LonCon Appearances

If you’d like to come see me at LonCon, you can find me below.

Decontextualising Steampunk

Friday 15:00 – 16:30, Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)

Is steampunk historically specific, or could any genre story benefit from a few more cogs and zeppelins? What are the pros and cons of exporting the steampunk aesthetic to stories set in other times and places? Can ‘the future that never was’ be extricated from the past it definitely did have? In other words, can you have steampunk without empire, and all that implies?

With Ann Vandermeer (M), Patricia Ash, Gail Carriger and Liesel Schwarz.

Who misplaced the Monster Compendium?

Saturday 13:30 – 15:00, Capital Suite 2 (ExCeL)

When was the last time a fantasy novel had a golem or a cockatrice? How long is it since someone fought a giant, flesh-eating beast instead of another dude with a sword? Where did all the monsters go? With quest plots out of fashion, deus ex machina ditched, treasure-hunting too economically simplistic, and stories more likely to lavish pages on their heroes’ motivations for fighting than on blow-by-blow battles with deadly creatures, is the monster still relevant in today’s fantasy?

With Julie Crisp (M), Tom Pollock, Adrian Tchaikovsky, K. J. (Kirsten) Bishop.

Meet the New King, Same As The Old King

Saturday 19:00 – 20:00, Capital Suite 14 (ExCeL)

Why is fantasy so often about making the world better by getting the rightful king on the throne, rather than by doing away with monarchy entirely? Where are all the revolutions? Why don’t wizards use magic to create indoor plumbing and better infrastructure?

Juliet E McKenna, Joe Abercrombie, Delia Sherman, and Peter V. Brett.

Autographing 5 – Rjurik Davidson

Sunday 11:00 – 12:00, Autographing Space (ExCeL)

Kaffeeklatsch

Sunday 16:00 – 17:00, London Suite 5 (ExCeL)