Ian R. MacLeod (born 1956) is a British

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel uni ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

writer. He was born in

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

near

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

. He studied law and worked as a civil servant before going freelance in early 1990s soon after he started publishing stories, attracting critical praise and awards nominations.

Writings

He is the author of seven novels, including '' The Light Ages'' and ''The House of Storms'', which are set in an alternate universe nineteenth century England, where aether, a substance that can be controlled by the mind, has ossified English society into guilds and has retarded technological progress. His other novels and short stories feature a mixture of fantastic, historical, and futuristic elements, combined with a concern for character and vividly descriptive writing. His novel ''Song of Time'', told from a viewpoint of a classical violinist and set in the near future, won the

Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

for Year's Best SF Novel, and his novel '' Wake up and Dream'', set in an alternative 1940s Los Angeles, won

Sidewise Award The Sidewise Awards for Alternate History were established in 1995 to recognize the best alternate history stories and novels of the year. Overview The awards take their name from the 1934 short story " Sidewise in Time" by Murray Leinster, in ...

for Best Alternative History. His novel ''Red Snow'' follows the path of a vampire across several centuries in Europe and the United States. MacLeod's novella " The Summer Isles" (''

Asimov's Science Fiction ''Asimov's Science Fiction'' is an American science fiction magazine which publishes science fiction and fantasy named after science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It is currently published by Penny Publications. From January 2017, the publicatio ...

'' October/November 1998) won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Short Form and the

World Fantasy Award for Best Novella In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

. It is an alternate history where Britain, having been defeated in the

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, develops its own form of

fascism Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy an ...

in 1930s. The narrator is a closeted homosexual Oxford historian who had known the leader in youth. It was written as a novel, which however could not sell; MacLeod published the cut version, with the full-length version only being published in a limited edition in 2005. This novel version also won the Sidewise Award for Alternate History, Long Form, thus becoming the only story to win the same award twice in two differing formats, novel and novella. MacLeod won the World Fantasy Award again in for his 2000 novelette "The Chop Girl". His shorter fiction has been collected in '' Voyages by Starlight'', ''Breathmoss and Other Exhalations,'' ''Past Magic, Journeys,'' and ''the Frost on Glass''. MacLeod was Guest of Honour at the 38th

Novacon Novacon is an annual science fiction convention, usually held each November in the English Midlands. Launched in 1971, it has been hosted by the Birmingham Science Fiction Group since 1972. History The first Novacon was organised by the University ...

, held in November 2008.

Bibliography

Novels

* *'' The Light Ages'' (Earthlight imprint of Simon & Schuster, 2003) (2004 nomination for World Fantasy Award) *''The House of Storms'' (

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest pu ...

, 2005) *''The Summer Isles'' ( Aio Publishing, 2005) (2005 Sidewise Award) Expanded version of the original 1998 novella, which also won the award. *''Song of Time'' (

PS Publishing PS Publishing is an independent book publisher based in Hornsea, UK. Background PS Publishing was founded in 1999 by Peter Crowther.Arthur C. Clarke Award The Arthur C. Clarke Award is a British award given for the best science fiction novel first published in the United Kingdom during the previous year. It is named after British author Arthur C. Clarke, who gave a grant to establish the award i ...

, 2009 John W. Campbell Memorial Award) *'' Wake Up and Dream'' (PS Publishing, 2011) (2011 Sidewise Award) *''Red Snow'' (2017, PS Publishing)

Short fiction

;Collections *'' Voyages by Starlight'' (1996,

Arkham House Arkham House is an American publishing house specializing in weird fiction. It was founded in Sauk City, Wisconsin, in 1939 by August Derleth and Donald Wandrei to publish hardcover collections of H. P. Lovecraft's best works, which had ...

) * ''Breathmoss and Other Exhalations'' (2004,

Golden Gryphon Press Golden Gryphon Press was an independent publishing company, specializing in science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy and cross-genre novels. It was founded in 1996 by Jim Turner, former editor at Arkham House, and was operated by his brother Gary ...

) * ''Past Magic'' (2006, PS Publishing) * ''Journeys'' (2010, Subterranean Press) * ''Snodgrass and Other Illusions: The Best Short Stories of Ian R. MacLeod'' (Open Road Media, 2013) * ''Frost on Glass'' (2015, PS Publishing) * ''Everywhere'' (JABberwocky, ebook collection volume 1. 2019) * ''Nowhere'' (JABberwocky, ebook collection volume 2. 2019) ;StoriesShort stories unless otherwise noted.

References

External links

Official website
at Golden Gryphon Press; excerpt and links to reviews

at Aio Publishing website, includes excerpt, links and further materials

at ''Free Speculative Fiction Online'' *

at ''Upcoming4.me''
Art, Science and a little Magic - Ian R MacLeod looks back on why he writes - Online Essay
at ''Upcoming4.me''

Interviews

Interview
with Jay Tomio (2005)

at Infinity Plus

at sfsite.com
Interview
at sageandsavant.com (2017) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Macleod, Ian R. 1956 births Living people Asimov's Science Fiction people British alternative history writers British fantasy writers British science fiction writers People from Solihull Sidewise Award winners World Fantasy Award-winning writers English male novelists