author : Paul J. McAuley

Humanity is fighting a war against an unknown enemy in the BD-20 system. In another star system, orbiting close to a red dwarf star, a strange planet has been discovered. Obviously planoformed about a million years ago, it is populated by mindless herbivores herded by barely intelligent carnivores. Are these herders the Enemy? or a regressed form of the Enemy? or something else? Dorthy Yoshida, an astronomer with a telepathic Talent she resents, is sent to join the survey team, to find out.

This is essentially a puzzle story: can Dorthy discover the secret of the aliens before the Navy is goaded into sterilising the planet? That's if she even gets to try: she has been drafted and initially feels no great urge to help; Andrews, one of the leaders who drafted her, has his own opinion of the herders, and merely wants it confirmed.

McAuley is a biologist by training, and we get treated to descriptions of alien physiologies and ecologies, and some graphic accounts of the effects on the human digestive system of eating them; there is also a fair smattering of astronomy. A good scene that illustrates McAuley's scientific background is where Andrews tries to patronise the military commander, who then demonstrates a better grasp of the scientific method than he does:

Despite the good science, McAuley's prose style is rather too flowery for my taste. Example: this planet is orbiting close to a dim red dwarf, so everything is bathed in a dim red light, or rather, in various multi-syllabled synonyms for such.

I found it to be a slightly depressing book: all the characters are rather unsympathetic, and the story never seems to get going. Everyone seems rather listless, not focussed on solving the problem, just going through the motions, or fighting their own petty battles. Even Andrews, the most dynamic character, seemingly working very hard to make the survey a success, only wants to get a convenient answer, not necessarily the right answer. (I know this kind of behaviour is all supposed to be 'realistic', that this is supposed to be how petty people really behave. But if I wanted that kind of realism, I'd read mundane fiction.) And the answer in the end --- of up-until-then unexpected staggering significance usual in such a puzzle story --- is played out in a downbeat manner.

So, an interesting puzzle, but it rather failed to engage me, somehow.

Contents (possible spoilers)

• TheKing of the Hill. 1985

• Karl and the Ogre. 1988

• Transcendence. 1988

• The Temporary King. 1987

• Exiles. 1990

• Little Ilya and Spider and Box. 1985

• The Airs of Earth. 1986

• The Heirs of Earth. 1987

Alex Sharkey is a drug engineer whose latest concoction is about to be made illegal. His last attempt at a sale goes wrong, and he ends up with the wrong crowd, in a fight club where the idle rich get to snuff gengineered subhuman "dolls". But there he meets the elusive Milena, child-genius with a mission, to uplift the dolls to human intelligence, and free them. But nothing goes to plan, and the uplifted "fairies" have ideas of their own. Alex, framed for murder, and abandoned by Milena, tracks her across Europe, from a fairy-infested Parisian ex-Disneyland, to a war-stricken near east, where the fairies' destiny is played out.

This is a richly detailed, intricately plotted, post global warming, post genetic engineering, post nanotech, post everything, hell. A fascinating, but not a comfortable, read.

Contents (possible spoilers)

• Recording Angel. 1995

In the far future, when humans are changed and other creatures are human, an Old Human returns to upset the balance

• TheInvisible Country. 1991

• Gene Wars. 1991

• Prison Dreams. 1992

• Dr Luther's Assistant. 1993

• TheTemptation of Dr Stein. 1994

• Children of the Revolution. 1993

• TheTrue History of Dr Pretorius. 1995

• Slaves. 1995

An ecological disaster in the Pacific is linked to the possible discovery of life on Mars. Brilliant biologist Dr Mariella Anders is one of the team sent to Mars to investigate, but big-corporation politicking might be putting profits before people.

This was shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke Award (see the Helicon 2 panel discussion). Yet it really didn't work for me, for several reasons.

It is lauded for its realistic portrayal of science: for showing how science is done by teams, not by lone individuals. True, the organism is brought back to Earth for investigation by Anders' team, and true, her previous breakthrough was also teamwork. Yet Anders is very much a lone maverick genius.

It is lauded for its characterisation. True, Anders has a private as well as a public life, and true, that private life plays an integral part in the plot (although I found the ending vomit-inducing). But many of the other characters are cardboard cutout villains (particularly Penn Brown), and cardboard cutout eeeevil corporations.

This is also a very angry book: angry at the patenting and corporate exploitation of science, and angry at UK/EU abandonment of science.

The plot is essentially a quest chase, first across Mars, then across New Mexico, to showcase various strange people and lifestyles. That did give the plot enough momentum to keep me reading, and I did enjoy the guided tour. It is written in the present tense (except for flashbacks), which I find distracting. And, despite the high density of infodumping, there's not enough science -- not enough about the "Secret of Life".

So: interesting premiss, fun chases, but ultimately disappointing.

• LX panel discussion of the Arthur C Clarke Awards shortlist