Book Review: War of the Maps by Paul McAuley

There’s a real sense of wonder right from the beginning of Paul McAuley’s new novel War Of The Maps. Set in the far, far future among an ancient, worn-out civilisation on an artificially created world, it seemed first of all medieval, then maybe Wild West or possibly a little bit steampunk.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Something Coming Through by Paul McAuley

When the alien Jackaroo come to Earth, they claim to be concerned only with the welfare of mankind. They provide access to fifteen extra-solar planets for mankind to colonise and from these worlds come a steady stream of alien artefacts from the lost Elder Cultures, artefacts that are little understood but that affect people in many strange ways.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.

Book Review: Austral by Paul McAuley

The partly-thawed Antarctic Peninsula seems like an obvious place to set a novel in a globally-warmed future, but it’s never crossed my mind and I can’t say I’ve come across it in any other book before. Paul McAuley describes a wondrous wilderness of retreating glaciers, hardy frontiersmen, burgeoning greenery and blossoming towns that are working their way inward from the tip of the peninsula. It’s a magnificent setting for a tale of survival, human intrusion into nature and the fight against repeating history’s mistakes.

Read the rest of my review at SF Crowsnest.