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 Hard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by concern for scientific accuracy and logic. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell's ''Islands of Space'' in the Novemb ...

. His novels deal with themes such as

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

alternative history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

/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 Planetary romanceAllen Steele, ''Captain Future - the Horror at Jupiter''p .195/ref> (other synonyms are sword and planet, and planetary adventure) is a subgenre of science fiction or science fantasy in which the bulk of the action consists of a ...

featuring many

emerging technologies Emerging technologies are technology, technologies whose development, practical applications, or both are still largely unrealized. These technologies are generally innovation, new but also include old technologies finding new applications. Emer ...

and science fiction motifs:

nanotechnology Nanotechnology is the manipulation of matter with at least one dimension sized from 1 to 100 nanometers (nm). At this scale, commonly known as the nanoscale, surface area and quantum mechanical effects become important in describing propertie ...

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

, personality downloads, and

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a Simulation, simulated experience that employs 3D near-eye displays and pose tracking to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video gam ...

. 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. Around the same time, McAuley published the novel '' Pasquale's Angel'', set in an alternative

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

; it features Niccolò Machiavegli (Machiavelli) and

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 1452 - 2 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially rested o ...

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 A techno-thriller or technothriller is a hybrid genre drawing from science fiction, thrillers, spy fiction, action, and war novels. They include a disproportionate amount (relative to other genres) of technical details on their subject matter ...

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 The British Fantasy Awards (BFA) are awarded annually by the British Fantasy Society (BFS), first in 1976. Prior to that they were known as The August Derleth Fantasy Awards (see August Derleth Award). First awarded in 1972 (to ''The Knight of ...

. ''Pasquale's Angel'' won the

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. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in w ...

(Long Form).

Bibliography

Novels

* ''Red Dust''. London: Gollancz, 1993. * '' Pasquale's Angel''. London: Gollancz, 1994. — Clarke and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 1995, Sidewise Award winner * ''Fairyland''. London: Gollancz, 1995. — BSFA Award nominee, 1995; Clarke Award winner, 1996; Campbell Award winner, 1997 * ''The Secret of Life''. London: Voyager, 2001. — BSFA Award nominee, 2001; Clarke Award nominee, 2002 * ''Whole Wide World''. London: Voyager, 2002. * ''White Devils''. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. — Campbell Award nominee, 2005 * ''Mind's Eye''. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005. — Campbell Award nominee, 2006 * ''Players''. 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 series * hilip K. Dick Award winner, 1988ref name="WWE-1988"/> * '' Secret Harmonies''. London: Gollancz, 1989. . (Published in the United States as ''Of the Fall'') * ''Eternal Light''. London: Gollancz, 1991. — BSFA Award nominee, 1991 and Clarke Award nominee, 1992 ;The Confluence series * ''Child 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 series * '' The Quiet War''. London, Gollancz, 2008. — Clarke Award nominee, 2009 * '' Gardens 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'' (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. * '' Into Everywhere''. London: Gollancz, 2016. * ''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. # The King of the Hill # Karl and the Ogre # Transcendence # The Temporary King # Exiles # Little Ilya and Spider and Box # The Airs of Earth # The Heirs of Earth * ''The Invisible Country''. London: Gollancz, 1996. — Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 1998 # Gene Wars (1991) # Prison Dreams # Recording Angel (1995) # Dr. Luther's Assistant # The Temptation of Dr Stein (1996)Set in the same timeline than ''Pasquale's Angel'' (1994). # Children of the Revolution # The True History of Doctor Pretorius # Slaves * ''Little Machines''. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2005. # The Two Dicks # Residuals # 17 # All Tomorrow's Parties # Interstitial # How We Lost the Moon, a True Story by Frank W. Allen # Under Mars # Danger: Hard Hack Area # The Madness of Crowds # The Secret of My Success # The Proxy # I Spy # The Rift # Alien TV # Before the Flood # A Very British History # Cross Roads Blues * ''A Very British History''. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2013. # Little Ilya and Spider and Box # The Temporary King # Cross Roads Blues # Gene Wars # Prison Dreams # Children of the Revolution # Recording Angel # Second Skin # All Tomorrow's Parties # 17 # Sea Change, With Monsters # How We Lost the Moon, A True Story by Frank W. Allen # A Very British History # The Two Dicks # Meat # Rocket Boy # The Thought War # City of the Dead # Little Lost Robot # Shadow Life # The Choice ;StoriesShort stories unless otherwise noted. * "A Brief Guide to Other Histories" * "Dead Men Walking". ''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine edited by Sheila Williams and published by Dell Magazines, which is owned by Penny Press. It was launched as a quarterly by Davis Publications in 1977, after obtaining Isaac ...

''. 30 (3): 80–93. March 2006. * "Edna Sharrow" * "Inheritance" * "Planet of Fear" (2015) in '' Old Venus'' (anthology) * "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 ''Reactor'', formerly ''Tor.com'', is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine published by Tor Books, a division of Macmillan Publishers. The magazine publishes articles, reviews, original short fiction, re-reads and commentary on specul ...

Non-fiction

* ——————— ;Bibliography notes

Critical studies and reviews of McAuley's work

* Reviews ''Cowboy Angels''.

References

External links

Paul J. McAuley's official site
*

by

Michael Swanwick Michael Swanwick (born November 18, 1950) is an American list of fantasy authors, fantasy and List of science-fiction authors, science fiction author who began publishing in the early 1980s. Writing career Swanwick's fiction writing began w ...

Review, ''The Secret of Life''

Review, ''Whole Wide World''Review, ''Confluence - trilogy omnibus''Interview on ActusfComplete list of sci-fi award wins and nominations by novelStory 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''
{{DEFAULTSORT:McAuley, Paul J. 1955 births Living people Asimov's Science Fiction people British alternative history writers British biologists British botanists British male novelists British science fiction writers Sidewise Award winners