Ladies and gentlemen, meet Keith Stevenson.
Keith is the man who gave Father Muerte his big break, debuting the Father’s first story, Father Muerte and the Theft, in Aurealis 29, and providing me with my first sequel opportunity by gently nudging me until I sent him Father Muerte & the Rain. Since then he’s gone on to found a series of excellently-produced publishing ventures including the Terra Incognita podcast; Dimension 6 electronic magazine and coeur de lion publishing, where he regularly produces brilliant tomes such as X6 and Anywhere But Earth. He’s an all-round science fiction good guy, bon vivant, editor, publisher and reviewer. You can find his bloggy goodness right here.
And damn good writer in his own right: His debut novel Horizonis now available as an ebook via Harper Collins. Which brings us to the very reason for this introduction: Today, Keith joins us to talk about charting future history as part of his Horizon blog tour.
Give his entrance a nice, warm hand:
No. of years before wake-up near Iota Pesei
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Event
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110
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Nuclear bombardment of selected targets in the Middle East and Asia by the United States of America, Australia, and the United Kingdom.
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109
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War on Terror officially declared ‘at an end’.
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107
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Compact of Asian Peoples formed. Compact petitions for UN membership. United States of America exercises its veto.
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104
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Pro-EU factions win UK government in landslide election.
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96
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Significant shrinkage of polar icecaps recorded for the fifteenth successive year. Effect of rising sea levels felt worldwide.
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94
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Fuel-cell boom sees formation of the Union of Northern States to protect sensitive patents.
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94
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Kyoto III finally ratified.
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93
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Compact coalition cuts all trade ties with Australia.
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90
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EU governments consolidated under a single body.
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88
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Hurricane Ivan lays waste to the eastern seaboard of United States of America and a large part of Central America.
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87
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United States and Australian governments ratify creation of Pax Americana, effectively merging the two countries into a consolidated trade, defence and diplomatic entity. The wastelands from Florida to Pennsylvania are officially excluded from the Pax.
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85
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The first fully fledged Pax election sees an increase in pro-Green elected candidates as a result of increasing environmental degradation and the legacy of Hurricane Ivan.
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84
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Pax Americana vetoes the Compact’s petition for UN membership.
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79
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To meet its Kyoto III targets, Pax Americana switches exclusively to fuel-cell technology for all public and an increasing percentage of private power utilisation.
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78
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The Pax oversees a massive retooling and retraining effort to gear its industries for the new information economy. The need for a larger skilled workforce prompts employment lotteries in the marginal eastern seaboard colonies. Thousands of former USA citizens are resettled in the Pax.
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74
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The Union of Northern States develops second-generation fuel-cell technology, halving cost and mass and doubling output of the new cells.
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72
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The Pax economy takes off on the crest of the fuel-cell revolution and the rebirth of Silicon Valley.
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66
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First bio-jack experiments yield amazing results in quadriplegic subjects.
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64
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The UNS uses its voting block to force Pax Americana to approve the Compact’s petition for UN member status. Compact granted member status of United Nations.
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63
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Pax American Space Administration (PASA) formed, with its headquarters at Woomera, Australia. Near-Earth asteroid mining commences. Limited trial and use of deepsleep for asteroid-belt mining sorties.
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63
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UN aid program to the Compact finds health infrastructure is ‘primitive’ and in need of immediate assistance. Pax, UNS and EU pledge six billion U-dollars to build and equip fifteen hospitals and train over three hundred doctors.
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61
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EU scientist Earnhard Godel develops the picopulse black-box propulsion system. Wins Nobel Prize.
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60
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Environmental studies conclude that the depletion of the ozone layer has halted.
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60
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PASA announces the Explorer Ship program. International Space Station brought out of mothballs to coordinate the search for a target star.
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57
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Testing of Magellan prototype explorer ship complete. Crew selection includes Pax, EU and UNS members; however, the UNS representative is injured in training. The Pax government requests a replacement and UNS suggests a Compact citizen.
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55
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Magellan launches from Earth orbit.
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