Boskone 46

Boskone is a regional Science Fiction convention focusing on literature, art, music, and gaming (with just a dash of whimsy). Join us as we explore the worlds of the human imagination.

February 13-15, 2009, Westin Waterfront, Boston, Massachusetts.

My (tentative) schedule:

 Saturday 10am       Physics: What We Don't Understand

        Geoffrey A. Landis   

        Chad Orzel

        Karl Schroeder  

        Ian Tregillis

    In 1999 John Cramer wrote a column in Analog describing seven big

    unsolved problems in physics (including the nature of dark matter,

    the origin of ultra-high energy cosmic rays, and the origin of the

    arrow of time). Today, in 2008, three of these problems have been

    solved.  We'll talk about the seven problems, the three which have

    been solved, our current understanding of the rest, and perhaps add

    some new problems to the list.

 Saturday 1pm        Autographing

 Saturday2pm        AIs and Angels

        Jeffrey A. Carver       (M)

        Walter H. Hunt   

        Karl Schroeder     

        Charles Stross    

        Shane Tourtellotte     

    If an artificial intelligence is powerful enough, might it just as

    well be an angel? A god? (Can we worship something we ourselves

    create -- or is that all we ve ever done?) What light do Banks s

    Minds, Vinge s Transcended Powers, Clarke s Third Law, or our

    panelists  work shed on the boundary area between machine and deus

    ex machina? And in story terms, don t advanced AIs suffer from

    Superman Syndrome? (The more superduperness, the less suspense.) At

    a certain level, is there a (firm?) border between the technological

    and the numinous?

 Saturday 4pm        Is Setting in SF Limited?

        Michael F. Flynn     

        Glenn Grant   (M)

        Geoffrey A. Landis    

        Karl Schroeder     

        Allen M. Steele    

    Is the near future mined out? (Is it even *possible*, anymore, to

    write exciting SF about a trip to the moon?) Have all the exciting

    things in the universe already been overused? How can fresh and

    exciting backdrops for fresh and exciting fiction be created? Give

    examples!

 Sunday  10am       Star Biz: Great SF about Economics

        S. C. Butler

        Dani Kollin

        Mark L. Olson      (M)

        Karl Schroeder    

        Charles Stross    

    Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman says becoming an economist was the

    closest he could get to becoming Asimov s Hari Seldon. Plus the

    dismal economy has the dismal science on everyone s mind lately. Has

    SF paid sufficient attention to the subject? (Forget the less-than-

    convincing economic model presented in, say,  The Trouble with

    Tribbles. ) What SF works have offered convincing descriptions of

    how a real business might be conducted in space? More broadly, what

    might a futuristic economy look like? Can you describe one without

    putting the reader (or the audience) to sleep?

 Sunday  12noon     Treachery For Fun and Profit

        S. C. Butler

        Elaine Isaak

        Rosemary Kirstein    

        Paul Melko   (M)

        Karl Schroeder   

    Backstabbers we love to hate range from Herbert s Dr. Yueh to

    Vinge s Skroderiders, Rosemary s husband to assorted Cylon skin

    jobs. Any other noted examples in the genre? The friend who

    subsequently betrays our hero or heroine is often among the nastiest

    villains on any writer s enemies list. Why? How do you write this

    kind of character effectively?  Why would you want to?

 Sunday  2pm        Literary Beer

        Karl Schroeder     

        Jo Walton    

In the mean time, please visit the Boskone 45 website to see what Boskone is like. Or view the Flickr slide show of past Boskones.