tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10251215413925095882024-03-14T04:26:48.863+10:00READING WITH WOLFRead More... Think More...Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.comBlogger307125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-86261498634355878752023-04-13T19:31:00.000+10:002023-04-13T19:31:46.814+10:00Did Plato Just Debunk the Loch Ness Monster? You Won't Believe What This Ancient Philosopher Has to Say!<div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipmOvNq9GHG7U5i8CdbQcoHkOi7i7xCsk82W9Y-_XeCD5jszaevDHaMyoNlwO1vUnIx0cjVafStWV0A1NBuNLkADCe1LAqnVKHVlCpEafqBWjybaLF9udhlWLe-VWVqKnVLr1oaIncckjm2ir84KZ8cpzlAxJTq4BwNA4v6MswB9q5ZKNLxwYcDt6-/s1080/Did%20Plato%20Just%20Debunk%20the%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1080" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipmOvNq9GHG7U5i8CdbQcoHkOi7i7xCsk82W9Y-_XeCD5jszaevDHaMyoNlwO1vUnIx0cjVafStWV0A1NBuNLkADCe1LAqnVKHVlCpEafqBWjybaLF9udhlWLe-VWVqKnVLr1oaIncckjm2ir84KZ8cpzlAxJTq4BwNA4v6MswB9q5ZKNLxwYcDt6-/w400-h400/Did%20Plato%20Just%20Debunk%20the%20Loch%20Ness%20Monster.png" width="400" /></a></div><br />Ah, the question that has puzzled many a seeker of the truth: </div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">IS THE LOCH NESS MONSTER REAL?</h2><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This topic has captured the imaginations of people around the world, from curious tourists to seasoned researchers. Now, there's no real way to know for sure if it's real or not. Some people believe that there really is a creature living in the depths of the loch, while others think the sightings are just hoaxes or mistaken identity.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But what would a philosopher have to say about this mysterious creature? Let's take one of the world's most well know philosophers <b>Plato </b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">THE PERFECT CHAIR</h2><div style="text-align: justify;">Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher (around 400 BCE) thought knowledge was a mix of senses and reason. Many consider him to be the most important figures in the history of Western philosophy. His philosophy covered a wide range of topics, from metaphysics and epistemology to ethics and politics.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">One of the central ideas in Plato's philosophy was his theory of Forms. According to this theory, there is a realm of abstract entities or "Forms" that exist beyond the physical world we experience through our senses. Take the chair you're sitting on, for instance. There's an amazing place where perfect things, like the perfect chair, exist outside of the world we experience with our senses. Everything we see and touch is just a copy of these perfect things.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Plato also believed that true knowledge and understanding comes from using our minds to access this higher realm of perfect things. He thought that if we could just use our minds to understand the world of perfect things, we'd have a better understanding of the world around us.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmkesCh0g9-ZtskMEl-DHRdfG2_pwSqVTEBbIK5cp-_O5w82x9g9tIC__Ua1pHWV6QLLZ5g2_XmoalDqhNFl-D6dWa8USAARFskHQOxO_JdUkmdcHYLVk1ChrAAVw6fPYteHhe4pTA2vSKf_E6u5yKNhDo-foSaugG6kxjiY7hc2_SxRV5k_ech3Y/s4351/allec-gomes-9xpnmt41NKM-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@allecgomes?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Allec Gomes</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/9xpnmt41NKM?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>" border="0" data-original-height="4351" data-original-width="3456" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOmkesCh0g9-ZtskMEl-DHRdfG2_pwSqVTEBbIK5cp-_O5w82x9g9tIC__Ua1pHWV6QLLZ5g2_XmoalDqhNFl-D6dWa8USAARFskHQOxO_JdUkmdcHYLVk1ChrAAVw6fPYteHhe4pTA2vSKf_E6u5yKNhDo-foSaugG6kxjiY7hc2_SxRV5k_ech3Y/w159-h200/allec-gomes-9xpnmt41NKM-unsplash.jpg" title="Photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@allecgomes?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Allec Gomes</a> on <a href="https://unsplash.com/photos/9xpnmt41NKM?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText">Unsplash</a>" width="159" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Another important idea in Plato's philosophy was that we should all strive to be good people and live good lives. He thought that if we were all virtuous and committed to doing the right thing, we'd be able to achieve true happiness and fulfillment.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Plato also had some interesting ideas about what the perfect society would look like, which was very different to our commitment to democracy. He believed that the best kind of society would be one that was ruled by wise philosopher-kings who made decisions based on reason and a commitment to the common good</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, Plato's philosophy was all about using our minds to understand the world around us, being good people and living good lives, and working towards creating a better society.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">HOW THEN WOULD PLATO APPROACH THIS TOPIC? </h2><h3 style="text-align: justify;">IS THE LOCH NESS MONSTER IS REAL OR NOT?</h3><div style="text-align: justify;">As for what Plato would think, that's tricky since he lived in ancient Greece and the legend of the Loch Ness monster didn't really emerge until much later. But, if we imagine that Plato was around today and heard about the legend, he might approach it from a philosophical perspective.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">First, let us consider Plato's philosophy of reality and knowledge, his theory of Forms, which we discussed above. Plato would suggest that – if the creature was real – it is a physical manifestation of a higher, more perfect Monster. In other words, he might argue that the Loch Ness Monster is an imperfect copy or shadow of a perfect creature that exists in the higher realm of Forms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMEfXg5NL9Nk6m6yUq1mXC9u9G7BZH5bu01yaLKOwn2KYOGUwijAb-73fEo2eK4ADaw-tPNf-qf8RycOW6NabhUAwx22Zd9WZ2BFFKG9NOmiWI3xSmWECPYoX38702YrSsZnvCjrNqkv6W9zNm-HwK5x39O9XLhO5usu7uqTo24yEG7ypUUiqUbhs/s5184/sigmund-JeW3uhQiN-E-unsplash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash" border="0" data-original-height="5184" data-original-width="3456" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEMEfXg5NL9Nk6m6yUq1mXC9u9G7BZH5bu01yaLKOwn2KYOGUwijAb-73fEo2eK4ADaw-tPNf-qf8RycOW6NabhUAwx22Zd9WZ2BFFKG9NOmiWI3xSmWECPYoX38702YrSsZnvCjrNqkv6W9zNm-HwK5x39O9XLhO5usu7uqTo24yEG7ypUUiqUbhs/w133-h200/sigmund-JeW3uhQiN-E-unsplash.jpg" title="Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash" width="133" /></a></div>So, if Plato were asked about the Loch Ness Monster, he might suggest that it's not just a random creature that evolved in nature. Instead, he might argue that it's actually a physical manifestation of a higher, more perfect form that exists in the world of Forms.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">For example, maybe Plato believed that there was a perfect form of a sea creature or lake monster that exists beyond our physical world. He might say that the Loch Ness Monster is an imperfect copy or shadow of that perfect lake monster.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Basically, he believed that everything in the physical world is a reflection of something more perfect and real that exists in the world of Forms. And by studying physical things like the Loch Ness Monster, we can gain insights into the higher realm of Forms and the true nature of reality.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><h2 style="text-align: justify;">SO DID PLATO JUST DEBUNK THE LOCH NESS MONSTER?</h2><div style="text-align: justify;">In truth, Plato would have been skeptical of claims made without any evidence to back them up. When it comes to the Loch Ness monster, he would likely have asked for evidence to support the claims that there really is a creature living in the loch. He would have been interested in examining eyewitness accounts and any other evidence that might support the existence of the creature.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrtpE431IIWCbbF77ZjC7cmXhFqgBKm_wsmB8S-CYnPC9rhf3dQCklWSA-cxj8HIrarZDbPiBW92Hc7PM4rDNVDme0jo0_8PfS0XIVvUcJgb_HagydMZ0oKI8M-AIroE2-YPSxlzwhyk312Z4vcRY-Bef_vGgC5gZ-KOH0xwU0uE0naCcVcXctVmr/s240/woman-shrugging-facebook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="240" data-original-width="240" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMrtpE431IIWCbbF77ZjC7cmXhFqgBKm_wsmB8S-CYnPC9rhf3dQCklWSA-cxj8HIrarZDbPiBW92Hc7PM4rDNVDme0jo0_8PfS0XIVvUcJgb_HagydMZ0oKI8M-AIroE2-YPSxlzwhyk312Z4vcRY-Bef_vGgC5gZ-KOH0xwU0uE0naCcVcXctVmr/w200-h200/woman-shrugging-facebook.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At the same time, Plato would have been aware of the limitations of our senses and the potential for us to be deceived. He would have been wary of relying too heavily on eyewitness accounts alone, since people's perceptions can be influenced by their beliefs and expectations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Overall, Plato would have approached the question of the Loch Ness monster's existence with a healthy dose of skepticism and an emphasis on examining the evidence. <b>Ultimately, though, whether the creature is real or not is still an open question that may never be fully answered.</b><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">-WMcT</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><h2>What to read more about Plato and his ideas? Try these 3 books.</h2><div><br /></div><div><ol><li><b>The Republic </b>- This is Plato's most famous work, and it explores a wide range of philosophical ideas, <b>including his theory of Forms</b>. In <i>The Republic</i>, Plato imagines an ideal society and uses that as a way to explore the nature of justice, the ideal state, and the relationship between individuals and the state.<br /><br /></li><li><b>Phaedo </b>- This dialogue focuses on the nature of the soul and the afterlife. Plato uses the concept of the Forms to argue that the soul is immortal and exists beyond the physical body.<br /><br /></li><li><b>Symposium</b> - This dialogue is a series of speeches given at a dinner party, with each speaker presenting their views on the nature of love. While not specifically about the theory of Forms, <i>Symposium</i> is a great example of Plato's use of dialogue to explore complex philosophical ideas in an engaging and accessible way.</li></ol></div></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div>Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-44939531563786546122019-07-03T16:30:00.000+10:002019-07-03T16:30:05.760+10:00Verner Vinge and The Fermi Paradox | A Fire Upon The Deep<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fOFC5NfrtIg/V8geitHvxHI/AAAAAAAAD5g/q9A0U-YGJE4Z82lx8v8AAbTvZqglxoEAQCPcB/s1600/Treasures1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HQNOwQbOyn4/W7m8hA9miMI/AAAAAAAAEuY/ZFZp2NbZxRgfrKtJG9VynQVEYrT3Pre3gCLcBGAs/s1600/alone.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="550" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-HQNOwQbOyn4/W7m8hA9miMI/AAAAAAAAEuY/ZFZp2NbZxRgfrKtJG9VynQVEYrT3Pre3gCLcBGAs/s1600/alone.jpg" /></a></div>
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There are two things about this book that I really like: The first is <i>Verner Vinge's</i> take on the <b>Fermi Paradox</b> and the second are<b> the Tines,</b> an alien race he created for the story.<br />
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[Would you rather watch the video edition of this post? - releasing soon.]<br />
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fOFC5NfrtIg/V8geitHvxHI/AAAAAAAAD5g/q9A0U-YGJE4Z82lx8v8AAbTvZqglxoEAQCPcB/s1600/Treasures1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="200" data-original-width="550" height="72" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fOFC5NfrtIg/V8geitHvxHI/AAAAAAAAD5g/q9A0U-YGJE4Z82lx8v8AAbTvZqglxoEAQCPcB/s200/Treasures1.png" width="200" /></a>I love reading Science Fiction and Fantasy stories and one of my favourite things about these books are all the different non-human races that we encounter. In Fantasy it’s normally just a handful of races like Elves and Dwarfs, but in Science Fiction there is an unlimited amount of different alien races out there… but what about in real life?<br />
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In real life… Have you ever wondered where all the aliens are? Have you ever been looking at the stars and wondered <i>‘Are we alone in the universe</i>?’<br />
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If so you’re not alone. There has been a lot of discussion about this topic by people from all walks of life including philosophers, scientist and writers. In fact this discussion has a name: <b>The Fermi Paradox.</b><br />
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The Fermi Paradox.</h3>
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Most conversations about The Fermi Paradox try to explain why we haven’t discovered any evidence of other intelligent life in our universe and the explanations range from saying that we aren’t listening properly, to the galaxy’s a big place – were too far apart to communicate effectively. Some say there’s a ‘<b>Great Filter</b>’, that there is a certain level that intelligent life will get to and then it will destroy itself, there are so many answers to that question, that I can’t list them all but if you want to, you can find more just by searching for The Fermi Paradox.<br />
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This is where <b>A Fire Upon The Deep</b> comes in. One of the things I like about this book is <i>Verner Vinges</i>, concept called the <b>Zones of Thought </b>which is his answer to the Fermi Paradox. So according this <b>Zones of Thought</b> concept, we haven’t been contacted yet or not found evidence of intelligent life yet is because Earth lies in a very undesirable area of the galaxy.<br />
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Zones of Thought Explained</h3>
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In this book the Milky Way galaxy is divided into areas called the ‘<i>Zones of Thought</i>’ where gravity seems to affect the laws of physics (and biology to some extent) within these zones. The closer the stars are together or the greater the stellar density is, the harder it is to use technology and intelligence, both artificial and biological.<br />
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So as a space ship and its crew ‘descend’ toward the galaxy’s core the speeds they can travel become slower, and the advanced hardware and software from ‘higher’ areas will get start glitching and eventually stop working. <br />
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The four zones are spoken of in terms of ‘low’ to ‘high’ as follows:<br />
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<li>First up, the innermost zone, located around the galactic core is <b>The Unthinking Depths</b>. <b>Unthinking</b> because even biological intelligence is affected in this area. Any ship entering will be stranded permanently. In the story there are accounts of ship’s crew who die immediately upon entering this zone, either because they are rendered incapable of enough intelligence to remember how to operate or fix their ship, or they don’t survive the ships life support systems failing.<br />
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<li>The next zone is called the <b>Slow Zone</b>. This is the zone that Earth is located in and while biological intelligence is possible you can’t create sentient, artificial intelligence, and Faster-than-light communication and travel can not be initiated in the<b> Slow Zone</b>. Ships travelling FTL can enter into the <b>Slow Zone</b>, but the drive will stop and they can’t get it working until they leave the boundaries of ‘<i>The Slowness</i>’. All ships that find themselves in the Slow Zone are restricted to sub-light speeds.<br />
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The problem is that the boundaries of the Zones are unknown and subject to change so accidental entry to the <b>Slow Zone</b> is a major interstellar navigational hazard at the peripheries so ships which operate near the border often have an alternative drive, so that, if they accidentally stray into the <b>Slow Zone</b> (thus disabling any FTL drive), they will at least have a backup (sub-light) drive to push them back "up" to <b>The Beyond</b>. These ships also have suspended animation equipment, as journey out of the slowness will still take many subjective lifetimes for most species.<br />
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<li>The third level up is called <b>The Beyond</b>. This is where all the science fiction tech we’ve come love in our stories can happen. Artificial intelligence, faster-than-light travel, faster-than-light communication, and anti-gravity are possible.<br />
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<b>The Beyond</b> is not a homogeneous zone and in the book there are references are made to the "<i>High Beyond</i>" or the "<i>Bottom of the Beyond</i>", depending on distance to the galactic core. The further you are from the galactic core, the better your technology becomes, so your ships engines and automation increases in capacity and performance as you moves outward.<br />
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<b>The Beyond</b> is populated by a very large number of civilisations which are linked by a faster-than-light communication network and who have no desire to ‘descend’ into the slow zone – for the reasons outline above.<br />
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<li>Finally there is <b>The Transcend</b>, where is it said incomprehensible, super-intelligent beings dwell. When a civilisation from the Beyond reaches the point of technological singularity, it '<i>Transcends'</i> and relocates to <b>The Transcend</b>, What happens in <b>The Transcend</b> remains entirely mysterious to those that remain in<b> The Beyond</b>.</li>
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An Original Idea</h3>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-size: large;"><i style="background-color: white;">We live in a dangerous and undesirable part of the galaxy. I place that no technologically advanced civilisation, in their right mind, wants to visit.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Wolf McTavish</span></div>
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So this is how<i> Verner Vinge</i> explains <b>the Fermi Paradox</b> in his book <b>A Fire Upon The Deep</b>. We live in a dangerous and undesirable part of the galaxy. I place that no technologically advanced civilisation, in their right mind, wants to visit.<br />
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I love this ‘<i>Zones of Thought</i>’ concept as it’s one of the most original ideas I’ve come across in science fiction. Whereas in most science fiction books, the laws of physics don’t change, they apply wholesale across the galaxy and authors have to come up with other conceits to explain how technology, like FTL transportation and communications work, even though modern day physics prove they aren’t possible. <i>Vinge</i> says, well the laws of physics do change and what you can do with technology will vary depending on other factors and where you’re located in this galaxy.<br />
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The Aliens</h3>
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The other thing I like about the story was the alien species called ‘<b>The Tines</b>’. This is a race of dog-like aliens living at a medieval level just on the upper edge of the <b>Slow Zone</b>. <br />
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What makes them different from other aliens we normally see in science fiction is that their intelligence, or sentience, isn’t restricted to an individual. As an individual a Tine is just an animal, but when they get into a pack, this pack forms an intelligent mind… and I really I enjoyed exploring this species.<br />
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You can tell <i>Vinge</i> put a lot of effort into the world building, and we get an insight into the Tine culture and how having a mind with multiple bodies will affect this. For example they need a lot of space to think, whereas our thoughts are concealed within our head, their thoughts are the dog-like bodies using sound to talk to each other, so if another Tine intelligence gets too close, they can hear the other mind thinking and it sometimes confuses them. This also affects their architecture, so their cities, and buildings are quite expansive.<br />
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Conclusion</h3>
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If you like Space Operas this is one that I’d recommend. To be honest it has everything and more that most people want in a book, or movie even. It contains amazing adventure, clever character creation, profound plotting, scintillating suspense, wonderful world building all wrapped in an intelligent imagination. No wonder this book won a Hugo Award.<br />
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I’d encourage you to grab yourself a copy and enjoy it with your favourite beverage.<br />
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2NtvXxw" target="_blank">A Fire Upon The Deep</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">(Zones of Thought) by Vernor Vinge</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Fire-Upon-Deep-Zones-Thought/dp/0765329824/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1538900793&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=df6c1f1b57d82b0f2f8c032830e3e912&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0765329824&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0765329824" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Thousands of years hence, many races inhabit a universe where a mind's potential is determined by its location in space - from superintelligent entities in the Transcend, to the limited minds of the Unthinking Depths, where only simple creatures and technology can function. Nobody knows what strange force partitioned space into these 'zones of thought', but when the warring Straumli realm use an ancient Transcendent artefact as a weapon, they unwittingly unleash an awesome power that destroys thousands of worlds and enslaves all natural and artificial intelligence.<br />
Fleeing the threat, a family of scientists, including two children, are taken captive by the Tines - an alien race with a harsh medieval culture - and used as pawns in a ruthless power struggle. A rescue party, not entirely composed of humans, must free the children - and retrieve a secret that may save the rest of interstellar civilization.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2NtvXxw" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-56299740744186738712018-12-05T16:54:00.000+10:002019-02-14T12:58:16.524+10:00The Most Mysterious Book in the World - The Voynich Manuscript<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bibliophiles who love a good mystery, or conspiracy, should be familiar with the Voynich Manuscript. In the article that follows I’ll take you through a quick overview on this mystery and then provide you with some links for further reading. Enjoy!<br />
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The mysterious Voynich Manuscript has been hanging around for almost 500 years, most of that time it was lost among a private collection but is now the focus of intense of scrutiny. It is famous for being written in an unknown language or code which, so far, has yet to been deciphered. The Voynich manuscript, or Beinecke Ms. 408, is thought to be the only medieval document on the planet in that category. This handwritten codex famous for its indecipherable language also contains drawings of strange plants, Zodiac star charts, and what looks like women bathing in green water. <br />
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Many people have tried to decipher this book over the years, from William Friedman, the pioneering cryptologist known for breaking Japan’s code during WWII to modern day computing PhD students, but no one has yet cracked the code. To date any attempted translation of the text remain nonsense.<br />
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<h3>
The History of the Voynich Manuscript</h3>
Like its contents, the history of this shabby, two-hundred and thirty-four page object is also a topic of debate and there are some gaps in it’s time-line. It is believed to have been written in Central Europe at the end of the 15th or during the 16th century. What we do know is that the manuscript first appeared in historical records We first hear of it when Rudolph II of Germany purchased the book for 600 gold ducats, in the late 16th century, believing that it had been written by the 13th-century English scientist Roger Bacon. It was then passed into the hands of Georgius Barschius, an alchemist from Prague, who referred to the book as “<i>a certain riddle of the Sphinx</i>” that was “<i>uselessly taking up space.</i>”<br />
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In 2009 a piece of this manuscript was tested using <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating" target="_blank">radiocarbon dating</a>. This is a process that allows us to determine the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The results showed that the manuscript likely dates to some time between 1404 and 1438. These results rule out Roger Bacon, the English scientist, as the author of this manuscript because he died in 1292, over one hundred years prior. <br />
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After the death of the alchemist Georgius Barschius, the manuscript was then passed on to his heir, Johannes Marcus Marci, who sent it to an Egyptian hieroglyphics expert in Rome for help decoding the text which was unsuccessful.<br />
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We don’t hear about it until 1912 when Polish-American antiquarian bookseller, Wilfrid M. Voynich, whom the manuscript is now named after, purchased it from the Jesuit College at Frascati near Rome. In 1969, the codex was given to the Beinecke Library by H. P. Kraus, who had purchased it from the estate of Ethel Voynich, Wilfrid Voynich's widow.<br />
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<h3>
The Mystery Solved?</h3>
Of all the articles I’ve read about this manuscript, there is one that stands out to me, which is worth the read, especially because of the controversy that surrounds it. It is called Voynich manuscript: the solution by Nicholas Gibbs. It appeared as the cover story of Times Literary Supplement in September 2017. I did a quick web search but I wasn’t able to find ‘the’ Nicholas Gibbs who wrote this article. My searches ended up being circular. All search results at that time, ended up pointing back to the TLS article. The TLS website didn’t have any further information on the author either. <br />
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However in the article the author advises his readers that he was a professional history researcher as well as a muralist and war artist with an understanding of the workings of picture narration. This experience was an advantage that he was able to capitalise on for his research into the manuscript. While he wasn’t able to translate the whole text he was able to pick out a few reoccurring words within the text and according to his experience, he believes that each character in the Voynich manuscript represents an abbreviated word and not a letter. He also noticed that the top and bottom of each page seemed to have been cropped - we’ll get to both of these points latter. <br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
One of the more notable aspects of the manuscript were the illustrations on a bathing theme, so it seemed logical to have a look at the bathing practices of the medieval period. It became fairly obvious very early on that I had entered the realms of medieval medicine.<b> - Nicholas Gibbs, Voynich manuscript: the solution </b></blockquote>
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Comparing the Voynich Manuscript with other medieval books and manuscripts on medical practice, Gibbs was able to work out that the Voynich Manuscript is most likely a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trotula" target="_blank"><i>Trotula</i></a>. Gibbs believes that it’s specifically a reference book of selected remedies lifted from the standard treatises of the medieval period, an instruction manual for the health and wellbeing of the more well to do women in society, which was quite possibly tailored to a single individual.<br />
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Mr Gibbs concludes that the Voynich manuscript <i>must therefore be a series of (“simple”) recipe ingredients with the necessary measures however the pages numbers and index are missing. </i><br />
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<h3>
The Missing ‘Ingredient’</h3>
The index and the page numbers are missing. Why is this important to solving the mystery of the Voynich manuscript? Similar books from that time included both which is what made it useful.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Indexes are present in many other similar books: a system of cross-reference for illness, complaints, names of plants and page numbers. For the sake of brevity, the name of both plant and malaise were superfluous in the text so long as they could be found in the indexes matched with a page number. Recipes require an index to function in a reference book. The same recipe format is replicated throughout the manuscript: recipes for bathing solutions, tonics, tinctures, ointments, unguents, purgatives and fragrant fumigations – and not a name in sight. Not only is the manuscript incomplete, but its folios are in the wrong order – and all for the want of an index. <b>- Nicholas Gibbs, Voynich manuscript: the solution</b></blockquote>
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<h3>
Good Guess But…</h3>
While the above explanation seems the most plausible to me, others have debunked it. One person who should especially be listened to on this issue Lisa Fagin Davis.<br />
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Lisa Fagin Davis is the executive director of the Medieval Academy of America and she was asked about Gibbs article when interviewed for an article in Atlantic titled <b>Has a Mysterious Medieval Code Really Been Solved?</b><br />
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In the Atlantic article three points are raised to debunk Gibbs’ theory:<br />
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<ol>
<li>It wasn’t vetted (peer reviewed). Davis had met with the curator of the Beinecke Library, where the Voynich manuscript is held and mentioned the article to them. The curator had not seen or been shown the TLS article and mentioned that “<i>If they had simply sent to it to the Beinecke Library, they would have rebutted it in a heartbeat,</i>”<br />
</li>
<li>The decoded text which Gibbs provides includes only two lines which are “<i>…not grammatically correct.</i>” Davis also points out that the translation “<i>doesn’t result in Latin that makes sense.</i>” So we’re back to square one, no one has yet deciphered the manuscript yet.<br />
</li>
<li>His explanation that the key is a lost index represents a kind of magical thinking. Remember Gibbs says that the recipes require an index that explains which illnesses and which plants the drawing correspond to is missing.</li>
</ol>
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One final thing to note is that you can’t find any trace of the author "Nicholas Gibbs". As I previously mentioned the search results are circular, he only appears in relation to this article. It could be that this article, like the Voynich manuscript is a hoax.<br />
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<h3>
So we are left with two choices: </h3>
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<ul>
<li>The article Voynich manuscript: the solution by Nicholas Gibbs it may just be a work of fiction or,</li>
<li>If this is not a work of fiction, the debunking of this article could be due to the fact that Gibbs is unknown and an outsider to the Voynich community.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<b>What do you think?</b><br />
<b><br />
</b> ---<br />
<i>Want to know why drawings of snails appear frequently in medieval manuscripts? Check out this article: <a href="https://wolfsbooks.blogspot.com/2016/06/snails-and-symbolism-raw-special-edition.html">Snails and Symbolism</a> </i><br />
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Further reading:</span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Voynich manuscript: the solution</span></b><br />
<a href="https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript-solution/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/voynich-manuscript-solution/</span></a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Artificial Intelligence May Have Cracked Freaky 600-Year-Old Voynich Manuscript</span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/01/artificial-intelligence-may-have-cracked-freaky-600-year-old-voynich-manuscript">https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/01/artificial-intelligence-may-have-cracked-freaky-600-year-old-voynich-manuscript</a>/</span><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Here’s What You Need to Know About the Mysterious Voynich Manuscript</span></b><br />
<a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/6-things-know-about-mysterious-voynich-manuscript-180964847/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/6-things-know-about-mysterious-voynich-manuscript-180964847/</span></a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Has a Mysterious Medieval Code Really Been Solved?</span></b><br />
<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/09/has-the-voynich-manuscript-really-been-solved/539310/"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2017/09/has-the-voynich-manuscript-really-been-solved/539310/</span></a><br />
<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Voynich Manuscript</span></b><br />
<a href="https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/voynich-manuscript"><span style="font-size: x-small;">https://beinecke.library.yale.edu/collections/highlights/voynich-manuscript</span></a><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span> <span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>For all things Voynich check out the popular website </b><a href="http://voynich.nu/">Voynich.nu</a></span><br />
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-73062664131283831772018-10-28T20:28:00.002+10:002019-02-14T13:05:27.470+10:00Union Station Series Review | Recommended Reading<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />
Remember when science fiction was about a future you wouldn't be terrified to live in? Well, the series we're looking at in this video is a light hearted and fun science fiction series which shows such a future.<br />
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So if you're after a science fiction novel that doesn't take itself seriously, but one that's not as ridiculous as hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. This could be the series for you.<br />
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<br />
<a href="https://amzn.to/2D87HjK" target="_blank"><b>The EarthCent Ambassador</b> series by <i>E.M Fone</i><i>r </i></a><br />
<br />
<a href="https://youtu.be/C6EQPp1ib5Q" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img alt=" Click to view video review." border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="150" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tk5p0kJ8-CM/W9WKiG-b9rI/AAAAAAAAEvY/r_M_F86ZdNIuVTJzCTPFQphCZ9KKGW_zgCLcBGAs/s1600/Dusty%2BScreen%2Bunion%2Bstation.png" /></a>I've only read first two in the series but can say that I'm impressed. The first novel, <a href="https://amzn.to/2yC97iu" target="_blank"><b>Date Night on Union Station</b> </a>which is a sweet, romantic comedy that revolves around a mystery to be solved, the next one <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2PVVUaN" target="_blank">Alien Night on Union Station</a></b> which revolves around a sort of political thriller which of course, there is a mystery to be solved.<br />
<br />
<h3>
So what is it all about?</h3>
Humanity has finally reached the stars, thanks to some help from an ancient race of AI beings, but there is a catch, these being, called the Stryx, will only allow Earth to use the interstellar flight lanes if they can show a united front, basically a planet-wide government.<br />
<br />
This is where Earth Central comes in, or EarthCent., which is the autonomous pseudo-government set up by the Stryx. However the ambassadors and diplomats were not given any directions by the Stryx as how the organisation needs to run, along with the competing interesting of the various nations of Earth and it ends up being quite an anarchic place to work. Which brings its own comedy.<br />
The author says that the goal of writing this series was <br />
<br />
‘to cheer myself up and to find out if there is still an audience for a science fiction comedy that gets its laughs from dialogue and funny situations rather than from gross-outs and shocks.”<br />
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Each book is a self-contained story so there are no cliff-hangers. My main interest in the Union Station universe, aside from the relations between people, aliens and AI, is imagining what happens with species who have had access to high-tech for, in some cases, tens of millions of years. Do they continue to work? Do they continue to care? Do they die out, go back to nature, try to elevate themselves to gods? How do the nearly omniscient AI deal with issues like monetary policy and rental agreements?’<br />
<br />
We see this and more, the situational comedy that we get from the interactions between alien and human culture is on point, the writing is well paced, funny and well done. There is also some good character development over the course of the book and the series as a whole. <br />
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Each of the books in the series picks up some time after the last one, for an example there is like, five years between Date Night and Alien Night but the main characters return and newer ones are added. <br />
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All up it’s a fun series to read and I think a perfect synopsis would be …it is about characters trying to make a living and find some joy in life.<br />
<br />
So if you need a break between the more intense writers like Peter F Hamilton or Alistar Reynold, then the Union Station series may be what you’re looking for.<br />
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<b>Have you read the series? Let me know what you thought, or if you’ve read some light hearted fun science fiction let me know in the comments section below what it is.</b><br />
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-34670577987666890932018-10-09T11:42:00.001+10:002019-03-06T13:39:33.363+10:00The Connection Between Reading Science Fiction and Productivity.<div style="text-align: justify;">
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UTLMiRC8NU/XH9AsEiUJ9I/AAAAAAAAEz8/tcR9puF0tzcljDmXm-nJ9jmRM0uZUolnQCLcBGAs/s1600/productivity-books-550w.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="550" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-3UTLMiRC8NU/XH9AsEiUJ9I/AAAAAAAAEz8/tcR9puF0tzcljDmXm-nJ9jmRM0uZUolnQCLcBGAs/s1600/productivity-books-550w.png" /></a></div>
<br />
I want to share with you a simple productivity tip that can help anyone get ahead in our ever changing world. If you follow my advice, you’ll be more agile at work and in your personal life.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>[Would you rather watch the video edition of this post? - releasing soon.]</i></span><br />
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<img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*ltlcgMEPVr8DXOj5D_Oqgg.png" width="525" /></div>
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<br />
There are plenty of articles and books about productivity and how to get ahead in the life and business.<br />
<br />
I’ve read quite a few and could probably write a book on productivity even though I’m no CEO or motivational speaker.<br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
The basic structure of a post like this should tell you the key to success is reading because it exposes the reader more new ideas than they would during their normal daily interactions, and then go on to give you a list of books that successful CEOs have read. But I don’t want to do that.<br />
<br />
If you take a close look at the lists provided by those other articles, the majority of these books are from the non-fiction section, some biographies but only a few books that are works of fiction. (<b>The Remains of the Day</b> was the most common work of fiction listed.) But on all the lists that I have looked at it was very rare to see any works of science fiction. (The only one that did was <b>Atlas Shrugged</b>).<br />
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<img src="https://cdn-images-1.medium.com/max/800/1*h8QEB4w997EWUjxWZgHpLQ.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="525" /><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>At least sports is real, that Star Strek stuff is for people who can’t handle life.</i></span></div>
</div>
<br />
<h3>
A Personal Story.</h3>
<br />
Before I share with you that productivity tip, let me tell you a personal story…<br />
<br />
I’ve loved science fiction for as long as I can remember. The stories of spacemen flying around in space ships and fighting off Bug Eyed Monsters with ray-guns fired up my imagination more than anything else. But apart from my family only two other people really encouraged me to read science fiction and fantasy. Both were teachers, one encouraged me to use my imagination and the other provided me with science fiction and fantasy recommendations.<br />
<br />
Everyone else either dismissed the genre or openly mocked it.<br />
<br />
My peers would tease me and say “<i>At least sports is real, that Star Strek stuff is for people who can’t handle life.</i>”<br />
<br />
Or from teachers I’d hear “<i>Science fiction is not real literature, this is why we’re going to be studying something useful, like Shakespeare.</i>”<br />
<br />
So what does science fiction have to do with productivity and becoming more agile in life and work?<br />
<br />
Well here it is… Are you ready for it? (this next sentence is the heart of the article… are you ready for it?)<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-size: large;">No matter who you are or what you do… you should read science fiction.</span></b></div>
<br />
<b>Why?</b><br />
<br />
Because science fiction is now, more than ever, relevant to our ever changing world. It prepares you for what’s around the corner. Let me explain further.<br />
<br />
Although my teachers and peers didn’t see it, good science fiction is useful because it predicts change and, in our fast paced, quickly changing world being agile and prepared for change is now a much sought after skill.<br />
<br />
<h3>
Science fiction predicts change.</h3>
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<br /></div>
Those of us who read science fiction know that it appeals to hope and wonder, both in how we want things to turn out, and how we are afraid things might turn out… for the worse.<br />
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<b>What’s important about science fiction, even crucial, is the very thing that gave it birth — the perception of change through technology. It is not that science fiction predicts this particular change or that that makes it important, it is that it predicts change. — <i>Isaac Asimov.</i></b></blockquote>
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<h3>
How does science fiction predict change?</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
Science fiction predict change because the genre is built on thought experiments.<br />
<br />
A thought experiments takes a hypothetical possibility, one which can be anchored in reality, and explores the consequences or outcomes. Science fiction specifically looks at any science and technology that may develop within that given scenario and their consequences.<br />
<br />
Good science fiction explores change and how this change may affect us. Regardless of their intended goal, whether you agree with the direction the author takes the story or not, all thought experiments display a patterned way of thinking that is designed to allow us to explain, predict and control events in a better and more productive way.<br />
<br />
That is a major benefit of reading science fiction.<br />
<br />
Ursula Le Guin says, after reading a good science fiction novel should come away changed.<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>In reading a novel, any novel, we have to know perfectly well that the whole thing is nonsense, and then, while reading, believe every word of it. Finally, when we’re done with it, we may find — if it’s a good novel — that we’re a bit different from what we were before we read it, that we have been changed a little, as if by having met a new face, crossed a street we never crossed before. But it’s very hard to say just what we learned, how we were changed. — <i>Ursula Le Guin.</i></b></blockquote>
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<br />
<h3>
Science fiction is a toolkit for life.</h3>
<br />
The great thing about reading science fiction is that because we’ve suspended our disbelief and been changed by living in the world created by an author, if only momentarily, we are now open to new ways of thinking. We’ve actually been shown how to conduct a thought experiment.<br />
<br />
For me, I’ve discovered that if the author takes a story down a path I didn’t like, while it’s frustrating at the time, these books are better, because they’ve made me think more. I have to consider why I didn’t agree, what I would do differently and why. What’s even better is if you can discuss this with someone else after you’ve clarified your thoughts.<br />
<br />
So now, after reading a science fiction book we have been shown one possible way of adapting to change, responding to the unpredictable, and we now have a new skill. That skill is how to imagine future outcomes based on incomplete information. This allows us to be more agile at work and in our daily lives.<br />
<br />
Ten to fifteen years ago we had time to come to grips with new technology when they were released, now though, technology is changing the world faster than we as individuals, or our society or our institutes can keep up with. We are entering uncharted territory.<br />
<br />
Science fiction is a toolkit. It allows you to look at what is happening now, and predict what may come next, and how to get there — no matter how big or small the issue.<br />
<br />
The real world is catching up to the imagined future of science fiction. What we thought was science fiction yesterday may well be reality tomorrow. This is why reading science fiction is just as important as reading a non-fiction book.</div>
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<h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-71751606600330445062018-08-21T20:39:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:22:31.303+10:00Hugo Award 2018 Winners and Finalists.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oz4xxu5gFM4/WOX6rxB2JFI/AAAAAAAAEKQ/DW6KxMGiAE8bMOFVRYjzjp1kQGNkS4rfgCLcB/s1600/higo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Oz4xxu5gFM4/WOX6rxB2JFI/AAAAAAAAEKQ/DW6KxMGiAE8bMOFVRYjzjp1kQGNkS4rfgCLcB/s1600/higo.png" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: justify;">
The winner of the 2018 Hugo Awards has been announced and it's as follows:<br />
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<h3>
Best Novel</h3>
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid rgb(221, 221, 221); line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0px 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 578.688px;">
<span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2LcHikr" target="_blank">THE STONE SKY</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 578px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 26px;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by N.K. Jemisin</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 26px;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Sky-Broken-Earth/dp/0316229245/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846060&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=bbb891e69e3d2aceed8cd4a120707a74&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316229245&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0316229245" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.<br />
Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.<br />
<br />
For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h3>
Best Novella</h3>
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<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid rgb(221, 221, 221); line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0px 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 578.688px;">
<span style="background: rgb(255, 255, 255); padding: 0px 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2OSOfJC" target="_blank">ALL SYSTEMS RED</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 578px;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 26px;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Martha Wells</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 26px;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Systems-Red-Murderbot-Diaries/dp/0765397536/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846899&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=f50a8a111c191234782439106df53e1e&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="https://ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0765397536&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><br />
<i>"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."</i><br />
<br />
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid ― a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
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<h3>
Other Categories<a name='more'></a></h3>
There were plenty of other categories both book and film related like, <b>Best Short Story, Best Series, Best Graphic Story and Best Dramatic Presentation, Long Form</b> (movie) which you can see on the <a href="http://www.thehugoawards.org/2018/08/2018-hugo-award-winners/" target="_blank">Hugo Awards Website</a>.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>For those new to Science Fiction the Hugo Awards have been termed as "among the highest honors bestowed in science fiction and fantasy writing". They are a set of awards given annually for the best science fiction or fantasy works and achievements of the previous year. The awards are named after Hugo Gernsback, the founder of the pioneering science fiction magazine Amazing Stories, and were officially named the Science Fiction Achievement Awards until 1992.</i></blockquote>
<h3>
Some Thoughts</h3>
The six titles which made the finalists of Best Novel follow below, all but one, I was familiar with. The unfamiliar one being <a href="https://amzn.to/2MGcmOh" target="_blank"><b>Six Wakes</b>, <i>by Mur Lafferty</i></a>. I've read <a href="https://amzn.to/2OSPlF4" target="_blank"><b>The Collapsing Empire</b>, <i>by John Scalzi</i></a>. The winner, <a href="https://amzn.to/2LcHikr" target="_blank"><b>The Stone Sky,</b> <i>by N.K. Jemisin</i>,</a> is book three in <b>The Broken Earth</b> series. I have the first book, <a href="https://amzn.to/2LeYhlZ" target="_blank"><b>The Fifth Season</b></a> in my To Be Read (TBR) pile, so may have to raise that one to the top of the pile.<br />
<br />
<b>All Systems Red,</b> <i>by Martha Wells</i>, the winner of the<b> Best Novella</b> is part of the Murderbot Diaries. It's worth looking into as the robotic protagonist, who has named themselves, Murderbot is used to examine the human condition and it's foibles and reflects them back to us from a different perspective. <br />
<br />
Take a look through the list below and see if there are that pique your interest. If so click on the book cover or link to purchase from Amazon. I'd appreciate you using the link as these links are affiliate links and doing so will help me buy more books so it should be a win-win for us both.</div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2LcHikr" target="_blank">The Stone Sky</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by N.K. Jemisin</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Stone-Sky-Broken-Earth/dp/0316229245/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846060&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=bbb891e69e3d2aceed8cd4a120707a74&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316229245&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0316229245" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />The Moon will soon return. Whether this heralds the destruction of humankind or something worse will depend on two women.<br />
Essun has inherited the power of Alabaster Tenring. With it, she hopes to find her daughter Nassun and forge a world in which every orogene child can grow up safe.<br />
For Nassun, her mother's mastery of the Obelisk Gate comes too late. She has seen the evil of the world, and accepted what her mother will not admit: that sometimes what is corrupt cannot be cleansed, only destroyed.</div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td colspan="2"><div style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: right; width: 100%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2LcHikr" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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</tbody></table>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2OSPlF4" target="_blank">The Collapsing Empire</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by John Scalzi</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Collapsing-Empire-John-Scalzi/dp/1509835075/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846509&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=ebe2ee3addaa68bb03c1154c52355ef4&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1509835075&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=1509835075" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Our universe is ruled by physics and faster than light travel is not possible -- until the discovery of The Flow, an extra-dimensional field we can access at certain points in space-time that transport us to other worlds, around other stars. Humanity flows away from Earth, into space, and in time forgets our home world and creates a new empire, the Interdependency, whose ethos requires that no one human outpost can survive without the others. It's a hedge against interstellar war -- and a system of control for the rulers of the empire. The Flow is eternal -- but it is not static. Just as a river changes course, The Flow changes as well, cutting off worlds from the rest of humanity. When it's discovered that The Flow is moving, possibly cutting off all human worlds from faster than light travel forever, three individuals -- a scientist, a starship captain and the Empress of the Interdependency -- are in a race against time to discover what, if anything, can be salvaged from an interstellar empire on the brink of collapse.</div>
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: right; width: 100%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2OSPlF4" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2w0Ath7" target="_blank">New York 2140</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Kim Stanley Robinson</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-York-2140-Stanley-Robinson/dp/031626234X/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846587&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=96d552d39e023fe15d6c063baa4cd44a&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=031626234X&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=031626234X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />The waters rose, submerging New York City. <br />
But the residents adapted and it remained the bustling, vibrant metropolis it had always been. Though changed forever.<br />
Every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island.<br />
Through the eyes of the varied inhabitants of one building, Kim Stanley Robinson shows us how one of our great cities will change with the rising tides.<br />
And how we too will change.</div>
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: right; width: 100%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2w0Ath7" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
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</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2N69xTJ" target="_blank">Provenance</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Ann Leckie</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Provenance-Ann-Leckie/dp/031638867X/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846700&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=ed9cd10f8c9e1b394af30e2d82b804f7&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=031638867X&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=031638867X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />A power-driven young woman has just one chance to secure the status she craves and regain priceless lost artefacts prized by her people. She must free their thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned.<br />
Ingray and her charge will return to their home world to find their planet in political turmoil at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray's future, her family and her world, before they are lost to her for good.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2N69xTJ" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
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</div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2Lf8rmK" target="_blank">Raven Stratagem</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Yoon Ha Lee</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Raven-Stratagem-Machineries-Empire-Book-ebook/dp/B06XNX2H6Z/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534846768&sr=1-1&keywords=Raven+Stratagem,+by+Yoon+Ha+Lee&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=091901f231b8f3a3afc361a92ec1d5db&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B06XNX2H6Z&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B06XNX2H6Z" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />War. Heresy. Madness. <br />
Shuos Jedao is unleashed. The long-dead general, preserved with exotic technologies as a weapon, has possessed the body of gifted young captain Kel Cheris.<br />
Now, General Kel Khiruev’s fleet, racing to the Severed March to stop a fresh enemy incursion, has fallen under Jedao’s sway. Only Khiruev’s aide, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, is able to shake off the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao.<br />
The rogue general seems intent on defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev—or Brezan—trust him? For that matter, can they trust Kel Command, or will their own rulers wipe out the whole swarm to destroy one man?</div>
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<tr><td colspan="2"><div style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: right; width: 100%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Lf8rmK" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
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</div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2MGcmOh" target="_blank">Six Wakes</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Mur Lafferty</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Six-Wakes-Mur-Lafferty-ebook/dp/B01CDDAETS/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1534846832&sr=1-1&keywords=Six+Wakes,+by+Mur+Lafferty&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=779bc67466cbc1691f89e9a0f933fbf5&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B01CDDAETS&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B01CDDAETS" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Maria Arena awakens in a cloning vat streaked with drying blood. She has no memory of how she died. This is new; before, when she had awakened as a new clone, her first memory was of how she died.<br />
Maria's vat is one of seven, each one holding the clone of a crew member of the starship Dormire, each clone waiting for its previous incarnation to die so it can awaken. And Maria isn't the only one to die recently..</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2MGcmOh" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2OSOfJC" target="_blank">All Systems Red</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Martha Wells</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/All-Systems-Red-Murderbot-Diaries/dp/0765397536/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1534846899&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=f50a8a111c191234782439106df53e1e&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0765397536&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0765397536" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />A murderous android discovers itself in All Systems Red, a tense science fiction adventure by Martha Wells that interrogates the roots of consciousness through Artificial Intelligence.<br />
"As a heartless killing machine, I was a complete failure."<br />
In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety.<br />
But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern.<br />
On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid ― a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is.<br />
But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2OSOfJC" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
</td></tr>
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The above links will be affiliate links, so if you going to make a purchase any of these books from Amazon I'd appreciate you using the link. Doing so will help me buy more books so it should be a win-win for us both.<br />
<br />
Enjoy reading more and thinking more... with your favourite beverage!</div>
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<h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-20203137182372600762018-08-04T21:32:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:23:11.050+10:00Arthur C. Clarke Award 2018<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NcMb8fgfqJQ/W2WNxLi-PKI/AAAAAAAAEtA/2bf1P8bk9pMUJXoTyrOwFjHccsBInuovACLcBGAs/s1600/AClarkeAwards.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="186" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NcMb8fgfqJQ/W2WNxLi-PKI/AAAAAAAAEtA/2bf1P8bk9pMUJXoTyrOwFjHccsBInuovACLcBGAs/s1600/AClarkeAwards.png" /></a></div>
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The Arthur C. Clarke Award winner was announced last month from a short-list of six. This award was originally established by a generous grant from Sir Arthur C. Clarke with the aim of promoting science fiction in Britain. <br />
<br />
The annual award is presented for the best science fiction novel of the year, and selected from a list of novels whose UK first edition was published in the previous calendar year.<br />
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The winner is<b> <a href="https://amzn.to/2MhakAu" target="_blank">Dreams Before the Start of Time</a></b> <i>by author Anne Charnock</i><br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
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The Award Director Tom Hunter said of this novel:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="color: #b39e35;"><b><i>“This is a much-deserved win for a writer whose time has definitely come. Charnock’s multi-generational vision of expanding human reproductive technologies is smart, science-literate fiction that embraces the challenge of humanising big ethical questions, and succeeds by exploring possible future scenarios that feel utterly real.”</i></b></span></blockquote>
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You can see more about <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2MhakAu" target="_blank">Dreams Before the Start of Time</a></b> below along with the other five books short-listed for 2018.<br />
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Have you read any of these books yet? Let me know what you thought.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2MhakAu" target="_blank">Dreams Before the Start of Time</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Anne Charnock</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dreams-Before-Start-Time-Charnock-ebook/dp/B0176BJYRK/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1533370936&sr=8-1&keywords=Dreams+Before+the+Start+of+Time&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=8c128df42d669c8bce870c453a3e6d81&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B0176BJYRK&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=B0176BJYRK" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>Winner of the Arthur C. Clarke Award.</b><br />
<b><br />
</b> <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b>‘This is an excellent novel, and a worthy successor to the very wonderful Sleeping Embers of an Ordinary Mind.”</b><i>Adam Roberts, author of The Thing Itself</i></blockquote>
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In a near-future London, Millie Dack places her hand on her belly to feel her baby kick, resolute in her decision to be a single parent. Across town, her closest friend—a hungover Toni Munroe—steps into the shower and places her hand on a medic console. The diagnosis is devastating.<br />
<br />
In this stunning, bittersweet family saga, Millie and Toni experience the aftershocks of human progress as their children and grandchildren embrace new ways of making babies. When infertility is a thing of the past, a man can create a child without a woman, a woman can create a child without a man, and artificial wombs eliminate the struggles of pregnancy. But what does it mean to be a parent? A child? A family?<br />
<br />
Through a series of interconnected vignettes that spans five generations and three continents, this emotionally taut story explores the anxieties that arise when the science of fertility claims to deliver all the answers.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2MhakAu" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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</tbody></table>
</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2MkHkIq" target="_blank">Sea of Rust</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">C. Robert Cargill</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Rust-C-Robert-Cargill/dp/0062405853/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533371080&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=2270159ed007f3086500354a3e953fb9&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0062405853&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><b><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0062405853" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />An action-packed post-apocalyptic thriller from the screenwriter of Marvel's Doctor Strange.</b><br />
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HUMANKIND IS EXTINCT.<br />
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Wiped out in a global uprising by the very machines made to serve them. Now the world is controlled by OWIs - vast mainframes that have assimilated the minds of millions of robots.<br />
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But not all robots are willing to cede their individuality, and Brittle is one of the holdouts.<br />
<br />
After a near-deadly encounter with another AI, Brittle is forced to seek sanctuary in a city under siege by an OWI. Critically damaged, Brittle must evade capture long enough to find the essential rare parts to make repairs - but as a robot's CPU gradually deteriorates, all their old memories resurface.<br />
<br />
For Brittle, that means one haunting memory in particular . . .</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2MkHkIq" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<div style="padding: 5px;">
<h3 style="border-bottom: thick solid #ddd; line-height: 0.1em; margin: 10px 0 20px; text-align: left; text-transform: uppercase; width: 90%;">
<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2vhuPGS" target="_blank">American War</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Omar El Akkad</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/American-War-Omar-El-Akkad/dp/1101973137/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533371203&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=5c3501c55915c3222ac75af8903ff561&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1101973137&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=1101973137" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that Louisiana is half underwater, that unmanned drones fill the sky. And when her father is killed and her family is forced into Camp Patience for displaced persons, she quickly begins to be shaped by her particular time and place until, finally, through the influence of a mysterious functionary, she is turned into a deadly instrument of war.<br />
<br />
Telling her story is her nephew, Benjamin Chestnut, born during war - part of the Miraculous Generation - now an old man confronting the dark secret of his past, his family's role in the conflict and, in particular, that of his aunt, a woman who saved his life while destroying untold others.<br />
<br />
A second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle - a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2vhuPGS" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2Mi9N1r" target="_blank">Spaceman of Bohemia</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Jaroslav Kalfar</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Spaceman-Bohemia-Jaroslav-Kalfar/dp/0316273449/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533371353&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=293a1a8e39d86d4b0bb7e603b2704021&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316273449&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0316273449" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Set in the near-distant future, Spaceman follows a Czech astronaut as he launches into space to investigate a mysterious dust cloud covering Venus, a suicide mission sponsored by a proud nation. Suddenly a world celebrity, Jakub's marriage starts to fail as the weeks go by, and his sanity comes into question. After his mission is derailed he must make a violent decision that will force him to come to terms with his family's dark political past.<br />
<br />
An extraordinary vision of the endless human capacity to persist-and risk everything-in the name of love and home, by a startlingly talented young debut novelis</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2Mi9N1r" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2LVl5fd" target="_blank">Gather the Daughters</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Jennie Melamed</span></td></tr>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><div style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Gather-Daughters-Novel-Jennie-Melamed/dp/031646368X/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533371471&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=519fab1c178ccfcb7f04ace7bd2705e1&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=031646368X&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=031646368X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Years ago, just before the country was incinerated to wasteland, ten men and their families colonized an island off the coast. They built a radical society of ancestor worship, controlled breeding, and the strict rationing of knowledge and history. Only the Wanderers--chosen male descendants of the original ten--are allowed to cross to the wastelands, where they scavenge for detritus among the still-smoldering fires.<br />
<br />
The daughters of these men are wives-in-training. At the first sign of puberty, they face their Summer of Fruition, a ritualistic season that drags them from adolescence to matrimony. They have children, who have children, and when they are no longer useful, they take their final draught and die. But in the summer, the younger children reign supreme. With the adults indoors and the pubescent in Fruition, the children live wildly--they fight over food and shelter, free of their fathers' hands and their mothers' despair. And it is at the end of one summer that little Caitlin Jacob sees something so horrifying, so contradictory to the laws of the island, that she must share it with the others.<br />
<br />
Born leader Janey Solomon steps up to seek the truth. At seventeen years old, Janey is so unwilling to become a woman, she is slowly starving herself to death. Trying urgently now to unravel the mysteries of the island and what lies beyond, before her own demise, she attempts to lead an uprising of the girls that may be their undoing.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2LVl5fd" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/2LPbmaN" target="_blank">Borne</a></b></span></h3>
<table style="width: 90%;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Jeff VanderMeer</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Borne-Novel-Jeff-VanderMeer/dp/0374537658/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1533371578&sr=8-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=0443fd7930d124d4aa296591116a3f70&language=en_US" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0374537658&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&language=en_US&l=li2&o=1&a=0374537658" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />In a ruined city of the future, Rachel scavenges a strange creature from the fur of a despotic bear.<br />
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She names him Borne.<br />
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He reminds her of her homeland lost to rising seas, but her lover Wick is intent on rendering him down as raw material for the special drugs he sells. Nothing is quite what it seems, and if Wick is hiding secrets, so too is Rachel – and Borne most of all.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="https://amzn.to/2LPbmaN" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-24728078303687561582018-05-14T22:35:00.000+10:002020-05-29T11:39:23.517+10:00Cycling In The Dark - A Technique For Writing Fiction.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I’ve been reading a lot of ‘<i>how-to</i>’ books on writing novels recently, the majority of them talk about creating an outline even before writing the first draft. For those of us who have attempted this sort of thing it does make sense. <br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><b>Step 1:</b> Create and outline of your story, know where and when everything will happen.</li>
<li><b>Step 2:</b> Write your first draft, don’t worry about spelling mistakes or typo’s just let your creative voice have free reign so you can get the story out there. As <a href="https://www.thecreativepenn.com/" target="_blank">Joanna Penn</a> says ‘<i>splurge on words and ideas</i>’ in this first draft.</li>
<li><b>Step 3:</b> Spent time editing. That is using your critical voice, correcting the spelling mistakes and typo’s, rewriting and polishing the story.</li>
</ul>
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<br />
<b>The problem is that we spend a lot of time on step 1 and never seem to be able to finish. </b><br />
<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Over the course of my reading I came in contact with a book called <a href="https://amzn.to/2rIe7Pd" target="_blank"><b>Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling: The Tricks and Techniques of Writing Fiction While Away From Home</b>, </a><i><a href="https://amzn.to/2rIe7Pd" target="_blank">by Dean Wesley Smith</a>.</i> Now the title is enough to catch your attention, writing a book in FIVE DAYS while travelling that's quite extraordinary and something I’d love to do. <br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Writers of this modern era are scared most of the time. So they must spend months outlining to make sure their novel is dull and won’t have energy. And heaven help them if they waste a precious word along the way. Writers of this modern era are in a hurry to be successful. So they write to market, to what others want them to write. So this writing exercise was for me, to prove to myself that once again I was born too late as a writer. I wanted to prove to myself that I flat don’t belong with all the lazy, whiny writers of this modern time. I figured any pulp writer could write a novel in five days. But could they do it while traveling?</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<a href="https://amzn.to/2rIe7Pd" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>Dean Wesley Smith, Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling: The Tricks and Techniques of Writing Fiction While Away From Home</i></span></a></div>
</blockquote>
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<h3>
Write Only ONE Draft!</h3>
In <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2rIe7Pd" target="_blank">Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling</a></b>, Mr Smith mentioned two things which caught my attention and gave me pause to reconsider what I am doing. Firstly he says that he can write a book in five days or so because he doesn’t write a second draft! He mentions that he was going to do this all in one draft and he is going to write what he calls ‘a clean draft’ first time, no rewrites. No rewrites! <br />
<br />
<h3>
How Does He Do This And Get Away With It?</h3>
He uses a technique called cycling. He was smart enough to not share this technique in <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2rIe7Pd" target="_blank">Writing a Novel in Five Days While Traveling</a></b> but said it is all outlined in another book of his called <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2KY9EQp" target="_blank">Writing Into The Dark: How To Write A Novel Without An Outline.</a></b> The fact that he wasn't going to write a second draft but that he was going to do this all in one draft and write a story without an outline, was exciting and terrifying at the same time. It’s sounded like sacrilege for an author to speak like this. Or as astounding as someone saying they’re going to give a speech without notes, how is this possible? I had to buy and read the book <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2KY9EQp" target="_blank">Writing Into The Dark</a></b> to find out.<br />
<br />
<h3>
So What Is Cycling? My Simplified Version.</h3>
The way I understood it was that it’s basically doing mini-rewrites and edits as you write your novel. Start in your creative mode and write 500-1000 words and then go back and re-read what you just wrote. This is where you change gears and move into critical mode, re-read what you just wrote scanning for mistakes, take stuff out, put stuff in, increasing your pace and changing gears again into creative mode as you come closer to the white space. <br />
<br />
Think of it like riding a bike, as you start to approach a hill, you start to speed up so you can power on up that hill, the white space is the hill. Once you’re back to the white space, you then write another 500-1000 more words in creative mode, when you get to the end repeat the process over and over again until you’re finished. <br />
<br />
It seems to go against all the other advice given by the experts who say, outline first, then write using your creative side, but don’t edit as you go because this will stifle your creative voice. This is why you need to then do a second and third draft by going back afterwards with an editors hat on and use your critical side to clean up the mess and polish the story. <br />
<br />
But… when I thought about how I write my blog posts, my non-fiction articles and I realised this is what I'm doing already, so why not try with with fiction.<br />
<br />
<i>Dean Wesley Smith</i> does a better job at explaining cycling in his book <b><a href="https://amzn.to/2KY9EQp" target="_blank">Writing Into The Dark: How To Write A Novel Without An Outline</a></b> and it is an inexpensive book so I would encourage you to purchase it and have a read for a better understanding of this technique. I don’t want to give away all his secrets and I want you to support him, as I know all us potential authors would like people to purchase our books.<br />
<br />
In this book he also helps you to overcome the obstacles you’ll encounter both within and without as you try writing your novel with no outline. Like your own critical voice and getting stuck on what to write next.<br />
<br />
<h3>
The Critical Voice</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The only purpose of the critical voice in creative writing is to stop you.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The fearless writers contain their critical voices and write what they love, what moves them.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>Writing without critical voice turned on, just writing to tell myself a story, is like reading. </i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>The process is wonderful and I enjoy the journey.<br />
</i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></i></i></div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i></i><br />
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i><i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dean Wesley Smith, Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides Book 9),</span></i></i></div>
</blockquote>
<br />
<h3>
What To Do When You Get Stuck</h3>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>But right here, early in the book, let me tell you the simple answer. Write the next sentence. And then write the next sentence. I am not kidding.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>It is at that stuck point that you need to really embrace and enjoy the uncertainty. Getting stuck is part of writing into the dark. It is part of the process, a natural part of the process of a creative voice building a story.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>So bogging down is part of the process as well. Expect it and don’t be afraid to write extra words or cut words to get back on track.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>There is no rule that says you must write your book like a reader is going to read it.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>A key point to remember is that “next sentence” does not have to be the very next sentence the READER is going to read. It just needs to be the next sentence you are going to type.</i></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="font-size: x-small;">Dean Wesley Smith, Writing into the Dark: How to Write a Novel without an Outline (WMG Writer's Guides Book 9),</span></i></blockquote>
<br />
<br />
<img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li2&o=1&a=B00XIPANX8" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<h3>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Writing-into-Dark-without-Outline-ebook/dp/B00XIPANX8/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1526295092&sr=8-1&keywords=writing+into+the+dark&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=cdeb9b8b75589004dbbbc2002c387233" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B00XIPANX8&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a>A Challenging And Motivating Book</h3>
<br />
<b><a href="https://amzn.to/2KY9EQp" target="_blank">Writing Into The Dark</a></b> is a really challenging book. <i>Dean Wesley Smith</i> wants to motivate writers to write and not be bogged down or scared by preconceived ideas of how you should write. I know it helped me. After reading all those other books on writing this was the one that really motivated me to continue writing and also provided me with some encouragement to start some new writing projects.<br />
<br />
<h3>
<b>Which books on writing have you found beneficial and/or provided you with the motivation you needed to start or continue your novel? I’ve love to hear from you. </b></h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-12585715131200919102018-05-01T21:48:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:24:26.365+10:00Unfinished Tales | Shadow Worlds | Part Three<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm9IFYK8RXE/WerGmlp1aQI/AAAAAAAAEf0/bnPys4DKe20FUmg4WrYZkyKQdEKO5Y-vQCLcBGAs/s1600/unfinishedtales.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="367" data-original-width="550" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pm9IFYK8RXE/WerGmlp1aQI/AAAAAAAAEf0/bnPys4DKe20FUmg4WrYZkyKQdEKO5Y-vQCLcBGAs/s1600/unfinishedtales.png" /></a></div>
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<div style="font-size: medium; font-weight: 400; text-align: start;">
The three <i>Shadow World </i>short stories have proven to be quite popular on this blog and I thank you for your interest.</div>
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I have moved this series of short stories to my <b>Wattpad </b>profile. You can read them<span style="color: #660000;"> <b style="background-color: white;"><a href="https://www.wattpad.com/story/169008391-the-shadow-expanse-an-unfinished-tale" target="_blank">HERE</a></b></span>. I would really appreciate if you would '<b>vote</b>' on each chapter. To do this just tap or click on the star icon. Doing this will support my work by getting it out to more people.</div>
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If you never heard of <b>Wattpad </b>before, don't worry you can read my stories on the same device you are currently viewing my website. </div>
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<b>Wattpad </b>it is community for readers. It also helps writers to publish stories in so many different genres. It aims to create social communities around stories for both amateur and established writers.</div>
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When I was younger I tried my hand at writing short stories, but gave up before turning 20. You can find a shorten version of why in this <a href="http://wolfsbooks.blogspot.com/2017/06/science-fiction-is-like-egg.html" target="_blank">article</a>. I thought I had lost all of this work until recently my father discovered and handed over this manuscript. It was a fantasy story I had been working on way back then. The outline is lost, I was 'pantsing' (or writing whatever came into my mind.) but what is left is three small chapters which I thought I'd share. <br />
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Enjoy reading more and thinking more... with your favourite beverage!</div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-13201000587427117762018-03-24T19:45:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:25:00.143+10:00Weekend Reads - 180324<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" /></a></div>
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Welcome to the weekend, first up a question, what are you currently reading? Let me know in the comments below or on my Facebook page, <b style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheBistroMath/" target="_blank">The BistroMath</a></b>, I'm interested in knowing.<br />
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I'm just about to finish off <a href="https://amzn.to/2DQKXQY" target="_blank"><b>Legacy (First Colony Book 3)</b> <i>by Ken Lozito</i></a>, which has been an interesting military science fiction series, I've really enjoyed it. I have a classic <a href="https://amzn.to/2I0QM13" target="_blank"><b>The Maltese Falcon</b> <i>by Dashiell Hammett</i></a> lined up next and am slowly working my way through another classic <a href="https://amzn.to/2IQPabq" target="_blank"><b>The Four Loves </b><i>by C.S. Lewis</i></a>.<br />
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In the article first up this week, Nature asked six prominent sci-fi writers to reflect on what the genre has to offer at the end of an extraordinary year (2017). It's an interesting read.<br />
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We also look at the possibility of getting a Star Trek replicator, or at least it's forerunner, in the near future plus some more book, movie and space related stuff. So when it's time to relax this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and have a read of the following articles.<br />
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<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08674-8" target="_blank"><b>Science fiction when the future is now</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Nature asked six prominent sci-fi writers — Lauren Beukes, Kim Stanley Robinson, Ken Liu, Hannu Rajaniemi, Alastair Reynolds and Aliette de Bodard — to reflect on what the genre has to offer at the end of an extraordinary year.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08674-8" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2018/03/09/carbon-nanotube-membrane-breakthrough-is-real-world-star-trek-replicator-mattershift/" target="_blank"><b>A Real World 'Star Trek' Replicator Is Now Possible Thanks To New Breakthrough</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>A startup with alumni from MIT and Yale says it's made a breakthrough in creating a next-generation material that should make it possible to 3-d print literally anything out of thin air.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ericmack/2018/03/09/carbon-nanotube-membrane-breakthrough-is-real-world-star-trek-replicator-mattershift/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.thespaceacademy.org/2017/09/nasa-saw-something-come-out-of-black.html" target="_blank"><b>NASA Saw Something Come Out Of A Black Hole For The First Time Ever</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>You don’t have to know a whole lot about science to know that black holes normally suck things in, not spew things out. But NASA detected something mighty bizarre at the supermassive black hole Markarian 335. Two of NASA’s space telescopes, including the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), amazingly observed a black hole’s corona “launched” away from the supermassive black hole.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.thespaceacademy.org/2017/09/nasa-saw-something-come-out-of-black.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://lithub.com/the-10-most-famous-bookstores-in-the-world/" target="_blank"><b>The 10 Most Famous Bookstores in the World</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Sylvia Beach—probably the most notorious bookstore owner in modern history, and the founder of what is still arguably the most famous bookstore in the world: Paris’s Shakespeare and Company. On the occasion of this, her 131st birthday, I was inspired to look into the history of Beach and the bookstore—as well as the stories behind some of the other best, most visited, and most talked-out bookstores around the world.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://lithub.com/the-10-most-famous-bookstores-in-the-world/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://lrmonline.com/news/denis-villeneuves-dune-to-be-split-into-multiple-movies/" target="_blank"><b>Denis Villeneuve’s Dune To Be Split Into Multiple Movies</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Now Denis Villeneuve (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049) is taking a crack at the material, and his approach is interesting. Villeneuve is noted for balancing characters with spectacle while telling interesting sci-fi stories. In other words, Villeneuve seems like a fantastic match for Dune.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://lrmonline.com/news/denis-villeneuves-dune-to-be-split-into-multiple-movies/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-14794037940045009922018-03-16T20:04:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:25:46.314+10:00Weekend Reads - 180316<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" /></a></div>
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Welcome once again, this week there are two articles on writing science fiction. Both <b>Angus McIntyre</b> (author of <a href="http://amzn.to/2FEqhSa" target="_blank"><i>The Warrior Within</i></a>) and <b>Richard Morgan</b> (author of <a href="http://amzn.to/2FNv3sx" target="_blank"><b>Altered Carbon</b></a>) share where they got inspiration for their stories. <br />
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There's also an update on a real life space station nation in the making and some discussion about e-Readers and Amazon reviews. Some interesting sfuff if you're interested in reading. <br />
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So when it's time to relax this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and have a read of the following articles.<br />
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<a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/03/06/a-voice-in-the-head-brian-stablefords-hooded-swan-series/" target="_blank"><b>A Voice in the Head: Brian Stableford’s Hooded Swan Series</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Worldbuilding sets the stage, but a story needs an emotional core too. The key here is Grainger himself, and Stableford pulls it off with another clever trick.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/03/06/a-voice-in-the-head-brian-stablefords-hooded-swan-series/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/13/altered-carbon-author-richard-morgan-violence-netflix" target="_blank"><b>Altered Carbon author Richard Morgan: 'There’s no limit to my capacity for violence'</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>As Netflix screens his brutal body-swap novel, the writer talks about the anger – and the argument at a party – that fuelled its creation...</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/13/altered-carbon-author-richard-morgan-violence-netflix" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.thescinewsreporter.com/2018/03/the-first-space-nation-wants-you-to.html" target="_blank"><b>The First "Space Nation" Wants You to Live On Their Orbital Space Station</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Asgardia, a rather strange effort to initiate a nation in space, has declared it wants to ultimately build a space station in Earth orbit and on the Moon. In a press conference yesterday in Hong Kong, Asgardia also revealed its plans to launch its primary satellite, Asgardia-1, in autumn this year.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.thescinewsreporter.com/2018/03/the-first-space-nation-wants-you-to.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/long-live-the-e-reader" target="_blank"><b>Long Live the e-Reader</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>An article appeared this week, one that sagely but somewhat inflamingly asks the question, “Is The E-Reader Dead?” But rather than yet another infuriating “print is dead!” or “ebooks are dead!” or (a personal favorite) “self-publishing is finally dead!” toned article, this one provides evidence on the reading habits of US consumers, the purchasing history of total volume worldwide sales for digital pioneers like Amazon, and a close look at the competition among the top e-reader retailers</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://goodereader.com/blog/electronic-readers/long-live-the-e-reader" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/amazon-review-fraud-hits-new-categories" target="_blank"><b>Amazon Review Fraud Hits New Categories</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Authors have been accused of buying reviews of their books for years. At the very least, there have been accusations hurled of authors building up lists of people to pad their review counts, a practice that is not at all in violation of Amazon’s terms so long as the reviews are genuine and mention is made of the free book the reviewer received. But one couple has come forward to disclose review fraud in an entirely new form</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://goodereader.com/blog/indie-author-news/amazon-review-fraud-hits-new-categories" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-45402724256467431242018-03-02T18:15:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:26:32.775+10:00Old, Timeless, Yet Still Relevant Today - Caves of Steel <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sv82q7oRPBQ/WlBm71DnlSI/AAAAAAAAEjw/bAbiRXf898gl1HqoePdsyZcqny5jmGLGwCLcBGAs/s1600/cave-of-steel.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sv82q7oRPBQ/WlBm71DnlSI/AAAAAAAAEjw/bAbiRXf898gl1HqoePdsyZcqny5jmGLGwCLcBGAs/s1600/cave-of-steel.png" /></a></div>
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An Old Story</h3>
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Set a thousand years into the future, Issac Asimov imagines an overcrowded Earth where humanity is packed like sardines into large domed mega-cities with a ridged social structures. The huge population has created a strain on Earths remaining resources and in order to allievate that we set out to colonize the galaxy but this only created a bigger problem. Humanity has now split into two factions, those who stayed behind, Earthmen, and those who ventured out into the galaxy, Spacers.<br />
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Spacers have what Earthmen need, resources and Earthmen have what Spacers need, a large population needed for a work force. After utilising the positronic brain to create Robots and fulfil the need for a larger workforce, Spacers believe themselves to be far superior to the timid stay-at-home Earthmen. When Spacers return to Earth, 'take control' and release Robots into Earths workforce their already strained relations fray even further. Robots are cheap labour and are taking over the jobs of Earthmen putting them out of a job, but worse than that, if you have no job you have no social standing. And in a ridged class system like Earth this is intolerable. Robots become discriminated against and objects of violence.<br />
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Timeless (Almost)</h3>
When a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances a detective, Elijah Baley, is ordered to track down the killer, but things go from bad to worse when he learns that the Spacers have assigned him a Robot partner, who was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim.<br />
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I'm partial to a good mystery and regularly visit my Sherlock Holmes novels (along with any British murder/mystery TV show I can find) to get my fix. To have a mystery set this in a science fiction universe with Robots is a plus. While this would seem <i>normal </i>in the early 21st century, Asimov was the first author to do this which makes this book even more special. <b>Asimov believed that science fiction is a style that can be overlayed onto any literary genre, rather than just being a limited genre in and of itself and I think he pulled it off with Caves of Steel.</b><br />
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Still Relevant Today?</h3>
Does this story age well for a book which was first released around 1954, or is it out of date? Surprisingly, it's not obsolete and provides much to think about. There are parts which will take you out of the narrative, like anytime Elijah Baley's son speaks (Well golly gee wiz etc,) and the protrayal of the Earth women as 1950's stereotypes, but the rest of the novel holds up well. The world he builds is very solid.<br />
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It's the jump off point for Asimov's Robots and Foundation series and think it's worth reading (or re-reading again). Have you read this book? What are your thoughts?</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2q1IhuG" target="_blank">Caves of Steel</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">(The Robot Series Book 1) by Isaac Asimov</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Caves-Steel-Robot-Book-1-ebook/dp/B004JHYRAO/ref=as_li_ss_il?ie=UTF8&qid=1494327051&sr=8-1&keywords=caves+of+steel&linkCode=li3&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=4cdd0b72f9343c5208e1b2cb2f337811" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=B004JHYRAO&Format=_SL250_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li3&o=1&a=B004JHYRAO" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />A millennium into the future two advancements have altered the course of human history: the colonization of the galaxy and the creation of the positronic brain. Isaac Asimov's Robot novels chronicle the unlikely partnership between a New York City detective and a humanoid robot who must learn to work together. Like most people left behind on an over-populated Earth, New York City police detective Elijah Baley had little love for either the arrogant Spacers or their robotic companions. But when a prominent Spacer is murdered under mysterious circumstances, Baley is ordered to the Outer Worlds to help track down the killer. The relationship between Life and his Spacer superiors, who distrusted all Earthmen, was strained from the start. Then he learned that they had assigned him a partner: R. Daneel Olivaw. Worst of all was that the "R" stood for robot--and his positronic partner was made in the image and likeness of the murder victim!</div>
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<br />Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-48441039398625077142018-02-23T19:08:00.002+10:002019-02-14T13:26:56.527+10:00Weekend Reads - 180223<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" /></a></div>
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If you heard about a movie so good that no other entertainment could compete with it, would you watch it? If you knew it would destroy your life because after watching it all you would want to do is watch it again repeatedly and if not watching it talk only about it... would you still watch it?<br />
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That's the topic our first article explores, it's a difficult one to answer.<br />
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Next up there are two articles, each to balance the other, they discuss opposing viewpoints of whether to be pro-library or anti-library, both have some good points of view and need to be considered.<br />
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And there's more, so when you've found a quite time this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and enjoy reading more, and thinking more.<br />
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<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/a-movie-so-good-it-ruins-you" target="_blank"><b>A Movie So Good It Ruins You: Would You Watch It?</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>We as a culture have stopped or are afraid to teach ourselves that pleasure is dangerous, and that some kinds of pleasure are better than others, and that part of being a human being means deciding how much active participation we want to have in our own lives.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/a-movie-so-good-it-ruins-you" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://bookriot.com/2018/02/20/from-buying-to-borrowing-how-to-break-a-book-buying-addiction/" target="_blank"><b>From Buying to Borrowing: How to Break a Book-Buying Addiction</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>When I was interviewing readers and library users for my PhD, one of the questions I asked them was how they decided whether to buy or borrow a book. The answers were interesting. I thought about my own answers. What made me buy a book versus borrowing a book? In the past decade, that answer has changed...</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://bookriot.com/2018/02/20/from-buying-to-borrowing-how-to-break-a-book-buying-addiction/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<b><a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-you-should-stop-feeling-bad-about-all-those-books-you-buy-dont-read.html" target="_blank">Why You Should Surround Yourself With More Books Than You'll Ever Have Time to ReaD?</a></b></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Stop beating yourself up for buying too many books or for having a to-read list that you could never get through in three lifetimes. All those books you haven't read are indeed a sign of your ignorance. But if you know how ignorant you are, you're way ahead of the vast majority of other people.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/why-you-should-stop-feeling-bad-about-all-those-books-you-buy-dont-read.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/20/ebooks-are-stupid-hachette-livre-arnaud-nourry" target="_blank"><b>'Ebooks are stupid', says head of one of world's biggest publishers</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>The head of one of the world’s largest book publishers has described the ebook as “a stupid product” that is unlikely to see further growth.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/feb/20/ebooks-are-stupid-hachette-livre-arnaud-nourry" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-process/wrote-a-book/" target="_blank"><b>I Wrote a Book — Here's What I Learned</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>My story has come a long way since I first started writing it, and so have I. My story has changed and grown and improved, and I with it. I’ve learned a lot from this journey of mine, and I’ll try and share some of the key points here.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-process/wrote-a-book/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-32179238453404075662018-02-16T22:08:00.000+10:002019-02-14T13:27:24.044+10:00Weekend Reads - The Last Jedi Edition 1802<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><a href="http://wallpaperswide.com/star_wars_the_last_jedi___millennium_falcon_crait-wallpapers.html" target="_blank">image source</a></span></td></tr>
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Several years ago when I heard Disney had acquired the Star Wars franchise and were planing on releasing a movie every year for the next 80 years (or so) I was excited.<br />
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During the 70's, my formative years, there was plenty of science fiction franchises on TV which kept me going, like Blakes 7, Doctor Who, Logans Run and Battlestar Galactica but Star Wars: A New Hope was my absolute favourite movie, I couldn't get enough of it and all the merchandise. I still have my collection of figurines, minus the guns and plastic capes.<br />
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It wasn't until I watched the remakequel, The Force Awakens that I realised nostalgia wasn't going to get me through the next 80 years of Disney's Star Wars. I felt a little deflated but still enjoyed the movie, even though the death of Han Solo still brings a tear to my eye.<br />
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Rogue One turned up and I was expecting to be disappointed, but enjoyed the film, even though a lot of others didn't. Then came The Last Jedi...<br />
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<b><i>Please be aware - spoilers ahead - including the following articles</i></b><br />
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Once again I loved it because it was Star Wars, but at the same time I didn't enjoy it, the thrill had gone, the intervening two years between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi had been filled with so many theories about Rey's parents, Snokes background and Phasma's reappearance among other things and so many exciting possibilities... only to have the rug pulled right out from under the fans, or so it seemed. Somewhere online one fan said watching The Last Jedi felt as if the director, Rian Johnson had taken all his (the fans) old Star Wars toys and burnt them.<br />
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I know that I didn’t immediately like The Last Jedi, but I feel as though I now need to watch it again, now that I know the outcome. I still want to be invested in the franchise but it's hard for me. Over the last few months I've been trying to keep up with the online discussions and understand why the Rian Johnson did what he did to Star Wars. <br />
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The following list of articles are the ones which I've found helped me reconsider the franchise and The Last Jedi.<br />
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However I don't think I'll be going to the movies this year to watch the Han Solo movie, I'll just wait for it to come out on Bluray/DVD or one of the countless streaming services.<br />
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Time now to get your favourite beverage ready, find a comfy chair and enjoy reading more and thinking more this weekend.<br />
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<a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/01/04/luke-skywalker-isnt-supposed-to-be-nice/" target="_blank"><b>Luke Skywalker Isn’t Supposed to Be “Nice”</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Time for to talk about Luke Skywalker—Jedi Master, colorful milk enthusiast, champion spear fisherman, galactic treasure—and the multitude of ways that he continues to be generally fabulous while no one notices. Luke Skywalker is not a bland Wonder Bread hero, despite his humble farmboy beginnings and seeming obsession with power converters. He spends the entirety of Return of the Jedi kicking ass in a very personal, understated way.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.tor.com/2018/01/04/luke-skywalker-isnt-supposed-to-be-nice/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42338816" target="_blank"><b>Five philosophical questions to ask about Star Wars: The Last Jedi</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Glasgow University is putting final touches to an online course in all things Star Wars. Lecturer and child-of-the-80s Star Wars fan Dr. John Donaldson is responsible for turning the films into philosophy studies by exploring its philosophical themes: "The themes are fairly consistent and I expect they can be applied to Episode VIII."</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-42338816" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://nerdist.com/how-the-last-jedi-fixes-star-wars-sagas-biggest-mistake/" target="_blank"><b>How THE LAST JEDI Fixes the STAR WARS Saga’s Biggest Mistake</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>The conclusion of The Empire Strikes Back comprised one of the great twist reveals in cinema history is in no small part to thank for our collective absolution of the film for undermining the very message from which its predecessor was ostensibly born.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://nerdist.com/how-the-last-jedi-fixes-star-wars-sagas-biggest-mistake/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/269858/star-wars-the-last-jedi-exploring-the-films-chase-structure" target="_blank"><b>Exploring the Film's Chase Structure</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Many of science fiction's best stories—from Battlestar Galactica to Mad Max: Fury Road—are structured around a chase. There's nothing that lends a story a sense of urgency like the knowledge that, if you don't move and move fast, you will die.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/269858/star-wars-the-last-jedi-exploring-the-films-chase-structure" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/269804/star-wars-the-last-jedi-exploring-the-most-heavily-criticized-moments-in-the-movie" target="_blank"><b>Exploring the Most Heavily-Criticized Moments in the Movie</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>My three year old adores all the characters in the Star Wars universe, free of the cynicism and bitterness that seems to consume so many people, who look for every negative within a popular film, as if it were made as a personal affront to their own existence</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.denofgeek.com/us/movies/star-wars/269804/star-wars-the-last-jedi-exploring-the-most-heavily-criticized-moments-in-the-movie" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/02/everything-rian-johnson-has-been-forced-to-explain-about-the-last-jediso-far/" target="_blank"><b>Everything Rian Johnson Has Been Forced To Explain About The Last Jedi (So Far)</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>There's long been the adage that if you have to have to explain everything about a movie after the fact, the movie didn't do a good job of explaining itself in the first place. There's certainly an argument to be made that The Last Jedi has this problem. However, the reaction to the movie, with fans ranging from effervescent love to roiling hatred, is proof enough that such an adage is extremely subjective.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.gizmodo.com.au/2018/02/everything-rian-johnson-has-been-forced-to-explain-about-the-last-jediso-far/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<h3>
Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-8875118902416596122018-02-09T19:59:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:20:49.933+10:00Top 5 Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7S5048YLtM/Wnrz6HXUvRI/AAAAAAAAElc/rY51fHB1tC0aFTu9JhFhzFStKM8UmX6_ACLcBGAs/s1600/best-of-sff-2017.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="550" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g7S5048YLtM/Wnrz6HXUvRI/AAAAAAAAElc/rY51fHB1tC0aFTu9JhFhzFStKM8UmX6_ACLcBGAs/s1600/best-of-sff-2017.png" /></a></div>
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<h3>
Looking Back - The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of 2017</h3>
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Today my children were discussing time travel and what might be needed to do so, my daughter decided all she needed was '<b>Some soft comfy cushions for the floor and something to snuggle in case you get scared!</b>'<br />
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What great advice! Lets do some time travelling ourselves by taking a look back over 2017 and see what the best selling Science Fiction and Fantasy books were. I've reviewed Amazon's and Barnes and Noble's best selling list and compiled a list of <b>the top five</b>.<br />
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Two omissions which I was surprised didn't make the list was <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2GVmpsR" target="_blank">Nineteen Eighty Four</a></b>, where sales of this book rose, in January 2017, these sales were seven times more than same time last year, 2016, and also <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2scmQMn" target="_blank">The Handmaid’s Tale</a> </b>which Amazon Charts listed as the Most Read book of 2017.<br />
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I've only read the last book on the list, <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2C162rb" target="_blank">Norse Mythology</a></b>, but most of these are on my list of books to read in the near future. <b>Which ones have you read, and would you say they deserve a place on this list?</b><br />
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Time to spread out those cushions on the floor and let's go back to 2017.<br />
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At the top of both books sellers Science Fiction and Fantasy list is: <br />
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2BdhSBE" target="_blank">The Power</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Naomi Alderman</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Power-Naomi-Alderman/dp/0316547611/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518003385&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Power,+by+Naomi+Alderman&linkCode=li1&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=1928e53951f0b914bec980b16d5d6c23" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0316547611&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li1&o=1&a=0316547611" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><b>What would happen if women suddenly possessed a fierce new power?</b> In the near future, women all over the world discover they have the ability to unleash “skeins” of electricity powerful enough to hurt, injure—even kill. The world order slowly erodes under the new math of this power imbalance. <br />
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The Power is speculative fiction at its most ambitious and provocative, at once taking us on a thrilling journey to an alternate reality, and exposing our own world in bold and surprising ways.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2BdhSBE" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2E8Mi6I" target="_blank">The Bear and the Nightingale</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Katherine Arden</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Bear-Nightingale-Novel-Winternight-Trilogy/dp/1101885955/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1518003345&sr=1-1&keywords=bear+and+nightingale&linkCode=li1&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=04a9a1b40e11cf87df39af453c53984f" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1101885955&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li1&o=1&a=1101885955" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Arden’s debut novel is an incredible achievement, fusing Russian folklore and history into a thoroughly modern fantasy exploring themes of belief, feminism, and magic.<br />
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The Bear and the Nightingale is a fantasy novel in the same way that The Martian was a science fiction novel; Katherine's beautiful writing gives it universal appeal. I've given it to people who would never read fantasy, and every one has loved it.<br />
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Even thought Andy Weir's The Martian wasn't the sort of science fiction novel I would pick up, I was thankful that I did, so hopefully this endorsement holds true. If you've read it let me know what you think.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2E8Mi6I" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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Speaking of Andy Weir...<br />
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2sfUjVV" target="_blank">Artemis</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Andy Weir</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Artemis-Novel-Andy-Weir/dp/0553448129/ref=as_li_ss_il?srs=17296237011&ie=UTF8&qid=1518000981&sr=8-2&linkCode=li1&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=9ee79a4030f181a7da47b2dd7b531ad7" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0553448129&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li1&o=1&a=0553448129" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Another breezy, brainy, and addictive a read as The Martian, and it’s probably going to make for another great movie. <br />
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This one is a heist story set on the moon. Jasmine Bashara never signed up to be a hero. She just wanted to get rich. So when a chance at a huge score finally comes her way, Jazz can’t say no. Jazz has never run into a challenge her intellect can’t handle, The trouble is, engineering the perfect crime is just the start of Jazz’s problems. Because her little heist is about to land her in the middle of a conspiracy for control of Artemis itself.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2sfUjVV" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2EapOX5" target="_blank">Oathbringer</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">Book Three of the Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Oathbringer-Book-Three-Stormlight-Archive/dp/076532637X/ref=as_li_ss_il?srs=17296237011&ie=UTF8&qid=1518000981&sr=8-3&linkCode=li1&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=b83b293964b34cca646268a204cbb3a4" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=076532637X&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li1&o=1&a=076532637X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Oathbringer is an epic fantasy novel by Brandon Sanderson who isn’t just writing some of the longest epic fantasy books running, if you've read any of this works you know that he’s also writing some of the very best.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2EapOX5" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2C162rb" target="_blank">Norse Mythology</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">by Neil Gaiman</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Norse-Mythology-Neil-Gaiman/dp/039360909X/ref=as_li_ss_il?srs=17296237011&ie=UTF8&qid=1518000981&sr=8-4&linkCode=li1&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=5e94786d69842de12dc6d0295df9e4b0" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=039360909X&Format=_SL110_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li1&o=1&a=039360909X" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />Master storyteller Neil Gaiman presents a dazzling version of the great Norse myths. Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2C162rb" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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<h3>
Liked what you read?</h3>
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<a href="https://wallup.net/fantasy-art-science-fiction-space-suit/" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Header image source</span></a>Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-4642393865357724012018-02-02T19:05:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:21:26.045+10:00Weekend Reads - 180202<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Are we '<i>improving</i>' ourselves to death? That's the topic our first article looks at. With the glut of self-improvement books and guru's out there today it's interesting to step back and take a look at this '<i>from the outside</i>'.<br />
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Check out the greatest books of all times, as voted by one hundred and twenty five authors, it's interesting to see what's in there and what's not. <br />
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For the writers out there, I have two articles, one about creating a coherent fantasy language and the four elements of Epic story telling, but good reads.<br />
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And in technology this week we meet the 89 year old man who is updating an old idea about moving trains from A to B. So when you have some time to relax this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and have a read through the following articles. <br />
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<a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/improving-ourselves-to-death" target="_blank"><b>Improving Ourselves to Death</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>What the self-help gurus and their critics reveal about our times. Self-help advice tends to reflect the beliefs and priorities of the era that spawns it.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2018/01/15/improving-ourselves-to-death" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/01/30/writers-top-ten-favorite-books/" target="_blank"><b>The Greatest Books of All Time, As Voted by 125 Famous Authors</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>“Reading is the nourishment that lets you do interesting work,” Jennifer Egan once said. This intersection of reading and writing is both a necessary bi-directional life skill for us mere mortals and a secret of iconic writers’ success, as bespoken by their personal libraries.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.brainpickings.org/2012/01/30/writers-top-ten-favorite-books/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://theresasnyderafterthoughts.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-book-series-is-born-out-of-accident.html" target="_blank"><b>A Book Series is Born out of an Accident</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Most authors will tell you they have been writing all their lives. I am no exception...</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://theresasnyderafterthoughts.blogspot.com/2017/12/a-book-series-is-born-out-of-accident.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/05/names-arent-neutral-david-j-peterson-on-creating-a-fantasy-language/" target="_blank"><b>Names Aren't Neutral: David J. Peterson on Creating a Fantasy Language</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>A common bit of advice given to writers is that story comes first; everything else comes second. With respect to fantasy, this advice is often employed to warn against the dangers of falling down the rabbit hole of world building. World building is great only insofar as it serves the story; anything else is a creative form of procrastination.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/05/names-arent-neutral-david-j-peterson-on-creating-a-fantasy-language/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-techniques/elements-epic-storytelling/" target="_blank"><b>4 Elements of Epic Storytelling</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Storytelling is a craft, and like any craft or skill, it can be developed, enhanced, and eventually mastered through practice and devotion. Hopefully this list will be helpful to you in this pursuit.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-techniques/elements-epic-storytelling/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/flight-rail-vectorr-atmospheric-railway-train/" target="_blank"><b>Meet the 89-Year-Old Reinventing the Train in His Backyard</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Reprising an idea railway engineers in England and France floated in the 1820s and ’30s, which people called the atmospheric railway.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.wired.com/story/flight-rail-vectorr-atmospheric-railway-train/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-31903537064636292352018-01-31T19:04:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:22:11.475+10:00Discover | The Dying Game by Asa Avdic<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KKR01xkpIPU/WlBig_itSMI/AAAAAAAAEjk/gtvr44y_NlM4dgPgqdx-Tv2lfJau-gykACLcBGAs/s1600/dying-game.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="550" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KKR01xkpIPU/WlBig_itSMI/AAAAAAAAEjk/gtvr44y_NlM4dgPgqdx-Tv2lfJau-gykACLcBGAs/s1600/dying-game.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">Agatha Christie meets George Orwell ... a fascinating and original plot</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Publishers Weekly</span></div>
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Another dystopian novel, for lovers of conspiracy and thrillers. The Dying Game is set in 2037 of an alternative future, and looks to have shades of <a href="http://amzn.to/2xxIf4D" target="_blank">And Then There Were None</a> (by Agatha Christie)<br />
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Take a bit of alternate history, a dose of The Hunger Games, a little Handmaid’s Tale, and dash of Orwell and Dave Eggers’ The Circle, and you’d have The Dying Game. Set in a near-future dystopia where the Soviet Union never fell, the novel centers on Anna Francis, a bureaucrat assigned to observe the participants of a top secret intelligence project. Six candidates are locked in a house and told a murderer is among them – who will take control, who will crack under the pressure, and more importantly is anyone safe?</blockquote>
If you've read it let me know what you think.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">A deliciously creepy novel revolving around a terrific paradigm shift: The job you think you’re doing? That’s not the job you’re really doing.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Chris Pavone, author of THE EXPATS</span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2wNNRn4" target="_blank">The Dying Game</a></b></span></h3>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dying-Game-Novel-Asa-Avdic/dp/0143131796/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1507719310&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=7670617d8228a3853c7dd66766fda54d" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=0143131796&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li2&o=1&a=0143131796" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" /><br />
<i>‘Oh, it’s really quite simple. I want you to play dead.’</i><br />
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On the remote island of Isola, seven people have been selected to compete in a 48-hour test for a top-secret intelligence position. One of them is Anna Francis, a workaholic with a nine-year-old daughter she rarely sees, and a secret that haunts her. Her assignment is to stage her own death and then observe, from her hiding place inside the walls of the house, how the other candidates react to the news that a murderer is among them. Who will take control? Who will crack under pressure? <br />
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But as soon as Anna steps on to the island she realises something isn’t quite right. And then a storm rolls in, the power goes out, and the real game begins…<br />
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2wNNRn4" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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In these post titled '<i>Discovery (or Up and Coming Reads)</i>', I want to provide you with some suggested reading material. These are books which look interesting to me and that I'd like to share with you. The links will be affiliate links, so if you going to make a purchase at Amazon I'd appreciate you using the link. Doing so will help me buy more books so it should be a win-win for us both.<br />
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Enjoy reading more and thinking more... with your favourite beverage!</div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-57716769478586935872018-01-26T20:46:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:23:05.285+10:00Weekend Reads - 180126<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UP3ZCMRs2P4/WmsGXfIdTkI/AAAAAAAAEko/py-HqrJ29DgoKtCvXyPHvMVt27UrRcfTQCLcBGAs/s1600/weekend-reads-Omelas.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="550" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UP3ZCMRs2P4/WmsGXfIdTkI/AAAAAAAAEko/py-HqrJ29DgoKtCvXyPHvMVt27UrRcfTQCLcBGAs/s1600/weekend-reads-Omelas.png" /></a></div>
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Welcome to Weekend Reads, the Science Fiction and Fantasy community had some sad news this week with the passing of <i>Ursula K. Le Guin</i>, probably best know as the author of <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2GiPkqt" target="_blank">A Wizard of Earthsea</a>.</b> She has received many awards including the Hugo, Nebula and National Book Award to name a few. You can find out more about her here on <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/874602.Ursula_K_Le_Guin" target="_blank">goodreads</a>. The first article this week is from one of my favourite blogs, Tor.com and takes a look at <i>Ursula K. Le Guin</i> writings and gives you something to really think about.<br />
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Next up there is an article on <b>how NOT to read this year</b> but <i>Jon Bloom</i>. In it he argues that what you read will shape not only what you think, but how you think. Life is short so you need to be discerning in what you read this year. Some food for thought it aligns with what I try to promote here on this blog.<br />
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There is also a tech and science article which may blow your mind and change how you look at the earth and driver-less technology. So when it's time to relax this weekend, grab your favourite beverage and have a read of the following articles. <br />
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<a href="https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/580606b30a6120ff6ed663f3/5a6af7df2b293ddc1f8b5eab/312d3b29b053d11d3a6f9db767cb69f1/Omelas-crop.png" target="_blank"><b>The Amorphous Fictional Spaces of Ursula K. Le Guin</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>“How much do you have to know about science to write science fiction?” Irv Broughton had asked Le Guin. The primary requirement, Le Guin answered, was that “a science fiction writer be interested in science. He may hate it; I know Ray Bradbury hates it. I know he hates technology, and I rather think he hates science. But he’s interested in it.”</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://trello-attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/580606b30a6120ff6ed663f3/5a6af7df2b293ddc1f8b5eab/312d3b29b053d11d3a6f9db767cb69f1/Omelas-crop.png" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-not-to-read-next-year" target="_blank"><b>How (Not) to Read This Year</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>What you read will shape you. It will shape not only what you think, but how you think. Your life is short. You can only read a relatively small amount in the time you have. You will have to neglect reading far more than you will ever be able to read. So, resolve this year to increase your skill in how not to read.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/how-not-to-read-next-year" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/184564-scientists-discover-an-ocean-400-miles-beneath-our-feet-that-could-fill-our-oceans-three-times-over" target="_blank"><b>Scientists discover an ocean 400 miles beneath our feet.</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>After decades of theorizing and searching, scientists are reporting that they’ve finally found a massive reservoir of water in the Earth’s mantle — a reservoir so vast that could fill the Earth’s oceans three times over. This discovery suggests that Earth’s surface water actually came from within, as part of a “whole-Earth water cycle,” rather than the prevailing the</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/184564-scientists-discover-an-ocean-400-miles-beneath-our-feet-that-could-fill-our-oceans-three-times-over" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://hackernoon.com/driverless-hotel-rooms-the-end-of-uber-airbnb-and-human-landlords-e39f92cf16e1" target="_blank"><b>Driverless Hotel Rooms: The End of Uber, Airbnb and Human Landlords</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>How driverless vehicles can enable ondemand accommodation for one night or 1000, and at rates 10x cheaper than your rent bill</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://hackernoon.com/driverless-hotel-rooms-the-end-of-uber-airbnb-and-human-landlords-e39f92cf16e1" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/29/16383994/amazon-streaming-video-ringworld-snow-crash-lazarus-sci-fi-tv" target="_blank"><b>Amazon is developing three new sci-fi shows in an attempt to find the next Game of Thrones</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>‘RINGWORLD,’ ‘SNOW CRASH,’ AND ‘LAZARUS’ are getting significant production investment.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/9/29/16383994/amazon-streaming-video-ringworld-snow-crash-lazarus-sci-fi-tv" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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<br />Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-7690263172586281662018-01-24T19:45:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:23:36.738+10:00Discover | Amatka by Karin Tidbeck <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zd6zjVyrZC8/WlBeGJrba3I/AAAAAAAAEjU/NQKjCLHgZ9MCCye8KbLXoHqaIerVUQa5ACLcBGAs/s1600/amatka.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zd6zjVyrZC8/WlBeGJrba3I/AAAAAAAAEjU/NQKjCLHgZ9MCCye8KbLXoHqaIerVUQa5ACLcBGAs/s1600/amatka.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">I recommend that you lay your hands on a copy.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Ann Leckie</span></div>
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Dystopian fiction has seen a rise in popularity over the last year and if you're looking for a dystopian novel which feels like it's doing something different, this may be the novel for you.<br />
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Here is a story with an intriguing premise: objects in this universe have to be constantly recognised and named otherwise they disappear. They need to be labelled for their function otherwise they cease to be useful, for example, a chair has to be label 'chair' or it turns to goo. The residents have to be constantly vigilant lest they lose important possessions.<br />
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In this world where physical objects are temporary the inhabitants react to this by creating a rigid and unchanging society. You've got to admit that sounds pretty interesting.<br />
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<span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">An instant classic.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #3d85c6;">Jeff VanderMeer</span></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2yDQGvs" target="_blank">Amatka</a></b></span></h3>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Amatka-Karin-Tidbeck/dp/1101973951/ref=as_li_ss_il?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507719179&sr=1-1&keywords=Amatka+by+Karin+Tidbeck&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=c050d4138cd04a9db4998b49a29c0918" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1101973951&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><br />
A surreal debut novel set in a world shaped by language in the tradition of Margaret Atwood and Ursula K. Le Guin.<br />
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Vanja, an information assistant, is sent from her home city of Essre to the austere, wintry colony of Amatka with an assignment to collect intelligence for the government. Immediately she feels that something strange is going on: people act oddly in Amatka, and citizens are monitored for signs of subversion.<br />
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Intending to stay just a short while, Vanja falls in love with her housemate, Nina, and prolongs her visit. But when she stumbles on evidence of a growing threat to the colony, and a cover-up by its administration, she embarks on an investigation that puts her at tremendous risk.<br />
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<b><i>In Karin Tidbeck’s world, everyone is suspect, no one is safe, and nothing—not even language, nor the very fabric of reality—can be taken for granted. Amatka is a beguiling and wholly original novel about freedom, love, and artistic creation by a captivating new voice.</i></b></div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2yDQGvs" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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In these post titled '<i>Discovery (or Up and Coming Reads)</i>', I want to provide you with some suggested reading material. These are books which look interesting to me and that I'd like to share with you. The links will be affiliate links, so if you going to make a purchase at Amazon I'd appreciate you using the link. Doing so will help me buy more books so it should be a win-win for us both.<br />
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Enjoy reading more and thinking more... with your favourite beverage!</div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-10364684106825679672018-01-19T19:04:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:24:20.510+10:00Weekend Reads For Aspiring Writers - 1801 Edition <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome, I hope your all having a good week. This week I have a collection of articles about writing. There's one about who could possibily fill J.R.R Tolkien's shoes, or at least who is almost as good. <br />
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Speaking of fantasy writers I've included 15 tips of writing advice from C.S. Lewis. There's also some articles I've found interesting about generating ideas (not something I have problem with) and some tips on how to create a writing habits (something I do have a problem with). So hopefully there'll be some interesting reading for both writers and readers alike.<br />
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But before starting on these articles have a read of my latest post <span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><b><a href="https://wolfsbooks.blogspot.com.au/2018/01/cryptic-ambiguous-and-hypnotic.html">Cryptic, Ambiguous and Hypnotic - The Gunslinger</a></b></span>, where I come to the conclusion that this is a book more for writers or aspiring writers, than readers.<br />
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Enjoy!<br />
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<a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/out-of-the-shire-life-beyond-tolkien/" target="_blank"><b>Out of the Shire: Life Beyond Tolkien</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>If you look at what’s playing on your television, at what’s showing at the local cinema, at what video games your children are playing, or at what is selling in the young adult section of your neighborhood Barnes & Noble, you’ll see something that is at once deeply cultural and deeply countercultural at the exact same moment: Romanticism.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.theamericanconservative.com/articles/out-of-the-shire-life-beyond-tolkien/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/15-pieces-of-writing-advice-from-c-s-lewis/" target="_blank"><b>15 Pieces of Writing Advice from C. S. Lewis</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>In his letters and other sources, C. S. Lewis left various bits of advice on the craft of writing. Below are 15 of the things he said...</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/15-pieces-of-writing-advice-from-c-s-lewis/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://waltonlen.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/writing-stories-that-are-popular-with-both-children-and-adults/" target="_blank"><b>Writing Stories That Are Popular With Both Children and Adults</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>I have had the pleasure and privilege to write a series of humorous stories that have found wide popularity with both children and adults. I am asked regularly how one writes books that appeal to young and old alike and that is a good question.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://waltonlen.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/writing-stories-that-are-popular-with-both-children-and-adults/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/5-ways-to-come-up-with-great-story-ideas" target="_blank"><b>Story Ideas: 5 Ways to Generate Great Stories</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>We all have a million excellent ideas for stories, but, without fail, they magically disappear the minute we sit down to write</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/5-ways-to-come-up-with-great-story-ideas" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-process/writing-habit-tips/" target="_blank"><b>Creating a Writing Habit — 6 Simple Tips</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>One of the big secrets (hint: it’s not actually a secret) of finishing that novel you’re writing is to get into the habit of writing regularly. There’s an adage of sorts about how if you write 100 words every day you’ll finish a novel in a year.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://mythicscribes.com/writing-process/writing-habit-tips/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-38811089026859876002018-01-14T19:55:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:25:44.180+10:00Cryptic, Ambiguous and Hypnotic - The Gunslinger<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vHqehQBdORU/WkXX8PhUFhI/AAAAAAAAEi8/anH7QzgVB6ItYiYvZDRhy2nVnkcSSMWwwCLcBGAs/s1600/gunslinger-darktower.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="309" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vHqehQBdORU/WkXX8PhUFhI/AAAAAAAAEi8/anH7QzgVB6ItYiYvZDRhy2nVnkcSSMWwwCLcBGAs/s1600/gunslinger-darktower.png" /></a></div>
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The Man in Black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed. This is the first line of The Gunslinger and is an excellent summary of everything that happened in this book.</h3>
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Cryptic</h3>
The book confused me at first, and continued to confuse well into the main section. I kept looking for a complex plot but the story kept wandering around, much like our protagonist, <b>the Gunslinger. </b><br />
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I enjoyed reading this book, and what kept me reading was the prose, the way <i>King</i> put his words together was excellent. It placed me into a sort of trance, it gave me the same hypnotic feeling you get watching one of those old fashion Westerns, where the cowboy has lost his horse and is shown as silhouette again the sun, staggering in an empty, lifeless place, being forced to his knees by the visible heat waves as they try to push him into the sand. He is permanently dazed from lack of water. <br />
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Hypnotic</h3>
I felt like the cowboy, making my way through the desert, there is a hypnotic sense of serenity, but in order to stay alive I needed water... I mean I needed a plot to hold on to!<br />
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This book was pleasant to read and very poetic in places, full of nice words but also crammed with ambiguity and mysterious information.<br />
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What genre does this story fit into? </h3>
Is this a fantasy, is it science fiction or is it a western? When I started this book I was expecting a western, with a twist, what I got was a mixture of all the previously mentioned genres. <b>The Gunslinger</b> has travelled through many places. It is implied that the desert is one of many different realities he's been too, the desert and the other lands he travels through seems to be part of some post apocalyptic landscape where bird-headed men and mutants roam. There is evidence of super advanced technology, yet at the same time, the <b>Man in Black</b> is described as a sorcerer, a necromancer who can raise the dead. Someone who can implant deadly hypnotic commands and summon demons to fight <b>the Gunslinger</b>. Parallel universes, magic, futuristic technology, and post apocalyptic landscapes... so much ambiguity and competing ideas, yet it seems to work.<br />
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Ambiguous</h3>
The ambiguity continues with the main characters. Here we have the <b>Gunslinger</b>, he is the 'hero'. As we progress through the book we get flashbacks of his past, his childhood and coming of age, and we find he's a knight on a quest but with a pair of six-shooters rather than a sword and shield. We're lead to believe he's the hero but he's like the '<i>heroes</i>' of<b> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Walking_Dead_(franchise)" target="_blank">The Walking Dead</a>,</b> he leaves a trail of death and destruction in his path. His quest is to catch the <b>Man in Blac</b>k, another ambiguous character who we’re told is evil, yet when he speaks he seems more logical, more reasoned than our hero. He is the reason the <b>Gunslinger</b> wipes out entire townships as his mind tricks leave our hero with no choice except run a scorched earth policy, in order to protect himself, and to continue his quest. Are you still a hero if you end up being no different as the evil you're chasing? <br />
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Enlightenment</h3>
I finishing the book but was left unsatisfied. It wasn't until I read a bit more about what the author <i>Stephen King</i> has to say about this book and writing in general that I had my 'aha' moment and the story made more sense.<br />
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In a foreword to this book, <i>Stephen King</i> wrote:<br />
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The younger man who dared to write this book had been exposed to far too many writing seminars, and had grown far too used to the ideas those seminars promulgate: that one is writing for other people rather than one’s self; that language is more important than story; that ambiguity is to be preferred over clarity and simplicity, which are usually signs of a thick and literal mind.</blockquote>
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Ah, right, it's meant to be ambiguous and flowery in its prose, Okay so what about the meandering plot?<br />
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In his book, <b>On Writing</b>,<i> Stephen King</i> says:<br />
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Writers should not obsess over the movement of the plot. My books tend to be based on situation, rather than plot, I want to put a group of characters... in some sort of predicament and then watch them try to work themselves free.</blockquote>
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Yes, I can see that now, this novel starts in the middle of the story with two characters and looks for a way out. Nice, I now have a better appreciation of the story and understand it even better. <br />
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What Do You Think?</h3>
I heard or read somewhere that this is a book more for writers or aspiring writers and I would tend to agree.<br />
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I've also heard this book is better read as part of <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2BORtrr" target="_blank">The Dark Tower</a> series</b>, not as a stand alone. <b>What do you think is it worth reading as a stand alone novel or as part of the entire series?</b> Should I have started with<b> <a href="http://amzn.to/2CiRbdx" target="_blank">Book 2 The Drawing of the Three</a></b>?<br />
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2ClYf9c" target="_blank">The Gunslinger: (Volume 1)</a></b></span></h3>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td><span style="color: #999999;">(The Dark Tower) by Stephen King</span></td></tr>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dark-Tower-I-Gunslinger/dp/1501143514/ref=as_li_ss_il?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1514527950&sr=1-1&linkCode=li2&tag=wolboo0520-20&linkId=5fc0aa7a2fa0ee8ef1b6ad0f34272c72" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" src="//ws-na.amazon-adsystem.com/widgets/q?_encoding=UTF8&ASIN=1501143514&Format=_SL160_&ID=AsinImage&MarketPlace=US&ServiceVersion=20070822&WS=1&tag=wolboo0520-20" /></a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="https://ir-na.amazon-adsystem.com/e/ir?t=wolboo0520-20&l=li2&o=1&a=1501143514" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important;" width="1" />The Dark Tower, introduces one of his most enigmatic and powerful heroes: Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger.<br />
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Roland is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey toward the mysterious Dark Tower, in a desolate world which frighteningly echoes our own.<br />
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On his quest, Roland begins a friendship with a kid from New York named Jake, encounters an alluring woman and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black.</div>
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<span style="background: #fff; padding: 0 10px;"><a href="http://amzn.to/2ClYf9c" target="_blank">Interested? Click here to get a copy.</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;">Image <a href="http://xinature.com/sky-nature-clouds-man-cowboy-dark-silhouette-bird-sun-sunlight-eagle-hat-sunset-desktop-wallpaper-hd/clouds-bird-sun-man-silhouette-sunset-hat-sunlight-sky-nature-eagle-dark-cowboy-wallpapers-hd-free-download/" target="_blank">source</a></span>Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-35513950331356728902018-01-12T20:03:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:26:11.352+10:00Weekend Reads - 180112<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-meoElZizv6Q/WJU5ClN6tzI/AAAAAAAAEHY/wQHmEnI49XAIaBy-aBYGdd0c1dh1_zDiACLcB/s1600/Weekend-Reads-1.png" /></a></div>
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Welcome to the weekend! This edition of Weekend Reads is a bit of a mixed bag, an article to help you read more books this year, the things we trade off to reach our ambitions, and a philosophical look at the new season of Black Mirror, plus more. <br />
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So find a comfy chair, grab your favourite beverage and have a read through these articles.<br />
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<a href="https://michaelhyatt.com/read-more-books/" target="_blank"><b>10 Rules to Read More Books This Year - Joel J. Miller</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>How to Make Reading Central to Your Personal Growth in the Coming Year.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://michaelhyatt.com/read-more-books/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.mbird.com/2017/11/elon-musk-is-making-me-and-him-sad/" target="_blank"><b>Elon Musk Is Making Me Sad (and Him, Too)</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>At the end of the day, we all still trade connection for ambition, vulnerability for control, grace for law. I know this because I do, too, in a million different ways.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.mbird.com/2017/11/elon-musk-is-making-me-and-him-sad/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/02/25670014/the-problem-with-the-new-season-of-black-mirror" target="_blank"><b>The Problem with the New Season of Black Mirror</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>The new Black Mirror (season four), has the second movement of its final episode, "Black Museum," as its highest conceptual achievement (the second is the whole of the first episode "USS Callister") is aggressively (even obsessively) Cartesian. This is so disappointing. (What do you think? -Wolf)</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.thestranger.com/slog/2018/01/02/25670014/the-problem-with-the-new-season-of-black-mirror" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/nasa-announcement-today-space-agency-exoplanet-latest-google-artificial-intelligence-a8111256.html" target="_blank"><b>Nasa finds solar system filled with as many planets as our own</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Kepler-90 is the first star with as many planets as our own sun, though its solar system is a strange and squished up place.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/nasa-announcement-today-space-agency-exoplanet-latest-google-artificial-intelligence-a8111256.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.livescience.com/61013-lightning-radioactive-particle-accelerator.html" target="_blank"><b>Lightning Bolts Are Churning Out Antimatter All Over Planet Earth</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Teruaki Enoto, a physicist at Kyoto University in Japan, proved for the first time, in a paper published Nov. 23, that lightning bolts work as natural particle accelerators.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.livescience.com/61013-lightning-radioactive-particle-accelerator.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-43899118834925708152018-01-05T20:32:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:26:51.611+10:00Weekend Reads - Science Fiction Special Edition 1801 <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Welcome to 2018! Let's kick off a new year with a <b><i>Weekend Reads: Science Fiction Special Edition. </i></b><br />
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This edition look at all things science fiction, from an article starting that Arthur C Clarke is still the king of science fiction even after turning 100 year old (?) to an interesting article on reading biases. The latter outlines a study which showed that if people were asked to read a story couched in science fiction terminology then they scored lower in comprehension skills. <br />
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Is this study saying people who read science fiction are stupid? Well, no, my favourite quote is where the author writes <i>"Science fiction doesn’t really make you stupid. It’s more that if you’re stupid enough to be biased against science fiction you will read science fiction stupidly.’</i><br />
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There's also a look at the history and impact of science fiction on our culture and another stating that from the study of space perspective, we need science fiction or at least can use it because it allows us to expand our minds and imaginations to capture the enormity of Space. <br />
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Some good reads here that you can enjoy with your favourite beverage over the weekend.<br />
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/09/arthur-c-clarke-king-science-fiction?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits" target="_blank"><b>Arthur C Clarke at 100: still the king of science fiction</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>2001: A Space Odyssey, Childhood’s End, Arthur C. Clarke’s Mysterious World … one hundred years after his birth, the British writer is the undisputed master</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/dec/09/arthur-c-clarke-king-science-fiction?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://medium.com/the-space-perspective/why-do-we-need-science-fiction-fa0b354ad78d" target="_blank"><b>Why do we need science fiction? – The Space Perspective</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Reality is too big for our puny minds to capture at once. This is where science fiction chips in.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://medium.com/the-space-perspective/why-do-we-need-science-fiction-fa0b354ad78d" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/23/science-fiction-triggers-poorer-reading-study-finds" target="_blank"><b>Science fiction triggers 'poorer reading', study finds.</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>US academics find words such as ‘airlock’ and ‘antigravity’ are cues for test subjects to assume a story isn’t worth a careful read.<br />
<i>Love this quote</i> ‘SF doesn’t really make you stupid. It’s more that if you’re stupid enough to be biased against SF you will read SF stupidly.’</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2017/nov/23/science-fiction-triggers-poorer-reading-study-finds" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/01/4-books-exploring-history-impact-science-fiction/" target="_blank"><b>4 Books Exploring the History and Impact of Science-Fiction</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>AMC announced today that it has greenlit a new documentary series, “James Cameron’s Story of Science Fiction”, from James Cameron, director of “Avatar”, among other films. The series will explore the evolution of sci-fi from its origins as a small genre with a cult following to the blockbuster pop culture phenomenon we know today, will debut on AMC in 2018. Sounds great to me, but why wait for 2018 to get familiar with the history of science-fiction? Here are four great books that tackle the genre and its aspect on our culture as a whole.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://www.unboundworlds.com/2017/01/4-books-exploring-history-impact-science-fiction/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/10/16758732/ernie-cline-ready-player-one-book-sequel" target="_blank"><b>Ernie Cline is writing a sequel to Ready Player One</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Ernie Cline’s 2011 debut novel Ready Player One is being made into a blockbuster movie thanks to Steven Spielberg, but it looks like Cline might be bringing readers back to the OASIS for another adventure.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/10/16758732/ernie-cline-ready-player-one-book-sequel" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Liked what you read?</h3>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-25898835900256712642017-12-22T20:52:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:27:51.974+10:00Weekend Reads - 171222<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f020jpFLe5k/WjzikqnmSBI/AAAAAAAAEiY/fsTp3oBuE98T02pPBcvbId7tdYZoR6_EQCLcBGAs/s1600/xmas-weekend-reads.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="303" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-f020jpFLe5k/WjzikqnmSBI/AAAAAAAAEiY/fsTp3oBuE98T02pPBcvbId7tdYZoR6_EQCLcBGAs/s1600/xmas-weekend-reads.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="text-align: justify;">It's that time of the year again, where we're scurrying around making sure we have a gift for everyone, but are you doing this because you fear disappointing or offending others? The first article on the list today looks at the origin of why we give gifts at Christmas. I'll give you a spoiler, it's because we were given the best gift of all. Read on to find out more.</span><br />
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There's also a some articles about reading and a few more about the use of laptops and when not to use them. Something to consider with your favourite beverage this long weekend, maybe when you're trying to get some alone time. <br />
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<b><span style="color: #cc0000;">Let me take this time to say thank you for visiting my blog this year and to wish you a happy Christmas. See you again in the new year</span>. </b><br />
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<a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-are-not-obligated-to-give-gifts-this-year" target="_blank"><b>You Are Not Obligated to Give Gifts This Year</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>Christmas gift giving can, and should, be a wonderful experience — but too often it’s full of relational complexities instead of wonder. We all would want love to be the motivation behind our gifts, but if we’re honest, other motivations often muddy the waters.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/you-are-not-obligated-to-give-gifts-this-year" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="http://gotherefor.com/offer.php?intid=29708" target="_blank"><b>Confessions of a (more recent) bibliophile</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>As far as reading goes, here’s the big point: for most of us, a serious and growing walk with the Lord is inseparable from spending a considerable amount of time reading good Christian books.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="http://gotherefor.com/offer.php?intid=29708" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://thewalrus.ca/the-case-against-reading-everything/" target="_blank"><b>The Case Against Reading Everything</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>At its most obnoxious, the command to “read widely” reflects the more-is-more ethos that courses, like an energy drink, through our literary culture.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://thewalrus.ca/the-case-against-reading-everything/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/laptops-not-during-lecture-or-meeting.html" target="_blank"><b>Laptops Are Great. But Not During a Lecture or a Meeting.</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>A growing body of evidence shows that over all, college students learn less when they use computers or tablets during lectures. They also tend to earn worse grades. The research is unequivocal: Laptops distract from learning, both for users and for those around them.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/22/business/laptops-not-during-lecture-or-meeting.html" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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<a href="https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/defence-coffee-shop-laptopper/" target="_blank"><b>In defence of the coffee shop laptopper</b></a></div>
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<tr><td style="width: 5%;"></td><td>When talking to Iain Sinclair about the state of London today, the author Keggie Carew described the burgeoning population of coffee shop laptoppers as “dystopian”. In the wood-panelled Daunt Books in Marylebone, the audience – apart from me – murmured and bobbed heads in accord. People say disapproving things like this over my shoulder all the time, with no attempt made to lower their voice. Online and in-print commentary goes way beyond tutting; it’s more a case of shaking fists than shaking heads.</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: #eeeeee;"><a href="https://www.the-tls.co.uk/articles/public/defence-coffee-shop-laptopper/" target="_blank">Read more...</a></span></div>
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Wolf McTavishhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06199917852581440152noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1025121541392509588.post-19614107343529092122017-12-17T19:35:00.000+10:002019-02-14T14:29:08.767+10:00Who Is Big Brother in 2017? The Year That Was.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0T2qbnwpLOE/WjYoLpV1ooI/AAAAAAAAEiE/2jNdttc7xdYAw9Fm7B7ZgBtc5eHfuKudACLcBGAs/s1600/2017-BB.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="308" data-original-width="550" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0T2qbnwpLOE/WjYoLpV1ooI/AAAAAAAAEiE/2jNdttc7xdYAw9Fm7B7ZgBtc5eHfuKudACLcBGAs/s1600/2017-BB.png" /></a></div>
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We are certainly living in the <i>future</i>, and this fact hits me at very hard at times I least expect. This week I received an email from Amazon titled <b>2017 This Year in Books</b>. As I scrolled though the article I was struck by the amount of information that is being collected from Amazon customers.<br />
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Unexpected Statistics</h3>
It didn't start with the ubiquitous sales figures you'd expect... like best selling books, nope it drilled down on <b>Most Read</b>, <b>Most Quoted</b> and quickest read books (or Top 5 Unputdownable). Just think about that!<br />
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These figures are taken from users of the Kindle and Kindle app. You can also see this on the weekly <b>Amazon Chart's</b> which show similar statistics. The Charts will have two sets of figures, the <i>Most Sold</i> and <i>Most Read</i>. Sometimes these two charts can be quite different, other times they are very similar.<br />
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Giving Away Our Privacy</h3>
The future is here in a way we least expected, it's due to the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_of_things" target="_blank"><b>Internet of Things</b></a>, where more and more everyday items are connected to the internet and collecting data on us. We're allowing companies to collect information on us, which we wouldn't have allowed 20 years ago.<br />
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Similar to the proverbial <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boiling_frog" target="_blank"><i>frog in a kettle</i></a> we're slowly giving away our privacy for high tech consumer items and convenience. The <b><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Brother_(Nineteen_Eighty-Four)" target="_blank">Big Brother</a> </b>of our present future isn't a totalitarian government entity (like in <i>Orwell's</i><b><a href="http://amzn.to/2kDpTGb" target="_blank"><i> </i>Nineteen Eighty Four</a></b>) but capitalist corporations who collect information on us to use in targeted advertising, to sell us more stuff, or sell our information to other interests. We've become the product rather than the customer.<br />
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Speaking of <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2kDpTGb" target="_blank">Nineteen Eighty Four</a></b>, did you know that in January 2017 sales of this book rose? Sales were seven times more than same time last year, 2016.<br />
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<h3>
Interesting Statistics</h3>
It's interesting, but not unexpected to see book sales rise when the TV or movie adaptation is released. For example:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In April, sales of <i>Margaret Atwood’s</i> 1985 <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2yLZ07T" target="_blank">The Handmaid’s Tale</a></b>, are 22 times higher than same time last year due to the release of Hulu TV adaptation of the novel. In September the Emmy Awards crown<b> <a href="http://amzn.to/2yLZ07T" target="_blank">The Handmaid’s Tale</a></b> Outstanding Drama Series. <b>It’s also the Most Read book of 2017.</b></blockquote>
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In July, <i>Stephen Kings</i>, <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2yKkimu" target="_blank">The Gunslinger</a></b>, Book One of The Dark Tower series debuts on Amazon Charts, one week before the film opens. Also this month <i>Neil Gaiman’s </i>book<b> <a href="http://amzn.to/2Cq520e" target="_blank">American Gods</a></b> has its highest-grossing sales week of the year after the TV adaptation debuts on Starz network</blockquote>
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Who can forget the TV show <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2yLZ07T" target="_blank">Game of Thrones</a></b>, which is based on <i>George R. R. Martin's</i> series of fantasy novels <b>A Song of Ice and Fire</b>? The first book in this series <b><a href="http://amzn.to/2yLZ07T" target="_blank">Game of Thrones</a></b> tops Amazon Charts’ <b>Most Read fiction</b> list two weeks before the HBO finale airs in August.</blockquote>
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This list goes on and you can see more <a href="https://smile.amazon.com/article/this-year-in-books" target="_blank">here</a>.<br />
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<h3>
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