Austral Coming Through
Bound proof copies of Austral have arrived: the penultimate stage in the alchemical process of thought to words to book. A few early reactions:
'Bleakly beautiful, Austral is both a finely-honed character study and a powerful evocation of landscape and change, delivered with icy clarity. This is the kind of fiction we will need as the Anthropocene takes hold.' Alastair Reynolds
'An exquisite human story set on an undiscovered continent of our near future. Austral may be McAuley’s best yet.' Stephen Baxter
And over on Goodreads, this from Joanne Harris:
'I was sent this proof by the publishers, and oh boy, it's a good one. A cracking setup; great writing; great pacing; a genuinely fresh narrative voice, and for once - hooray! - a male author writing a complex, first-person female narrator who is neither a broflake's wet-dream, nor a wooden stereotype. Austral is big, strong, powerful, and yet with real vulnerabilities; a flawed and relatable heroine with agency, feelings and spirit.'
posted by Paul McAuley at 7:57 pm
1 Comments:
Paul,
I hope this is the one where it all comes together for you, so you get the momentum to carry you up to the next level of recognition.
God knows that you've been around and been better than almost all the competition -- both in the ideation and writing departments -- for almost three decades. God knows, too, you've survived some terrible breaks these last few years. Best of luck and I'll be ordering AUSTRAL the day it's out.
Cheers.
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