Karl Schroeder
@karlschroeder.bsky.social
Science fiction writer, speculative designer, with a Masters in Strategic Foresight, two cats and a dog, and a fantastic family.
I'm starting a new novel. Part of the process involves choosing the right tools. AI changes that equation, but not in the ways you might think. kschroeder.substack.com/p/choice-of-...
Choice of Weapons
How to Write? Longhand on paper? Typewriter? Word Processor? Scrivener or Obsidian? Each medium comes with consequences
kschroeder.substack.com
Science fiction is the canary in technology's coalmine. But is it up to the job of expressing 21st century changes? Or do we need a new institution--one that expressly deals with the aspects of change that scifi fails to get right? open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
“Monkey Beach” by Eden Robinson, of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, brings Haisla mysticism to contemporary realism. www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/156126...
Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson | Penguin Random House Canada
“Monkey Beach creates a vivid contemporary landscape that draws the reader deep into a traditional world, a hidden universe of premonition, pain and power.” --Thomas King
penguinrandomhouse.ca
With Cree roots from Saskatchewan, Harold R. Johnson’s “Corvus” features a world destroyed by climate change. People move north, but Indigenous people are already there, and thriving. thistledownpress.com/product/corv...
Corvus
Corvus takes place in the distant future after global warming has ravaged the land and a war that raged for years has finally ended. Mass migrations have led to a major city being established at La…
thistledownpress.com
The HC edition of my new short story collection is on sale at Amazon at 24%off! (At least in Canada.) Check out your local pricing. This is a great deal. (And if you buy it, don't forget to come back and leave a review!) www.amazon.com/Laikas-Ghost...
Laika's Ghost: Stories by Karl Schroeder
Laika's Ghost: Stories by Karl Schroeder [Schroeder, Karl] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Laika's Ghost: Stories by Karl Schroeder
amazon.com
Your patronage has made it possible for me to publish a story cycle featuring my favourite shy Ukrainian arms inspector, Gennady Malianov. These stories were warmly received, even award-winning--but they've never been brought together before. I hope you enjoy them! open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
Giving it Back With a Giveaway
My paying subscribers made it possible for me to publish "Laika's Ghost." It's out now, and you can have a free copy.
open.substack.com
My new short story collection is out! It's so fresh that it's only available on Kobo, Google and the FriesenPress site today, but Amazon and Nook are coming soon. You can also order the hardcover edition from FP. books.friesenpress.com/store/title/...
Laika's Ghost at the FriesenPress Bookstore
Ukrainian nuclear engineer Gennady Malianov would rather camp in the ruins of Chornobyl or explore abandoned anthrax factories than talk to another human being. Painfully shy as he is, he finds it soo...
books.friesenpress.com
If AI is going to be a factor in your future career or personal life, then the most important question you can ask is not who controls it, but who gets to say what it counts as real, and what it ignores.
Looking forward to it!
Ruthanna Emrys@r-emrys.bsky.social · 3mo agoTomorrow, join @folktech.bsky.social and @metagov.bsky.social's Protopian Prize team for an online storytelling workshop! I can't make this one but @karlschroeder.bsky.social will be there for all your speculative needs: luma.com/xrcvn9t5
Win $5,000 & have your story read by our incredible judging panel: @glichfield.bsky.social @r-emrys.bsky.social @kevin2kelly.bsky.social @annaleen.bsky.social @karlschroeder.bsky.social @aratip.bsky.social @himself.bsky.social Ida Yoshinaga Deji Bryce Olukotun Hannu Rajaniemi
Continuing my series of mini-reviews of the essential books in my library, this week we look at a masterpiece that inspired one of my novels. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
AI helps us make sense of unfolding events--even when there is no sense to be found in them. This is dangerous open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
Alien Politics
We shouldn't be worried about AGI or superintelligent AI. We should be actively designing a political system that gives standing to the incomprehensible
open.substack.com
AI helps us make sense of unfolding events--even when there is no sense to be found in them. This is dangerous open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
Alien Politics
We shouldn't be worried about AGI or superintelligent AI. We should be actively designing a political system that gives standing to the incomprehensible
open.substack.com
I remember the first time I gave any degree of thought to what was happening in the Chernobyl exclusion zone was after reading "The Dragon of Pripyat" by @karlschroeder.bsky.social back in 1999. Here's a fascinating non-fiction update. www.sciencefocus.com/nature/5-ser...
5 seriously strange ways wildlife is changing inside Chernobyl | BBC Science Focus Magazine
Forty years after the reactor explosion, the wildlife around Chernobyl has recovered in strange and unexpected ways.
sciencefocus.com
I've started a series of reviews of my core library: those books that are perennial sources of surprise, astonishment, and inspiration. My first choice is one of the foundational texts of 'posthumanism'--the idea that humans are not the only game in town. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
My Library: Ecological Imperialism
As a partial answer to the perennial question "where do you get your ideas?" I'm showcasing books that have radically shifted my worldview. Here's a major one
open.substack.com
I did do a shared world anthology! Metatropolis, which I edited and featured stores by Jay Lake, @matociquala.bsky.social, @tobiasbuckell.bsky.social, @karlschroeder.bsky.social and myself. It was nominated for a Hugo!
Doug Hanke@dougmakingstuff.com · 5mo agoHave you ever wanted to do a shared universe anthology like those that were all the rage in the 80s? (Thieves World, Wildcards, etc) The rights alone must be a bear to work out, which might be why we don’t see those as much anymore…
We need an alternative software stack that can't be captured by bad state actors and used against us. Is it possible for non-technical users to install and run an alternative to Windows or MacOS? Yes, actually, it is. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
Be one of the first 100 civilians to remotely drive a rover on the moon in 2028. Or, give the opportunity to a friend or loved one. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
Put Your Own Boots On the Moon
Using your smartphone, you can drive a rover on the moon in 2028.
open.substack.com
@karlschroeder.bsky.social pushes this concept in incredible directions in his book Stealing Worlds www.goodreads.com/book/show/41...
Stealing Worlds
From Karl Schroeder, author of Lockstep, comes the near…
goodreads.com
We keep hearing about how AI is being used in business, or personally. But what about for designing and implementing public policy? Here's an example. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
The book "Late Soviet Britain" by Abby Innes is a devastating critique of neoliberal economics. It also has implications about how AI is going to impact how we work and live. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
This week's #FreeFictionFriday pick, "The Baker of Mars" by @karlschroeder.bsky.social follows Myrna, a chef serving settlers colonizing Mars. Relocation seems promising, until a visit with a friend reveals the expansion is quickly draining the planet's aquifers. www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/3ipli...
