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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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Ashes trade paperback release date

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You can pre-order it now.

 

Ashes trade cover art

The last Virga book, Ashes of Candesce, is doing well in hardcover, and still getting great reviews. It'll be published in trade paperback format early next year: March 12, 2013, to be exact. 

For some perverse reason I'm really excited about the prospect of lining up all the trade editions of these books. I loved the hardcover editions and have done that with them on my bookshelf, of course; but there's something about the trade books that I keep coming back to. The design of both editions is stunning and elegant... but I think I like the trade editions a teeny bit better.

There. I've said it. Now ignore all that and buy the hardcover edition because... well, you know... I'll make more from it.

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ebook covers?

Posted by Glenn Vanderburg at Aug 30, 2012 07:31 PM
Do you have any influence over the covers used for the ebook versions? I would love it if they all had consistent cover designs (preferably the trade versions, because the art is so gorgeous it deserves to be highlighted) but I'd settle for consistency. As it is, they're all over the map.

Short answer - no

Posted by Karl Schroeder at Sep 03, 2012 02:21 PM
No, I am not the designer, nor do I want to be. Typically, the 'cover' of an ebook is just an image of the trade or hardcover art, so I'm not sure what you're talking about. I don't believe the art for my ebooks is any different from the paper books.

Audiobook

Posted by William P. Hassinger at Aug 31, 2012 02:16 AM
So... any news one when the auidobook will be coming? It's not that I won't read the book, I will if that's how I'll get it, but I have the audiobooks for the others and I want to complete the set, as it were.

ebooks for overseas readers

Posted by Michael Grosberg at Sep 04, 2012 10:42 AM
As someone living outside the US (specifically Israel), I've had trouble buying the Kindle version. In fact, I only now found out it existed at all; it was not listed when I attempted to search Amazon for it. Neither were some other of your titles. It is only now, looking at the comments and seeing the ebook reference, it dawned on me that Amazon might be hiding it from me due to my location. I've never had any problems buying ebooks on amazon before (It's even worse with B&N - the Nook is strictly for Americans, it seems). Once I figured what the problem was I simply changed my Amazon address to a US one. I then bought not only Ashes of Candesce but also Lady of Mazes and Permanence, but still, one shouldn't resort to trickery to be able to purchase (well, acquire a license to read, but that's another discussion) something legally. Is this something under your control?

Under my control? You must be joking!

Posted by Karl Schroeder at Sep 07, 2012 06:06 PM
Amazon is the 800 lb gorilla in the world of publishing right now, and not only do I not control what they do, neither do the publishers nor, or so it seems after last week's court ruling, does the U.S. government. (Sorry to be grumpy about this, but really... Amazon's predatory business practices are not benefiting anybody but Amazon.)
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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