Born in Toowoomba, Australia in 1941, Ian Slater worked for the Australian navy and for Australian intelligence before becoming a technician for oceanography studies in the Pacific. With a doctorate in political science he has published an acclaimed study of George Orwell, Orwell: The Road to Airstrip One (1985), and he has edited Pacific Affairs at the University of British Columbia, where he has also taught. His string of more than 20 prophetic novels about ecological and technological disasters, and military upheavals, began with Firespill (1977), which foresaw an oil tanker disaster on the west coast, followed by Sea Gold (1979), Air Glow Red (1981), Storm (1988), Deep Chill (1989), Forbidden Zone (1990) and Pilgrimage (1996). His political thriller MacArthur Must Die (1994) explores Korean politics.

Slater has also written a series predicting possible sources for World War III. The titles include WWW III (1990), WW III Rage of Battle (1990), WW III World of Flames (1991), WW III Arctic Front (1992), WW III Warshot (1992), Asian Front (1993), WW III Force of Arms (1994), WW III South China Sea (1996), WWW III Choke Point (2004) and WW III Payback (2005). Another series concerns possible scenarios for civil war in the United States. These titles include Showdown (1997), Battle Front (1998), Manhunt (1999), Force Ten (2000) and Knockout (Ballantine, 2001).

[LITHIS / BCBW 2005] "Fiction" "War"