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fussyspace · 4 months

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Those not finished, part 2

At this stage of the competition, we're just meant to read 10-30% of a book and vote yes or no on whether we want to continue/the book should advance. The team's votes are then added together to find the top 10-12, which we then read in full and score.

These are the books I gave a no vote to and didn't finish reading. There are some I finished reading and still voted no to (usually when they were short enough that it wouldn't take long to get to the end).

A no vote doesn't necessarily mean a book is bad. Please also remember that these views are my own and may not reflect the rest of the team.

Arter, Sylas Seabrook

Word count: ~88,100

Cover: It definitely screams 'space'! I can't really tell much about what it will be about from the combination of the title and cover, but I at least get the genre, and it doesn't look like Earth, so that in itself is interesting.

Blurb: 'For a hundred thousand years, Sumatta has reigned as the source of all life on the planet Arter. Arter is a pangean continent whose skies are filled by a constant aurora and whose science is based off of aten, small bits of energy captured by nature which harness the fundamental forces of nature.

'Unel seeks to use aten to connect Arterians through their dreams in hopes of one day allowing Arterians to communicate through the mind directly. Finding the right aten and the right design for his device, the draumr, proves frustrating, and he finds himself relying on the support of his bonded (wife) to complete the project.

'As he discovers the necessary formula and they begin a family, Sumatta brings a message. Sumatta, Guardian of Ages, brings a message of a new age which will change Arter forever and give new meaning to Unel’s hopes for the draumr device.

'This story was 6 years in the making and is the first in a series of books which will take us deeper into the world-building of a universe of universes filled with characters who seek to better themselves, save the worlds the know, and the gods who play amongst them.'

There's a fair amount of information being dropped in the blurb, and while it sounds interesting enough I do wonder if it could have focussed more on the plot without getting bogged down by terminology or explanations. The thought of inventing telepathic/dream communication is intriguing enough to interest me.

Vote to continue at 30%: No

Content: I admit that when I read Arter's blurb, I saw '6 years in the making' and was immediately concerned that this would be a little book with a lot of worldbuilding shoved into it. This was either an irrational fear or, I suspect, brought on by the slightly info-dumpy feeling I got from the blurb itself. In any case, the first chapter played into my fears. While the main character Unel conducted experiments into some kind of telepathy, terminology dropped left, right and centre, and I found myself swimming, with increasing disinterest, through name soup. Nothing hooked me until his 'bonded' came in trying to 'distract' him. More on that later.

I was confused by the fact that atoms appeared to be solid and visible in this world, which led to a question that I never really had answered to any degree of satisfaction – were the Arterians aliens who just saw things differently to humans? Their appearance was described as human-like, with no features distinguishing them. It often felt like they were just humans on another planet, but because I knew they weren't meant to be, my mind kept substituting the aliens from Strange Planet, but with hair. And boobs. We'll circle back to the boobs later. This was a consistent question that really annoyed me, especially when I encountered suggestions that there were other planets and non-Arterians, but I never got enough information to be able to tell the difference between the two. I even have a sneaking suspicion that one of the characters that appeared later was non-Arterian, but I just didn't know for sure.

I found the next chapter more interesting, as it drifted over to their religion and introduced a pretty neat four-dimensional tree along with its Readers, trained to read the patterns of the (later somewhat phallically described) god that visited via the tree. Still, not much happened, and I found the fact that 'it' was used as the Reader's pronoun incredibly off-putting compared to 'they'. This was coupled with a more widespread issue that sometimes occurred with typos and odd sentence construction.

Now let's circle back to the bonded and the boobs. A significant chunk of early chapters focusses on the relationship between Unel and his bonded (i.e. wife), which hooked into a pretty interesting worldbuilding aspect whereby fertility is controlled by expensive eggs that have to be collected from a certain species on the rare occasion the god rocks up to activate them. It was a brilliant hook for a dystopia, but the book didn't seem to be going in that direction. What we did get to read was a rather cringe-inducing slice of the couple's life, including Unel licking cream of his bonded's nipples and them saying they love each other many, many times.

The women, in general, felt rather sexualised and universally occupied rubbish positions in society. I found this very unusual, given the complete control they have over their own reproduction, which I felt would have improved their lot over human women. I also found it interesting how easy it was to reverse the polarity of the magic sex eggs and make them deadly, which I feel should probably have had more impact on their society.

The book began to get slightly more interesting when stuff started to explode, but at that point it immediately put me in another PoV with a new character I didn't care about, followed by yet another. And what should have felt like a big reveal relating to their god's true nature and intentions was told in two sentences rather nonchalantly when it could have had a much more impactful reveal.

All in all, Arter's setting had a lot of promise, but it didn't have much to hook me and was let down by its vagueness around species, its pacing, and the weakness of its women. As such, I did not keep reading past 30%.

Replika: Sky's Mission, Hugo Bernard

Word count: ~82,200

Cover: Bright and shiny, it suggests something code/tech-related, so that's pretty on brand for what the blurb suggests.

Blurb: 'Reality is an illusion worth fighting for...

'Earth’s ecological collapse is avoided when most of the world population agrees to permanently upload into Replika, a simulated reality maintained by the AI. But the stability of this world is threatened when a group of neuroscientists hack their own brains to interact with Replika in unforeseen and dangerous ways.

'Sky devotes her life to rebuilding the real world left dysfunctional from the massive exodus into Replika. But when she learns her brother, who disappeared under mysterious circumstances, is in danger, she must choose which world needs her most. All she wants is to find the brother she loves, but she will unwittingly get entangled in an attempt to redefine the reality of humanity’s future.

'With a strong cast of characters, REPLIKA is a wildly inventive and fast-paced sci-fi adventure that raises profound existential questions about the role of simulated reality in our foreseeable future.'

This comes across a little clunky to me for some reason, but the thought of neuroscientists hacking their brains to cause havoc within a simulated reality sounds pretty cool. I also like the emotional stakes of Sky having to choose whether to go after her brother in there or not.

Vote to continue at 30%: No

Content: This kicked off with an interesting prologue where a fourteen-year-old kid is preparing to go into a different reality – a task for which he must lose all his memories. I was intrigued, and I was miffed on his behalf at this seemingly unfair stipulation, but I was destined not to hear much about that for the next 30% of the book I read.

That 30% kicked of by introducing a bunch of new characters – mostly a woman being tortured for information and a guy working in a virtual pizzeria. It was there that we got our first taste of 'the virt', which isn't the same as Replika, as you can keep your memories and dip in and out of the virt. It seemed like some kind of digital twin/augmented reality/Second Life arrangement. A terrorist attack happened in Paris that was relatively interesting to hear about but brought me no closer to the titular Replika, which felt like it would have featured more heavily in the book from the outset. At this point I wasn't sure what was going on and was fairly certain I was going to forget who all the characters were.

A good part of why I found the going tough and got a bit bored was the fact that I never really got any sense of emotion from the characters. The point mentioned in the blurb – Sky needing to go into Replika to find her brother – sounded like it should have been emotionally huge, and while the text gave me the reasons why it should be huge, I never got the emotional impact of that. The text relies heavily on having the characters' inner monologues tell us stuff, even when that stuff is repeated in dialogue a paragraph later. This is coupled with relatively passive narration that keeps some distance from its third-person perspectives. Technically, there are also a fair few commas that should have been semi-colons or new sentences, and the dialogue sometimes felt a bit stiff.

I stopped reading at 30% because Replika itself still hadn't made an appearance (beyond, if I remember correctly, a brief conversation with its avatar) and I was bored of being told everything. I had formed so little emotional connection to the characters that I didn't even care when one of them got kidnapped. It's a shame, really, because the premise in the blurb sounded great, but it took too long to get to the point and got bogged down in its characters' heads.

Zero Gravity, Elizabeth Pridgen

Word count: ~83,500

Cover: The cover suggests storms, that's for sure, and 'Zero Gravity' is a pretty descriptive title for the plot, so it's clear what you're getting into. It's quite simple, but I like it, and the linear artefacts are interesting. It's a fun font, too, but I have always been a big fan of those Dymo embossing machines, so I am biased. I'm not quite sure what the tagline 'Onward with the future' refers to with regard to the plot, though, as it makes me think of either time travel or forwards progress at a civilisation level.

Blurb: 'The world is in a crisis. Almost all power is lost, the U.S. government has collapsed by a terrorist organization known as The Ravagers and there are unexplained, brief episodes of gravity loss which leads to numerous accidents, casualties and little to no arcas for shelter. Marlowe Benson is one of the few living Americans left in the United States, but has been separated from her partner, Jayden. After being rescued by other remaining survivors, they struggle to not only fight back The Ravagers but to find safety from the horrific gravity loss episodes known as "zero gravity attacks".'

A bit of a clunky blurb, really (after writing this impression, I did find a more up-to-date version on Amazon, so I assume the Goodreads page needs updating), but it sets the initial scene. If there's a whole terrorist organisation, it seems weird that the main character can be one of the few living Americans, unless the terrorists a) aren't American or b) were mostly wiped out by the storms. I'm probably nitpicking, but to me 'few' suggests you'd struggle to bump into people most days, let alone see enough people to have to fight back at anyone. In any case, the titular zero-gravity attacks seem to be a bit of a sidenote here, but the thought of them is interesting.

Vote to continue: No

Content: I would like to say that most of the issues I had with this book were due to the fact that it was submitted as a Word document and I had to reformat the whole thing manually. Unfortunately, they were not. (I would remind authors to please read the rules when submitting. This wasn't the only book we had to convert to the epub stipulated in the rules.)

Before I get into those issues, let's briefly cover the book itself. I admit I didn't get far, so can't comment much on this, but we alternated through a past and present with a few encounters, including the main character being hit by a zero-gravity storm. Here, the name didn't seem to fit – it was enough to make me doubtful, though writing in hindsight and having not noted it down, I can't remember if the storms were caused by zero gravity or simply named such. In any case, the first storm saw the main character able to kick things without pushing off in the opposite direction with equal force and also flipped a car seemingly at random. There didn't seem much logic to it. I didn't find the alternating times worked in this case, and the whole thing felt quite disjointed. While the blurb held some potential for an interesting story, my quibbles with the premise continued. It didn't seem at all believable that the US government had somehow been bumped off with no prior warning or fanfare, not a peep from the army, and with no one having noticed a terrorist threat powerful enough to pull that off to begin with.

What were the book's main issues? Editing. It needed it. Speech tags were incorrectly capitalised, many sentences made little or no sense, characters' body parts were described as doing things rather than the characters themselves, it failed to use the pluperfect when necessary, was overly passive and overused sentence fragments. It also seemed to jump in time, with characters being there one second and gone the next, though I couldn't tell if this was just a formatting issue that had stripped out the scene breaks. And a bizarre one: at one point it called a subway crash genocidal, which seemed a flagrant misuse of the word (unless someone had specifically shoved people from an ethic group on the train and then crashed it, which didn't seem to be the case).

All in all, I couldn't get past the 5% mark before I had to put it down.

#science fiction #self publishing #sff #spsfc #sci fi #spsfc3 #spsfc3 round 1

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leonalfari · 5 months

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Denny Ja Latest Discovery Frida Kahlo's paintings are sought using Artificial Intelligence

In the rapid development of technology, artificial intelligence or artificial intelligence (AI) continues to make important contributions in various fields of life. One of the latest uses of AI that attracts attention is in the search for the paintings of Frida Kahlo, one of the most famous artists from Mexico. In an effort to find and collect Frida Kahlo's paintings who may still be hidden in various corners of the world, Denny JA, a talented art researcher, has used AI power. By using a sophisticated algorithm, Denny JA hopes to find these long-lost paintings. Frida Kahlo, an iconic artist known for his enthusiasm and emotional works, left a very valuable artistic heritage for the world. Unfortunately, a number of paintings are believed to have been lost or even stolen for years. This is what drives Denny JA to use AI to help find these uninhabited works. Denny Ja developed a search system using AI that was able to scan the world art database broadly. This system uses a strong visual recognition technology to compare existing images with unique styles and characteristics that are often seen in Frida Kahlo paintings. Thus, AI can identify and track paintings that may have been disguised or changed by perpetrators of art crimes. This search process has involved collaboration with museums, galleries and art collectors around the world. Denny Ja has asked for support from the International Arts community to provide access to private collections and archives that might contain paintings that have never been seen before. So far, using AI in this search has provided promising results. Some of the lost Frida Kahlo paintings have been found again, giving excitement and relief to art fans around the world. These discoveries have enriched our understanding of the life and work of Frida Kahlo. Denny Ja hopes that the use of AI will not only help find lost paintings, but will also help protect other valuable artwork. The presence of AI in the world of art provides great potential to identify the authenticity of the work and prevent the falsification of art that is detrimental to both artists and collectors. In addition, AI can also help track and analyze art trends, thus providing valuable insights for researchers and curators. With its ability to study patterns and characteristics, AI can identify changes in the development of art from time to time. In his ongoing search, Denny Ja hopes to open the door for further collaboration between art and technology. He hopes to involve more artists, researchers, and art fans in the use of AI to preserve an invaluable global art heritage. With so many paintings of Frida Kahlo that have not been found, the use of AI in this search is an important milestone in an effort to protect and appreciate this extraordinary arterian. Denny Ja's carries out an important role in utilizing the latest technology for the good of the world of art. Over time, hopefully the existence of AI in the search for art will continue to make a valuable contribution to the world of art as a whole.

Check more: Denny Ja: Latest discovery: Frida Kahlo's paintings are sought using artificial intelligence

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vincturi · 4 years

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Peter: I know that if I run and jump at lucian he will catch me.

Peter: *runs at lucian and jumps*

Lucian: I'm holding coffee!

Lucian: *drops coffee and catches Peter in his arms*

Peter: I know that if I run and jump at aro he will catch me.

Peter: *runs at aro and jumps*

Aro: *stands still and watches Peter fall on the ground*

Peter: what the fuck aro? You weren't even holding anything!

Aro: *smirks* I know.

#peter vincent #aro volturi #vincturi #lucian #aro x peter x lucian #lucient #arterian #guess who's sleeping on the couch tonight

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angelwingsl3 · 5 years

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Favorite Interaction/Passage Meme

Tagged by @s0me-writer

A passage from Faults and Fortitude my Saren/Garrus work.

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Saren Arterius was not weak.

Then why was he crumbling? Like a meteor that would cause an ice age and the end of an era on some Spirits forsaken world, the weight of everything he’d been forced to endure fell from the atmosphere to crush him, all at once. Saren felt as though he could hardly breathe. This… this wasn’t him. He didn’t break. Ever. Not after he’d killed his own brother. Not while slogging through Spectre training. Not during his years rising through the ranks and watching his fellow Spectres succumb to some mission or another. Not even when he’d killed Nihlus in cold blood.

Saren Arterius did not break.

Then why did he want to? In the arms of some failed C-Sec cop, a scarred vigilante that ignored his existence and thought him a traitor. The turian who believed him no better than a coward. The only reason he was alive to feel this pain.

He couldn’t stand it any longer, he needed out. Saren tried to shove Garrus off, his hands knocking the other turian’s away as he pushed hard against his shoulders. But Garrus was too strong, his position too secure. With his armour, it didn’t matter that Saren kicked at his thighs and fought to remove the younger turian from his place above him. Garrus merely had to impose his armoured weight and Saren was trapped.

Without physical recourse, Saren growled: “Say it!” The anger returned in full force to cover the… the shame he felt. Anything to plaster over the cracks Saren knew had appeared all around him. “Tell me you don’t care!”

The last thing Saren expected to hear was a soft chuckle. He stopped thrashing.

“Is that what you think, Saren? That I don’t care?” Garrus asked him, his gaze softened and mandibles grew lax. “That I believe you and Sidonis are the same?”

Saren’s jaw clamped shut and he met Garrus’ eyes, daring him to look away.

“You’re wrong.”

#Garrus Vakarian #Saren Arterius #arterian #fanfiction #mass effect au #Mass Effect #writing meme

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lifeinpoetry · 6 years

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I the same mass more down and away I pluck & wilt & vanish I stained the hollow floor

— Diana Arterian, from “Introduction,” published in Birdfeast

#quote #Diana Arterian #poetry #Birdfeast #out of my collection #Introduction

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poetsandwriters · 6 years

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Like so many writers, the activities that once challenged and nourished me have been disrupted by the flood of chaotic daily news....What does revitalize me most now is the solitude of a natural space, a garden or a trail....Moving in nature invites me to recognize my smallness in earth’s vast purpose—while simultaneously experiencing wonder in a vine’s reach and twist and leafing. In short: I gain perspective, and tap into feeling. Words often move into the space made there.

Diana Arterian, in this week’s Writers Recommend; read the rest at pw.org!

#Diana Arterian #Writers Recommend #Poets & Writers #on writing #true for writing #writing tips #writing advice #writing habits #writer's life #writing routine #writer's block #lit #literature #quote #quotes

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oursocialghosts1050hb · 3 years

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Hello + Instructions!

Greetings! Excited to see your thoughts, responses, and exchanges this semester much like this kitten is captivated by laundry. As a reminder, here are the perimeters of what you should post:

You must post weekly responses on our course blog. These should be about 200-250 words each, and are due by 10AM the day of class (Tuesday or Thursday). One group will be called Zeniba (post by Tuesday at 10AM) the other will be called Yubaba (post by Thursday at 10AM). You may miss two posts throughout the semester without it affecting your grade. Late posts will not be counted. You can double-up on a post (400-500 words) to make up for a missed post. Your options for each of your weekly posts:

[1] Post content from outside the course (a video, podcast, photograph) and explain, in your own words, how this content relates to that week’s reading and/ or a major question we’ve begun to address in class.

[2] Write a brief response to that week’s readings. You can enact a close reading on a section, or consider what questions did the readings raise for you. What did you find interesting/confusing/exciting/depressing? Why?

[3] Engage with/expand on one of your peer’s posts with care, respect, and curiosity.

ZENIBA/BY-TUESDAY POST-ERS

Estelle Marissa Olivia Meghan C. Ryan Ella Charlotte Sydney E.

YUBABA/BY-THURSDAY POST-ERS

Madison G. Megan H. Elina Molly Sam Bridgette Madison S. Sydney S. Ariana

Here is the link to the Tumblr to post: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/oursocialghosts1050hb

— Professor Arterian [be sure to sign your posts!]

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oursocialghosts1050y · 3 years

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Greetings! Excited to see your thoughts, responses, and exchanges this semester! As a reminder, here are the perimeters of what you should post:

You must post weekly responses on our course blog. These should be about 200-250 words each, and are due by 10PM the night before class (Monday or Wednesday). One group will be called Zeniba (post on Monday) the other will be called Yubaba (post on Wednesday). You may miss two posts throughout the semester without it affecting your grade. Late posts will not be counted. Your options for each of your weekly posts:

[3] Engage with/expand on one of your peer’s posts with care, respect, and curiosity.

ZENIBA/MONDAY POST-ERS Paige Keara Anna Sara Michael D Jenna Joe Molly Jillian YUBABA/WEDNESDAY POST-ERS AMac Seamus Mae Savannah Jimmy Brooklyn KeAlani Francesca John Here is the link to the Tumblr to post: https://www.tumblr.com/blog/oursocialghosts1050y — Professor Arterian [be sure to sign your posts!]

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tinydragontime · 1 year

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Smoochagram 45

Red and Arti. 2019 Art (c) myself Characters (c) https://www.furaffinity.net/user/redwinds and https://www.furaffinity.net/user/arterian

Posted using PostyBirb

#smoochagram #smooch #anthro #sketch #kiss #hug #tiger #wolf

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everythingisawayoflife · 5 years

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Your Eyes

Okay I know they’re super cheesy, but I thought of a good story to go with the song so bare with me. I recommend listening to the song while reading.

Your eyes

As we said our goodbyes

Can’t get them out of mind

And I find I can’t hide

He remembers it so clearly. Dust arose and flooded throught the planet’s atmosphere. Everywhere was chaos. Everything was chaos. The Arterian population was fighting desperately for survival as they knew their planet was beyond saving. They called as soon as they realized they were running out of rescue ships, so Voltron was on their way, urgently trying to save millions.

Lance was oddly grim. Usually, he was pumped and ready to save people for missions. But his face was cold as stone. He was stuck in a spiral of endless dread when Pidge’s voice cut through the coms.

“Lance, can you give me any visuals?”

“Huh-I-Oh-um, Planet Arteria is just up ahead. Should be about fifty more ticks.” Lance cleared his throat.

“You okay?” She asked.

“We alone?

“Just us, babe. Just us.”

Lance exhaled cooly.

From your eyes

The one’s that took me by surprise

Where there’s moonlight,

I see your eyes

“Lance! Pidge! I need you to the Southern Fronts and load people into the ships. Allura said we’ve only got about fifteen doboshes before it’s too late!” Keith commanded.

“Already here, Keith!” Pidge replied.

She and Lance quickly descended out of their lions, watching scared yet grateful people cheer for their arrival. No sooner than they arrived, Lance and Pidge were already loading people into the ship. Suddenly, a young Arterian woman’s cries echoed in Lance’s ears.

“Help me! My little boy! He’s stuck in out hut! Help me, please!” Her voice was clogged with tears.

“I’ll go.” Both Pidge and Lance said.

“No, Pidge, I’ll go.”

“Lance, I already have a plan. I’ll go.” Pidge retorted.

“But what if—”

Pidge pressed her lips against his. Lance relished every single second.

“Come back, okay?” Lance pressed their helmeted foreheads together.

“I promise.”

Pidge’s jetpack burst to life and she followed the woman towards her elusive hut.

How’d I let you slip away

When I’m longing so, to hold you?

Now I’d die for one more day

‘Cause there’s something I should’ve told you

Yes, there’s something I should have told you

When I looked into your eyes

“Is that everyone?” Keith asked.

“I think so.” Hunk replied.

“Doing a headcount now.” Allura added.

Lance’s head was in the right place. The people were safe and everyone had come out fine.

“Where is Pidge?” Allura finally asked.

His mind was in darkness now. The color drained quickly from his face when he realized the woman he loved hadn’t come back.

Why does distance make us wise?

You were the song all along

And before the song dies

Everything was a blur after that.

///

Lance knelt before a small patch of grass. He didn’t care that raindrops pelted the back of his neck. The rain hid his tears. He couldn’t face it. It was too much. It took him twenty minutes to fully face it.

Katie Holt-McClain

Beloved by all

The tears came in waterfalls. He watered Katie’s grave with his tears. He just stared at it, tracing the engraving with his fingers.

I should tell you, I should tell you

I have always loved you

You can see it in my eyes

Pidge was never any good at keeping promises.

#plance #plance angst #pidge gunderson #lance mcclain

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