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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.

Personal tools

My heart surgery

Filed Under:

I'm fine. But I haven't talked about this until now

I had surgery on September fifth (the day after my birthday) to repair an ascending aortic aneurysm.  This is an inevitably fatal condition which is almost always asymptomatic, so people who have it often have no warning before it kills them.  Thus, I was very lucky to have it diagnosed (seven years ago) and ultimately repaired.

This period has been an intense and emotionally trying one for me--not to mention physically excruciating.  Thus, I chose not to publicize what was happening; I needed my privacy to deal with the experience. 

The surgery went like clockwork, but I had some heart rhythm problems afterward that kept me in the hospital an extra week.  There were a few trips to the ER once I was discharged, as well.  The first day I was home I was too weak to make it up the stairs, so I slept on the couch, and for weeks I was able to walk only short distances--a few meters initially, later half a block at a time--and could not lift more than five pounds without risking rupture to my sternum.  I came home with a three-page list of drugs I was on, from anti-arhythmics to blood thinners to more exotic things whose ultimate purpose I never learned. 

A number of people were highly supportive during my recovery, and I still haven't figured out how to properly thank them.  I may never be able to do it to my own satisfaction.

I still have a few issues to sort out, ironically with my eyes and balance, but it's no longer fair to keep this to myself.  I'm out and about again--doing the Cryptic ConFusion con last weekend, and Boskone in a couple of weeks--and it's not fair to surprise people with this particular piece of news.  And anyway, it's now in the past.

I'm happy to be back in the game and writing again.  2009 should be a good year.

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Boskone, Here We Come!

Posted by Oz Whiston at Jan 29, 2009 02:28 PM
So glad you're letting this cat out of the bag. And thank you for the full scoop, which I didn't want to ask for. I'm hoping we'll get to spend time together in Boston, catching up on your couch potato existence. Hope there was lots of family time, lots and lots the past few months.

Best wishes,
Oz
PS: Love the new book's cover art.

Holy Cats!

Posted by at Feb 09, 2009 09:36 AM
Wow! That sounds horrendous! Glad it was a rousing success. My mom had heart valve repair a few years back and she got through it just fine. I'm surprised for yours they had to go in so invasively. Granted, they are two very different operations but my mom only had to endure the femoral artery as the entry point.

Glad to hear you will be at Boskone. As per my own tradition I will not be there due to my daughter's birthday being around the same time. Some day I will make it.

Be well.
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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)


     β€œAn 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. ”
    β€”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