In ex-navy officer Sandra McDonald’s first novel, (Tor, 2007), the way to the stars was led by Australians via “highways” created by mysterious aliens similar to the creatures of Aboriginal legend. The sequel, (Tor, 2008), brought in malign aliens – the Roon or Bunyips – and revealed that the aliens who built the highway network are gone, their heir is in bad shape, and the system needs a new helmsman. Expect a satisfying conclusion to the series in 2009.
There is so much mythology embedded in McDonald’s novels that she could be easily charged with writing science fantasy rather than science fiction. But the late Arthur C Clarke once said that any sufficiently advanced technology must look like magic. McDonald takes great pains to keep things consistent and work with the technology she has imagined. She insists that it is all part of her alien superscience. It’s not magic, not fantasy, no matter how it looks to the bemused reader and no matter how a climax of human sacrifice and elevation resonates with the mythical side of the modern mind.
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In Crystal Rain (Tor, 2006), the first novel by Caribbean-born blogger Tobias Buckell, Caribbean refugees were forced to share a world with bloodthirsty Aztec wannabes in a universe so dominated by alien superpowers that humans could be little more than slaves, refugees or pets. (Tor, 2007) and (Tor, 2008) showed humans striving towards equality on the galactic stage. His next book, , is set in the universe of the Halo computer game.
Buckell published over 30 short stories before his first novel came out. In both short and long form, he has enjoyed considerable success. Ragamuffin was a finalist for the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America’s in 2008 and is a candidate for the Libertarian Futurist Society’s .
Walter Hunt’s first novel, (Tor, 2001), launched a popular space-opera series that earned him comparisons to J R R Tolkien and Frank Herbert. In his latest, (Wizards of the Coast, 2008), a visitor to Edinburgh’s Rosslyn Chapel time-travels back to the last days of the Knights Templar and learns of the “healing music of Rosslyn”, which can heal the world of its ills if only it can be released.
Hunt is a baseball fan and a Freemason who enjoys board and role-playing games. Before he started writing full time, he worked as a computer programmer and technical writer. He is currently working on alternate historic novels. In March 2009, he will be the International Guest of Honor at the science fiction convention in Dortmund, Germany.
Josh Conviser, avid mountaineer and the executive consultant on HBO’s series, Rome, has several films in development. His first novel, (Del Rey, 2006), posited a US-run global surveillance program that pre-empted disruptive innovation around the world, either killing or co-opting the inventors. The plot had problems, perhaps due to Conviser’s film affinities, but the sequel, (Del Rey, 2007), held together better. If future novels show similar progress, Conviser could become a major player in the field.
Josh Conviser says that although he took a college creative writing course taught by Joyce Carol Oates, he really learned to write by composing letters to his future wife while he was roaming Europe after college. He is currently working on a third book in the Echelon series, as well as a spy thriller.