So help me, I’ve just had an inspiration. I’ve been worldbuilding and tinkering with the general concept of an extreme world dominated by ice dragons in a (somewhat) hard-science-fictional take on a medieval fantasy setting (see my original argon snow world post, plus an abortive … Continue readingIce Dragons of Antarctica
We usually think of a temperature scale as proceeding from a zero point with higher numbers corresponding to hotter temperatures, and indeed that is probably the most intuitive way to think about it, but that’s not necessarily the case; “degrees of frost” are, or at … Continue readingDegree of Frost
I know I sounded all ready to make a story based on my ice dragon world concept outlined in a recent blog post, but it just doesn’t feel right no matter how much I tinker with it or what I combine it with; I’ve learned … Continue readingGiving “Garden City” a Whole New Meaning
“What about winter?” “You’ve already had it!” “We’ve had one, yes. What about second winter?”. On a planet with high axial tilt and/or an eccentric orbit, a short temperate summer can be envisaged, coupled with long cold winters beyond the ken of anywhere on Earth. … Continue readingArgon Snows on an Ice Dragon Planet
My previous post on Rules of Succession What-Ifs (which was really fun to write) focused on alternatives to the system of primogeniture, but at no point did I touch on more exotic systems beyond patrilineal or at best bilateral descent. I’d like to take some … Continue readingFun with Matrilineal Patriarchies
I really just love the whole idea, the whole aesthetic, of beautiful wholesome girls throwing themselves into the art of reading letters from their dear friends and their beloved, giving their messages perfume and kisses, all in the most lovingly feminine and gorgeous handwriting. Perhaps … Continue readingLove Letters: A Digital Rebirth?
It must be the fall atmosphere these days compelling me to watch films like “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” more often, because I’ve been giving some thought to fodder for an interesting alternate history what-if: the Nazi concept for the “Alpine Redoubt”, or “Alpine … Continue readingAn Alternate History of the Alpine Fortress
Well, I know I laid out so many ambitious plans in my previous post, “Ready to Write Something Different”, but when the time came to actually try out all that stuff it just made me feel sick, overwrought, overworked, and inadequate: it was not enjoyable, … Continue readingReady for Writing Something Not So Different
I don’t belabor the point, but the truth is 20th and 21st century of my alternate-history science-fiction space-opera universe is in large measure a family saga of the Reinhardts, heirs of the inventor of the microchip and his fortune. Recently I’ve been brainstorming a new … Continue readingReady for Rapunzel
Over Easter, the holiday of the world’s renewal, the bright sunny season we’re fast approaching has stimulated me to contemplate what a spacefaring civilization that huddled in very close proximity to the sun (or some other star) might be like. It’s also struck me that … Continue readingVampires of the Oort Cloud?