Ken MacLeod

Following the US publication of Ken MacLeod’s Fall Revolution series, online magazine salon.com joked that MacLeod was a “Trotskyite libertarian cyberpunk”. But more than a joke, this is a good description of his early science fiction novels.

Born in Stornoway, Ken MacLeod is perhaps Scotland’s most political of authors. He studied Zoology at Glasgow University, during which time he became politically active. He has been a member of the International Marxist Group, the Communist Party of Great Britain, and other left-wing organisations, and his politics are prominent in his novels.

His first series of novels, the Fall Revolution series (starting with The Star Fraction), mix socialism, high technology and humour. The Engines of Light trilogy feels more like a traditional ‘space opera’. Learning the World, is less political but demonstrates his keen ability to create alien worlds which are both believable and different; The Execution Channel is a near-future novel of politics and lies.

Ken MacLeod is regularly shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke and Hugo awards, the most prestigious science fiction awards.