John C. Wright's Blog, page 224

The Statement of Fred Carter

Dirigibletrance asks whether the short story “One Bright Star to Guide Them” takes place in the same background universe, or "Evernverse" as LAST GUARDIAN OF EVERNESS?

I don't know, but I do not see why it could not. In general, the way to see whether or not two books might take place in the same background, (what we professionals call “The Planetary Question”) is to explain positive evidence, such as when two stories are sharing the same names and events, and to explain away possible negative e

Reviewer Smile for "One Bright Star to Guide Them"

Matthew Wuertz has read the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for April-May 2009. He singles out my story for particular praise.

http://matthewwuertz.blogspot.com/2009/03/fantasy-science-fiction-aprilmay-2009.html

"One Bright Star to Guide Them" by John C. Wright - Thomas, middle-aged and displeased with life, discovers the fantasies of his youth and recalls the adventures he shared with three of his friends. A talking cat, Tybalt, calls upon Thomas to once more combat the forces of evil th

Childhood's End and Gnosticism

Let me follow up my previous post by arguing that CHILDHOOD’S END by Arthur C. Clarke has a Gnostic attitude toward God, and I mean one God in particular. Gnostics are not heretics of Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Shinto or Hinduism, after all, but of Christianity.

That the good guys in CHILDHOOD’S END look like cartoon Devils has already been mentioned in my previous post. Gnostics love the idea that good guys are bad guys, and bad are good: one Gnostic sect, for example, are Cainites, who think Cain

C.S. Lewis, H.G. Wells and Arthur C. Clarke

SPOILERS BELOW. I discuss the meaning of several books by C.S. Lewis, Arthur C. Clarke and H.G. Wells, and the books cannot be discussed without a discussion of their surprise endings. You Have Been Warned.

I am reading (but have not finished) a book by Doris T. Myers called C.S. LEWIS IN CONTEXT, where the authoress advances the argument that C.S. Lewis, in his fiction writing, addressed a central preoccupation of the European intelligentsia after the culture-wide disillusionment and loss of sp

Pompous Accusations of Pomposity, or, How to Debate over the Internet

A certain kind reader with my best interests are heart (whose name I withhold out of courtesy) accuses me of being pompous and proud when I condemn political correctness. I agree I am proud -- and I agree that pride is a damned sin -- but this does not mean political correctness is not a damned lie. I had best write him a serious, polite, and earnest reply:

* * *

Dear Kind Reader With My Best Interests at Heart, obviously you are a maroon. How long have you been stranded on the Isle of

Isao Machii

How could this be real? It looks like something from a TV show.




Well, I now see the invention of gunpowder may have been a mistake. Back to swords, everyone. Start practicing.

On Political Correctness, or, How To Speak Nonspeak

Someone sent me a perfectly polite and reasonable comment. I have decided to both to go postal and get medieval all over it, which, I suppose, means I am going to go get the towncrier on his comment, as a town crier is what we had in the Middle Ages instead of postmen. Hm.

Well, without even the slightest hint of fairness to the original comment, I use it as a flimsy excuse to vent about political correctness, which is something that has been bothering me of late. If my reaction seems totally di

On a more serious note

Susan Boyle, 47, sings for Britains Got Talent. Note the reaction of the judges, the look in their eyes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY

You never know what someone may have inside.

Tough Questions, Strange Answers, or, why I am (almost) not a Libertarian.

Meredith L. Patterson ( maradydd ) asks some tough questions, to which I give silly answers. Somewhere in here, though, I am sure I am making some sort of point.

Back in this post, I said that I like to call myself a suffragette. I think any woman who owns a firearm should have the right to vote and own property in her own name. I might even be willing to extend the franchise to unarmed women, if they owned land, knew a trade, or owned property.

"What of unarmed men who own no land or property an

Giant Hand in Space

From Nasa

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/04/14/space.hand/index.html?iref=mpstoryview


In a new image from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory, the nebula around PSR B1509-58 appears to resemble a cosmic hand reaching for some eternal red cosmic light.

The star now spins around at the dizzying pace of seven times every second--as pulsars do--spewing energy into space that creates the "hand."

Strong magnetic fields, 15 trillion times stronger than the Earth's magnetic field, are thought to be inv