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Koen’s 2022 Year in Books

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Koen Martens

Goodreads Author

Website

https://www.koenmartens.nl/

Twitter

koenswriting

Genre

Science Fiction

Member Since

May 2021

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Koen Martens is a science fiction author and retired hacker with a degree in artificial intelligence. A software architect by day, Koen has worked with quantum computers, lithography machines, cloud servers and many other high-tech gadgets. Koen’s experience lends a great degree of realism to his writing and provides him with a healthy dose of scepticism towards humanity’s unhealthy relationship with technology.

While born in the Netherlands, Koen, together with his husband, now lives in Sweden. In his spare time, he can often be found roaming the woods of Örebro lan (getting lost despite the assistance of gps navigation) or online to stay in touch with his friends from hackerspace Hack42. Koen regularly enjoys live jazz at concerts and fest ...more

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Popular Answered Questions

What’s your advice for aspiring writers?

Koen Martens Beware of writing advice.

There is a lot of writing advice. On blogs, in forums, writing communities, reddit, twitter, et cetera... As with anything th…moreBeware of writing advice.

There is a lot of writing advice. On blogs, in forums, writing communities, reddit, twitter, et cetera... As with anything that's available for free on the internet: stay critical. It's easy to get dragged in by dogmatic advice and writing rules. Too much of that will block your creativity.

Some of the advice is genuinely useful, but more often than not it is blog filler or someone presenting their own writing style as gospel.

I always judge the value of writing advice by looking at books I like.

For example, some authors will be very vehement about dialogue tags and how you should never ever use anything other than 'I/he/she/they said'. However, looking at a book I'm currently reading (by an award winning author) and am very much enjoying, there is a lot more diversity. Verbs like 'asked', 'grunted', 'hissed'.

Others will tell you you always need to jump right into the action, and you should never ever have an exposition that takes an entire chapter. I've read plenty of books that have a lengthy exposition before the real action starts, and it never bothered me. Some of them were best-sellers.

Writing is not about rules. Writing is about creativity. That is not to say that there aren't certain patterns that will be appreciated more than others, but within those broad patterns there is plenty of room for creativity.(less)

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What are you currently working on?

Koen Martens I'm working on the 'Isolated Futures' sequence. Six shorter pieces (novelette - novella length) exploring different sub-genres of the sci-fi space. It…moreI'm working on the 'Isolated Futures' sequence. Six shorter pieces (novelette - novella length) exploring different sub-genres of the sci-fi space. It's as much an exercise in self-publishing as it is about writing the stories. I'm trying to figure out the whole process, from writing to hiring editors, commissioning covers and actually publishing on the online platforms.

Starting 18 September -- when 'Forced to be Free', the first story in the series, will be released -- each month will see a new story. When all stories are out they will also be available as a bundle containing all six.(less)

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Koen Martens’s books

Average rating: 4.12 · 25 ratings · 18 reviews · 7 distinct works • Similar authors

	Forced to be Free (Isolated Futures #1) 3.93 avg rating — 14 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Isolated Futures Omnibus 4.38 avg rating — 8 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Murder, Plain and Simple (Isolated Futures, #2) 4.50 avg rating — 2 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Cima Peak (Isolated Futures, #3) really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 1 rating — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Eddy (Isolated Futures, #5) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	DingDong by Zhumee (Isolated Futures, #6) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Negative Reinforcement (Isolated Futures, #4) 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Will AI make authors��obsolete?

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Koen is Currently Reading

Koen Martens is currently reading

The Caledonian Gambit

by Dan Moren (Goodreads Author)

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Mar 01, 2023 11:57PM

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Koen’s Recent Updates

Koen Martens wrote a new blog post Review: Waste Tide, Chen��Qiufan A good read set against an all too realistic yet futuristic setting. The western world is dumping its waste elsewhere and China greedily takes the fe Read more of this blog post »
Mar 18, 2023 06:21AM · like
Koen Martens is currently reading The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Mar 01, 2023 11:57PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Caledonian Gambit by Dan Moren <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Koen Martens rated a book liked it Artificial Condition (The Murderbot Diaries, #2) by Martha Wells (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Where to start. Part of me feels cheated, part of me feels entertained. It’s a decent novella, but steeply priced. I got it after enjoying the prequel in the Murderbot Diaries series, All Systems Red, hoping that the character would get expanded upon ...more
Mar 01, 2023 11:55PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Artificial Condition by Martha Wells. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Artificial Condition by Martha Wells <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Koen Martens rated a book really liked it Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A good read set against an all too realistic yet futuristic setting. The western world is dumping its waste elsewhere and China greedily takes the few bucks to process said waste at great cost to people and nature. Plenty of blame to go around, such ...more
Feb 22, 2023 08:00AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Waste Tide by Chen Qiufan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Koen Martens rated a book really liked it The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia by Ursula K. Le Guin	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Jan 26, 2023 12:57PM · like
Koen Martens finished reading Destroyer (Destroyer Trilogy #1) by Brian G. Turner (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 08, 2022 12:43PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Destroyer by Brian G. Turner. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Destroyer by Brian G. Turner <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Koen Martens liked Liz's review of Isolated Futures Omnibus: "This is a really nice collection of six short stories. As I worked my way through each of these unique stories I found myself more and more interested -- it's sci-fi mixed with mystery and thriller. Keep them coming, Koen -- you have a nice touch. I w" Read more of this review »
Dec 04, 2022 10:54PM · see review
Koen Martens liked Sara's review of Isolated Futures Omnibus: "First, I would like to say thank Goodreads for this book as I won a copy. I enjoyed reading this book because there are multiple stories that stand alone. I read this during hurricane Ian and it was great because I only had to focus on one small stor" Read more of this review »
Dec 04, 2022 10:54PM · see review
Koen Martens rated a book really liked it All Systems Red (The Murderbot Diaries, #1) by Martha Wells (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A relatively short but enjoyable read. The theme, getting into the mind of an artificial being usually regarded as a tool becoming more human, is not new and reminds me of, to name but one example, the Alchemy Wars series by Ian Trellis. Nonetheless, ...more
Dec 01, 2022 10:44PM · like · see review
Koen Martens is currently reading Destroyer (Destroyer Trilogy #1) by Brian G. Turner (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Dec 01, 2022 10:44PM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Destroyer by Brian G. Turner. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Destroyer by Brian G. Turner <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">