Paul J. McAuley


Paul J. McAuley 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, 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.
Around the same time, McAuley published the novel Pasquale's Angel, set in an alternative Italian Renaissance; it features Niccolò Machiavegli 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. Fairyland won the 1996 Arthur C. Clarke Award and the 1997 John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best SF Novel. The short story "The Temptation of Dr. Stein" won the British Fantasy Award. Pasquale's Angel won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History.

Novels

Red Dust. London: Gollancz, 1993. Pasquale's Angel. London: Gollancz, 1994. — Clarke and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 1995, Sidewise Award winnerFairyland. London: Gollancz, 1995. — BSFA Award nominee, 1995; Clarke Award winner, 1996; Campbell Award winner, 1997The Secret of Life. London: Voyager, 2001. — BSFA Award nominee, 2001; Clarke Award nominee, 2002Whole Wide World. London: Voyager, 2002. White Devils. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. — Campbell Award nominee, 2005Mind's Eye. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005. — Campbell Award nominee, 2006Players. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007. Cowboy Angels. London: Gollancz, 2007. Austral: London: Gollancz, 2017. War of the Maps. London: Gollancz, 2020. Beyond the Burn Line. London: Gollancz, 2022. Loss Protocol. London: Gollancz, 2026.
;Four Hundred Billion Stars seriesSecret Harmonies. London: Gollancz, 1989.. Eternal Light. London: Gollancz, 1991. — BSFA Award nominee, 1991 and Clarke Award nominee, 1992
;The Confluence seriesChild of the River. London: Gollancz, 1997. Ancients of Days. London: Gollancz, 1998. Shrine of Stars. London: Gollancz, 1999. Confluence - The Trilogy. London: Gollancz, 2014.
;The Quiet War seriesThe Quiet War. London, Gollancz, 2008. — Clarke Award nominee, 2009Gardens of the Sun. London: Gollancz, 2009. In the Mouth of the Whale. London: Gollancz, 2012. Evening's Empires: London, Gollancz, 2013. Stories from the Quiet War, 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 collectionBlade and Bone
;The Jackaroo seriesSomething Coming Through: London, Gollancz, 2015.Into Everywhere. London: Gollancz, 2016.Dust Winning Peace City of the Dead Adventure Crimes and Glory Bruce Springsteen The Man Something Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was
  • ''Maryon's Gift''

Short fiction

The King of the Hill. London: Gollancz, 1991.
  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 EarthThe Invisible Country. London: Gollancz, 1996. — Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 1998
  9. Gene Wars
  10. Prison Dreams
  11. Recording Angel
  12. Dr. Luther's Assistant
  13. The Temptation of Dr Stein
  14. Children of the Revolution
  15. The True History of Doctor Pretorius
  16. SlavesLittle Machines. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2005.
  17. The Two Dicks
  18. Residuals
  19. 17
  20. All Tomorrow's Parties
  21. Interstitial
  22. How We Lost the Moon, a True Story by Frank W. Allen
  23. Under Mars
  24. Danger: Hard Hack Area
  25. The Madness of Crowds
  26. The Secret of My Success
  27. The Proxy
  28. I Spy
  29. The Rift
  30. Alien TV
  31. Before the Flood
  32. A Very British History
  33. Cross Roads BluesA Very British History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2013.
  34. Little Ilya and Spider and Box
  35. The Temporary King
  36. Cross Roads Blues
  37. Gene Wars
  38. Prison Dreams
  39. Children of the Revolution
  40. Recording Angel
  41. Second Skin
  42. All Tomorrow's Parties
  43. 17
  44. Sea Change, With Monsters
  45. How We Lost the Moon, A True Story by Frank W. Allen
  46. A Very British History
  47. The Two Dicks
  48. Meat
  49. Rocket Boy
  50. The Thought War
  51. City of the Dead
  52. Little Lost Robot
  53. Shadow Life
  54. The Choice
;Stories
YearTitleFirst publishedReprinted/collectedNotes
2000Making HistoryMaking History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2000. Novella
2003The Eye of the TygerThe Eye of the Tyger. Tolworth, Surrey: Telos Publishing, 2003. Novella
2011The ChoiceThe Jackaroo series
2012Antarctica Starts Here
2015Wild Honey
2023Gravesend, or, Everyday Life in the AnthropoceneGravesend, or, Everyday Life in the Anthropocene Novella

  • "A Brief Guide to Other Histories"
  • "Dead Men Walking". Asimov's Science Fiction. 30 : 80–93. March 2006.
  • "Edna Sharrow"
  • "Inheritance"
  • "Planet of Fear" in Old Venus
  • "Rocket Boy"
  • Set in the Jackaroo universe:
  • * "Winning Peace", in the collection Galactic Empires by Neil Clarke.
  • * "Something Happened Here, But We're Not Quite Sure What It Was", published as a freebie on Tor.com.

Non-fiction

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;Bibliography notes
WWW Official Site

Critical studies and reviews of McAuley's work

  • Reviews Cowboy Angels.