes a dystopian, war-torn Europe where genetically engineered "dolls" are used as disposable slaves. Since 2001, he has produced several techno-thriller novels based on science fiction, 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.<ref name="WWE-1988">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award<ref name="WWE-1996">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel.<ref name="WWE-1997">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The short story "The Temptation of Dr. Stein" won the British Fantasy Award. Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History (Long Form).

Bibliography

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Novels

• Red Dust. London: Gollancz, 1993. Template:ISBN
• Pasquale's Angel. London: Gollancz, 1994. Template:ISBN — Clarke and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 1995,<ref name="WWE-1995">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Sidewise Award winner

• Fairyland. London: Gollancz, 1995. Template:ISBN — BSFA Award nominee, 1995;<ref name="WWE-1995"/> Clarke Award winner, 1996;<ref name="WWE-1996"/> Campbell Award winner, 1997<ref name="WWE-1997"/>
• The Secret of Life. London: Voyager, 2001. Template:ISBN — BSFA Award nominee, 2001;<ref name="WWE-2001">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Clarke Award nominee, 2002<ref name="WWE-2002">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Whole Wide World. London: Voyager, 2002. Template:ISBN
• White Devils. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. Template:ISBN — Campbell Award nominee, 2005<ref name="WWE-2005">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Mind's Eye. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005. Template:ISBN — Campbell Award nominee, 2006<ref name="WWE-2006">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Players. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Template:ISBN
• Cowboy Angels. London: Gollancz, 2007. Template:ISBN
• Austral: London: Gollancz, 2017. Template:ISBN
• War of the Maps. London: Gollancz, 2020. Template:ISBN
• Beyond the Burn Line. London: Gollancz, 2022. Template:ISBN
• Loss Protocol. London: Gollancz, 2026. Template:ISBN

Four Hundred Billion Stars series

• Template:Cite book [Philip K. Dick Award winner, 1988]<ref name="WWE-1988"/>
• Secret Harmonies. London: Gollancz, 1989. Template:ISBN. (Published in the United States as Of the Fall)
• Eternal Light. London: Gollancz, 1991. Template:ISBN — BSFA Award nominee, 1991<ref name="WWE-1991">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> and Clarke Award nominee, 1992<ref name="WWE-1992">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Confluence series

• Child of the River. London: Gollancz, 1997. Template:ISBN
• Ancients of Days. London: Gollancz, 1998. Template:ISBN
• Shrine of Stars. London: Gollancz, 1999. Template:ISBN
• Confluence - The Trilogy. London: Gollancz, 2014. Template:ISBN<ref name="confluence">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The Quiet War series

• The Quiet War. London, Gollancz, 2008. Template:ISBN — Clarke Award nominee, 2009<ref name="WWE-2009">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Gardens of the Sun. London: Gollancz, 2009. Template:ISBN
• In the Mouth of the Whale. London: Gollancz, 2012. Template:ISBN
• Evening's Empires: London, Gollancz, 2013. Template:ISBN<ref name="empires">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Stories from the Quiet War (2011), a collection of five stories:
  • "Making History", first published in 2000
  • "Incomers", first published in 2008
  • "Second Skin", first published in 1997 in Asimov's
  • "Reef", first published in 2000
  • "Karyl's War", first published in this collection
• Blade and Bone (2023) (novella)

The Jackaroo series

• Something Coming Through: London, Gollancz, 2015.<ref name="SCT">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• Into Everywhere. London: Gollancz, 2016.<ref name="SCT"/>
• Dust (short story) (2006)
• Winning Peace (short story) (2007)
• City of the Dead (short story) (2008)
• Adventure (short story) (2008)
• Crimes and Glory (short story) (2009)
• Bruce Springsteen (short story) (2012)
• The Man (short story) (2012)
• Something Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was (short story) (2016)
• Maryon's Gift (short story) (2022)

Short fiction

• The King of the Hill. London: Gollancz, 1991. Template:ISBN

1. The King of the Hill
2. Karl and the Ogre
3. Transcendence
4. The Temporary King
5. Exiles
6. Little Ilya and Spider and Box
7. The Airs of Earth
8. The Heirs of Earth

• The Invisible Country. London: Gollancz, 1996. Template:ISBN — Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 1998<ref name="WWE-1998">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Colbegin

1. Gene Wars (1991)
2. Prison Dreams
3. Recording Angel (1995)
4. Dr. Luther's Assistant
5. The Temptation of Dr Stein (1996)<ref group=lower-alpha>Set in the same timeline than Pasquale's Angel (1994).</ref>
6. Children of the Revolution
7. The True History of Doctor Pretorius
8. Slaves

• Little Machines. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2005. Template:ISBN

1. The Two Dicks
2. Residuals
3. 17
4. All Tomorrow's Parties
5. Interstitial
6. How We Lost the Moon, a True Story by Frank W. Allen
7. Under Mars
8. Danger: Hard Hack Area
9. The Madness of Crowds
10. The Secret of My Success
11. The Proxy
12. I Spy
13. The Rift
14. Alien TV
15. Before the Flood
16. A Very British History
17. Cross Roads Blues

• A Very British History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2013.<ref name="avbe">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name="avbe1">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Template:Colbegin

1. Little Ilya and Spider and Box
2. The Temporary King
3. Cross Roads Blues
4. Gene Wars
5. Prison Dreams
6. Children of the Revolution
7. Recording Angel
8. Second Skin
9. All Tomorrow's Parties
10. 17
11. Sea Change, With Monsters
12. How We Lost the Moon, A True Story by Frank W. Allen
13. A Very British History
14. The Two Dicks
15. Meat
16. Rocket Boy
17. The Thought War
18. City of the Dead
19. Little Lost Robot
20. Shadow Life
21. The Choice

Stories<ref group=lower-alpha>Short stories unless otherwise noted.</ref>

Year	Title	First published	Reprinted/collected	Notes
2000	Making History	Making History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2000. Template:ISBN		Novella
2003	The Eye of the Tyger	The Eye of the Tyger. Tolworth, Surrey: Telos Publishing, 2003. Template:ISBN (a Doctor Who novella)		Novella
2011	The Choice	Template:Cite journal		The Jackaroo series
2012	Antarctica Starts Here	Template:Cite journal
2015	Wild Honey	Template:Cite journal
2023	Gravesend, or, Everyday Life in the Anthropocene	Gravesend, or, Everyday Life in the Anthropocene (2023)		Novella

• "A Brief Guide to Other Histories"
• "Dead Men Walking". Asimov's Science Fiction. 30 (3): 80–93. March 2006.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "Edna Sharrow"
• "Inheritance"
• "Planet of Fear" (2015) in Old Venus (anthology)<ref name="GRRM 2014-06">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

• "Rocket Boy"
• Set in the Jackaroo universe:
  • "Winning Peace" (2016), in the collection Galactic Empires by Neil Clarke.
  • "Something Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was" (2016), published as a freebie on Tor.com.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation

|CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Non-fiction

• Template:Cite book

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Bibliography notes

Critical studies and reviews of McAuley's work

• Template:Cite journal Reviews Cowboy Angels.

External links

• Paul J. McAuley's official site
• Template:Isfdb name
• Infinity Plus profile of Paul J. McAuley
• Profile of Paul McAuley by Michael Swanwick
• Review, The Secret of Life
• Review, The Book of Confluence trilogy Template:Webarchive
• Review, Whole Wide World
• Review, Confluence - trilogy omnibus
• Interview on Actusf
• Complete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novel
• Story Behind Quiet War (How I wrote the Quiet War novels and stories) - Online Essay at Upcoming4.me
• Story behind Confluence by Paul McAuley - Collaborating With Myself - Online Essay at Upcoming4.me