Ken MacLeod

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
For other people named Ken MacLeod, see Ken MacLeod (disambiguation).
Ken MacLeod
Ken McLeod 2005.JPG
Addressing the 63rd World Science Fiction Convention, Glasgow, August 2005
Born (1954-08-02) 2 August 1954 (age 58)
Stornoway, Isle of Lewis, Scotland
Occupation Writer
Genres science fiction
kenmacleod.blogspot.com

Ken MacLeod (born 2 August 1954), is a Scottish science fiction writer.

Contents

Biography [edit]

Macleod was born in Stornoway, Scotland on 2nd August 1954.[1] He graduated from Glasgow University with a degree in zoology and has worked as a computer programmer and written a masters thesis on biomechanics.[2] He was a Trotskyist activist in the 1970s and early 1980s[3] and is married and has two children.[1] He lives in South Queensferry near Edinburgh.

Writing [edit]

He is part of a group of British science fiction writers who specialise in hard science fiction and space opera. His contemporaries include Stephen Baxter, Iain M. Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Adam Roberts, Charles Stross, Richard Morgan and Liz Williams.

His novels often explore socialist, communist and anarchist political ideas, most particularly the variants of Trotskyism and anarcho-capitalism or extreme economic libertarianism. Technical themes encompass singularities, divergent human cultural evolution and post-human cyborg-resurrection. MacLeod's general outlook can be best described as techno-utopian socialist,[4][5] though unlike a majority of techno-utopians, he has expressed great scepticism over the possibility and especially over the desirability of Strong AI.[citation needed]

He is known for his constant in-joking and punning on the intersection between socialist ideologies and computer programming, as well as other fields. For example, his chapter titles such as "Trusted Third Parties" or "Revolutionary Platform" usually have double (or multiple) meanings. A future programmers union is called "Information Workers of the World Wide Web", or the Webblies, a reference to the Industrial Workers of the World, who are nicknamed the Wobblies. The Webblies idea formed a central part of the novel For the Win by Cory Doctorow and MacLeod is acknowledged as coining the term.[6] Doctorow has also used one of Macleod's references to the singularity as "the rapture for nerds" as the title for his book Rapture of the Nerds. There are also many references to, or puns on, zoology and palaeontology. For example in The Stone Canal the title of the book, and many places described in it, are named after anatomical features of marine invertebrates such as starfish.

Bibliography [edit]

  • This series is also available in two volumes:
    1. Fractions: The First Half of the Fall Revolution (2009; US paperback ISBN 0-7653-2068-1)
    2. Divisions: The Second Half of the Fall Revolution (2009; US paperback ISBN 0-7653-2119-X)

Books about Macleod [edit]

The Science Fiction Foundation have published an analysis of MacLeod's work The True Knowledge Of Ken MacLeod (2003; ISBN 0-903007-02-9) edited by Andrew M. Butler and Farah Mendlesohn. As well as critical essays it contains material by MacLeod himself, including his introduction to the German edition of Banks' Consider Phlebas.

Awards [edit]

Preceded by
James White		 ESFS award for Best Author
2000		 Succeeded by
Valerio Evangelisti

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Rodger Turner, Webmaster (2005-07-07). "A Conversation With Ken MacLeod". The SF Site. Retrieved 2012-03-20. 
  2. ^ "Ken MacLeod's official page at [[Orbit Books]]". Orbitbooks.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-03-20.  Wikilink embedded in URL title (help)
  3. ^ Jesse Walker from the November 2000 issue. "Anarchies, States, and Utopias – Reason Magazine". Reason.com. Retrieved 2012-03-20. 
  4. ^ "SF Zone interview with MacLeod". Zone-sf.com. Retrieved 2012-03-20. 
  5. ^ Butler, Andrew M.; Mendlesohn, Farah (2003). In (eds.). The True Knowledge Of Ken MacLeod. SF Foundation. ISBN 0-903007-02-9. 
  6. ^ Cory Doctorow (2010). For the Win. HarperVoyager. ISBN 978-0765322166.  MacLeod is thanked in the Acknowledgements section: "Many thanks to Ken Macleod for letting me use IWWWW and 'Webbly.'"
  7. ^ a b "1996 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  8. ^ "1998 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  9. ^ a b "1999 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  10. ^ a b "2001 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  11. ^ "The Falling Rate of Profit, Red Hordes and Green Slime: What the Fall Revolution Books Are About" – Nova Express, Volume 6, Spring/Summer 2001, pp 19–21
  12. ^ a b "2002 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  13. ^ "2004 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  14. ^ a b "2005 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  15. ^ "2006 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  16. ^ "2007 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 
  17. ^ a b "2008 Award Winners & Nominees | Science Fiction & Fantasy Books by Award | WWEnd". Worldswithoutend.com. Retrieved 2010-06-11. 

External links [edit]

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ken MacLeod

Interviews [edit]

Authority control
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ken_MacLeod&oldid=540155171"