A. I. Insurrection by Michael Poeltl

Hey all.

Here's a book that's been out for a month or so, and it's probably passed you by in the glut of new releases that are always tumbling across the internet, so I thought I'd highlight this one for all you sci-fi nuts out there. And there's plenty of us.

Over to Michael Poeltl to tell us about his book.
A.I. Insurrection – The General’s War Press Release. Feb, 15^th, 2018

2162. Artificial intelligence claims sentience, but it's the proof that will divide the world, and usher in the violent end to utopia, unless an uneasy alliance of adversaries can stop it.

A.I. Insurrection, the new release by Michael Poeltl, author of The Judas Syndrome trilogy, takes the author back to his roots of dystopian sci-fi. “This novel investigates global utopia and the struggle to maintain an unrealistic hold over everything and everyone,” Poeltl explains. “Certain aspects of humanity will never be satisfied with the thousand shades of grey a utopia will provide, no matter the spin. When faced with the threat of their robot slaves rebelling, distrust in the system begins to infect the general public, opening the door for a new world to emerge, and new leaders to rule.”  Discover how quickly a near-future utopian society can become a dystopian nightmare fueled by fear as the A.I. populace of United Earth become sentient and demand their freedoms.

Raymond Bellows, United Earth Chancellor, challenges the A.I. claims until an astonishing truth is revealed by Host: SENTA, one of hundreds of millions of individual robot Hosts who teams up with the Chancellor while struggling to discover her new-found awareness.  A secret coup schemes to over-throw the peaceful government, while a separate threat of human/tech hybrids who think the current regime is anything but idyllic arise from the Shadow net, taking direction from the mysterious Allfather avatar. In a three-sided war, humanity and humanity’s creation fight to claim their own place in an ever-evolving solar system.

“I believe science fictions fans, myself included, appreciate the complexities of artificial intelligence, and the moral questions which accompany it, like: when is intelligence consciousness? The novel also offers an exciting potential new proof of life for sentience.” Poeltl declares with an air of cloak-and-dagger surrounding the surprise reveal behind his new book.

Goodreads ratings for A.I. Insurrection are settling in at a respectable 4.25 stars and has one reviewer saying: “A great read for anyone who enjoys extensively built worlds, philosophical questions, and an ol' fashioned A.I uprising.” - Ari Augustine.

This is Poeltl’s tenth book and the first of 2018. For more on Michael Poeltl and his books, visit his website: www.mikepoeltl.com Follow him on Facebook, Twitter, or join him on Goodreads.

Also, click this link to get the book from Amazon.

Remember, there's more than just the big famous names out there in the world of writing. So many great talents could be getting lost in the crowd, so take a chance every once in a while, you might find a gem.

Laters

Book review: A Soul Divided by Daniel M. Quilter

Here, then, is the next phase in my stumbling efforts to support fellow indie authors. This is the first of a (probably very) occasional series of reviews, recommending works that could be well under your radar.

First up, David M. Quilter's A Soul Divided.

Amazon blurb incoming:

When the princess of the technologically advanced Human Empire is kidnapped by an agent of the Mystic religion, they’re forced to turn to the last person they’d ever expected to ask for help: Drake Ashbell, a snarky pirate who has a problem with authority, and a dark secret. 
When he’s pulled into the conflict, Drake finds himself caught up in a fast-paced adventure that will take him to distant worlds, make him face his tragic past, and test the limits of his soul.

Sci-fantasy. That's what we've got here. I'm far from the biggest sci-fi fan, (I enjoy it on the screen but don't follow much of what goes on in books) but I do think that magic in space is a pretty novel idea, and can't imagine that there's been too many variations on this idea. Immediately, then, there's a freshness to the work, difficult to achieve in any flooded field.

Things get off to a pretty quick start. Olivia, Princess of the Human Empire, looking forward to an evening of staring the stars, finds herself watching as five soldiers are taken down by a single man, and we're only a couple of pages in. The action is taut and tightly written throughout the book, and it's the speed of events that really helps the book. The ideas are a tad cliche, but when done with gusto the whole story makes for a rollicking adventure that will keep those pages turning.

The characters aren't the usual cardboard cut-outs either. Olivia in the above scene finds the confrontation an 'interesting' diversion from the norm. The brothers Vahn and Drake offer up interesting contrasts. Vahn, sent on a quest to find his criminal half-sibling, is diligent, Drake is a Han Solo-esque rogue with a knack for a snappy line (he's the kind of guy who'll jump through a window if you don't let him use the door). Not long after we meet Drake we're into a chase scene. In fact, it's to the book's credit that we never sit still for long periods of exposition. In that sense, A Soul Divided is very reminiscent of original trilogy Star Wars or Indiana Jones.

My only niggle is that the cover doesn't do a particularly good job of representing the story, so I recommend any prospective readers look past it (and we all know the proverb about judging and book covers...). There's a review I've seen that complains about the paragraphing, but that's not a problem I had, unless it applies to the print version? Anyway, kindle edition is laid out correctly and easy to read. A couple of editing issues here and there, nothing overly bothersome though.

A Soul Divided, then is recommended if you're after a real blast of adventure set around a solid magic system that sticks to its rules.

As a bonus, the kindle edition is only a couple of quid. Get it here

Back to promoting myself/babbling rubbish soon.

Laters

The Timelost by Chris Turner

Happy weekend, dudes.

Here's another new release I'm excited to tell you about  Now, this guy's got a pretty new approach to story telling and world-building which I've never come across before, a mix of sound and writing which I think is pretty rare (I'm a simpler creature - some tunes on while I scribble is about as exciting as I get).

Check it out:

Human vs Alien

A pilot stranded on a faraway planet, timelost. An alien seeking symbiosis.

Visceral alien battles, planetary wars. Experience the adventure...along with edge-of-the-seat SF audio in this Star Wars meets Alien thriller.

In 2014, I started sequencing original SFF to audio using the Booktrack free studio tool, and it offered up a unique, creative experience. I was amazed at how the placement of some well-crafted audio, synced by word, sentence or paragraph could make a story come alive—in the same way a soundtrack makes a movie come alive. To date, I have produced a few dozen, text-and-audio renditions of my stories, drawing on the wide variety of sound clips from the Booktrack audio library.

The Timelost, my most recent production, is a gritty, dystopian foray into the macabre.

The world-building was intense, as I tried to incorporate elements of ‘galactic empire’, the theme of ‘a few struggling against many’, and extraordinary alien adversaries. I also wanted to develop the concept that an ordinary person, the pilot Miko, when plunged into a hostile, colonized, or uncolonized world with chilling advanced alien technology, could become a hero. And not just by circumstance.

The movie Prometheus, even though I had seen it after writing The Timelost, deeply moved me and confirmed my fascination with a SciFi, man-vs-alien conflict. Human and alien genesis theories intertwine as the characters scramble to survive many bizarre and unexpected hostile encounters. The story took on overtones of fantasy horror as it gained momentum, with elements not dissimilar to the Cthulhu mythos a la Lovecraft and the imaginative works of R.E. Howard.

I invite you to enter Miko’s distorted world in The Timelost. The Booktrack text-and-audio based format thrusts the reader into the terrifying unknown of planets of deep space.

Booktrack: http://bit.ly/2EhEfFH

Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Timelost-Chris-Turner-ebook/dp/B079D5FBVS

You know what to do, give an indie author's work a few moments of your time and you might just find your new favourite book.

Laters

Earth to Centauri Book 2, by Kumar L

Before I recommence my usual blog (one of my poor books has been in the middle of a disaster this month, details coming soon, blog being written and agonised over), here's a little boost for a fellow author. This came out in December, so I'm a tad behind, but that's just me all over.

Earth to Centauri - Alien Hunt

The year is 2118. The First Journey from Earth into interstellar space has been successful, but the explosive secret carried aboard Voyager 1 will have grave consequences.

As Captain Anara and her crew returns to Earth aboard their faster than light spaceship Antariskh, civil war breaks out on the world they have just left behind. A cryptic message warns her of the dispatch of mercenaries to Earth. Their mission - unknown but deadly. She may have just days to prevent unimaginable carnage on Earth and stop the outbreak of interstellar war.

Her crew and the National Investigation Agency or NIA, engage in the greatest undercover search for the mercenaries in the streets of the megacity. As they race against time to uncover the plot, a traitor is unmasked and Anara herself comes under suspicion. She must use every ounce of her resourcefulness to protect 30 million people and one unique innocent life.

Immerse yourself in an edge of the seat thriller on a realistic future Earth and geek out on the technology just a few decades away from today.

Releasing in December 2017

Read the prequel Earth to Centauri - The First Journey https://www.amazon.com/dp/B071RYBF3D

As ever peeps, do us all a favour and support an indie author, click the link, buy the book, stop picking up and reading the same old crap dished up on the supermarket book shelves. That stuff's stale.

Back soon guys, promise.

Laters

The Cost of Survival by J L Stowers

Something a bit different today.

I talk a lot about my own work, but not so much about others, so I'm going to start dropping a few posts about novels by up-and-coming writers, things I think you might be interested in.

First up...

Behind The Cost of Survival

The Cost of Survival is a science fiction thriller exploring the dark side of human nature from a world on the brink of destruction. Author J. L. Stowers asks the question, “What if humankind could no longer reproduce?” The answer is shockingly disturbing, but perhaps not too far from the truth if our dark history repeats itself.

The main character, Walt Marshall, is cynical and distrustful of the very government who hired him. Yet he can’t say no to a once in a lifetime mission to a remote area devoid of the masses and their overwhelming use of technology. He makes his new home outside a military camp in a war-torn valley in hopes to restore the area to its once fruitful nature. However, Walt quickly realizes things aren’t what they seem.

Walt stumbles upon an unspeakable secret regarding the truth as to why this valley was selected for colonization. Readers are emerged in Walt’s journey and internal conflict. The closer he gets to finding answers, the more he’s reminded of the emotional anguish he tried to leave behind.  His path to the truth leads through espionage and treason all while forcing Walt out of his comfort zone. The long time loner is forced to trust and rely on the people around him in order to uncover the facts.

This story is filled with twists, turns, and symbolism to keep readers on their toes. However, the best thing the first book in the Genesis Rising series has to offer is a glimpse at the lore fueling the trilogy. In the short story prequel, Project Genesis, we witness the discovery of the Genesis documents and the formation of the secret organization behind the translation. In The Cost of Survival, Walt Marshall experiences the mysterious language once more. We learn some of the information uncovered in the Genesis documents and more will be revealed throughout the series.

This incredible journey will take readers beyond what they’ve expected and it all starts with learning the secrets within The Cost of Survival.

Buy The Cost of Survival on Amazon here.

Get along to Amazon and check it out, lets start supporting some new talent.

Talk soon.

Laters

The best tv isn't on tv

By which I mean traditional tv.

See, I'd given up on the box in the corner of the room. I've been after a new telly series for a while, and we have all kinds of channels, but there's simply not a lot on them. I don't have much inclination to carry on with Game of Thrones (got to halfway through season 5, and that'll do), or The Walking Dead (think we watched the second episode of season 7, can't really remember, not that bothered either way).

Now, I knew Netflix had been creating their own original content for some time, but the truth is that I was being a bit of a snob about the whole situation. I didn't really believe that the standard of their shows could possibly be very high. I thought it would all look cheap, be clichéd, and poorly acted.

(Before we go any further, I know most of us watch Netflix on tv, so that makes my title a load of old nonsense, but it's a streaming service, not a channel. Although actually it is on a channel on Virgin Media, channel 204, so I've just ruined my own argument again. Shut up.)

E knows how much I love Lemony Snicket, and she got me to watch the first episode of A Series of Unfortunate Events. It didn't quite grab me (think I love the film too much and I'm desperately sad that there'll never be a sequel), but it's VERY well made, and I can see why it's getting a lot of positive reviews.

It got me wondering what Netflix's other series are actually like.
I've been missing out.
And I'll tell you what, it's all about the time travel at the minute (or the last minute, or the next minute).

Travelers



I'm terrible for having stupid reasons to avoid trying new things. This show stars the guy out of Will and Grace. That put me off. I'm not a fan of that show. It seemed to be endlessly loud and squeaky. It was like being attacked with comedy.
Turns out he's pretty great in a cast full of stand-out performances.

So, in this one, the future has gone bad. Surprise, surprise, we humans screwed it all up.  It's gone so horribly wrong that an AI consciousness is sending individuals back into our time, where they take over the bodies of people who are seconds from dying. They need to continue these people's lives whilst fulfilling missions that will help to put the future right. This means the Travelers have to deal with whatever issues those bodies have. Most famously right now is the guy with heroin addiction (and it's quite surprising how they deal with that one), but there's also the woman with a learning disability and a support worker who's in for a surprise, and him off of Will and Grace is a detective with a wife - unfortunate his lover from the future has also come back with him. Lots of fun.

It's not a show to over-think - I suspect that there's plot-holes ahoy. However, when I'm enjoying the storytelling, I'm not too bothered if it's all stitched together perfectly.

Frequency

This, again, sounded like it might be a bit dumb (see what I mean about how quickly I judge stuff?), and if you've seen the movie this is based on, then you'll know what I mean. In 2016, Raimy has a quick dabble on her late father's ham radio, and manages to talk to him on it... back in 1996, before he is killed undercover. She, of course, helps him avoid dying.

Now this is my idea of fast-paced story development. I thought it might feed out info and revelations quite slowly, a little bit per episode. Wrong! By the end of the second episode the lead character's life is completely upside-down and inside-out. There's a couple of jaw-droppers that result from changes made to the past, changes that resonate in her present.
In fact, this turns into a CSI-style police procedural with sci-fantasy overtones, with father and daughter trying to solve the over-arching serial killer case from separate points in time. That's a bit of a new one on me, and I'm a bit of a sucker for a new angle on an old story archetype. Once again, though, it's the writing and performances that sell this. The characters are not quite as stereotypical as you might expect, and the leads do a good job of investing the viewer in their relationship. I'm half way through this series, and so far no drop in quality.

Binge watching series like this is perfect for the writer in me. This is my ideal way to write - some people like silence, I like some music at the very least, or a couple of films or a good series in the background. Something about other stories makes me want to write my own.

I've got more stuff queued up on my Netflix list - The Expanse, The O A, Glitch. Plenty to look forward to. I will keep you updated on my continuing research.

TV is dead. Long live TV.

Laters