The invisible country

by Paul J. McAuley

A review by Greg L. Johnson: The Invisible Country is McAuley's second short story collection. The stories, mostly hard SF that draw on McAuley's background in biology, are a good introduction to a writer who is both a first-rate story teller and stylist. The title story, a does-the-end-justify-the-means look at a near future world suffering from over-population and environmental catastrophe, is a perfect example. The story of Cameron and his decision on how to deal with the world he is forced to live in is engrossing, and presented in prose that recalls Lucius Shepard at his finest. Just as impressive is "Recording Angel", a far future story of what happens when the inhabitants of a world built near the edge of a black hole are visited by a woman from the distant past whose philosophy cannot help but change their way of life. Here McAuley's use of language that subtly evokes both an incredible long stretch of time and gives us a connection to our own world brings to mind Gene Wolfe an