Karl Schroeder

About On Spec / Contact Us In 1989, a small group of Edmonton writers formed The Copper Pig Writers Society in order to fill a niche in Canada–a paying market for English SF. SF with a uniquely Canadian Perspective. Of…

Let’s talk about an Edmonton science fiction institution -- On Spec, Canada’s most prominent English-language science fiction magazine.

onspec.ca/about-on-spec

Can't do that if Tor still holds the audiobook rights. I'll have to review my contract. Rolling my own audiobook would also be A) time-consuming, or B) money-consuming. I have neither the time nor the money to do it right now.

Frankly, I chose Substack because I was unable to import my mailing list to any of the alternatives. And I've heard Substack's reputation, but Margaret Atwood and Salman Rushdie trust it.

I'm interested in Ghost but have no time to explore it right now.

I am on Facebook but don't post.

I've paused my Substack newsletter for the summer so I can focus on writing fiction. Got a novel to finish.

I think I'll have to narrate that one myself. Yeah, it was always intended to be the end of the series. It was all wrapped up, and I wanted to make room in my brain for new characters in new worlds. Of which, there are a lot.

Our Subtopian Future Ecotopia's great and all, but what about the future of the grungy part of town? An exploration using the basic "atom" of scenario-based foresight planning: the 2x2 matrix.

Including the actual link might help. Duh.

kschroeder.substack.com/p/our-subtop...

I've written an introduction to the 2x2 scenario-planning method, using the example of the future of the Hinterland.

Well, I did write a book based on the idea that intelligence's purpose is to make it possible for an entity to move into environments it isn't directly adapted to. But direct adaptation is always "cheaper" in the long run and will render intelligence unnecessary in the end, every time.

Nation-Building in the North Canada is reconfiguring itself as a strategic global power. How does that work?

Can Canada become an Arctic superpower? How could we achieve it? And--most importantly--is it worth trying?
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Eleven Tips for Using SciFi in Futures Work What nobody tells you about narrative in foresight projects: how to write it

kschroeder.substack.com/p/eleven-tip...

I wrote my first novel "A New Faith" < tinjar.ghost.io > before I discovered @karlschroeder.bsky.social

Pleasantly surprised to realize that I had inadvertently used several of his tips.

#booksky #climatechange #adaptation #solarpunk #nearfuturefiction

Why does stuff happen? What ultimately causes the kind of seismic shift we’re seeing in the world today? Is it just one man? Or are impersonal historical forces at work? In the post, I presented six theories people use and use them in a worldbuilding exercise.
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

Progressives need to understand that technology is legislation if they're going to counter the MAGA-ization of everything.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

New study reveals wealth inequality was never inevitable A recent study published in the journal PNAS is overturning traditional wisdom regarding the origins and inevitability of wealth inequality

A massive study of 50,000 households over 1,000 archaeological sites provides ample evidence that inequality is not a "natural" outgrowth of sophistication. Instead, it is a political choice. Which means, kids, that we don't have to choose it.
archaeologymag.com/2025/04/stud...

Reading increases empathy. Canadian cognitive psychologist Keith Oatley called fiction 'the mind's flight simulator'.

Want to beat authoritarianism? Look to Latin America | Greg Grandin The region has grappled with dictatorships, coups and inequality. But its democratic spirit remains vital – and offers a lesson for the US

Want to beat authoritarianism? Look to Latin America | Greg Grandin

Shooting Down Flying Cars (Worldbuild With Me - Part 2) I said that eVTOLs have the potential to open up the North. But their current business model is urban transport. That's a mistake.

Worldbuild with Me - Part 2: Shooting Down Flying Cars

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

locus magazine spread on ad for the 2025 indiegogo fundraiser

📣 We're launching something BIG on May 5.
The Locus Magazine 2025 IndieGoGo will bring the best of SFF to YOU—signed, illustrated, and personalized.
Don't miss the drop: locusmag.com/newslet...
#SFFCommunity #LocusMagazine

Strange New Worlds rewatch:
Q: What does Captain Pike's fireplace burn? The ship's a closed system.
A: As a closed system, it must filter out waste gases, like CO2, produced by the crew.
CO2 doesn't burn. But people produce another gas that must be gathered and disposed of. And that *is* flammable.

www.cbc.ca/amp/1.7514216

Either Settle Mars, or Save Earth The number of launches needed to colonize the Red Planet is enough to orbit a sunshade that can save Earth from climate change. Why is this even a choice?

People balk at the suggestion that we could halt global warming using available technology. Yet they seem to have no trouble buying into the idea that we could settle Mars. Which is easier, though--colonizing the red planet, or saving ours?
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

I'm proud to be in the company of so many great writers!

Worldbuild With Me - Part 1: Scale My new novel, Nightless, is set in the near future. It has to be a credible near future. Recent events have set me back to Square One, but you can help me get started again

I've started a new series on worldbuilding, using my new novel as an example. You can follow along or join the conversation.

open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...

FUND THE CBC It shouldn’t be offensive to fund public broadcasting. Join us in our fight to save our democracy

Public broadcasting is essential to the healthy functioning of democracy. In Canada, the public broadcaster is the CBC. It is under threat.
fundthecbc.ca/

Wow, that's a horrifyingly plausible implementation if the Rights Economy idea (Stealing Worlds version). I regret explaining the rest of it in detail the way I did.

a large crowd of protestors in a city square holding signs, most prominently a sign saying "JEWS FOR JUSTICE"

speakers gathered on steps in the city square. banners with white on black text read: "Jewish & Palestinian Safety Are Intertwined", "First They Came For Mahmoud", and "Safety In Solidarity, Not Authoritarians". In the foreground, we see press photographers from the back, facing the speakers.

an elderly woman speaking at a mic, behind her are three other people looking solemn, and a banner that reads "First They Came For Mahmoud"

A large assembled crowd in front of a government building with stone columns

HAPPENING NOW: 1000+ U.S. Jews are outside ICE headquarters in NYC demanding the release of Mahmoud Khalil and protest the Trump-Musk deportation agenda. 

We are Jews for freedom and democracy saying #FreeMahmoud

A compelling argument that we aren’t approaching the “Singularity” (Acceleration beyond comprehension), but are instead on the cusp of the “Maximum”(Bespoke optimization of technology to its most complete state to fit every niche requirement).

I Am the Very Model of a Singularitarian ...Or not. If the Technological Singularity is a ridiculous idea (it is) then what are we getting instead? Welcome to the Technological Maximum

The Technological Singularity is the worst kind of idea--the kind you can't do anything with. It's also not what's coming. But if not, then what is this weirdness that AI is dragging our society into?
Welcome to the Technological Maximum.
kschroeder.substack.com/p/i-am-the-v...

Something very different!

Sun of Suns by @karlschroeder.bsky.social (who I just realized is on Bluesky!)

One of the most unique settings I've ever seen in speculative fiction, just breathtaking. (I need to catch up on this series, there are five volumes.)

www.karl-schroeder.com/the-virga-se...

For the record, this orderly handover of power had nothing to do with he-who-shall-not-be-named. It was about voter fatigue with Justin Trudeau.

Another of my ideas from Stealing Worlds can now be spotted in the wild--literally:https://phys.org/news/2025-03-scientists-advanced-forest-forests-future.amp