Reviewer Praise for ‘The Ideal Machine’
The maiden voyage of the SciPhi Journal has embarked with Issue #1, and Mr. of Castalia House has reviewed it, giving it high praise indeed. According to the reviewer, even the weakest of the stories or articles provided food for thought, something not seen in science fiction since the 1980’s.
I was honored to be asked by the editor, Mr. Jason Rennie, to contribute a novella to the issue. Here is a snippet of the review:
The Ideal Machine by John C. Wright
Although Wright’s early characterization of two important characters is unusually off (at least at first) by Wright’s standards, The Ideal Machine is a novelette about the nature of this world and the one beyond. Also, aliens. Wright can and should be forgiven for not quite nailing the camaraderie of a pair of Lieutenants off the bat.
This tale is a very clever (clever in a good way) homage to Invaders from Mars-style pulp stories that ends up adding meaning to its predecessors. In subtle turns it provides an important and natural answer to both Arthur C. Clarke’s The Star while turning the philosophical principles of The Forbidden Planet beyond its Jungian vision. For the conspiratorial-minded, the heroic priest of the tale associates with Rossignol, the medieval poem about a secret affair that also overtly (in the text) ties to an “endless genealogy” worthy of the Templars. Wright leaves the impression that the fellow who stands on the borderland of The Rulers of Evil and the quiet Christian subservient to the civil authorities must, in either case, die to himself every day.
But don’t let the spook business confuse you. It is a fun read that happens to have depth and great action while surveying the landscape of superheroism, alien invasion, occult sorcery, federal degeneracy, and the Eschaton.
“We don’t have secret police in America,” said Hynkel.
The old priest shrugged. “Well, if you knew about them, they would not be a secret, I suppose. Before the police come here to kill me, which one of you would like to rule the world?”
-The Ideal Machine, John C. Wright
By all means, read the whole review, and then go read the magazine.
About John C Wright
John C. Wright is a practicing philosopher, a retired attorney, newspaperman, and newspaper editor, and a published author of science fiction. Once a Houyhnhnm, he was expelled from the august ranks of purely rational beings when he fell in love; but retains an honorary title.
