Fancies Archive

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 29: Flying Suits

Posted October 9, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy.

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 29: Flying Suits

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 28: The Handiwork of the Gods

Posted October 2, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 28: The Handiwork of the Gods

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Quotes from DARKNESS AND LIGHT by Olaf Stapledon

Posted September 26, 2024 By John C Wright

This is a reprint of a column from 2011.

First, a word of background. I was clearing out old files, and came across this oddity: my own annotations and comments on a manuscript.

DARKNESS AND LIGHT by Olaf Stapledon was a novel I enjoyed, at least somewhat, in my youth, and I was favorably impressed with Olaf Stapledon’s breadth of imagination.

Rereading it with adult eyes, I am appalled.

This book was written in 1942, during the Second World War. It consists of a tale with no characters and no plot: or, rather, all mankind is the character, and all future history to the end of man or the abolition of man is the plot. With his characteristic Stapledonian gigantism and grandeur, the author escorts us down immensities, centuries and millennia flying past in a paragraph.

This is instead a history book of two fictional histories of the future, two branches of the time stream, one leading to darkness, and the other to light. As best I know, it is the first science fictional presentation of the theme of parallel and alternate timelines.

To my mind, Olaf Stapledon is nearly as inventive as HG Wells: galactic empires, dirigible planets, cosmic evolution, superhumanity, artificial elements, disembodied brains, and other basic science fiction tropes are his inventions. And yet he is rarely brought to mind as one of the founding giants of science fiction: Perhaps that is because his ideas were rarely brought to the public through radio or motion picture. There is no Orson Wells or George Pal that dramatized LAST AND FIRST MEN, or ODD JOHN, or SIRIUS before the ears and eyes of the general public.

The Narrator is an unidentified man of our era perceiving these things in a vision, perhaps the same man who performs a similar ‘framing sequence’ function in STARMAKER by the same author.

For the purposes of savaging him in this commentary, I called him ‘Olaf.’ Whether the opinions of Olaf the Narrator are the same as those of Olaf Stapledon the Author, I leave to wiser heads than mine.

Second, a word of explanation:

Any reader taken aback by the venom of my comments must understand that mine is akin to the fury of a fanboy scorned, of whom it is said Hell hath no Fury. Olaf Stapledon, if I may use the embarrassing metaphor, was a childhood crush of mine, an author beloved of my imagination.

But when I read him back then, in the innocence of youth, the political references sailed lightly over my head. Now that I am taller, they slap me in the face.

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 27: The Noetic Reading

Posted September 25, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 27: The Noetic Reading

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 26: May the Best Bride Win

Posted September 19, 2024 By John C Wright

Sorry, this is a day late.

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 26: May the Best Bride Win

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 25:  The Sword of the Leviathan

Posted September 11, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 25:  The Sword of the Leviathan

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 24: Third Last Question

Posted September 4, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 24: Third Last Question

Daphne receives parting gifts.

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OLD KNIGHT directed by Gabe Hordos

Posted August 31, 2024 By John C Wright

A short video:
OLD KNIGHT directed by Gabe Hordos

There is much one can learn, if one has eyes to see, about the basics of storytelling from this elegant, concise, perfect short cartoon.
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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 23: The Ghost Ring

Posted August 28, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 23: The Ghost Ring

Daphne receives parting gifts.

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 22: Tears in the Red Manor

Posted August 21, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 22: Tears in the Red Manor

This episode contains what is perhaps my favorite passage in the work, where the Sophotechs describe their motivations to Daphne.

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 21: The Exiled Equestrienne

Posted August 14, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 21: The Exiled Equestrienne

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 20: Partial of Unmoiqhotep

Posted August 6, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 20: Partial of Unmoiqhotep

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Fancy That!

Posted August 3, 2024 By John C Wright

I was just looking up something on Wikipedia, and stumbled across this! Heh.

https://infogalactic.com/info/BPM_37093

In popular culture

  • In John C. Wright’s science fiction novel, “Count to a Trillion” and its sequels, V668 Centauri is called the “Diamond Star”, after the crystalline carbon core. In the story of the novel, it is the destination of the first human interstellar journey: an alien artifact called “The Monument” is found orbiting it, which increases human knowledge of mathematics immensely, as well as a huge supply of antimatter which is captured and used as an energy source.
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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 19: The Rescue

Posted July 31, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 19: The Rescue

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The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 18: Antisemris

Posted July 24, 2024 By John C Wright

From THE PHOENIX EXULTANT, vol. II of my debut trilogy. 

In the far future, where men are as gods, living lives of perfect peace and prosperity, Phaethon of Rhadamanthus discovers all memory of his lifework has been hidden from him. For he is the engineer of the sole starship his civilization has ever produced: the mighty, majestic, and immense Phoenix Exultant. She is a ship to conquer the stars.

But such ambition is outlawed in utopia. Phaethon is a pariah, exiled mentally and physically, denuded of possessions, and cast down among outcasts. His life is sought by sinister agents of the Silent Oecumene: an apocalyptic menace none but he dares see. For in a world where mind or memory can be edited at will, what is truth?

The Phoenix Exultant Ep. 18: Antisemris 

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