The Cambias Digression

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

  • 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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  • Accidental Prophets and Texas Sharpshooters (Part 3 of 4)

    Last time I explained how the Hieroglyph anthology didn't accomplish its goal, because of the very nature of science fictional prediction. If you look at those iconic Hieroglyphs from my earlier list through the lens of metaphor and plot device it becomes quite clear how many of them were invented as story elements first and…

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  • Lend Me Your Ears

    The Tenacious Reader blog has a very favorable review of the audiobook edition of Corsair up. Evidently it sounds as good as it looks on the page. I suspect congratulations should go to the good people at Audible.com, especially the reader Victor Bevine.  

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  • Accidental Prophets and Texas Sharpshooters (Part 2 of 4)

    (Note: this essay can be read in its entirety at the Hieroglyph website.) In my last post I described the history of the Hieroglyph Project, and ended by saying that it failed. How did the Hieroglyph anthology fail? It's full of great stories, it got good reviews and it sold well. By any normal definition…

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  • Accidental Prophets and Texas Sharpshooters (Part 1 of 4)

    One thing I've discovered about being a science fiction writer is that it somehow makes me into a futurist. Because I write stories with spaceships and aliens in them, people think I must have some kind of inside line on how the world is going to look a century from now. In fact, that seems…

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The Worldbuilding Index