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Karl Schroeder

@karlschroeder.bsky.social
396 followers 40 following 141 posts

Science fiction writer, speculative designer, with a Masters in Strategic Foresight, two cats and a dog, and a fantastic family.

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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
I'll be at Toronto's The Word on the Street book festival this weekend, selling books off my own table! You can find me in Indie Alley, at booth IA14. I have rare hardcovers of Ventus, my other books plus Laika's Ghost, my new collection. Buy or bring your own to be signed. #TorontoWOTS #WOTS2026
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
I have a storage locker full of books I need to sell and sign. Help me out?
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
Spent the morning scoping out where my table will be at the upcoming Word On The Street festival here in Toronto. I'll be selling/signing my books, including rare hardcovers and my new short story collection. (We'll be in Indie Alley, "Narrative Futures" on the map.) toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca
toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca
The Word On The Street Toronto – Canada's Largest Literary Festival
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imaginationasu.bsky.social @imaginationasu.bsky.social · 21/08/2026
This week’s #FreeFictionFriday is “Too Big to See” by @karlschroeder.bsky.social. A seemingly recreational innovation in aerospace provides an unexpected change in perspective, allowing world leaders splitting hairs over geopolitical conflict to see the bigger picture. medium.com/@imagination...
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Metagov @metagov.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Listen to #sci-fi #writer and Protopian Prize judge @karlschroeder.bsky.social talk about the impact #fiction that is near-future, governance-expanding, and incorporates socially responsible uses of #technology.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 17/08/2026
AI is cool and all. So are humanoid robots. But the real lever to unlimited productivity is telepresence. At this year's WorldCon in Anaheim, drive a rover on a (simulated) lunar surface via your smart phone--technology that can easily do this in real life. kschroeder.substack.com/p/live-demoi...
kschroeder.substack.com
Live-Demoing Limitless Telepresence at 2026 WorldCon
If you're in Anaheim between August 27 and the 31st, drop by the the LT booth and remote-control a real rover on a simulated Lunar surface
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 31/07/2026
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-...
kschroeder.substack.com
Choice of Weapons
How to Write? Longhand on paper? Typewriter? Word Processor? Scrivener or Obsidian? Each medium comes with consequences
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 20/07/2026
protopianprize.com
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 25/06/2026
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...
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ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton) In 2030 @edmontonin2030.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
“Monkey Beach” by Eden Robinson, of the Haisla and Heiltsuk First Nations, brings Haisla mysticism to contemporary realism. www.penguinrandomhouse.ca/books/156126...
penguinrandomhouse.ca
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
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ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton) In 2030 @edmontonin2030.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
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...
thistledownpress.com
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…
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
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...
amazon.com
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
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 12/06/2026
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...
open.substack.com
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.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 01/06/2026
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/...
books.friesenpress.com
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Where Do You Make the Cut?
Is AI doing something to us that we have no language to describe? If so, are all our responses, based on what we know and can say, inadequate to the situation?
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
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.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Looking forward to it!
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Metagov @metagov.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
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
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Don't Save This World. Design the Next One
A refresher on what Unapocalyptic is all about
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Don't Save This World. Design the Next One
A refresher on what Unapocalyptic is all about
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 16/04/2026
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Forget Saving the World. Tell Us What 'Better' Looks Like
Picture a future that may not be perfect, but is attainable.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
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...
open.substack.com
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
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 29/03/2026
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...
open.substack.com
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
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Derryl Murphy @derrylm.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
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...
sciencefocus.com
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.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
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...
open.substack.com
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
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 26/02/2026
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!
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 16/01/2026
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Building the Electric Sheep
What could possibly go wrong if the training data for your domestic robot’s AI includes hundreds of science fiction stories about robots?
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 06/01/2026
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 12/12/2025
kschroeder.substack.com/p/stop-think...
kschroeder.substack.com
Stop Thinking
I mean this in the same sense as I might say 'stop crime,' of course. Thinking (including AI's version) will get us killed. What we need is reasoning.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 04/12/2025
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...
open.substack.com
Put Your Own Boots On the Moon
Using your smartphone, you can drive a rover on the moon in 2028.
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Gordon @gordon.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
@karlschroeder.bsky.social pushes this concept in incredible directions in his book Stealing Worlds www.goodreads.com/book/show/41...
goodreads.com
Stealing Worlds
From Karl Schroeder, author of Lockstep, comes the near…
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 13/11/2025
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 30/10/2025
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...
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imaginationasu.bsky.social @imaginationasu.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 23/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Why Don't the Jedi Use ChatGPT?
What Star Wars teaches us about technology, storytelling, and worldbuilding.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 16/10/2025
Now that AI is being driven by the same user-engagement algorithms that enshittified social media, we need an alternative business model. Why not take a lesson from the past, with a new kind of PDA? open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Return of the PDA
The AI business model is based on user engagement, like social media. Not doomscrolling, but something just as bad: automated rumination. We need a different model.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 02/10/2025
open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Rise of the Middle Powers
Who are the adults in the room, in modern politics? And what if those adults want neither a return to American hegemony, nor a multipolar world order?
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 30/09/2025
www.linkedin.com/posts/nikola...
linkedin.com
Karl Schroeder: The Singularity is an Old Idea. Keep Moving Forward! | Nikola Danaylov Ⓥ
🚀 13 years ago, I sat down with Canadian futurist and science fiction author Karl Schroeder for what turned out to be one of the most impactful interviews of my entire career on Singularity.FM. At th...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 18/09/2025
Last week's post inspired some lively debate. I'm following up with an even more provocative idea--the question of whether quantum mechanics can tell us something about how to improve our political institutions. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Quantum Politics
Can we ground our divisive political discussions in a reality that neither Left nor Right can argue away?
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 11/09/2025
While good people debate, bad people act. We're all concerned with finding the ground for a new social contract; but we're out of time to do that. Why not abandon that effort, and start building a pluralistic society based on the complete lack of common ground...? open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Ride Madly Off In All Directions
What's after Postmodernism? Is it Metamodernism? Or, instead of seeking new ways to ground authenticity and authority, can we build a society that doesn't need them?
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Bravo @bravolimapoppa.bsky.social · 10/09/2025
Because the world is a bad place right now and I'm in a bad headspace, here are 5 copies of @karlschroeder.bsky.social 's _Stealing Worlds_. #KindleBookGiveAway
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
I took the summer off to write. Amazingly, I accomplished everything I planned for, including preparing a new short story collection for publication, and finishing the novel I've been promising. I'm back online now and resuming my newsletter, Unapocalyptic. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Pivot Season
The dangers of writing very-near-future science fiction; or, What I Did on My Summer Vacation
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ᐊᒥᐢᑿᒌᐚᐢᑲᐦᐃᑲᐣ (Edmonton) In 2030 @edmontonin2030.bsky.social · 17/07/2025
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
onspec.ca
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…
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 27/06/2025
I've paused my Substack newsletter for the summer so I can focus on writing fiction. Got a novel to finish.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 13/06/2025
I've written an introduction to the 2x2 scenario-planning method, using the example of the future of the Hinterland.
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 29/05/2025
Can Canada become an Arctic superpower? How could we achieve it? And--most importantly--is it worth trying? open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
open.substack.com
Nation-Building in the North
Canada is reconfiguring itself as a strategic global power. How does that work?
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TinJar @tinjar.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
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
kschroeder.substack.com
Eleven Tips for Using SciFi in Futures Work
What nobody tells you about narrative in foresight projects: how to write it
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 09/05/2025
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...
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Karl Schroeder @karlschroeder.bsky.social · 01/05/2025
Progressives need to understand that technology is legislation if they're going to counter the MAGA-ization of everything. open.substack.com/pub/kschroed...
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