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Review of Chapter 25-30 of SON OF THE BLACK SWORD

Posted April 2, 2016 By John C Wright

Larry Correia is a cunning devil. There is a plot twist in every one of these chapters.

I still have not read all the way to the end of this book, because it is so good, I don’t want to reach the end. But the middle chapters here are really, really good.

Note to would be writers: if you want to make a minor character memorable, notice how to raise the stakes on the poor slob and put more of his life in the kitty so that the next turn of the card saves or dooms him. Consider two ways of portraying the same character: a man who has lost his job vs. a man with an adoring wife and new baby who lost his job. Consider a man who has lost his job, lost his clan honor, and he will never be hired again, and is unfairly and falsely accused by the Inquisition of being a traitor WHO ALSO has an adoring wife and new baby. And he thinks of a plan to find the missing cursed swordblade of the superhuman traitor who he befriended, sort of, when he was a jail warden….

Do you see how it is done? Do you see how to make what could have been a cardboard disposable character into a realist three-dimensional man, warts and all, whom the readers can cheer for and sympathize with?

Maybe you cannot see how it is done. Many a writer does not.

Mr. Correia does.

 

 

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All That is Necessary for the Triumph of Morlocks is that Sad Puppies do Nothing

Posted March 30, 2016 By John C Wright

An announcement from my publisher, the most hated man in science fiction, Vox Day. I reprint the whole:

Chaos Horizon estimates between 20 percent and 80 percent of the Rabid Puppies will show up to nominate:

If the Rabid Puppies had around 550 votes in 2015, how many will they bring to 2016? Since all those who voted in 2015 can nominate in 2016, I imagine it will be a big number. Even so, I can’t imagine carrying 100% over—the nomination stage is simply less interesting, less publicized, and more difficult to vote in. Let’s imagine three scenarios: an 80% scenario, a 60% scenario, and a 40% scenario. I think 80% is the most likely; this is the group most invested in impacting the Hugos and the most likely to team up again. And since they don’t have to pay an entry fee to participate in the nomination stage . . .

I also think this group will have solid slate discipline, voting the list as Vox Day published it. If you want to factor in some slate decay, I’d do so for lesser known books like Agent of the Imperium.

I, personally, consider this to be an inadvertent affront. I would be surprised if only 80 percent of the Rabid Puppies could be bothered to show up and nominate – and remember, tomorrow is the last dayin which you can submit your nominations to MidAmericaCon II. If you haven’t gotten around to it yet, don’t put it off any longer. Do it today.

What Chaos Horizon means by “slate decay” is a simple failure of discipline. Last year, for example, far more Puppies submitted nominations in Best Novel than in other, less important categories or went lone ranger on occasion. And while I can’t see what slate decay could possibly have to do with what is merely a list of recommendations, and by no means a direct order to anyone, least of all the Rabid Puppies, the Sad Puppies, the Ilk, the Dread Ilk, the Vile Faceless Minions, or the Evil Legion of Evil, by their Supreme Dark Lord, I do think one would be remiss were one to fail to fill out the entire nominating ballot.

Speaking of which, I have updated the Rabid Puppies 2016 list with some of the additional information requested by the ballot form, such as the writers, directors, and editors in the Dramatic Presentation and Semiprozine categories. Be sure to check out your ballot before the end of day tomorrow to ensure that your voice is heard properly at the 2016 Hugo Awards. UPDATE: Note that as I have been unable to ascertain Rowena’s eligibility for Best Professional Artist, I am replacing her with LARRY ROSTANT who does some excellent blended work.

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News

Posted March 29, 2016 By John C Wright

Today I was asked by John Vance, son of Jack Vance, to write an intro to one of his father’s books, an omnibus of the TSCHAI books. A greater honor I find it hard to imagine.

In other news, VINDICATION OF MAN is available for pre-order on Amazon, who seems to think it will be out in November. My publisher may or may not have plans to schedule it then: Amazon sort of guesses about these dates, based on rumors and Ouija board readings.

I have the privilege of seeing the cover art for the first time.

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He is Risen!

Posted March 25, 2016 By John C Wright

Happy Easter to one and all.

When you meet someone who says Easter eggs are a pagan holdover of a pagan symbol, you can remind him that during Lent the tradition was to give up eating meat and eggs, so that eating delicious, delicious eggs again after 40 became a matter for ceremony. Our grandfathers lived in a more ceremonial hence more fun society, one more suited to human psychology, and so having the kids eat eggs again became kind of a game, a hide-and-seek, and the eggs were decorated, because in those days people loved kids, and were not told having children was a disease that overburdened the earth, and did not abort them in the womb.

Of course, if he was raised in a modern school among modern thinkers, he will not know what Lent is, or know any history at all, and will despise his grandfathers.

Abortion, not ceremonies and games surrounding the celebration of the Resurrection, is the true pagan holdover.

On this day of life, let us remind ourselves that souls dead in sin can rise again, nations dead in corruption can be revived, and even the science fiction genre, dead in political correctness, can rise again.

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5000 Thanks for Dr T

Posted March 24, 2016 By John C Wright

A few days ago I wrote a post where I mentioned an album I was eyeing with envy, for some enterprising and unduly devout music historian had unearthed the long lost original soundtrack, and music sketches, alternate versions and cut themes from that wonderful and criminally obscure film THE 5000 FINGERS OF DR T, the only motion picture Dr Seuss ever made. Being poor as a churchmouse, I could not afford so idle a luxury, no matter how badly I craved it.

A generous fan of mine came to my rescue. I wish to extend my thanks.

I love the collection. I just spent the whole morning arranging and rearranging playlists, so that I could hear the half a hundred songs and clips or so in particular orders to suit particular moods.

The missing songs paint an interesting picture of what the original conception for this motion picture was. It touches on darker themes than anything appearing in Dr Seuss’ children’s books.

One cut song, the sprightly and gay ‘Freckle on a Pygmy’ cynically begins with the line:

Oh, the sadness of existence in this grim and gruesome life

In this world of woeful misery and fearful, tearful strife

Oh me! Oh my! Oh me!

A more melancholy tune is sung by the mother to her orphaned son about the many questions he has that torment him. In the song she confesses that she had the same questions in her youth, but that upon growing up, found their were no answers.

Please, O please, O please cease asking why

Some things are beyond explaining, and there’s no use to try…

More amusingly, the evil piano teacher sings about his favorite note. He loves it ‘ringing in his throat’. It is not fa, not so nor la. His favorite note (so he belts out with operatic exuberance) is MEEEE!

The best song recovered from the oubliette of time is the Evil Rollerskating Twins Song, who are connected by a shared beard. They sing as follows:

Ho! We are the guards, who are terribly, terribly feared!

Two terrible twins, with a terrible Siamese beard!

Ho! We are a thing, a thing you could not call a friend;

One Siamese beard, with a twin with a twin on each end!

We’re vicious and mean! We’re unkind and unkempt and uncouth!

We have been that way since our earliest, earliest youth!

Each year we get worse, for that is the unfortunate trend,

Of Siamese beards with a twin with a twin on each end!

Ho! We are the guards, of Terwilliker-illiker’s land!

We’re here to make sure that the boys will not get out of hand!

Don’t try to get fresh! In the land of the land we defend!

Or you will get choked–

–by the beard of the twins

–of the Siamese beard

–With a terrible Twin on each end!

… And if you cannot hear the rhythm, wit and wordplay characteristic of Dr Seuss, go reread SCRAMBLED EGGS SUPER.

The song was cut but not the theme. The tune playing in the background of the rollerskating fight scene is from this song:

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A Modest Proposal

Posted March 24, 2016 By John C Wright

The Rabid Puppies, led by Theodore Beale aka Vox Day, has offered for your consideration certain items for Best Related Work. These are of a trenchant and disturbing nature:

  • Moira Greyland’s account of her childhood abuse at the hands of her mother, the award-winning science fiction writer Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • “Safe Space as Rape Room”, a five-part series on the pedophiles and child molesters who have preyed upon children in the science fiction community.

Over at file 770, one profound yet unwittingly transparent thinker on the Best Related Work conversation proffers these remarks:

TW, you *do* realize that things that would be regarded now as pedophilia were a standard practice, and in one example I can think of a *mandatory* practice, in several societies other than the modern West, right?

And that our dealings with pedophilia are tainted by the moral panic that have transformed it into a modern witchhunt – the modern West as a whole can no more deal with the topic any more fairly than medieval Christian Europe could have evaluated Wicca if confronted by it. It’s just that paranoia that little Teddy Beale is trying to tap into with his childish smear campaign.

Meanwhile pages and pages of denials shout, scream and scold that no one is apologizing for pedophilia.

Please note that argumentum ad antiquam is just as much an informal logical error as the opposite, argumentum ad novem.

(If merely the fact that ancient pagans or modern savages once performed a deed made it admirable, wise, or right, then slavery would be right, and racism, and rape, and honorkilling, footbinding, and female genital mutilation. Contrariwise, if merely the fact that ancients never once performed a deed, but only moderns, made it admirable, wise or right, then loading Jews on cattle cars to be gassed to death in modern ovens would be right, for our ancestors never used these scientific methods to enact their genocides.)

Likewise for what one might called argumentum ad occidens, the fallacy that merely being Western proves a thing bad, and likewise again for argumentum ad xenon, the fallacy that merely because something non-Western proves it good. I suppose one should congratulate the pervertarian writing above: it is not often one invents two new logical fallacies in two paragraphs.

No logic is being attempted. The writer here is invoking multiculturalism, the central and sacred doctrine of the political correctness deathcult, which holds that any statement of right or wrong, by implying civilized White men are better than dusky savages, is racist, which is wrong.

Obviously, the statement ‘saying something is wrong is wrong’ refutes itself hence needs no further refutation.

The thing is not an argument, but a sacred chant, and invocation of spirits, a type of pagan magic. Merely by referring to multiculturalism, the witch hopes to curse her victims into silence.

Please recall that Christianity is the only worldview that ever denied, undermined, and outlawed magic. For the superstitious to call the rational ‘superstitious’ is beyond irony.

But I am inspired. I have a modest proposal:

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Son of the Black Sword by Larry Correia

Posted March 23, 2016 By John C Wright

This is not a book review, because I have not finished reading the book yet. I am only on Chapter 15.

But I promised myself to write a blog post praising this book, because I think it is one of Larry Correia’s best, and I found out to my chagrin that he wrote a post praising my work, and so now my sense of fairness is unbalanced: he is not allowed to give me compliments I do not merit while I am silent about compliments he does.

I’ve talked to the man and like him, so take that into account when reading my non-review. This is both fanboy gushing and a friend saluting a friend, and yet, since in my own way I am as iron-hearted in justice as the hard-souled hero from this book, I speak only truth, and only what is due.

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Rabid Puppies Press Release for March ’16

Posted March 22, 2016 By John C Wright

From Vox Day. The words below are his:

This is the text of the press release that went out to the media yesterday.

RABID PUPPIES 2016 Make the Hugos Great

On the heels of last year’s magnificent campaign, which successfully placed 58 of its 67 recommended nominees on the ballot and inspired no less than 5 No Awards, the Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil is proud to Make the Hugos Great Again by announcing his recommendations for the 2016 Hugo Awards.

“Many of the things that were said about the Puppies last year by luminaries of the field such as George R.R. Martin, David Gerrold, and John Scalzi were deeply hurtful,” said Vox Day, as he quaffed blood from the silvered skull of an SJW. “But I think we’ve learned from our past mistakes and put together a kindler, gentler, list of recommendations that will entertain the casual reader of science fiction and fantasy, as well as inform the more serious observers of the field what a ghastly collection of criminally sick freaks have been inhabiting the community of science fiction fandom for decades.”

Some of the more notable recommendations include:

  • Moira Greyland’s account of her childhood abuse at the hands of her mother, the award-winning science fiction writer Marion Zimmer Bradley
  • Five-time 2015 Hugo nominee John C. Wright’s novelSomewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm.
  • SF great Jerry Pournelle, whose groundbreaking There Will Be War series returned after a 25-year absence due to the end of the Cold War.
  • “Safe Space as Rape Room”, a five-part series on the pedophiles and child molesters who have preyed upon children in the science fiction community.
  • “Space Raptor Butt Invasion”, a sensuous space romance that is a tribute to true diversity in science fiction.

A complete list of the recommendations for all 16 categories, including the 2016 Campbell Award for Best New Writer, can be found here: Rabid Puppies 2016.

“You may now commence the ritual denunciations,” the Supreme Dark Lord added. “Open up your hate and let it flow into me.”

About the Supreme Dark Lord

Described as “the most despised man in science fiction”, Vox Day is a three-time Hugo Awards nominee, the Lead Editor of Castalia House, and a bestselling political philosopher. His blogs, Vox Popoli and Alpha Game, average 2.2 million pageviews per month.

  • “I think I have made my disgust with Vox Day and his Rabid Puppies clear.” —George R. R. Martin, author of A Game of Thrones, 19-time Hugo nominee.
  • “Vox Day rises all the way to ‘downright evil’.” —Patrick Nielsen Hayden, Manager of Science Fiction, Tor Books, 15-time Hugo nominee
  • “Vox Day is a real bigoted shithole of a human being.” —John Scalzi, author of Redshirts, 9-time Hugo nominee
  • “SF esteems Vox Day more than me. That’s a hard pill to swallow.” —Adam Roberts, Campbell Memorial Award winner.
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When the Ox Mocks the Bull

Posted March 22, 2016 By John C Wright

This is from a conversation between one Damien Walter, professional ignoramus who has continually failed to finish a novel the Queen’s loyal taxpayers in England are forced to pay him to write, and Paul Weimer, who at one time considered himself my friend.

Daimien

As Declann Finn points out, this announcement, or prediction, or clapping-for-Tinkerbell invocation-by-playing-pretend, or whatever it is, claiming my pro writing career is over, happened on March 19. My latest novel came out for sale on March 17th. I have two more books coming out from Tor, and two more from Castalia House, and five more I am obligated to write.

Not to mention I have just be hired by a magazine publisher to write two more projects of which I have no permission to speak in public (cross your fingers on that one, because, not being paid by the Queen’s loyal taxpayer’s against their will, the finances on that one are still up in the air.)

Pathetic.

However, hearing this child call me and mine craven requires a more thorough dressing down. Allow me to unlimber my spleen in more detail.

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Rabid Puppies List

Posted March 21, 2016 By John C Wright

Vox Day, Supreme Dark Lord of the Evil Legion of Evil Authors (of which I have the honor to be a founding member and Grand Inquisitor) announces suggested nominations voters should consider voting onto the shortlist. The words below are his:

RP_2016_small

BEST NOVEL

  • Seveneves: A Novel, Neal Stephenson, William Morrow
  • Golden Son, Pierce Brown, Del Rey
  • Somewhither: A Tale of the Unwithering Realm, John C. Wright, Castalia House
  • The Cinder Spires: The Aeronaut’s Windlass, Jim Butcher, Roc
  • Agent of the Imperium, Marc Miller, Far Future

BEST NOVELLA

  • “Fear and Self-Loathing in Hollywood”, Nick Cole, Amazon Digital Services
  • “Penric’s Demon”, Lois McMaster Bujold, Spectrum
  • “Perfect State”, Brandon Sanderson, Dragonsteel Entertainment
  • “The Builders”, Daniel Polansky, Tor.com
  • “Slow Bullets”, Alastair Reynolds, Tachyon Publications

BEST NOVELETTE

  • “Flashpoint: Titan”, Kai Wai Cheah, There Will Be War Vol. X, Castalia House
  • “Folding Beijing”, Hao Jingfang, Uncanny Magazine
  • “What Price Humanity?”, David VanDyke,There Will Be War Vol. X, Castalia House
  • “Hyperspace Demons”, Jonathan Moeller, Castalia House
  • “Obits”, Stephen King, The Bazaar of Bad Dreams, Scribner

BEST SHORT STORY

  • “Asymmetrical Warfare”, S. R. Algernon,Nature Nr. 519
  • “Seven Kill Tiger”, Charles Shao, There Will Be War Vol. X, Castalia House
  • “The Commuter”, Thomas Mays, Amazon Digital Services
  • “If You Were an Award, My Love“, Juan Tabo and S. Harris, Vox Popoli
  • “Space Raptor Butt Invasion”, Chuck Tingle, Amazon Digital Services

BEST RELATED WORK 

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