The Cambias Digression

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

  • The Simsbury Massacre!

    On Saturday, July 18, at 1:00 p.m. the Tor Books Summer 2015 Author Tour and Steel Cage Masked Wrestling Hoedown arrives at the Simsbury Public Library, 725 Hopmeadow Street, in Simsbury, Connecticut. Brian, Elizabeth, Max, and I will read from our works, sign books, answer questions, and take on all comers luchador style, with no…

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  • The Odyssey Continues . . .

    . . . at Odyssey Bookshop in South Hadley, Massachusetts, on July 17 at 7:00 p.m. Elizabeth Bear, myself, Max Gladstone, and Brian Staveley will be reading from our books, signing copies, and generally being literary and fantastickal. If I had sold Darkling Sea back in 2002 or so, this would be the easiest possible tour…

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  • It’s PANDEMONIUM!!

    The Tor Books Summer 2015 Multi-Author Tour & Custom Car Demolition Derby continues July 16 with an exhibition game of the Pathfinder roleplaying system, at Pandemonium Books and Games in sunny Cambridge, Massachusetts. SEE! Four fantasy and science fiction writers revert to being fourteen-year-old geeks in somebody's basement rec room as they sit down at…

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  • It Begins . . .

    The Big Summer Book Tour-a-Palooza-o-Rama kicks off at 7:00 p.m. this coming Tuesday, July 14 (Bastille Day, for Francophiles) at the Harvard Book Store, 1256 Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We'll be having a book launch party for Max Gladstone's new novel Last First Snow, along with readings and book signings by Elizabeth Bear, Brian…

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  • The Big 2015 Summer Book Tour!

    I haven't been talking much about promotional events for Corsair, but that's about to change. Apparently the three-author road show I did with Ramona Wheeler and Brian Staveley back in the winter of 2014 was enough of a success that Tor Books's publicity department has arranged a bigger and more elaborate version this year. Four…

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  • Space Battle Music

    When I learned that James Horner had died, I felt as sad as if it was one of my friends. Mr. Horner and I never met, but I have enjoyed his work ever since I became aware that someone had to create the music behind my favorite movies. It is literally true that on more…

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  • Hieroglyph Blog Fight!

    I was afraid my epic four-part essay about the Hieroglyph Project had gone unread, or worse yet, had been read and disregarded. So I'm delighted to see that David Haden has taken up arms in defense of the Hieroglyph anthology over at his own 'blog, 2020: Tracking Optimism. Mr. Haden thinks it's too soon to…

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  • What Time Is It?

    It's PLUTO TIME!  In honor of the New Horizons probe's approach to Pluto (which isn't a planet, and don't argue about it or the IAU will send their Goon Squad to settle the matter), NASA has set up the "Pluto Time" Web site. Here's how it works: you enter your location, and the site tells…

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  • Congratulations to Nebula Winners

    Congratulations to the winners of the 2015 Nebula Awards, chosen by the members of SFWA. This year's honorees are: Jeff VanderMeer, for his novel Annihilation Nancy Kress, for her novella "Yesterday's Kin" Alaya Dawn Johnson, for her novelette "A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i" Ursula Vernon, for her short story "Jackalope Wives." The Ray…

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  • Accidental Prophets and Texas Sharpshooters (Part 4 of 4)

    Having thoroughly demolished the branch of literature I've spent forty years trying to master, let me build it up again. How can SF encourage and influence new technology? Recall that Stephenson listed two "theories" in his essay. Hieroglyphs and Inspiration: the idea that people become interested in science and technology because of exposure to science…

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The Worldbuilding Index