BOOK REVIEW: Paul McAuley's Outer Series

The Quiet War	Gardens of the Sun

Paul J. McAuley's The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun are the first two books in what I will call "the Outer series" although it is not clear if there will be more. In researching authors like Alastair Reynolds, Iain M. Banks and Peter F. Hamilton the name Paul J. McAuley (and Ian Whates) came up.

The Quiet War and Gardens of the Sun tell the story of an Earth which has undergone severe climate change which has led to vast political upheaval. There are now only three political superpowers: Greater Brazil (basically South America and North America), Europe and Pacifica (China and India). Humanity has split into multiple strains, with colonies on Mars, the Moon and the Outer Planets. During the last war, the Mars colonists attempted to arrange for an asteroid to hit the Earth so the Chinese re-directed a comet to land on their colony and successfully re-directed the asteroid so it missed our planet.

Animosity between people still on earth and the people in outer space persist decades after these events, especially since the Outers as they are called, have taken to genetically adapting themselves to low-gravity conditions, using bio-engineering in ways that people on Earth find morally offensive. After almost ruining the planet with pollution in the 20th and 21st centuries, the people of Earth in the 23rd century are busily cleaning up their world and attempting to reverse the damage. They look upon any meddling with nature with suspicion.

Both Gardens of the Sun and The Quiet War are chock-full of the details of living in low and zero gravity, combined with a plot that features intricate, internecine political intrigue.

Overall, I would not say that these McAuley books are in the same league as the works of Hamilton or Reynolds, which are long, suspenseful, totally engrossing works of space opera. They are worth reading, however, and a reasonable diversion but not a substitute for hard science fiction, if that is where your tastes lie.

Title: The Quiet War

Author: Paul J. McAuley

Length: 405 pages.
Publisher: Pyr.
Date: September 22, 2009.

OVERALL GRADE: A-/B+.

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: B+.
WRITING: A-.

Title: Gardens of the Sun

Author: Paul J. McAuley

Length: 411 pages.
Publisher: Pyr.
Date: February 2010,.

OVERALL GRADE: A-/B+.

PLOT: A-.
IMAGERY: B+.
IMPACT: A-.
WRITING: B+.