Addendum

Don't you dare talk to me about plumbatae. Not if you value your smile and hope.

The Legacy of the Sword

"No army in the world ever relied on the sword," Roger said. He meant it, too.
Every single person Alex consulted said the same. He came to doubt. Was he wrong? Tromping along cold streets in the lonely night, he wondered. Had he sold his sanity to buy pleasantly superior thoughts of a history only he could know?
"Can't be," he thought. Then he said it. "It can't be. The Romans were real. Everyone knows that. What's going on?" His voice rose. "Rome was real!"
"Not for long." The fog swirled, blown about by an unseen power, but then one seen. A figure stepped forth and confronted Alex. "That dead people exists only in memory. Memories I have erased. Yours are the last, and I do not think you will keep them long. Hmph." The ghost of Hannibal raised his spectral sword, a cleaver of thoughts, a destroyer of minds.
Alex reached into his pocket and spoke the words.
Finis

Addendum

"Hm, the next generation of devices is out. Time to go through surgery to upgrade!" - A crazy person.

Something Less Cool in Science Fiction

Implants. Some stories figure everyone will want all their technology in implant form, but instead we invented smartphones and tablets to get watches even farther away from our skin.

Addendum

"This combat data is over 1,000 megabytes! No computer in the Terrestrial Alliance can process it!"

The Coolest Thing in Science Fiction

Computers that aren't nearly as good as the one used to write this post.

The Rules of Science Fiction

1. Spaceships are awesome
2. Guns are lame, but future guns are sick
3. Psychic powers rule
4. Aliens are endlessly compelling
5. Suns are the most beautiful right before they destroy the planets orbiting them

Q&A Corner

Q. How much time do you spend to craft pleasing and meaningful fantasy names?
A. None whatsoever.

The Varied Effect of Magic Items

Tension stuffed the court and made it hard to breath, it seemed to the officials there in the western capital. Prince Sutas Fren-Gwimmere Suteras Pnesyufyar was soon to arrive, and someone would take action, if not that time, then the next.
The trumpeter, and the herald to announce him, and then the man himself. Prince Sutas entered, and as always he bore a few of the remarkable artifacts the royal family rarely let leave the southern capital. The Ribbon That Ties, the All-Warding Buckle, and, worst of all, the Unbearable Coat. The captains and courtiers all twitched when they saw it at the periphery of their vision and looked away, or tried to look away.
"Good day, gentleman. We have a great deal yet to do in planning our response to this unfortunate rebellion. I suggest we not stand on ceremony. Though I am a prince, you must all come closer and speak to me directly. Look at me, too. Directly at me." The wide smile he had went unnoticed. The men there saw nothing but the Coat.
"I can't take it! Not another hour!" Colonel Pfalchyre leapt at the prince, hands clawed, and grabbed at the buttons on the Unbearable Coat as the others did all they could to restrain him except the prince himself, who laughed. Yes, he laughed, and if he had been a person of lower rank, he would have been said to guffaw.
"Let me go! I've had enough!"
"Phwa ha ha ha ha! Ha HA ha ha!"
A terrible scene. At the end of it, Pfalchyre stood with the Coat held in his shaking hands, his eyes wide and staring at the future he finally saw for himself. Exile? Execution? Seizure of his estate? How would his children live on, their father disgraced?
"It's decided," Prince Sutas said. "We needed something to draw the rebels out, and you're the man for it, Colonel Pfalchyre. General Pfalchyre, if you survive wearing the Unbearable Coat with a hostile army around. No, no. Even if you don't survive. You're a man who deserves our respect, after all. Aha ha ha ha ha!"
Finis

Ultimate Bond Pitch

To meet the latest threat, James Bond, the world's greatest superagent, must team up with . . . himself? This fall, prepare, for action, suspense, and thrills like you've never seen them before. James Bond. Jimmy Bond. Together for the first time. In The Valiant Die Once.