Martin McGrath
Welcome to my website. I intend to use this space to hold forth on things like politics, books, technology, films and anything else that interests or irritates me.
You can also use this site to see examples of some of the work I've done as journalist, writer and designer. I'm available for freelance work and my rates are competitive and negotiable for good causes.
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Author Archives: Martin McGrath
What will “living with the virus” actually mean?
Over the last few weeks, and especially since the end of Matt Hancock’s tenure as Health Secretary there has been a notable shift in the government’s language regarding the future of the UK’s response to Covid-19. When he announced the … Continue reading
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AYCKBOURN’S ARTIFICIAL PEOPLE
McGrath, Martin (2017) “Ayckbourn’s Artificial People.” Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction, 46 (128) . pp. 60-72. ISSN 0306-4964 This article explores how Alan Ayckbourn’s science fiction, in particular the use of androids/gynoids in the plays Henceforward… (1987), Comic … Continue reading
Getting Started in Public Relations
So, a few months ago a student on Middlesex University’s journalism degree approached me with some questions about how a journalism student could prepare for work in public relations. Anyone who knows me will be entirely unsurprised to discover that … Continue reading
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Pandemic and the Limits of Entrepreneurial Government
Once again the government has used a high-profile announcement of an apparent technological breakthrough (the “game-changer” this time is the promise of ninety-minute diagnostic tests) to try to distract from their general failure to effectively address the pandemic (and, in … Continue reading
BOOK REVIEW: ESCAPOLOGY BY REN WAROM
Escapology by Ren Warom (Titan Books, 2016) If I reveal that the characters in Escapology, Ren Warom’s first novel, have names such as Amiga, Shock, Twist and Deuce then some of you will immediately deduce a great deal more about … Continue reading
IT IS STILL BOLLOCKS TO BREXIT – LEFT OR RIGHT
The way in which Corbyn and his mates have been using the issue of Brexit as a weapon in their desperate attempts to retain control of the Labour Party is, I think, revealing. The most common criticism of the Labour … Continue reading
Arthur C Clarke by Gary Westfahl
Arthur C Clarke by Gary Westfahl (The University of Illinois Press, 2018) Gary Westfahl has been a bit unlucky. After reading his Arthur C Clarke – an instalment in the “Modern Masters of Science Fiction” series from The University of … Continue reading
Dennis Etchison
About fifteen years ago I was given a book to review by the then editor of Vector – it was Fine Cuts, by Dennis Etchison. It was the first book I’d read by him, but in a (too brief – … Continue reading
REVIEW: VIRTUES OF WAR AND GHOSTS OF WAR BY BENNETT R COLES
The latest issue of The BSFA Review (no.4, Summer 2018) has been published. It contains two of my reviews. The first one – of a pair of military sf novels by Bennet R Coles – is below. The second will … Continue reading
REVIEW: AURORA RISING/THE PREFECT BY ALASTAIR REYNOLDS
The latest issue (no. 3) of the BSFA Review is out, and it contains my review of Alastair Reynolds’ Aurora Rising (previously released as The Prefect). This is a slightly extended version. I jumped into the ebook of Alastair Reynolds’ … Continue reading