Fairyland

Rating:
Summary: A visionary scramble through a genetically-engineered future
Review: There's nothing quite like 'Fairyland'. It's unneven in terms of its construction and character development, but more than makes up for it by the intensity of vision displayed by MacAuley. He has shown in his short fiction (see King of the Hill) that he is a master of the art of exploring the darkest recessess of our mythology (this is Brothers Grimm territory not Hans Christian Anderson!), and blending it into our worst imaginings about the future. Fairyland is a triumphant culmination of this theme- a high-tech future where the past is an ever-present nightmare. This is best illustrated by the inhuman fairies' capture of the artificial 'magic kingdom' of Eurodisney, turning it into something to be feared and avoided as the source of evil. Like Gibson on magic mushrooms. Brilliant!