The Quiet War
Well deserving of its many accolades and awards, The Quiet War is a novel among those on the new hard science fiction frontier. McAuley artfully blends genetic engineering, artificial ecosystems, political intrigue, sociology, environment, economics, and space travel. The prose is direct and well crafted, and the ideas simultaneously fulfill both aims of what I love to see in science fiction: exploring future possibilities and holding a critical mirror to the current times. I think it is also worth mentioning that McAuley's protagonists are strong females with depth, who buck the two-dimensional stereotypes often seen in the genre. The novel also declines to glorify (or vilify) western cultural projections of humanity's space-faring future. Most importantly, this welcome diversity in thought and character does not come, as it often does, at a compromise to craft -- McAuley has bucked the status quo and set a new standard for contemporary science fiction.
