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 The Secret of Life by Paul McAuley
reviewed by Underview
Original appearance: Albedo one issue 23, August 2001
The first thing a visitor to my study will notice is the profusion of books littering my desk. And the question that will inevitably jump to their lips will be - knowing me as an inveterate science fiction fan - where's the SF? To which I have no good response. Where is it indeed? I can only treat what comes across my threshold as a small sample of what is being published but unless someone has got it into their head that Albedo One is a strong fantasy market, then there is too little SF around. One of the few I saw this time was Paul McAuley's The Secret of Life, in which life on Mars may just spell the end of life on Earth. As Earth corporations rush to exploit the resilient, ancient life form that has been discovered his heroine, Microbiologist Dr Mariella Anders, discovers that not everyone has the best interests of Earth at heart. Gosh, what a surprise!
But is this SF or merely a near-future thriller, which would be lumped into the mainstream/ bestseller gondola-end displays if the author's previous novels had a less SF-intensive profile? Probably. As usual, the label stamped onto the cover depends on how the book can best be marketed.
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