To celebrate the publication of Lucky Ghost, I recently set out on the Ghost Train - a whistle-stop tour of some of the finest book blogs on the internet.

Crimes against reality don’t usually end in bloodshed. Their ammunition is public opinion, their shotgun barrel the internet; and the victims are people’s reputations. When they’re committed, these crimes seem trivial, even ludicrous – but their consequences can be lethal. 

On the day of Donald Trump's inauguration, surely now’s the time to start making up the news we actually want to see this year?

There was a brief spell, between the white heat years of the 1960’s and the gaudy disaster of the 1980’s, when futurology blossomed. This was the final gasp of a post-war love affair with centralised planning.