McDONALD, Ian

(1960-)

   UK writer, a resident of Northern Ireland, who began publishing sf with "The Islands of the Dead" for Extro in 1982; this, with other short work, was assembled as Empire Dreams (coll 1988 US). He very quickly demonstrated a fascination with garish sf impedimenta and a habit of rococo elaboration which made him both a highly promising writer and potentially a wilfully eccentric one. His first novel, Desolation Road (1988 US), has been described as THE MARTIAN CHRONICLES (coll 1950)crossed with One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans 1970), a joke limited in accuracy only by its failure to add Cordwainer SMITH to Ray BRADBURY and Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1928-). IM is not so much beinginfluenced or writing pastiche as appropriating deftly from other writers the precise gestures needed to make ideological or emotional points about the human implications of TERRAFORMING or cyborgization (CYBORGS). Out on Blue Six (1989 US) describes a failed UTOPIA, a standard theme in the UKduring the Thatcher years, working both to rehabilitate socialist ideals and to acknowledge legitimate criticism; it combines standard Robert A. HEINLEIN motifs - the Man, or in this case Woman, who Learns Better-someA.E. VAN VOGT mystification about amnesiac Hidden Masters, and a catalogue of DYSTOPIAN and heterotopian fragments, plus chunks of Grail quest and a lot of shooting and running around. King of Morning, Queen of Day (1985 in Empire Dreams; exp 1991 US), which won the PHILIP K. DICK AWARD in 1992,is a fantasy about Irish identity across the generations which manages in its third (contemporary) section to assimilate much of the feel of CYBERPUNK. Hearts, Hands and Voices (1992; vt The Broken Land 1992 US),set in a tropical venue much resembling Asia (though the religious conflicts have an Irish ring), replicates the technique of his first novel; in this case his models are Geoff RYMAN's novels The Unconquered Country (1986) and The Child Garden (1988).Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone(1994 US), which is novella-length, concisely depicts the circular hegira through near-future Japan of an occidental man who is re-sorting his life and attempting to come to terms with the consequences of his invention (or discovery) of reality-controlling computer images. Necroville (1994; vt The Terminal Cafe 1994 US), which is perhaps IM's most concentrated andfinest novel yet, constructs an intensely complicated urban NEAR FUTURE world - CYBERPUNK imagery of the world-city is utilized with bravado throughout - in which NANOTECHNOLOGY has accomplished what many - even in 1995 - feel may be its first transformative change, making it possible forcellular creatures - like us - to become immortal. The plot spins this speculation with feverish energy.

   RK

   Other works: Speaking in Tongues (coll 1992); Kling Klang Klatch (graph 1992) illus David Lyttleton.

   See also: CITIES; COLONIZATION OF OTHER WORLDS; GAMES AND SPORTS; INTERZONE; MARS; NEW WORLDS; WOMEN AS PORTRAYED IN SCIENCE FICTION.