Ian McDonald was born in 1960 in Manchester and moved to Northern Ireland in 1965. He is the author of ten novels, most notably Desolation Road, Out on Blue Six, Philip K. Dick Award winner King of Morning, Queen of Day, Chaga, and Ares Express. His most recent, and most acclaimed, novel is British SF Award winner and Hugo and Arthur C. Clarke award nominee, River of Gods. His short fiction has won the Sturgeon and British Science Fiction Awards, been nominated for the Nebula, World Fantasy, and Tiptree awards, and is collected in Empire Dreams and Speaking in Tongues. His most recent book is new novel,  Brasyl. Coming up is a new collection, Cyberabad Nights.