I just finished the last of these, The Golden Transcendence. Very thought-provoking books! Has anyone else read one or more of them? I have a bunch of spoiler-heavy ideas I want to discuss, but before I bring a huge post to bear I want to make sure there's an audience.
Posted by blacwolve (Member # 2972) on :
They sound really interesting. What are they about?
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
The three books in the series are one long story about a very-far-future libertarian society. The main character is a very ambitious post-human man, Phaethon, who discovers early in the story that some of his memories have been erased and goes about trying to discover what his plans were before he lost them.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
*bump*
Has anyone on Hatrack read these?
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
Wow, apparently Wright is a pretentious prick. Or at least he comes across that way in this interview.
"[I]t is pusillanimous to write of small things when one can write of great. The abyss of time holds wonders too large to fit inside one small world, or the narrow confines of one cramped century. Science Fiction is meant to tell us traveler's tales of places and aeons men cannot reach, but imagination can."
"I write as my ferocious poet's heart commands; I fear I do not really have any particular readers in mind when I am scribbling. It is certainly my hope to entertain the dear readers, but I could not write for tastes I do not share, even if I would."
"my ambition is not to write for this generation only, but for the ages."
Jeez, dude. You wrote a good sci fi trilogy. That doesn't make you the next Homer.
Posted by King of Men (Member # 6684) on :
Why not? After all, Homer only wrote two, and cribbed most of his material at that.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
quote:"my ambition is not to write for this generation only, but for the ages."
All that means is he's a real writer. As a writer, you should set out to write a classic every time. You probably won't -- but if you're not trying, you're hack.
That's my humble opinion.
I may actually seek out the guy's books now. I like it when writers tell the truth. Most of the really great writers are not humble people.
Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
<---- Had to look up "pusillanimous." In case anyone else is wondering, it means:
quote:lacking in courage and manly strength and resolution; contemptibly fearful
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
I have a hard time imagining anyone using the phrase "my ferocious poet's heart" without their tongue planted fairly firmly in their cheek.
Posted by Destineer (Member # 821) on :
TL, you should read the books. They're quite good.
Part of my ire has to do with Wright's gushing about what I think is a very flawed higher-education program: the Great Books system at St. John's. Don't get me wrong, I took a two-semester GB sequence as an undergrad and loved it, but the GB are only a portion of a good college education and should not be treated as the end-all and be-all.