I first encountered steampunk through Bryan Talbot’s seminal comic series The Adventures of Luther Arkwright. It appeals to me in the same way as the adventures of Indiana Jones, or the Biggles books I read as a child: it’s all good clean, escapist fun. But is it science fiction, or is it a retreat from the future? Is it symptomatic of a general loss of nerve among science fiction writers, as they turn away from a difficult and challenging future?

Continue reading “The Trouble With Steampunk, Or: Why SF Matters Now More Than Ever”

This morning I took part as a speaker in an event called “How To Prosper In The Coming Bad Years“, set in this fantastic open-air venue in Victoria Park, Bristol:

The structure is called The Black Cloud, designed by artists Heather and Ivan Morison, who also hosted the event, which brought together a number of guests to discuss the future. As well as myself, the speakers included Jon Turney, science writer and author of the forthcoming Rough Guide to the Future, Richard Sandford, learning researcher at Futurelab, Lisa Morgans from Greenpeace, and Thomas F. Thornton, a lecturer from the Environmental Change Institute in Oxford.

Continue reading “Talking About The Apocalypse”