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Search - List of Books by Ian McDonald

For several other people called Ian McDonald or a similar spelling, see Ian McDonald.

Ian McDonald (1960-) is a British science fiction novelist, living in Belfast. His themes include nanotechnology, postcyberpunk settings, and the impact of rapid social and technological change on non-Western societies.

Biography more less

Publications more less

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Desolation Road more less

The 'Chaga Saga' more less

Published between 1995 and 2000, the novels Chaga (US title Evolution's Shore) and Kirinya, with the novella Tendeléo's Story, form the 'Chaga Saga'--perhaps the most important and certainly the most compelling and moral redaction of the alien invasion story in recent decades.

The journalistic tag 'Chaga Saga', playing on Aga Saga, resonates with the female protagonists of each novel, but McDonald's purposes were far darker than domestic romance allows. An outer frame of the action involves the very real mystery of the dark side of Iapetus, but the principal story begins with extensive alien landings around the equator...meteoric biological packages that slam down and spill out an unstoppable wave of transformation. Animals are not directly harmed, but habitat is remorselessly consumed, and the major axis of Chaga concerns the alien advance on Nairobi from an impact-site on Mount Kilimanjaro. The protagonist is Ulster journalist Gaby McAslin, whose outsider's eye both caresses African landscape and sees very clearly what the 'UN quarantine zone' is doing to Kenya and Kenyans. Gaby's story, with that of her daughter, continues in Kirinya to a hugely satisfying space-operatic but also visionary and satirical climax. Tendeléo's Story is an oblique coda, seen through the eyes of a young Kenyan girl who escapes to the UK only to be deported back to Kenya as an unwanted alien potentially contaminated by an even less wanted and much more alien alien.

The moral force of McDonald's plot derives from his use of the invading alien as an immensely powerful but also very slippery metaphor:

The image of the unstoppable wave of transformation was nicked from [1982 Star Trek movie] The Wrath of Khan: it's the Genesis device, slowed down, and once I had that, it became a rich source of metaphors: for colonialism, new technology, globalisation, change, death. If the Chaga is colonialism, it's a unique kind that allows the people of the poor South to use and transform it to meet their needs and empower themselves: it's a symbiosis.

The economic and moral issues are focused and driven home through the determination of the UN and the global pharmacological industry to conceal the fact that exposure to the alien Chaga cures AIDS, and the knife is turned by a fictional but verisimilar virology. In McDonald's 2008 (imagined in 1994-5) there are four strains of HIV: HIV4 is a death sentence for everyone, until the Chaga arrives, but HIV1-3 are death sentences only for the poor...showing very clearly McDonald's understanding (unusual in the mid-1990s) that AIDS was no longer a 'killer' in itself, but had become for the 'First-World' wealthy a manageable condition. McDonald's plotting is also, in Chaga, deeply engaged with Conrad's Heart of Darkness, and just as in Conrad the real horror is not only in the Congolese interior, but also in the looming bulk of late Victorian London, so McDonald's 'heart of darkness' is not the invading alien but the responses to it of the UN and of developed nations.

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This author page uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ian McDonald", which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0

Total Books: 134

Chronological List
Alphabetical List
Available Only List

Hopeland

2023 - Hopeland (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780765375551
ISBN-10: 0765375559
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Desolation Road

2020 - Desolation Road (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781473230996
ISBN-10: 1473230993
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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LunaNew Moon

2020 - Lunanew Moon [Chinese Edition] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9787555910510
ISBN-10: 7555910519

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Luna Moon Rising

2020 - Luna Moon Rising [Luna, 3] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781250259547
ISBN-10: 1250259541
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 4

2020 - The Year's Top Hard Science Fiction Stories 4 (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9798636045441
ISBN-10: N/A
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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River of Gods

2020 - River of Gods (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover
ISBN-13: 9781473229501
ISBN-10: 1473229502
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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The Menace from Farside

2019 - The Menace From Farside (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781250247797
ISBN-10: 1250247799
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Luna Wolf Moon A Novel

2019 - Luna Wolf Moon a Novel (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780765375544
ISBN-10: 0765375540
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Currently 4/5 Stars.

1

Time Was

2018 - Time Was (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9780765391469
ISBN-10: 0765391465
Genres: Romance, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Currently 4/5 Stars.

1

Luna Volume Two

2017 - Luna Volume Two (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781473202269
ISBN-10: 1473202264

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Luna Wolf Moon

2016 - Luna Wolf Moon (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780765375537
ISBN-10: 0765375532
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Luna New Moon

2016 - Luna New Moon (Paperback) → Paperback
ISBN-13: 9780765375520
ISBN-10: 0765375524
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Currently 4.2/5 Stars.

3

The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 8

2016 - The Year's Top Ten Tales of Science Fiction 8 [Volume 8] (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781536898408
ISBN-10: 1536898406
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Now We Are Ten

2016 - Now We Are Ten (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9781910935194
ISBN-10: 1910935190
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

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Sport Documentaries

2016 - Sport Documentaries [Routledge Critical Studies in Sport] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780415580939
ISBN-10: 0415580935
Genres: Humor & Entertainment, Politics & Social Sciences

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The Best of Ian McDonald

2016 - The Best of Ian Mcdonald (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781848638907
ISBN-10: 1848638906

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New Moon

2015 - New Moon [Luna, Bk 1] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9780765375513
ISBN-10: 0765375516
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Science Fiction & Fantasy

Currently 5/5 Stars.

1

La maison des derviches

2015 - La Maison Des Derviches (Other)
ISBN-13: 9782070463169
ISBN-10: 2070463168
Genres: Biographies & Memoirs, Literature & Fiction

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Empress of the Sun

2014 - Empress of the Sun [Everness] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781616148652
ISBN-10: 1616148659
Genres: Children's Books, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Teen & Young Adult

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La Petite Desse et autres histoires d'une Inde future

2013 - La Petite Desse Et Autres Histoires D'une Inde Future (Paperback)
ISBN-13: 9782207111260
ISBN-10: 2207111261
Genres: Literature & Fiction, Science & Math

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Planesrunner

2013 - Planesrunner [Everness, Bk 1] (Hardcover)
ISBN-13: 9781780876658
ISBN-10: 1780876653
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy

Currently 3/5 Stars.

1

2012 - Be My Enemy [Book Two of the Everness Series] (Hardcover)

2012 - Roi Du Matin Reine Du Jour (Paperback)

2012 - Behavioural Macroeconomics [International Library of Critical Writings in Economics series] (Hardcover)

2012 - The Dervish House (Audio CD) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD

2011 - Dom Derwiszy Dni Cyberabadu [polish] (Hardcover)

2011 - Dervish House (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover, Audio CD

2010 - Ares Express (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

2010 - We Robots (Audio CD)

2009 - The Bowling Was Superfine West Indian Writing and West Indian Cricket (Paperback)

2009 - Brasyl [Solaris - Spanish Edition] (Paperback)

2009 - Cyberabad Days [India 2047, Bk 2] (Paperback)

2008 - Ian Mcdonald Selected Poems [Macmillan Caribbean Writers] (Paperback)

2007 - Brazyl (Paperback)

2006 - El Rio De Los Dioses/ the River of the Gods [Solaris - Spanish Edition] (Paperback)

2004 - The Hummingbird Tree [Macmillan Caribbean Writers] (Paperback)

2003 - Mrs Wrelton's Dinosaur Spike's Tall (Paperback)

2003 - Assembly Lines (Other)

2002 - Watching Trees Grow/tendeleos Story [Gollancz SF S.] (Paperback)

2001 - Futures Four Novellas (Paperback)

2001 - The Royal College of Physicians and Its Collection an Illustrated History (Hardcover)

2000 - Tendeleos Story (Paperback) → Hardcover

2000 - Tendeleo's Story (Hardcover) → Paperback

1999 - Bruno the Bandit Bruno the Bandit (Paperback)

1999 - Kirinya (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

1998 - Macroeconomics (Paperback)

1997 - Evolution's Shore (Paperback) → Hardcover

1996 - Chaga (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

1996 - The Beatles L'opera Completa (Other)

1995 - Terminal Cafe (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

1995 - Necroville (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

1994 - Scissors Cut Paper Wrap Stone (Paperback)

1994 - Jaffo the Calypsonian (Paperback)

1993 - The Broken Land (Paperback) → Paperback, Hardcover

1993 - Hearts Hands and Voices (Paperback) → Hardcover

1992 - Kling Klang Klatch (Paperback) → Hardcover

1992 - King Klang Klatch (Paperback)

1992 - The Heinemann Book of Caribbean Poetry [Caribbean Writers Series] (Paperback)

1992 - Speaking in Tongues (Hardcover) → Paperback

1992 - The Broken Land (Hardcover) → Paperback

1992 - Researching Health Care Designs Dilemmas and Disciplines (Other)

1992 - Researching Health Care Designs Dilemmas Disciplines (Paperback)

1992 - Essequibo (Paperback)

1991 - Now Try This Blue Book a Progressive Mathematics Course for Students [Foundation Level] (Paperback)

1991 - King of Morning Queen of Day (Paperback) → Paperback

1991 - The Boer War in Postcards (Hardcover) → Hardcover

1990 - Now Try This Green Bk Credit Level (Paperback)

1990 - Out on Blue Six (Paperback) → Paperback

1989 - Dsolation Road (Paperback)

1989 - Out on Blue Six (Paperback) → Paperback

1989 - Now Try This Red Bk General Level 2 (Paperback)

1989 - Now Try This Red Yellow Tchrs'bk (Paperback)

1989 - Vindication a Postcard History of the Women's Movement (Hardcover)

1988 - Now Try This Yellow Bk General Level 1 (Paperback)

1988 - Empire Dreams (Paperback) → Paperback

1988 - Mercy Ward (Hardcover)

Hummingbird Tree (Hardcover)

Humming Bird Tree [Caribbean Writers] (Paperback)

Encounter with God an Introduction to Christian Worship and Practice (Paperback)

Sacrifice of Fools (Hardcover) → Paperback

Easy Money a Beginner's Guide to Handling Personal Finances (Paperback)

Anyone for Cricket Equal Opportunities and Changing Cricket Cultures in Essex and East London (Paperback)

Bruno Most Wanted [Bruno the Bandit] (Paperback)

Bruno Mad As Hell (Paperback)

Bifrost N 68 Ian Mcdonald [French Edition] (Paperback)

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