James Cambias (also as James L. Cambias) is an American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving Magic (supernatural), magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy ...

writer and

tabletop game Tabletop games or tabletops are games that are normally played on a table or other flat surface, such as board games, card games, dice games, miniature wargames, or tile-based games. Classification according to equipment used Tabletop games c ...

designer.

Biography

Born and raised in

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, Cambias became interested in space and astronomy at a young age. He received a degree in the History, Philosophy, and Social Studies of Science and Medicine from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

, focusing particularly on

Robert Hooke Robert Hooke FRS (; 18 July 16353 March 1703) was an English polymath active as a scientist, natural philosopher and architect, who is credited to be one of two scientists to discover microorganisms in 1665 using a compound microscope that ...

and the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

. He currently lives in

Western Massachusetts Western Massachusetts, known colloquially as “Western Mass,” is a region in Massachusetts, one of the six U.S. states that make up the New England region of the United States. Western Massachusetts has diverse topography; 22 colleges and u ...

with his wife and two children. His early writing focused on

role-playing games A role-playing game (sometimes spelled roleplaying game, RPG) is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal ac ...

, particularly adventures and support material for ''

Space 1889 ''Space: 1889'' is a tabletop role-playing game of Victorian era, Victorian-era space-faring, created by Frank Chadwick and originally published by Game Designers' Workshop (GDW) from 1989 to 1990. It was the first roleplaying game to feature s ...

''. His first role playing book was published by

Iron Crown Enterprises Iron Crown Enterprises (ICE) is a publishing company that has produced role playing, board, miniature, and collectible card games since 1980. Many of ICE's better-known products were related to J. R. R. Tolkien's world of Middle-earth, but the ''Ro ...

in 1994, and he has written or contributed to books for

Last Unicorn Games Last Unicorn Games (LUG) was a game publisher owned by Christian Moore that was eventually purchased by Wizards of the Coast Wizards of the Coast LLC (often referred to as WotC or simply Wizards) is an American publisher of games, primaril ...

Hero Games Hero Games (''DOJ, Inc dba Hero Games'') is the publisher of the Hero System, a generic roleplaying rules set that can be used to simulate many different genres, and was the co-developer of the ''Fuzion'' system. History In 1981, George MacDon ...

, and

Steve Jackson Games Steve Jackson Games (SJGames) is a game company, founded in 1980 by Steve Jackson, that creates and publishes role-playing, board, and card games, and (until 2019) the gaming magazine ''Pyramid''. History Founded in 1980, six years after the cr ...

, including '' Star Trek: The Next Generation Role-playing Game'', ''GURPS Mars'', '' Star Hero'', and ''

GURPS Space ''GURPS Space'' is a sourcebook published by Steve Jackson Games (SJG) for use with ''GURPS'' (''Generic Universal Role-Playing System''), published in four editions from 1988 to 2006. Description ''GURPS Space'' is a toolkit that enables game ...

''. He is one of the founders of Zygote Games, and the co-designer of the game ''Bone Wars: The Game of Ruthless Paleontology'', based on the

Bone Wars The Bone Wars, also known as the Great Dinosaur Rush, was a period of intense and ruthlessly competitive fossil hunting and discovery during the Gilded Age of American history, marked by a heated rivalry between Edward Drinker Cope (of the Acade ...

of the late 19th century; and ''Parasites Unleashed'', a game for younger players based on

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it fo ...

. His first professionally published fiction appeared in 2000. This first story, "A Diagram of Rapture," was well-received and garnered nominations for the 2000 Tiptree Award and the 2001

Locus Award The Locus Awards are an annual set of literary awards voted on by readers of the science fiction and fantasy magazine ''Locus'', a monthly magazine based in Oakland, California. The awards are presented at an annual banquet. In addition to the pl ...

, as well as earning Cambias a nomination for the 2001

John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer The ''Astounding'' Award for Best New Writer (formerly the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer) is given annually to the best new writer whose first professional work of science fiction or fantasy was published within the two previous ...

. He continued to primarily write short fiction for the next ten years, and his work was subsequently published in ''

The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (usually referred to as ''F&SF'') is a U.S. fantasy and science fiction magazine first published in 1949 by Mystery House, a subsidiary of Lawrence Spivak's Mercury Press. Editors Anthony Boucher a ...

'', ''The Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives'', ''Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic'', ''All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories'', ''Hellboy: Odder Jobs'', ''

Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet ''Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet'' (''LCRW'') is a twice-yearly small press zine published by Small Beer Press, edited by Gavin Grant and Kelly Link. It contains an eclectic mix of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction, with an emphasis on speculativ ...

'', and several Year's Best anthologies. His first full-length novel, '' A Darkling Sea'' (2014) concerns the encounter between humans and two species of sentient extraterrestrials. The book received positive reviews, mentioning the meticulous world-building and believable aliens as particular strengths. Cambias has cited his hatred of the "famous ''

Star Trek ''Star Trek'' is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry, which began with the eponymous 1960s television series and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has expanded into vari ...

Prime Directive In the fictional universe of '' Star Trek'', the Prime Directive (also known as "Starfleet General Order 1", "General Order 1", and the "non-interference directive") is a guiding principle of Starfleet that prohibits its members from interferin ...

" as direct influence on the book, stating that "It’s a rule which can only be invented by people who don’t need it." ''A Darkling Sea'' was nominated for the

, the John W. Campbell Memorial Award, and the

Compton Crook Award The Compton Crook Award is presented to the best English language first novel of the year in the field of science fiction, fantasy, or horror by the members of the Baltimore Science Fiction Society at their annual science fiction convention, Baltic ...

, as well as the Kurd Lasswitz Prize for the German translation of the novel as "Bestes ausländisches Werk." His second novel is the 2015 techno-thriller ''Corsair'', about space pirates in a near-future hard science-fiction setting. His third novel, ''Arkad's World'', is a "coming-of-age story about a human boy alone on an alien planet." Cambias has said that follow-up novels to both ''Corsair'' and ''A Darkling Sea'' are in the works.http://www.mybookishways.com/2015/05/an-interview-and-giveaway-with-james-cambias-author-of-corsair.html His most recent publication is ''The Initiate'', from Baen Books. Cambias has become known for attending conventions and readings in semi-formal wear, often sporting a

bow-tie The bow tie is a type of necktie. A modern bow tie is tied using a common shoelace knot, which is also called the bow knot for that reason. It consists of a ribbon of fabric tied around the collar of a shirt in a symmetrical manner so that ...

Bibliography

Novels

*'' A Darkling Sea'' (2014,

Tor Books Tor Books is the primary imprint of Tor Publishing Group (previously Tom Doherty Associates), a publishing company based in New York City. It primarily publishes science fiction and fantasy titles, and is the largest publisher of Chinese scien ...

, ) *''Corsair'' (2015,

, ) *'' Arkad's World'' (2019,

Baen Books Baen Books () is an American publishing house for science fiction and fantasy. In science fiction, it emphasizes space opera, hard science fiction, and military science fiction. The company was established in 1983 by science fiction publisher an ...

, ) *''The Initiate'' (2020,

, ) *''The Godel Operation'' (2021,

, )

Short fiction

*"The Alien Abduction" (Sep 2000, ''

'') *"A Diagram of Rapture" (April 2000, ''

'') *"Return to Skull Island" (June 2002, ''Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives'') *"Train of Events" (January 2003, ''

'') *"Apocrypha" (January 2004, ''Journal of Pulse-Pounding Narratives'') *"The Ocean of the Blind" (April 2004, ''

'', later adapted in ''A Darkling Sea'') *"See My King All Dressed in Red" (August 2004, '' Crossroads: Tales of the Southern Literary Fantastic'') *"The Vampire Brief" (October 2004, '' Hellboy: Odder Jobs'') *"The Eckener Alternative" (November 2004, ''All Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories'') *"Parsifal (Prix Fixe)" (February 2006, ''

'') *"The Barbary Shore" (October 2007, '' Shimmer'') *"Balancing Accounts" (February 2008, ''

'') *"The Dinosaur Train" (July 2008, ''

'') *"Makeover" (July 2009, ''

Nature Magazine ''Nature'' is a British weekly scientific journal founded and based in London, England. As a multidisciplinary publication, ''Nature'' features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology. It ...

'') *"The Wolf and the Schoolmaster" (January 2010, '' Shimmer'') *"How Seosiris Lost the Favor of the King" (September 2010, ''

'') *"Object Three" (November 2011, ''

'') *"Contractual Obligation" (July 2014, '' War Stories: New Military Science Fiction'') *"Periapsis" (September 2014, '' Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future'') *"A Right Jolly Old…" (February 2016, '' Conspiracy!'', published again July 2017, '' Science Fiction for the Throne: One-Sitting Reads'') *"Golden Gate Blues" (March/April 2016, ''

'') *"Treatment Option" (June 2017, '' Seat 14C'') *"René Descartes and the Cross of Blood" (July 2018, ''

'' #38)

Collections

*''Outlaws and Aliens'', self-published chapbook (2016) *''Monster Island Tales'', self-published chapbook (2017)

References

External links

Apocrypha
story available free through the author's website.
Treatment Option
online on ''Seat14C'' project.
The Eckener Alternative
story available in pdf form through the Imagining Tomorrow site, previously published in ''All-Star Zeppelin Adventure Stories'' and ''Year's Best SF 10''.
Science Made Cool
blog *

Creating “believable” aliens: an interview with James L. Cambias
John Hickman. ''Space Review''. April 14, 2014.
Beyond the Boundary: A Conversation with James L. Cambias
at

Clarkesworld Magazine ''Clarkesworld Magazine'' (ISSN 1937-7843) is an American online fantasy and science fiction magazine. It released its first issue October 1, 2006 and has maintained a regular monthly schedule since, publishing fiction by authors such as Elizabe ...

, March 2014
James L. Cambias RPG designer entry
on boardgamegeek.com
James L. Cambias board game designer entry
on boardgamegeek.com
Interview With James Cambias
at

Shimmer Magazine ''Shimmer Magazine '' was a quarterly magazine which published speculative fiction, with a focus on material that is dark, humorous or strange. Established in June 2005, ''Shimmer'' was published in digest format and Portable Document Format ...

, 2010 {{DEFAULTSORT:Cambias, James 1966 births Living people American fantasy writers American male novelists American male short story writers American science fiction writers American short story writers GURPS writers The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction people Novelists from Louisiana University of Chicago alumni