Transhuman and Subhuman Part X:The Golden Compass Points in No Direction

Transhuman and Subhuman Part X:The Golden Compass Points in No Direction

John C. Wright's criticism of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy hinges not on the books' atheist message (Wright was an atheist himself when he first read, and found serious defects in, the series), but on the sloppy and arbitrary handling of their plot. "This book should have been an atheist…
June 16, 2015
Transhuman and Subhuman Part VIII: Gene Wolfe, Genre Work, and Literary Duty

Transhuman and Subhuman Part VIII: Gene Wolfe, Genre Work, and Literary Duty

The eighth essay in John C. Wright's Transhuman and Subhuman collection is a meditation on the merits of speculative fiction occasioned by SFWA making Gene Wolfe a Grand Master. "He is the greatest living author writing in the English language today," Wright declares, "and I do not confine that remark to…
June 1, 2015
Transhuman and Subhuman Part VII: The Glory Game

Transhuman and Subhuman Part VII: The Glory Game

Today I'm reviewing John C. Wright's review of Keith Laumer's short novel The Glory Game. "The novel is well crafted, concise, without a wasted scene or word," says Wright, "and therefore has the clearest and most trenchant point of any tale I have ever read that is actually a tale…
May 28, 2015
Transhuman and Subhuman Part VI: Swordplay in Space

Transhuman and Subhuman Part VI: Swordplay in Space

"Why is the preferred weapon of the Galactic Empire the sword?" John C. Wright tackles that question in the sixth part of his essay collection Transhuman and Subhuman. Following the premise that a man's attitude toward war and death reveals his outlook on life, Wright examines a selection of great…
May 25, 2015
Transhuman and Subhuman Part IV – Science Fiction: What Is It Good For?

Transhuman and Subhuman Part IV – Science Fiction: What Is It Good For?

"Human nature, for better or worse, always eventually comes to the fore again. And human nature likes and needs stories that are stories." --John C. Wright The fourth essay in Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth sends a wake up call to readers of mainstream fiction, from…
May 15, 2015
Transhuman and Subhuman Part III: Whistle While You Work

Transhuman and Subhuman Part III: Whistle While You Work

The third essay in John C. Wright's Hugo-nominated collection Transhuman and Subhuman: Essays on Science Fiction and Awful Truth tackles the enduring question of why small animals help Snow White with her housework. Yes. It really does. The author formulates his answer in terms of Aristotelian metaphysics. No, I'm not kidding.…
May 11, 20151 Comment
Transhuman and Subhuman Part II: The Hobbit, or, The Desolation of Tolkien

Transhuman and Subhuman Part II: The Hobbit, or, The Desolation of Tolkien

"My wife had to stuff a wide handful of popcorn flavored food substitute into my face, in order to smother the broken, wretched burbling — shoot him … with … an elf arrow." —John C. Wright Newer blockbusters may have driven the second Hobbit movie from the popular consciousness, but…
May 4, 2015