The Cambias Digression

Notes and thoughts on everything from what I had for breakfast to the fate of the Universe.

  • Pulp Covers!

    Here's an article on LitHub about pulp-style covers for some very not-pulp novels. I even remember seeing some of these back in the 1970s. Some are silly, but a few are hilariously wrong. Still, I kind of wish publishers still did covers like these. I think my own novels could really benefit. A Darkling Sea:…

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  • Why Caesar?

    In European civilization, I think it's a true statement to say that the most famous historical figure, second only to Jesus, is Julius Caesar. He's been hero-worshipped more or less continuously since he led his army into Gaul — except for one unfortunate incident involving sixty or so of his political rivals and a lot…

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  • My Canon

    In modern geek culture we've begun to use the term "Universe" to refer to a background setting, particularly one which is shared by multiple creative works. The most famous, right now, is probably the "Marvel Cinematic Universe," which encompasses all the Marvel/Disney superhero films and TV series since Iron Man in 2008. There are some…

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  • Event Horizon Interview on YouTube

    I have been a fan of John Michael Godier's "Event Horizon" channel on YouTube for more than a year now, so I was particularly pleased when Mr. Godier and his team decided to interview me about my new book The Godel Operation. The interview itself was great fun. Our conversation rambled widely, discussing the book, artificial…

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  • Political-Literary Observation

    In the news one constantly hears journalists and government officials referring to "bad actors" when talking about matters of crime and national security. I think that movie reviewers and theater critics are the ones to guard us against bad actors. Soldiers, spies, and policemen should confine themselves to stopping wrongdoers instead.

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  • How’s It Doing?

      The Godel Operation has been out for three weeks now. I've done interviews and promotion — there's an interview on the "Event Horizon" YouTube channel due to drop Friday the 27th. I'm sending out signed bookplates in lieu of autographings. Reviews have been good: Publishers' Weekly liked it, and Paul DiFilippo wrote a glowing piece…

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  • Retro-Review: Treasure Planet

    I recently watched the 2002 Disney animated movie Treasure Planet. I am told by my children that we rented it multiple times when they were younger, but I am sure I never actually watched the whole thing. Perhaps I was in the room while they watched it, but my attention was elsewhere. My judgement is…

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  • I Will Sign Your Book Wherever You Are

    There haven't been any bookstore signing events for The Godel Operation, and I haven't been able to attend any conventions in person. But one of my friends had a brilliant suggestion: signed bookplates!  I ordered a batch: they're self-sticking bookplates, about the size of a business card, with original artwork (above) by Emily Cambias, showing…

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  • Baen Free Radio Interview

    The Baen Free Radio Hour sounds like it should be broadcast from hidden antennas deep in occupied territory, keeping the flame of freedom alive. Actually, it's a podcast. They've got an interview with me up now, about — no surprise — The Godel Operation. You can listen to it or watch the video version here.…

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  • Big Idea Guest Post

    I've got a long guest post up at John Scalzi's 'blog Whatever, part of his ongoing "Big Idea" series for writers to talk about their work. For this post I waded deep into the history of how I came up with the Billion Worlds setting and my future plans for more stories in that future.…

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The Worldbuilding Index