The Fuzzier Crystal Ball

In "The Fuzzier Crystal Ball," Dave Itzkoff uses the occasion of Sir Arthur C. Clarke's passing to ask, "in a world where technology evolves so rapidly that the present already feels like the future, will a modern-day author ever inherit Mr. Clarke’s aura of prescience?" He called me for the piece, and while my comments don't make the cut, I'm happy to have pointed him to two of the four authors whose comments he does incorporate. He talks to Charles Stross, Walter Jon Williams, Paolo Bacigalupi, and Ian McDonald. All have good things to say. I am particularly interested in Ian McDonald's remark that, "By concentrating only on what’s likely, it’s graying out that sense of wonder that scientists get from doing science."

RIP: Sir Arthur C Clarke

Sir Arthur C Clarke has died at age 90. Truly one of the greatest SF authors of all time. I never corresponded with him personally, though he was a decades-long friend to Pyr's parent company, Prometheus Books, and we were just about to send him a case of Pyr books. My son is named for him in part. Very sad, if not unexpected, news.