Comments on: PC051: The Cambist and Lord Iron https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/ The Fantasy Fiction Podcast Mon, 09 Apr 2018 05:30:31 +0000 hourly 1 By: Black Gate » Blog Archive » Voices in Fantasy Literature, Part III https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3403 Mon, 10 Feb 2014 15:48:29 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3403 […] in John Klima’s anthology Longorrhea, and now available for free at both Lightspeed online and Podcastle in […]

]]> By: Black Gate » Blog Archive » Is Fantasy Inherently Not Political? https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3396 Sun, 12 Jan 2014 00:30:02 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3396 […] in political discussions. Perhaps the only example I can think of is Daniel Abraham’s “The Cambist and Lord Iron,” which is not so much a political text as a fable of economics, but beggars can’t be […]

]]> By: “The Cambist and Lord Iron”, by Daniel Abraham « moonlitworld https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3337 Thu, 28 Jul 2011 05:14:14 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3337 […] of “The Cambist and Lord Iron” Audio of “The Cambist and Lord Iron” GA_googleAddAttr(“AdOpt”, “1”); GA_googleAddAttr(“Origin”, “other”); GA_googleAddAttr(“theme_bg”, […]

]]> By: Never Judge a Book By Its… Title. | Epiphany 2.0 https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3335 Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:53:09 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3335 […] I care more about titles with respect to my short stories, because short stories are so short that titles can and often do act as part of the narrative. But for novels, titles are just marketing. So I was glad to read this Awl article, in which fellow […]

]]> By: Free Readin’ | ‘The Cambist and Lord Iron’ by Daniel Abraham | A Dribble of Ink https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3295 Wed, 30 Dec 2009 02:43:23 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3295 […] You can download a PDF of the story HERE (right/Option click, save as) or listen to an audio version HERE. […]

]]> By: Bonus Question: What’s your soul worth? « The View From LL2 https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3282 Sat, 19 Sep 2009 20:48:04 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3282 […] found here in The Cambist and Lord Iron, by Daniel Abraham. (Or here if you don’t feel like […]

]]> By: Choose your poison « Nick Discovers https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-3243 Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:58:41 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-3243 […] in a fabulous short story I listened to on one of my favorite podcasts, Podcastle.  The story, The Cambist and Lord Iron, is a really great story, delightful and a little-bit mind-bending, and makes the same point that […]

]]> By: A Fine Fairy Tale of Economics « Life, Liberty & the Pursuit of Happiness https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2749 Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:17:31 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2749 […] a person has with value. The story can be read at the link above or it can be listened to at PodCastle.org. It is not often that one finds a story about economics imbued with such affection for vocation, a […]

]]> By: David Barr Kirtley : Blog : The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics by Daniel Abraham https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2695 Mon, 15 Jun 2009 00:30:26 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2695 […] There’s a podcast version as […]

]]> By: an attempt at slowness | Penguin Girl https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2668 Mon, 08 Jun 2009 05:08:54 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2668 […] past week I listened to a few really great podcasts including The Cambist and Lord Iron over at Podcastle. Craftlit is currently zooming through The Scarlet Letter and one day I’ll […]

]]> By: Tomo https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2659 Fri, 05 Jun 2009 14:45:03 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2659 A life of service and humility, sounds like Steve Eley.

]]> By: RedEyedGhost https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2647 Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:12:36 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2647 Finally a Daniel Abraham story on podcastle!

I would love to hear his “The Curandero and the Swede: A Tale from the 1001 American Nights” here on podcastle. I heard him read it himself at Worldcon and it is fantastic. I also wouldn’ t mind hearing his story “Best Monkey” on escapepod.

He’s one of my favorite authors, and everybody that liked this book should try “A Shadow in Summer”.

]]> By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2617 Fri, 22 May 2009 22:39:33 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2617 Oh, and to Travis – there probably WAS some catalyst for Lord Iron’s change of heart. But as a mere cambist, our hero was not privy to whatever catastrophe of faith transpired in the life of the erstwhile nobleman. So the ending worked just fine for me!

]]> By: Dave (aka Nev the Deranged) https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2616 Fri, 22 May 2009 22:35:48 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2616 Well, that makes 2 home runs in a row for PodCastle. Good job!

]]> By: Amaster https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2586 Wed, 13 May 2009 17:32:18 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2586 Awesome story, an amazing application of knowledge that gives such a cool and deserving switching of lives.

]]> By: Txistu https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2581 Sun, 10 May 2009 17:21:43 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2581 What a great story! Maybe my favorite Podcastle offering to date. It was thoughtful, engaging and very clever. The characters were full and believable. I was sorry when it ended.

I absolutely hope Mr. Abraham appears again (and again) on Podcastle.

Thanks so much for sharing this gem.

]]> By: phignewton https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2580 Sun, 10 May 2009 07:10:20 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2580 this story makes more sense if you replace ‘soul’ with ‘carbon footprint’ …tadah!

]]> By: Kendall https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2579 Sat, 09 May 2009 18:43:24 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2579 I enjoyed the story a lot, including the ending, though also I agree with Travis re. the ending.

This story wasn’t really fantasy, though. That’s not a criticism of the story, which–again–I enjoyed a lot. Just a comment.

]]> By: Travis https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2578 Fri, 08 May 2009 21:18:58 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2578 I love a story that shows me a different perspective from which to view things. The concepts of wealth and worth were portrayed in this story in ways I found truly fascinating!

However, as amazing as this story was, the ending was simply not believable. It seemed as though there was a piece of the story that was left out. Some momentous event must have transpired to cause Lord Iron to become so concerned with the state of his soul that he would accept such a drastic change to his entire lifestyle. That significant catalyst was not explained to my satisfaction.

]]> By: GFJr. https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2577 Fri, 08 May 2009 17:28:01 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2577 Great story. I was expecting a reference to Christ regarding the value of Lord Iron’s soul. But nonetheless, a great ending.

At the risk of expressing a personal belief, the value of my soul is measured in the Blood and Body of the Son of God.

]]> By: Daniel Abraham https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2575 Fri, 08 May 2009 03:48:21 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2575 Some other links about the story:

http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/15/economic-fairy-tales/
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/05/a-new-kind-of-s.html
http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/2008/05/delong-smackdow.html

Glad folks liked it. I’m awfully pleased with how it came out.

]]> By: mattitude https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2574 Fri, 08 May 2009 03:34:59 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2574 Good reading, good story.
Blew my freakin’ mind.

Thanks nerds.

]]> By: L33tminion https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2573 Thu, 07 May 2009 16:10:43 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2573 Pretty good. You mentioned that the story provoked a flame-war between economic luminaries. Do you have a link to that?

I’m also surprised there aren’t more comments on the cambist’s solution to the king and prisoner riddle. At first, the answer struck me as somewhat arbitrary, but then I realized why that made sense in the context of the story.

It seemed to me that the comparison wasn’t good because it was measuring the value of the king’s lifespan to the king and the value of the prisoner’s lifespan to his keepers, not to the prisoner himself.

But then I realized that this paralleled the first scenario in the story, where it is pointed out that the value of things comes only from the contexts in which they can be traded. If you can only sell some obscure defunct currency as novelty wrapping paper, then that’s what determines it’s value, not the desires of those unwilling (or unable) to sell or buy it. Likewise, the prisoner’s desires don’t have any bearing on the value of the days of his life, since the prisoner doesn’t get to make any such decisions.

]]> By: George https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2572 Thu, 07 May 2009 14:17:09 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2572 An elegant exploration of the concept of value, and some accurate conclusions too. The reading was excellent, capturing the nuances of pacing so well that I get the feeling the author must have been involved in the production.

That’s another thing about this story – it is so well constructed, flows smoothly from point to point, drawing the reader with a graceful subtlety that makes it feel like a novel rather than a short story. One gets the impression that there are more stories to be heard from this world …

Great stuff!

]]> By: Tim Pratt https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2571 Wed, 06 May 2009 22:51:33 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2571 Man, I love this story. One of the best things Daniel’s ever written.

]]> By: scatterbrain https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2569 Wed, 06 May 2009 22:05:10 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2569 There are no words besides genius to describe this story.

]]> By: Jeff Hite https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2566 Wed, 06 May 2009 17:19:54 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2566 Wonderful story. It made me think about what I am doing with my life. I am sure that was the point. A life of service, to who and to what end. hmm more to think about.

]]> By: Divya https://podcastle.org/2009/05/06/pc051-the-cambist-and-lord-iron/#comment-2564 Wed, 06 May 2009 16:10:51 +0000 https://podcastle.org/?p=101#comment-2564 Loved this story. The finance part of it was quite interesting too, though the ending was a let down.

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