A Feast of Reviewer Praise for Feasts & Seasons

Perhaps these reviews will persuade you to read the book. My normal shamelessness as a capitalist attempting to sell a commercial product fails me when I read praise as fulsome as this. I assume some friend of mine wrote it under and assumed name, or a close relative or something. But I pass them along in the hope that it was a stranger.

Beside, for all I know true modesty might reside in the act of allowing others to voice their opinions of the work without any fuss or fidgeting on my part, and to leave it to your candid judgment, dear reader, to see if you agree.

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Feasts-Seasons-John-Wright-ebook/dp/B00QEDGIQW

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Not your average short story collection December 2, 2014
Readers of John C. Wright’s blog will recognize a few of the short stories found within this volume; even so, I found it well worth the price, especially to have them all in one convenient place! The stories come in several flavors: science-fiction, time travel, as well as fantasy reminiscent of C.S. Lewis and Charles Dickens. The stories range from brief and amusing, especially when the author plays with various tropes, to deeply moving considerations of loss and grief and joy. Quite a few are so short that they aren’t really “stories” in my mind – more like extended scenes, meant to provoke thought or wonder rather than tell a tale about specific characters. As one would expect from the product description, the vast majority of these stories include elements of the Christian faith and Catholic tradition; however, one need to be Catholic to appreciate this book! Hopefully someone with more skill at reviewing will write up a bit about the short stories themselves, but until then, here are my thoughts on each:”The Meaning of Life” is an amusing sci-fi time-travel conjecture. The answer is not, however, 42.”Queen of the Tyrant Lizards” is another sci-fi story that deals with the concept of time. It is a response to the sci-fi award-winning short “If You Were A Dinosaur, My Love”. In the author’s own words: “But it is not science fiction, and is not a story, and does not have any thought or depth to it. My version was meant to correct specifically for those errors. However, I am being unfair, since mine is five times the length of the original, so I had the leisure to add little asides and deeper points.””A Random World” is an extremely short alien “abduction” piece (“It was not abduction. I volunteered to go.”), which uses the “life seeded on many worlds” sci-fi trope to poke fun at random chance as a component of evolution.

“Sheathed Paw of the Lion” is a science-fiction dystopian piece that takes the form of a report on First Contact; the impersonal quality of the narrative lends additional horror to the myriad ways in which people die gruesomely.

“Pale Realms of Shade” – this is my personal favorite out of the collection, the longest piece and the first of the fantasy stories, as it deals with ghosts and the supernatural rather than science-fiction tropes. The main character is a supernatural detective – who happens to be a ghost. Who murdered him, and why, and how he will find a way to pass on?

“The Ideal Machine” – another First Contact sci-fi story, in which three human characters handle an Ideal Machine, capable of great things – and what happens to them when they use, or refuse to use it.

“The Parliament of Beasts and Birds” – a close runner-up for favorite, this story involves talking animals.

“Eve of All Saints Day” – a short, eerie piece; science fiction blended with supernatural elements.

“Nativity” – this is the story that I found most emotionally moving; a time traveler goes back in time to Bethlehem and meets the Holy Family.

“Yes, Virginia, There is a Santa Claus” – I find it a little odd that this piece is placed last in the collection; I would have put “Nativity” last rather than this piece. This one is reminiscent of A Christmas Carol, but with only one Spirit of Christmas instead of three.

 

5.0 out of 5 stars Who knew Sci-Fi could be Reverent December 2, 2014
By Sensei
 
There is really no way to rate this book with Amazon stars; Amazon does not have a way to indicate books which point to eternal truths and transcendent beauty. Speaking solely in terms of composition, the book has its flaws; shifting from more or less pure sci-fi with wit and much satire at the beginning to a conclusion full of sacred and solemn joy -while leaving in the sci-fi elements- and successfully carrying off each step without occasionally having your normally divergent themes try to separate like oil and water might be impossible anyway. That Mr. Wright on the whole pulls off this balancing act is a testament to his skill as a writer.I am giving it 5 stars because most of the stories within deserve 5 stars, because several of them are the closest thing I have ever read to a 21st century G.K.Chesterton, and also because that is the most emphatic way I can recommend this volume to your attention, for a particular reason:Mr. Wright writes like a man possessed by Good. What I mean is, while his own writing in the natural state is clever, intellectual, full of lively humor, possessed of an instantly recognizable creative originality, well acquainted with edgier snark and darker themes, and always enjoyable, none of that matters, because every so often something else takes over and he writes like an inspired saint, drops of gold falling from sacred and illuminated inkwells.Those drops fall thick in some of the stories within this volume, burdening his clever prose with the weight of glory. Mr. Wright might protest that in those instances he is merely lending his pen; in that case we should all hope it continues to be borrowed.

My comment: a Man possessed by Good! How noble a thought! How desirable a condition. By Saint Justin Martyr, how I wish it were so!

For many years, I was self possessed. I possessed myself like a slave. How poor and inattentive a servant I was to myself; how negligent and yet arrogant a master. I wish someone better than myself to possess me henceforth. Come, good, possess me! I conjure you by your maker, who make me and all things as well, seen and unseen. Fill me like an empty winesack with the new wine! How weary I am to be a Son of Adam, filled with filth and sin. Let me be a Son of Our Father.