I call our world Flatland, not because we call it so, but to make its nature clearer to you, my happy readers, who are privileged to live in Space. —↑Edwin A. Abbott (1884:Section 1.) Victorian society seems to be a preferred metaphor and target for scientifically and technologically inclined writers who strive to express social and cultural critique. Meanwhile I have finished “The Diamond Age, or: The Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer” (↵Stephenson 1996 [1995])—that second generation cyberpunk-tale wherein the Neo-Victorians feature so prominently. Both emotionally and intellectually I really enjoyed following artifex John Percival Hackworth through the post-nation-state-collapse, retro-tribalized, … Continue reading →