Christopher Stasheff Message Board
David posts on 12/8/2006 12:32:32 PM
I too am a fan of the Star Company. I am rereading the series for the fourth time since it's release and am hopeful that we will see a conclusion one day. Even as an ebook getting closure is something that would be nice to have. I have read most of the other books by Mr. Stasheff, but these are the ones that stay with me.
BlaiseN posts on 11/26/2006 5:02:47 PM
I'm sure this is irrevelvent or has already been asked but which series, if any, are you going to continue or complete?
Resident Viking posts on 11/25/2006 1:48:33 PM
Chris, having heard your dulcet tones raised in discussions(and pun sessions!), I can think of no one else more suited to record your stories!
Christopher Stasheff posts on 11/24/2006 3:55:51 PM
Thanks for the encouragment, CJones. Yes, I would be interested in recording an audio book myself, and during the school year, I have the facilities for it, but I would want to be paid. If you do find a company that's interested, I'll have to connect them to my agent and let them work out the legal and monetary details. I was toying around with cutting a book for the blind, but I didn't find much interest there. If you do, let me know on this board and we'll work out a way of getting in contact. Thanks very much for your interest.
Cjones posts on 11/19/2006 11:41:34 PM
I was unaware that my original post would be on the miain board as the link suggests (or did) a seperate area for audio book information. I appologize for the short post as I felt you were probably inundated with numerous private messages to read.
I have casually looked about at various audio houses, just to see which are actually producing. From your statement you would not be adverse to one of the publishers contacting you. Would there be any sort of legal or other issue involved should a fan, such as myself, contact one or more of these audio houses to look into performing your works?
Also, Do you have any interest in recording them yourself, as there are many authors who read their own work, and many do not have the benefits of a PhD in Theatre.
I have of thoughts and ideas on this but will not take up space on the site with them unless asked.
I really do think most of your works can withstand the turn of the wheel, regardless of the decade and should be introduced or reintroduced to future generations.
R. Whiting posts on 11/18/2006 3:49:20 PM
Then, Sr. Stasheff, I hereby declare you a TREMENDOUS success. In your books, you have managed to incorporate family values in such a way that anyone who reads them is immeasurably richer.
DRoy posts on 11/18/2006 3:41:43 PM
I've always appreciated the values of your characters, and the strength of their love does shine through in the stories. I think my question came from the recent resurgence of interest in magic, or should I say magick, among young people. I agree that many who try it out are probably, unfortunately, deluding themselves. It seems to me that we have entered into a period where some people can't distinguish between science and magic. Still, I understand that your world is fiction, and you are using the fantastic to make good stories -- and you've succeeded! I hope you can return to that world again someday, but if you do, try to get back some of the humor of the early stories. That was some of the best magic of your work. Thanks for all the wonderful novels.
Christopher Stasheff posts on 11/18/2006 12:56:22 PM
Ethe, thanks for the updated transliteration. When I first encountered the Land of the Ever-Young in a 1960s novel, it was spelled “Tir nan Og,” so I've retained that spelling in THE WARLOCK'S LAST RIDE. It's fascinating to see a new transliteration. I'll look forward to having someone who speaks Gaelic pronounce it for me in the mother tongue.
DRoy, when I set out to write THE WARLOCK IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, I was trying to make it scientifically accurate, at least to the point of not including anything science could disprove – but the elements science couldn't prove, such as ghosts and ESP, were fair game. They may exist and they may not – there may be people who can read minds or make objects move, but scientists haven't been able to prove or disprove their existence. I chose to assume they did, but only in my fiction. Please do NOT confuse them with magic, which breaks the laws of science; if psi powers exist, they work according to those laws. The fun is trying to apply concepts such as conservation of energy or the square-cube law to them. I grew up during the McCarthy era, referred to then and now as a “witch hunt” targeting people accused of being Communists (most of whom weren't). I termed my psis “witches” and “warlocks” to show how people persecute those who are in any way different, as McCarthy persecuted everyone who didn't agree with him by calling them Communists. As to the source of psi powers, they're only talents, like the gift of being able to compose beautiful music or write poetry. They come from the mind of the person who is born with the gift, not from any supernatural source – but many people who are so talented are shunned, simply for being different. There is no danger that espers would depend more on their powers than on God, any more than an artist would depend more on his ability to paint beautiful pictures than on God. The characters in my books use psi powers to right wrongs and to help the poor and the weak, as the Bible tells us all to do. However, I will say that I have met people who depend on their guns or their money more than on anything else. There is no demonic magic in the Gallowglass Family books, though there are people who use their power, psionic or technological, for evil purposes, just as there are politicians and wealthy people who use their power and wealth to better themselves and don't care who else gets hurt. I do use magic in the WIZARD IN RHYME series, and I make it very clear which magic is demonic and which comes from Heaven. However, since magic is the science of that universe, there are also magicians who are simply using natural forces, and their magic is neither good nor evil – it is what they make of it, just as a rifle can be used to bring home dinner or to kill someone; it is the shooter who is good, evil, or in between, not the rifle. However, please remember that all of this, psi powers and magic, exist ONLY in my books; believing in magic is superstition. There aren't really any witches or warlocks, though there may be people who think they are or who are trying to work magic and manage to convince themselves that it works (it doesn't). The magic I believe in can be seen in two people who are in love, or in a new-born baby. If there really were espers, non-espers probably would resent them fiercely, as most of us both admire and resent Hollywood actors – especially if they're people we went to school with. I think A.E. Van Vogt's SLAN is still the best look at that kind of resentment, and how an esper would deal with it, if there really were any espers. I'm delighted that you enjoy my books, but please don't take the ideas about magic and ESP seriously. However, I hope you do take seriously the messages that I've tried to work into the stories – the need for tolerance and kindness toward one another, the importance of using your gifts to help others and not to hurt them, and democracy as a means of accomplishing such goals. I'm a Catholic, so the values underlying the stories are Christian – but all the great religions have given birth to prophets who stated the Golden Rule. We all have to try to take care of each other. If the world is a little better for my having lived, if there are a few people whose lives are richer for having known me, then I've been a success.
DRoy posts on 11/11/2006 5:42:13 PM
Dr. Stasheff, I was interested in your response about magic. What about magic in the Warlock universe? I know it is called ESP or PSI etc. But what is its source exactly and since you have many Christian characters, is there ever a danger that they would depend more on their powers than on God? Is there still a magic that is demonic in that your created future? Also, if the espers from Gramarye ever do become exposed to the rest of humanity in the galaxy, will there be resentment on the part of non-espers? I love your books, by the way, and shouldn't take it so seriously. But those are legitmate questions, I think, in the framework of your invented universe.
Ethe posts on 11/11/2006 4:56:24 PM
Do you mean Tir na nOg? As in the land of the youth?
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