Paul J. McAuley

Key takeaways

Paul J. McAuley belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paul J. McAuley to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paul J. McAuley from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

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. Around the same time, McAuley published the novel Pasquale's Angel, set in an alternative Italian Renaissance; it features Niccolò 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. 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 (Long Form).

Bibliography

Novels Red Dust. London: Gollancz, 1993. ISBN 9780575054882 Pasquale's Angel. London: Gollancz, 1994. ISBN 9780575054899 — Clarke and British Fantasy Awards nominee, 1995, Sidewise Award winner Fairyland. London: Gollancz, 1995. ISBN 9780575060708 — BSFA Award nominee, 1995; Clarke Award winner, 1996; Campbell Award winner, 1997 The Secret of Life. London: Voyager, 2001. ISBN 9780002259040 — BSFA Award nominee, 2001; Clarke Award nominee, 2002 Whole Wide World. London: Voyager, 2002. ISBN 9780002259033 White Devils. London: Simon & Schuster, 2004. ISBN 9780743238854 — Campbell Award nominee, 2005 Mind's Eye. London: Simon & Schuster, 2005. ISBN 9780743238878 — Campbell Award nominee, 2006 Players. London: Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN 9780743276177 Cowboy Angels. London: Gollancz, 2007. ISBN 9780575079342 Austral: London: Gollancz, 2017. ISBN 9781473217317 War of the Maps. London: Gollancz, 2020. ISBN 9781473217348 Beyond the Burn Line. London: Gollancz, 2022. ISBN 9781399603713 Loss Protocol. London: Gollancz, 2026. ISBN 9781399635561 Four Hundred Billion Stars series Four Hundred Billion Stars. London: Gollancz. 1988. [Philip K. Dick Award winner, 1988] Secret Harmonies. London: Gollancz, 1989. ISBN 9780575045804. (Published in the United States as Of the Fall) Eternal Light. London: Gollancz, 1991. ISBN 9780575049314 — BSFA Award nominee, 1991 and Clarke Award nominee, 1992 The Confluence series Child of the River. London: Gollancz, 1997. ISBN 9780575064270 Ancients of Days. London: Gollancz, 1998. ISBN 9780575064287 Shrine of Stars. London: Gollancz, 1999. ISBN 9780575064294 Confluence - The Trilogy. London: Gollancz, 2014. ISBN 9780575119420 The Quiet War series The Quiet War. London, Gollancz, 2008. ISBN 9780575079335 — Clarke Award nominee, 2009 Gardens of the Sun. London: Gollancz, 2009. ISBN 9780575079373 In the Mouth of the Whale. London: Gollancz, 2012. ISBN 9780575100732 Evening's Empires: London, Gollancz, 2013. ISBN 9780575100794 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. ISBN 9780575050013

The Invisible Country. London: Gollancz, 1996. ISBN 9780575060722 — Philip K. Dick Award nominee, 1998

Little Machines. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2005. ISBN 9781902880945

A Very British History. Harrogate: PS Publishing, 2013.

Stories

"A Brief Guide to Other Histories" "Dead Men Walking". Asimov's Science Fiction. 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.

Non-fiction McAuley, Paul (2014). Brazil. BFI Film Classics. London: Palgrave Macmillan. ———————

Bibliography notes

Critical studies and reviews of McAuley's work Spinrad, Norman (April–May 2013). "Doors to anywhere". On Books. Asimov's Science Fiction. 37 (4&5): 183–191. Reviews Cowboy Angels.

References

External links

Paul J. McAuley's official site Paul J. McAuley at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database 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 Archived 4 March 2009 at the Wayback Machine 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

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul J. McAuley

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul J. McAuley claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paul J. McAuley before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paul J. McAuley ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paul J. McAuley

In research: Paul J. McAuley appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paul J. McAuley in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paul J. McAuley is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1955 births, Asimov's Science Fiction people, British alternative history writers, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul J. McAuley outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Paul J. McAuley in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul J. McAuley means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul J. McAuley out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul J. McAuley in simple terms?

Paul J. McAuley (born 23 April 1955) is a British botanist and science fiction author.

Why does Paul J. McAuley matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paul J. McAuley?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paul J. McAuley.