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Downloads

I've made my first novel, Ventus, available as a free download, as well as excerpts from two of the Virga books.  I am looking forward to putting up a number of short stories in the near future.

Complete novel:  Ventus

 

To celebrate the August, 2007 publication of Queen of Candesce, I decided to re-release my first novel as an eBook. You can download it from this page. Ventus was first published by Tor Books in 2000, and and you can still buy it; to everyone who would just like to sample my work, I hope you enjoy this version.

I've released this book under a Creative Commons license, which means you can read it and distribute it freely, but not make derivative works or sell it.

Book Excerpts:  Sun of Suns and Pirate Sun

I've made large tracts of these two Virga books available.  If you want to find out what the Virga universe is all about, you can check it out here:

Major Foresight Project:  Crisis in Zefra

In spring 2005, the Directorate of Land Strategic Concepts of National Defense Canada (that is to say, the army) hired me to write a dramatized future military scenario.  The book-length work, Crisis in Zefra, was set in a mythical African city-state, about 20 years in the future, and concerned a group of Canadian peacekeepers who are trying to ready the city for its first democratic vote while fighting an insurgency.  The project ran to 27,000 words and was published by the army as a bound paperback book.

If you'd like to read Crisis in Zefra, you can download it in PDF form.

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Tesseracts Twelve showcases Canada's finest

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What's really special about this anthology is that it is dedicated to novellas rather than short stories

It's often claimed that the proper medium for written science fiction and fantasy is the novella.  I happen to agree--but novellas, being a long form intermediate between short story and novel, are notoriously hard to sell.  We all write them (every SF writer I know has a file folder full of novellas) and they often represent our best work; but there's no consistent market for them, so they're rarely read.Tesseracts 12

When Claude Lalumière opened Tesseracts Twelve for submissions, he decided to focus on novellas, and so this edition of the long-running Canadian SF anthology has fewer authors in it than most.  But the trade-off is worth it, because these stories represent some of the best of the best:  long-form fiction from some of Canada's most popular and critically acclaimed SF and fantasy writers.

Included in these pages are stories by E.L. Chen, Randy McCharles, Derryl Murphy, David Nickle, Gord Sellar, Grace Seybold, and Michael Skeet & Jill Snider Lum.  You may not have heard of all these authors, but several of these names represent long-running stars of the Canadian SF scene, and all are excellent.  I won't pick favourites here; it seems inappropriate in a long-form medium where every story is radically different from all the others.  But this could be the best Tesseracts anthology yet.  If you're not familiar with the series, this is the place to start.

And by the way, the anthology, just out, is already garnering rave reviews.  This is what SFRevu had to say:

When you see a long running anthology series, it cannot just be riding the shirt tails of previous successes; the book market is just not that robust. For that reason alone, Tesseracts Twelve shows it is something worth exploring. With a focus on Canadian writers, it showcases the great talent to be found in that country and also gives these authors a rare opportunity for writing a longer piece. A wide range of styles and themes is presented here, making this is a smorgasbord of literary delights.

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About Me

I'm a member of the Association of Professional Futurists with my own consultancy, and am also currently Chair of the Canadian node of the Millennium Project, a private/public foresight consultancy active in 50 nations. As well, I am an award-winning author with ten published novels translated into as many languages. I write, give talks, and conduct workshops on numerous topics related to the future, including:

  • Future of government
  • Bitcoin and digital currencies
  • The workplace in 2030
  • The Internet of Things
  • Augmented cognition

For a complete bio, go here. To contact me, email karl at kschroeder dot com

Example: The Future of Governance

I use Science Fiction to communicate the results of actual futures studies. Some of my recent research relates to how we'll govern ourselves in the future. I've worked with a few clients on this and published some results.

Here are two examples--and you can read the first for free:

The Canadian army commissioned me to write Crisis in Urlia, a fictionalized study of the future of military command-and-control. You can download a PDF of the book here:


Crisis in Urlia

For the "optimistic Science Fiction" anthology Hieroglyph, I wrote "Degrees of Freedom," set in Haida Gwaii. "Degrees of Freedom" is about an attempt to develop new governing systems by Canadian First Nations people.


I'm continuing to research this exciting area and would be happy to share my findings.

 
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    Coming on June 18, 2019

    "Science fiction at its best."

    --Kim Stanley Robinson

    A Young Adult Scifi Saga

    "Lean and hugely engaging ... and highly recommended."

    --Open Letters Monthly, an Arts and Literature Review

    Sheer Fun: The Virga Series

    (Sun of Suns and Queen of Candesce are combined in Cities of the Air)


     “An adventure-filled tale of sword fights and naval battles... the real fun of this coming-of-age tale includes a pirate treasure hunt and grand scale naval invasions set in the cold, far reaches of space. ”
    Kirkus Reviews (listed in top 10 SF novels for 2006)

    "With Queen of Candesce, [Schroeder] has achieved a clockwork balance of deftly paced adventure and humour, set against an intriguing and unique vision of humanity's far future.
    --The Globe and Mail

    "[Pirate Sun] is fun in the same league as the best SF ever has had to offer, fully as exciting and full of cool science as work from the golden age of SF, but with characterization and plot layering equal to the scrutiny of critical appraisers."
    --SFRevu.com


    "...A rollicking good read... fun, bookish, and full of insane air battles"
    --io9.com


    "A grand flying-pirate-ship-chases-and-escapes-and-meetings-with-monsters adventure, and it ends not with a debate or a seminar but with a gigantic zero-gee battle around Candesce, a climactic unmasking and showdown, just desserts, and other satisfying stuff."
    --Locus