I’ve just written a little article for Pen to Print’s Write On! magazine on the pitfalls faced by sci-fi writers, but also writers in general. We tend to think that writing the future is unproblematic, because the future is a…
I’ve done another little book list/interview type thing over at Shepherd.com on “The best books on understanding the crazy world of contemporary art”. It’s based on the research I did for my novella Pale Kings, which is a little satirical…
Perhaps the most plausible thing about Samantha Schweblin’s disquieting novel is the cavalier way in which people invite privacy-invading technology into their lives. The setting is not especially futuristic: kentuki are the new must-have gadget sweeping the world; you become…
The lovely folks over at Shepherd have kindly asked me to select my top 5 books on a topic associated with one of my books. So naturally I chose MUNKi and our continuing struggles with technology, and the name of…
It is now arguably the dominant perspective to see human history as progressive. This has not always been the case. The Judaeo-Christian view envisions a fall from a primary state of divine favour and perfection; the Greek poet Herodotus saw…
Science fiction authors have been warning us for decades of the dangers technology poses. Recently, advances in artificial intelligence and robotics seem to suggest that they have been right all along. Computers are now driving cars and piloting automated weapons…
Square Eyes is a graphic novel by artist and designer Anna Mill, and Luke Jones, a lecturer at the Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design. It is published by Jonathan Cape, an imprint of Penguin Random House that specialises…