Today is the day!
The second book in A Tale of Moth and Cobweb, The Green Knight’s Squire Book Two, FEAST OF THE ELFS by John C. Wright, published by Castalia House, is now available.
This is classic fantasy the way you remember it from your youth, true high fantasy in the mode of The Dark is Rising, The Chronicles of Prydain, andThe Once and Future King.
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A guest review by one of our scuzzier yet manlier regular commenters:
Original, compelling, scintillating, ominous, and cool
Being a modest review of John C Wright’s ambitious Count to a Trillion
by ScuzzaMan.CtaT is a work of science fiction. It’s a neatly balanced blend of science and of fiction. Check.
Taking place in the not immediate but not far future, it features as hero one Menelaus Illation Montrose, a Texan mathematician gunslinger who shoots lawyers for fun and profit. Well, two out of three ain’t bad.
Plainly there is some degree of autobiographical wish fulfillment fantasy at work here, but who cannot relate to the desire to shoot lawyers?
M. sets out on a great adventure … *the* great adventure really; space travel to a distant and unusual star. What he finds there, what happens to him there, and on the way there, I will not here reveal, but let me say that it is as surprising and original as anything I have read, and I’ve been reading science fiction for over 40 years, and when I say *reading* I
mean *devouring*.Don’t despair. I’m not going to “counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor” — I’m not that kind of critic. I’m a devoted fan of the genre in general and of this author in particular. But this is the first of Mr Wright’s works I’ve read that is hard core science fiction, and I’m impressed.
It’s a masterful madcap mixture of Jules Verne, of H. G. Welles and Arthur C. Clarke, tossed with some Heinlein and garnished with a strong dash of Mark Twain.
Yes, it really is that good, without being at all derivative.
This is the first of a series of six, so the aliens (yes, Martha, there are aliens) remain ominously aloof as we’re introduced to the hero, to his context, to his enemies within, and to his enduring raison d’etre; his lovely, and Othello-like too well-loved, wife.
No doubt the aliens will feature more prominently later in the series.
One hopes so, for Mr Wright does a sterling job of imagining an alien star-faring race, and then letting the reader catch a tantalizing glimpse of their universe through their eyes, their assumptions, their prejudices. There’s a distinct impression that meeting them is going to be a momentous event.
And finally, in the finest traditions of the novelist’s craft, there’s a cliff-hanger ending, almost but not quite literally, yet it caught me quite by surprise and left me desperately wanting to know what happens next.
If you thirst for rollicking high adventure with a twisted smile and an old-fashioned charm, if you hunger for hard science fiction not overwrought with parochial concerns of the moment, told by a master wordsmith at the height of his powers, then I unreservedly recommend this book.
I hope soon to be able to recommend the series entire. The second episode awaits on my Kindle as I write.
Remember: Original, compelling, scintillating, ominous, and cool.
ScuzzaMan says; five stars.
Mr. Peter Nealan, the author of the American Praetorians series has some kind words about my book. I think he and I are mutual fans of Larry Correia.
https://americanpraetorians.wordpress.com/2016/09/20/book-review-somewhither/
Somewhither is seriously one of the wildest mishmash pulp/sci-fi/fantasy/Christian fiction stories I’ve ever read. (And in case anyone is worried about the “Christian fiction” part making it too tame, don’t worry. There’s plenty of violence and bloodshed to satisfy the strictest action junkie. Some of it’s almost more graphic than the stuff I write.) Wright has thrown just about everything plus the kitchen sink into this universe (multiverse?). There are magicians, vampires, werewolves, giant armored zeppelins, interdimensional gates, monsters of all shapes and sizes (many of which come from various medieval sources that are sadly underutilized when people start coming up with monsters for fantasy stories). There’s adventure and superpowers and lots of combat.
In short, it’s a wild roller-coaster of a multiple universe swashbuckler, with some deeper metaphysical themes woven in between the blood and guts and derring-do. If you have enjoyed the Jed Horn series, by all means, go read Somewhither. You will not regret it.
Puppy-in-Chief Brad Torgersen asks the musical question:
Apparently the Dragon Awards are “bad” or at least invalid, because voters are not charged a fee for participation. Simply anyone can cast a vote.
Perhaps (gasp) more than once?
Mind you, this charge is leveled by the same camp that screams bloody murder over voter ID laws; for state and national elections. Because voter fraud NEVER happens, and making people have ID is both racist, and exclusionary.
No, I can’t figure out how the two concepts dwell in the same head. Cognitive dissonance is a hell of a drug?
My comment: okay, so this was not a musical question,not technically. However, I do have a musical number performed by one of my younger fans who decided to dance the dance of happy-feet when she heard I had won the Dragon Award for best science fiction novel.
Mr. Russell Newquist has some kind words to say about my latest work:
Iron Chamber of Memory Book Review
And yes, I do mean masterpiece. This isn’t just one of Mr. Wright’s finest works, although it is definitely that. It also now occupies a spot as one of my favorite fantasy works of all time. Yes, this work is really that good. …
The book is a deeply romantic (something that is lost in modern society), and contains a wonderful mystery that will keep you reading. And although I guessed one of the major twists quite early on, I truly didn’t quite see where the story was heading. It’s also a deeply spiritual story, and it reminded me quite a bit of one or two of the stories in The Book of Feasts and Seasons. Most surprising from Mr. Wright, however, is how deeply sensual the story is.
This is truly a fantastic tale, and I can’t recommend it enough. I give this one five stars out of five… and frankly, I find myself wishing for a sixth to give it.
Mr. Chris Chan has kind words for my book of essays:
http://catholicbookreviewsmonthly.com/archivedReviews.aspx, December
2015. The review can be downloaded, but not read online.
Transhuman and Subhuman is a collection of sixteen essays, most of which address science fiction themes, with special stress on spiritual and theological matters.
The famous science-fiction Arthur C. Clarke’s book Childhood’s End features a scene where aliens show humanity a series of “revelatory” images on a television screen, and the supposed truths of these images convince humanity to give up on religion completely. In “Childhood’s End and Gnosticism,” Wright pours scorn upon the puerility of this scenario, noting that it the situation that Clarke describes would be hardly enough to destroy the faiths of a planet. He writes:
“It is with a sensation of unutterable disbelief that I read a passage saying one or two days of looking at a picture on a screen provided by the “magic” produced by creatures who look like devils, (whose mission, remember, is to facilitate the extinction of mankind), would be believed without reservation or complaint by everyone from Moscow to Bombay to Lhasa to Rome to Mecca. In the world I live in, people are stubborn and cantankerous. Some have faith that will not be swayed and some of us are nuts.”
In order to believe that faith is so fragile and easily destroyed, one must have a very poor understanding of how many people come to embrace religion. Throughout these essays, Wright attacks the view apparently held by many science fiction writers that people of faith are sheeplike buffoons, or that faith itself is inherently a form of mental weakness.
Mr. Chan discusses one or two other essays (my favorites, by no coincidence) and concludes with high praise indeed.
Wright is one of the sharpest and most interesting cultural commentators working today, but he does more than just comment on other people’s work– he creates work of his own, reflecting his ideals of what constitutes good writing through fiction, and addressing issues of society and religion through his non-fiction essays. People might not expect to gain a better understanding of religion through science fiction, but Wright shows how God is always present, even in the writings of people who deny that He exists.
If, as I have cause to doubt, my humble self is one of the sharpest and most interesting commentators working today, all I can say is that you other sharp men should perhaps dabble in cultural commentary, and let your silent voices be heard; and likewise you other cultural commentators who are dull and uninteresting should muzzle yours alleged eloquence for a decade, or until you realize how shallow and foolish your columns are.
I direct this comment particularly at gargling nitwits working at the Guardian newspaper, or Buzzfeed, who seem peculiarly wedded to clamor, falsehood and unsobriety as a way of life. If I shine, it is only in contrast to the dullness of the drab. Compared to them, anyone would seen sharp. These fellows reach levels of absurd and turgid thought I can only describe as nongenderbinaryexpeallidocious.
Best.. Review … Ever …
Rarely, very rarely, in the life of a writer, does he come across a book review by a critic who actually “gets” the point of the book he wrote.
REVIEW: Iron Chamber of Memory by John C. Wright
Monday , 25, April 2016 Appendix N
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Save for the flattery that overpraises an undeserving author, I must say this is very well said, concise, poignant, and shockingly clear and true. The words below are those of D. G. D. Davidson.
http://voxday.blogspot.com/2016/04/500-more-votes.html#c2368806063696487832
There are three points of view that it seems I cannot be tempted to join because, viewed from outside, they produce an obvious smallness of soul.
First, there is the “New” variety of atheist. The Bible has inspired great men for 2,000 years, and Western Civilization for all of its existence, but the New Atheist sneers that it is full of bad and boring stories.
Second, there is the materialist. When someone says that universals are real and also immaterial by definition, he sneers, and he reacts with shock as if this is a new and unconscionable idea unworthy of entertainment, though philosophers have discussed it for literally thousands of years.
Third, there is the SJW, who says John C. Wright, who has written some of the finest passages in current English literature, the guy who wrote Awake in the Night Land, is a bad author.
Each of these, and they are by no means mutually exclusive, appears to have killed something in himself, some capacity to behold truth or beauty, or to contemplate great ideas. It is no wonder that Postmodern man obsesses over sexual perversions and so-called identity politics; he has lost the ability to imagine anything greater.
A Pius Geek reviews my humble work and judges it favorably:
http://apiusman.blogspot.com/2016/04/review-john-c-wrights-iron-chamber-of.html
F. Paul Wilson’s novel The Keep had impressed me growing up because it was a novel that had started out as Dracula and ended with Lord of the Rings.
John C Wright has managed and even greater trick with his latest novel, Iron Chamber of Memory. In this case, what started out as a romantic comedy, Nora Roberts style, and then, Deaver-like, ended in an epic battle on the scale of Mary Stewart and her books of King Arthur and Merlin. Let’s call it a fantasy romance, of sorts. Where’s the soundtrack for Excalibur! I need O Fortuna to accompany the knights charging out of the mists!
Trust me, when I say it was epic, I mean EPIC.
And
… the first 25% is a romantic farce. Like Bringing Up Baby, only funny. Then the next 25% is an epic romance. The third quarter …. transitions nicely into the last 25%, in which … we are in for one hell of a ride.
So we have some of your epic fantasy, we have some
Wright is obviously in a level all of his own, wherein he brings together so many myths and legends, there were moments I paused and went “How did I not see this?” His dissertation director at Oxford is a Dr. Vodonoy. If you don’t see it, don’t worry, I didn’t either. You will be amused by a Mister Drake in this novel. He doesn’t actually have any lines of dialogue, but trust me, when Wright reveals the joke, you’ll enjoy it.
And in all of those elements of epicness and mythology clashing, good against evil, we have a bit like this.
“I am the son of The Grail Knight. My father showed me the cup when I was a boy, still with heaven’s innocence in me, so that the shining rays were visible to me: and in the Blood of the Grail he anointed me.”
“And after…”
“We moved to New York, and he opened a used bookstore.”
The unexpectedness of that line was … well, I was glad I didn’t wake the neighbors.
Or:
“Are you suffering from cutlery dysfunction?”It’s times like those where I’m wondering if I’m in Mary Stewart or in a Peter David novel. Either way, it works.
This is what, in my family, is called a “Novel novel.” There is more in common with Victor Hugo than James Patterson. It’s a book where I spent a lot of time admiring the crafting of story, and the crafting of words and phrasing. And I’m usually not the sort of person to note that sort of thing.
So, you want your humor? Check. Want your fantasy, triple checked. Want romance? Double checked in two different meanings of the world. Also, if you want a plot twist that makes Jeffery Deaver look like amateur hour? Quadruple checked (yes, really, four, I counted. Maybe 6.)
A Review of IRON CHAMBER OF MEMORY from BZ, a commenter over at Vox Popoli.
I’ll take the opportunity to write a somewhat longer review of Iron Chamber of Memory.
Summary: Things starts out seemingly a bit roughly, but reader, keep going. The pieces all fit together quite perfectly and the book actually ended up being some of the best fantasy I’ve read in recent years.
Some mild SPOILERS for a little bit.
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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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This is from two years back, and it is a website I haunt, so I am a wee surprised I did not see it. High praise indeed from Free Northerner
(http://freenortherner.com/2014/11/23/the-bookshelf-john-c-wright/).
Let me quote the opening paragraph of each review. Go to Free Northerner to read the whole thing:
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A rather flattering review from Marina Fontaine of Liberty Island:
https://www.libertyislandmag.com/creator/mafontaine/blog.html?i=21
Book Review: Somewhither by John C Wright
Occasionally while reading a book, there comes a point where I pause, smile and tell myself, “This one will be special.” Sometimes it’s a particularly riveting action scene, or it’s a clever turn of phrase, or a personally relevant reference. Somewhither is full of all three,making it appeal todifferent readers in a variety of ways, as most novels do. For me, the key is found near the start of the book, when Ilya, the protagonist who is not yet the hero, explains why he had made the decision to-literally-rush headlong into danger.“It was because of the guy I wanted not to be.”Who says that? Especially now, when self-esteem appears inversely related to achievement, when everyone is special and everyone is a hero? This protagonist does, and the contrarian that I am, I immediately suspected he would, in fact become one of the more memorable heroes by the time the story is done. And I was not wrong.Somewhither presents a world that is both recognizable and surreal, taking comfortable sci-fi and fantasy elements and using them as only Mr. Wright can. A young man on a quest? Check. A beautiful love interest? Of course. A Big Bad of world-shattering proportions? You bet. A team of quirky sidekicks? Oh yes, big time. The novel takes all of these pieces and lifts them into the stratosphere. There scope is bigger, the questions weightier, and the over-reaching vision is like nothing you might expect to come out from the sum of its parts.The tone of the novel, to match both the age and the attitude of the first-person narrator, is surprisingly light for a work of this ambition.[…]The pacing is near perfect, alternating between breathtaking, at times extremely violent, action and the slower sections that allow the reader to absorb the wealth of information about the world. Although Amazon estimates the novel at over 500 pages, it comes to the end almost too quickly and provides just enough closure to make us impatient for the sequel, which, rumor has it, is in the works. I, for one, can’t wait.
Mark Levin “The Great One” just read one of my columns on the air, thanks to Instapundit.
Of course, he got my name wrong (John C. Cartwright) and he caught a spelling error I had made (‘come’ should be ‘some’). Ah, well. The price of fame.
If you want to find a podcast of it, it is his Dec 07 show, right about an hour and a half from the end.
More to the point, the Superversive SF site asked me to do a podcast with them. You can listen to me talking over people, interrupting them, not listening, and disagreeing with everything, including ‘hello.’
It went this way. Him: “Hello, Mr. Wright!” Me (crossly): “What do you mean by ‘Hello’? Define your terms!”
Meanwhile, on another topic, those who want to repeal the Second Amendment do not seem to be able to base their conclusions on scientific evidence:
This is the second nicest letter a patron has every sent me. The first was too personal and too deeply moving to share, but the reader here (my boss, same as you) gave me permission to share this pat on the back.
Mr. Wright,
I have written you before in praise of your work, and you were kind enough to respond in like fashion (namely, the comment section of Vox Day’s website) that such acknowledgement has some significance to you. I am writing in a somewhat more direct fashion to again express my thanks, both in general for many an enjoyable hour reading your words, but in specific for your story “The Parliament of Beasts and Birds.”
As of the opening of this missive I have not even finished the story, but was already moved both to tears and a burning need to acknowledge a master’s work: in no author not named Tolkien, Wolfe, or Lewis, had I ever read something so moving! The story is written with the names and heritage of the West, of Eve, Cain, and Tubal-Cain, with the accents of Classical civilization and the sonorous diction of a craftsman who both knows and loves our great language: these alone would be enough to endear it to me. But I confess, when I reached the apotheosis of the animals (what else to call it when these loyal creatures become like unto us, which are as gods to them) and the angelic explanation, complete with the prayers of Sts. Roch and Eligius, I wept.
You see, I have an old dog whom I love. My wife used to remark that if he had opposable thumbs, he would not only be able to drive, but smarter than most of the human drivers on the road. We got him at her request, almost 12 years ago when we were little more than newlyweds.
And only now am I coming to understand that when he passes, I may well take it harder than she.
He has been our loyal companion and guarded our home through every one of my many absences: deployment, exercise, school, and university. Because he wards the house and guides the pack (we have other dogs, and they generally defer to him. It’s an odd dynamic), I have slept soundly for over a decade. He watched over my daughter when she was born and shared our concern as her development showed signs of going awry. I feel that he mourns her autism as much as or more than we, and believe he shares our joy at her ongoing healing in his own tired and aged way. When I reach my eternal reward and am issued my arms and Brasso kit (SOMEONE has to keep the Pearly Gates and His throne sparkling, and Marines are good for cleaning and polishing as well as guarding Heaven’s streets) and inquiring after my family, I will echo St. Roch’s prayer.
And while I know that irrational beasts are said to be soulless, I cannot but think that the Almighty, in all His mercy, would not forever sunder us from our closest companions.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, for putting these same thoughts into words and frame more eloquent than I could ever hope to achieve. May the Lord bless and keep you and yours, and may your muse be ever present!
With great respect and thanks,
[Name withheld]
P.S. On a side note, please don’t keep us waiting overlong on Nowhither: I’ve just finished my second read-through of Somewhither and am eager for more!
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