I received a note yesterday from Catholic blogger Jeff Miller of The Curt Jester.
So I am reading through John C. Wright‘s new book and I came across this.
In a Basilica on the moon in A.D. 11049:
“A motto picked out in gold letters said in Latin: SAY THE BLACK, DO THE RED .” A phrase from Father Z.
It’s nice to be quoted. And in words of gold!
A sure fire way to get mentioned on a blog with nearly a million page views a month. I’ll add it to my wish list.
I wonder if I have perhaps a second career possibility as a bit character in science fiction?
You might recall that I was a player in the rollicking fun books by Chris Kennedy. HERE
And, I have been told, there is a chance that I might be resurrected.
How fun!
Atra dicenda, rubra agenda, baby!
Of course, the pressing question is which Hollywood star will have the role of Fr Z in the movie? :)
Back pew sitter says: which Hollywood star will have the role of Fr Z in the movie?
If it’s SciFi it would have to be Kevin Spacey.
I have an idea for a novel, in the year 2271 the last remaining bishop of the Bp Williamson Resistance are being hunted down by the Islamists. Bishop Marcel Assustador blasts off and head out into space in suspended animation with a ragtag group of the ultra-faithful. They forge a Traditional Latin Mass Planet utopia on the planet Eleison, and more bishops are ordained to carry on the Faith. But then one of the seminarians discovers a copy of something called Vatican II on an ancient iPad. He and other seminarians think it could be interpreted in continuity with Tradition if one wanted to. Together they make an act of submission to the authority of the Bishop of Rome, whoever he may be at that time, and after laboring for months to cobble together their own interstellar com system to secretly send a message to the Pope they receive with immense relief the news that their excommunication is lifted, but eventually this becomes publicly known to the Resistance authorities. Violent chaos is unleashed, the planet Eleison is deemed not big enough for both the Resistance and the “Capitulators”, and the seminarians and a few of the laity must embark for a new planet to begin a colony for the Reform of the Resistance. They pray for guidance to the Vatican II Church Saint St John Zuhlsdorf, a defender of the hermeneutic of continuity and early pioneer of the Church in Space. But can the Catholic heroes convince an elderly Williamson-line bishop that they are not heretics and we SHOULD be in full communion with the Pope, so that he will ordain one of the seminarians as a bishop in time for blast off? And is it even okay to do so, since they no longer have any way to communicate with Rome since their com system was destroyed when discovered–will they all be re-excommunicated?
I’ve read Mr. Wright’s blog for some years. He’s an adult convert to the faith from militant atheism and when asked about his preference, prefers the EF. It’s not a surprise he’d cite ‘Say the Black, Do the Red.’ And he’s far too honorable a man to court publicity that way–I’m sure he had no financial/PR motive in the hat tip.
At the moment, he’s one of the most notorious writers in sci-fi for publicly saying, with some other writers, that sci-fi shouldn’t become message fiction and suggesting certain high-profile awards have become more rewards for leftwing PC content than skilled and entertaining writing. (Imagine!) A lot of the backlash has been vicious slander, esp. because he vigorously defends traditional marriage on his blog. A tempest in a teacup? No, it could seriously affect his writing career.
Anyway, he writes pleasing prose with characters actually interested in virtue! Ideas are actually explored! Logically! The space opera novels are quite good, but if your tastes don’t run that way, he has other excellent stories available as ebooks through Castalia House, any of which are a good place to start.
TANSTAAFM! (There ain’t no such thing as a free mention.)
Elizabeth D,
A nice start! To add a few more themes, the seminarians re-establish a means of communication to Rome with the aid of the Gregorians, an almost extinct group whose few active members can only be found amidst the ruins of the great abbeys of the Old World. They do this by means of a teleport on Eleison that they are instructed they must destroy as their last act before embarking for a new planet. Meanwhile, their prayers to the Blessed Zuhlsdorf result in a great miracle whereby the last bishop sees a blinding light emanating from a canister of a mysterious dark fluid known only as MMC which he has hidden for many years. He has always been told that the consumption of this liquid is a prelude to The Second Fall but the light reassures him that this is false. Will he believe the message from the saint? Will it convince him to ordain the seminarian and begin the process of ending the Great Schism?
Ah, yes! But what of the cover of The Rolling Stone?
Well this is grand! I mean the news about John C. Wright. For some time I’ve been looking for a science fiction writer whose stories don’t hinge on some inane progressive premise. I had no idea that Wright was a lover of truth. I’m even more convinced after reading some of the liberal hit pieces that pass for reviews on Amazon. Thanks, Fr. Z for bringing this to my attention. Wright’s got one new fan.
If anyone wants to know exactly where John C. Wright is coming from, they can read his manifesto here.
a few excerpts:
Now all we need is a science fiction novel where they can’t stop the signal calling out across the galaxies, “GO TO CONFESSION!”
Whenever we get the Catholic game group up and running (probably around the time of the Eschaton), we can make you into a game character. Perhaps, you could be a masked priest who, in the still of the night, hears confessions and leaves a Z carved in the chair. Wait a minute…that sounds familiar…The Mask of Zuhlzdorf…
The Chicken
Fr. Z is officially a hybrid of Gandalf and Obi-Wan XD