From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
politician ...

Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
turned tribal chieftain ...

Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Thu, 05 Feb 2026 05:12:04 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... has some interesting stuff on the banality of evil.

That was a term from Hannah Arendt. She of rCLThe Origins Of TotalitarianismrCY.

How (painfully) far do you want to go with relevance to current
events?
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On 2/4/2026 12:24 PM, John Ames wrote:

On Wed, 4 Feb 2026 12:07:27 -0500
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

Perelandra is a very strange book.

The whole Space Trilogy is deeply imbued with Lewis's religous
outlook.

I'd forgotten 'til revisiting it some years ago that there's a whole
sequence at the end that almost plays like a Christian transcendental- meditation experience. Very strange book, indeed; captivatingly so.

It does. I can't remember if that's before or after all the human
and animal couples simultaneously decide to f*ck. (The human couples
do it in different rooms - they're decent Christians, after all).

pt
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

In article <10ne70n$1st45$1@dont-email.me>,
Lawrence DrCOOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
politician ...

Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
turned tribal chieftain ...

Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).

Wrong. Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia and Zambia was Northern Rhodesia.
--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_. rCo-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:47:18 -0800
Robert Woodward <robertaw@drizzle.com> wrote:

In article <10ne70n$1st45$1@dont-email.me>,
Lawrence D|ore4raoOliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
politician ...

Calling Cecil Rhodes a |ore4+obusinessman turned politician|ore4_ is like ... I
don|ore4raot know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder turned tribal chieftain ...

Remember that the entirety of the territory called |ore4+oRhodesia|ore4_ in his
name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|a--e |ore4+oSouthern Rhodesia|ore4_).

Wrong. Zimbabwe was Southern Rhodesia and Zambia was Northern Rhodesia.

IAWTP. (posted in AUE). Maybe I should've just set FUs.
--
Bah, and indeed Humbug.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:19:45 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D|+Oliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Thu, 05 Feb 2026 05:12:04 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... has some interesting stuff on the banality of evil.

That was a term from Hannah Arendt. She of rCLThe Origins Of >TotalitarianismrCY.

As was mentioned in the link.

How (painfully) far do you want to go with relevance to current
events?

As far as is relevant.
--
Stephen Hayes, Author of The Year of the Dragon
Sample or purchase The Year of the Dragon: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/907935
Web site: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://methodius.blogspot.com
E-mail: shayes@dunelm.org.uk or if you use Gmail hayesstw@telkomsa.net
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 06:16:55 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D|+Oliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Tue, 03 Feb 2026 07:05:32 +0200, Steve Hayes wrote:

... was probably based on Cecil Rhodes, a bu[s]inessman turned
politician ...

Calling Cecil Rhodes a rCLbusinessman turned politicianrCY is like ... I >donrCOt know ... like referring to Genghiz Khan as a pastoral herder
turned tribal chieftain ...

I was referring to the most relevant characteristics he had in common
with Donald Trump. Neither was a pastoral herder. >

Remember that the entirety of the territory called rCLRhodesiarCY in his
name included both present-day Zimbabwe and South Africa (n|-e
rCLSouthern RhodesiarCY).

No.

Northern Rhodesia is now called Zambia, and Southern Rhodesia is now
called Zimbabwe.

South Africa in his day no doubt included present-day Zimbabwe, but
the only part of what became the Union (later Republic) of South
Africa that he ruled was the Cape Colony, which which he was Prime
Minister for a while, but it was never called by his name, much as he
would have licked it to be (another thing he had in common with Trump,
no doubt).
--
Steve Hayes from Tshwane, South Africa
Web: http://www.khanya.org.za/stevesig.htm
Blog: http://khanya.wordpress.com
E-mail - see web page, or parse: shayes at dunelm full stop org full stop uk --- Synchronet 3.21b-Linux NewsLink 1.2

From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 14:14:04 -0000 (UTC), Don wrote:

rCLThe title of a book by Tolstoy has been translated as What Then
Should We Do? My faith gives me an answer. It would be terrible
to think that life has no meaning, that we are going nowhere,
and that what we do until we die is a matter of indifference.
That is what tortures so many today.rCY

<https://www.ewtnnews.com/world/us/justice-alito-warns-seminarians-religious-liberty-is-in-danger>

WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO? appears in Luke 3:10rCo14. Tolstoy's
non-fictional work describes the Russian social conditions in 1886.
It begins with a Moscow beggar being thrown into jail for begging.

WHAT THEN SHOULD WE DO will be the next book heard (eg read) by me.

Religious-based answers always require a certain degree of selective
thinking, though, donrCOt they: namely, that if your rCLfaithrCY gives you
one answer, then those with a rCLdifferentrCY faith will be given a
different answer -- because if the answer is the same, then the
specific rCLfaithrCY involved becomes irrelevant.

But if the answer to the meaning of life is rCLfaithrCY-dependent, then it
is a matter of arbitrary belief, not based on fact.
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:03:26 +1300, Titus G wrote:

With regard to the infiltration of Romance into Science Fiction,
most Science Fiction writers of the '60s kept women in the kitchen.
If The Time Traveller's Wife was marketed as Romance, it would be an
early example of an infiltration of Fantasy masquerading as Science
Fiction. And, of course, Fantasy has no place in the reality of
Romance. I'll get my coat.

Talking about genre drift, yourCOd be aware of the traditional snobbish attitude towards SF from aficionados of rCLmainstreamrCY or rCLseriousrCY fiction. And the old stereotypes prevalent among them of SF being
about rockets and spaceships, bla bla bla.

ThatrCOs why it was amusing to me to find out that the winner of the
2024 Booker Prize is a novel called rCLOrbitalrCY, set on the
International Space Station <https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/orbital>.

So rockets and spaceships are now part of mainstream fiction? And the
topmost level of arty mainstream fiction, at that? Of course they are!
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 19:27:57 -0500 (EST), Scott Dorsey wrote:

I don't think it would take much to add a butler to the story. You
would expect a palace to have a full staff.

YourCOd have a whole lot more serving staff to choose from than just one
butler ...

rCLThe ostler did it!rCY
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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Sun, 22 Feb 2026 10:33:15 -0500
Cryptoengineer <petertrei@gmail.com> wrote:

I'd forgotten 'til revisiting it some years ago that there's a whole sequence at the end that almost plays like a Christian
transcendental- meditation experience. Very strange book, indeed; captivatingly so.

It does. I can't remember if that's before or after all the human
and animal couples simultaneously decide to f*ck. (The human couples
do it in different rooms - they're decent Christians, after all).

That's "That Hideous Strength," the final book in the trilogy.

And even the animals are discreet about it ;)

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From Newsgroup: rec.arts.sf.written

On Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:48:02 -0000 (UTC), Lawrence D|Oliveiro
<ldo@nz.invalid> wrote:

On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:03:26 +1300, Titus G wrote:

With regard to the infiltration of Romance into Science Fiction,
most Science Fiction writers of the '60s kept women in the kitchen.
If The Time Traveller's Wife was marketed as Romance, it would be an
early example of an infiltration of Fantasy masquerading as Science
Fiction. And, of course, Fantasy has no place in the reality of
Romance. I'll get my coat.

Talking about genre drift, youAd be aware of the traditional snobbish >attitude towards SF from aficionados of omainstreamo or oseriouso
fiction. And the old stereotypes prevalent among them of SF being
about rockets and spaceships, bla bla bla.

ThatAs why it was amusing to me to find out that the winner of the
2024 Booker Prize is a novel called oOrbitalo, set on the
International Space Station ><https://thebookerprizes.com/the-booker-library/books/orbital>.

So rockets and spaceships are now part of mainstream fiction? And the
topmost level of arty mainstream fiction, at that? Of course they are!

Perhaps similar to what /Superfolks/ did way back in 1977 with comic
book heroes. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfolks>
I remember it because of the moral dilemma it poses: return to Earth
and to his family, grow old, and die; or stay in space, young, strong,
immortal again -- but without his family.
--
"Here lies the Tuscan poet Aretino,
Who evil spoke of everyone but God,
Giving as his excuse, 'I never knew him.'"
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