Its a cyclical thing and just happens to be happening in Britain now - but for how much longer? Will the current round of optimism burn out soon? When American writers begin to get happier about the future, I suspect that they’ll go back to thinking about the near future again rather than projecting in the far reaches.

Interesting question re: British authors looking to the near-future. I wonder if this will be a short fad or an ongoing trend? The telling thing will be to watch and see if it gets mimicked across the pond.

I believe you’ll be at Eastercon again this year, and I believe I promised to buy you a beer last time - hopefully I can make good on the promise!

Paul R

PS: If you’ll forgive a bit of on-topic plugging, there’s a big chunk of my interview with Ken MacLeod on Velcro City at the moment …