John C. Wright's Blog, page 179

Review of THE UNIVERSE MAKER — Or, That Same old Gnostic Hogwash Yet Again

The Universe Maker (aka the Shadow Men) by A.E. van Vogt (1953)

If you are a fan, as I am, of the disorienting and absurdly mind-expanding wonder-stories of A.E. van Vogt, then rereading this relatively obscure novelette from the middle of his career with either come as a nostalgic pleasure, or as something of a disappointment. For me, it was both.

The plot (to the degree that any van Vogt yarn can be said to have a plot) is this: Morton Cargill, a Korean War soldier on leave, picks...

Depth, Height, and Mass of SF

How to read (and critique) a book, especially a science fiction book:

A tale is a magic trick, a glamor, a mesmeric spell, a craft of illusion. The reader of a storybook attempts to deceive himself into believing the dreams in the book are real, so that, in the case of mainstream books, he may visit other lives vicariously, and, in the case of science fiction, other worlds.

The writer’s task is to assist the deception insofar as possible by means of two sleights of hand.

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Wrights Writing Corner — Cotton Candy

Today’s Wright’s Writing Corner discusses writing that sells vs. writing that lasts.

Recently, I took a delightful writing class, which I have mentioned before. But there was one thing that came up in the class that I found disturbing.

We reached a section that spoke about Cotton Candy Writing. Ah, I thought, the bane of every good book, the perfect description of exactly what a good writer never wants to do.

So, you can imagine my shock and amazement when the following...

Everything I Needed to Know about Writing, I Learned from Airbender

I was rewatching the AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER series with my kids, and was deeply impressed with the care that went into the background, the humor, the joy, the drama, profundity of the themes.

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Spinoff of Airbender — Read it and Cheer

The makers of AVATAR THE LAST AIRBENDER are thinking of making a show in the same background. I have no comment to make. I am speechless with happiness.

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2010/07/21/legend-of-korra-the-creators-of-avatar-the-last-airbender-on-the-new-spinoff/

An Armistice in the War against the War between Science and Faith

From an ongoing conversation:

Dear Mr. EvD,

As promised, since you did not answer, or even address, the point I asked of you, I cannot bring myself to continue the discussion any longer.

You make statements about history (such as that the medieval Christians thought the world flat — Dante included?) that betray an ignorance of the subject matter.

I asked you for specifics, to name the Papal Bull showing the hostility of the Church to the progress in the Dark Ages, and listed the inventions...

The War Against the War of Faith Versus Science

A reader, briefly named EdV, hurls down his gauntlet at me. He makes the asseveration that Christianity retards the progess of the arts, sciences, and the cause of liberty.

I humbly submit for your candid consideration that Christianity provides the only rational ethical basis for human liberty, and the only rational metaphysical basis for empiricism.

The ethical basis of liberty is the obviously counter-intuitive principle that all men are created equal in dignity and should be equal...

Writing Advice — What to Do When Your Outline Breaks

One joy science fiction writers encounter is that, among our readers, so many of them wish also to be writers, and often express a lively curiosity about the craft of writing.  I do not know if this applies to writers of romances, westerns, or vampire-samurai technothrillers; I do know it does not apply to other and more dignified craftsmen, such as carpenters and shoemakers. Never once have I sat on a particularly comfy chair while shod with a goodly pair of shoes and wished to know t...

Captain Unamerica

From the pen of John Nolte over at Big Hollywood:

What a shocker. Captain America: The First Avenger will be Captain America in name only. According to this morning’s L.A. Times, director Joe Johnston is currently running around Comic-Con to reassure those wringing their hands with worry over the horrible idea that his $200 million tent-pole scheduled for a summer 2011 release might be too American-y, that it won’t be.

Announcement from the Administration

The White House officially announced today that the Democratic-Republican form of government in the USA was abolished.

This was done by means of a mutlithousand page Orwellian-named Finance Reform Bill, which no one has read and which no one need read, since the point of the bill is to place the financial sector of the economy into the hands of the permanent ‘Civil Service’ ruling class. Any attempts to amend the legislation by future, presumably Republican, Congresses will come to...