M. John Harrison (Michael John Harrison) Biography

British novelist and writer of science fiction. He came to notice through his science fiction stories in magazines; his first novel, The Committed Men (1971), displays the influence of J. G. Ballard. His originality is increasingly evident in The Pastel City (1971), A Storm of Wings (1980), and In Viriconium (1982), a trilogy sustained by the imaginative adaptation of contemporary urban landscapes into the books' powerfully conceived setting, which also features in the stories of Viriconium Nights (1985). The compelling stories of The Ice Monkey (1984) are in predominantly naturalistic idioms. His widely acclaimed novel Climbers (1989) forms an intensely detailed evocation of the sub-culture of British rock-climbing. The Course of the Heart (1992), his subsequent novel, employs elements of the supernatural in its treatment of the longing for transcendence in a spiritually impoverished world. His other works include The Centauri Device (1974) and the stories of The Machine in Shaft Ten (1975).