Martyn Stanley's Blog, page 5
September 24, 2014
Featured on ReadfulThings Blog!
I just got featured on Readfulthings Blog!
I gave a couple of shout-outs too! Go check if I mentioned you! ;)
http://readfulthingsblog.com/2014/09/...
I gave a couple of shout-outs too! Go check if I mentioned you! ;)
http://readfulthingsblog.com/2014/09/...
September 23, 2014
Deathsworn Arc : The Last Dragon Slayer - FREE to download!
New blog post about this here:-
http://martynstanley.com/?p=101
Explaining where it is free and why I finally decided to bite the bullet and give book 1 away.
It's free everywhere now, so you have no excuse! Pick up a copy today!
The Last Dragon Slayer
I will be releasing 'The Blood Queen' on paperback and other digital formats once I've finalized the current version 1.2
Expect it to be a couple of weeks.
http://martynstanley.com/?p=101
Explaining where it is free and why I finally decided to bite the bullet and give book 1 away.
It's free everywhere now, so you have no excuse! Pick up a copy today!
The Last Dragon Slayer
I will be releasing 'The Blood Queen' on paperback and other digital formats once I've finalized the current version 1.2
Expect it to be a couple of weeks.
September 19, 2014
FREE on Amazon.com 'Deathsworn Arc: The Last Dragon Slayer'
It's a scary thing, but I think the time is right.
The Last Dragon Slayer
It's now FREE on Amazon.com! Please, please, if your interested in fantasy that is a little bit different, if you can tolerate a story with an element of atheism in it - please pick it up!
I'd really like to pick up some more ratings and reviews - especially if you like it!
I'm not sure how long it will be free for, but it will definitely be free for a while.
Pick it up here:-
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Dragon-Sla...
The Last Dragon Slayer
It's now FREE on Amazon.com! Please, please, if your interested in fantasy that is a little bit different, if you can tolerate a story with an element of atheism in it - please pick it up!
I'd really like to pick up some more ratings and reviews - especially if you like it!
I'm not sure how long it will be free for, but it will definitely be free for a while.
Pick it up here:-
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Dragon-Sla...
September 18, 2014
FREE at Barnes & Noble for the Nook!
The Last Dragon SlayerIs now FREE to download for your Nook at Barnes and Noble
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death...
The Verkreath Horror is also available on Nook.
The Blood Queen will follow soon!
September 17, 2014
New Blog Post!
I've put a new post up on my blog. It's about the British Education System - I make a fun analogy:-
http://martynstanley.com/?p=85
Oh Deathsworn Arc: The Last Dragon Slayer is available FREE at the moment! On both Smashwords and Kobo!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
http://martynstanley.com/?p=85
Oh Deathsworn Arc: The Last Dragon Slayer is available FREE at the moment! On both Smashwords and Kobo!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
September 14, 2014
Deathsworn Arc : The Last Dragon Slayer - FREE!
I've made book 1 free for a spell, I'm really hoping to pick up some reviews more than anything.
It's currently on Kobo and Smashwords as a Free Download. Please feel free to ask Amazon to price match!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Dragon-Sla...
If you want to ask Amazon to price-match, please use the 'Tell us about a lower price' link at the end of the Product details box!
Thanks!
It's currently on Kobo and Smashwords as a Free Download. Please feel free to ask Amazon to price match!
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view...
http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/eboo...
http://www.amazon.com/Last-Dragon-Sla...
If you want to ask Amazon to price-match, please use the 'Tell us about a lower price' link at the end of the Product details box!
Thanks!
September 1, 2014
Brael Truthseeker is the Richard Dawkins of Fantasy Fiction.
'Brael Truthseeker is the Richard Dawkins of Fantasy Fiction.'
This thought occurred to me yesterday. Richard Dawkins is very much a Brael Truthseeker of House Krazic. An odd thought you might think, and it wasn't intentional - but I think there are real parallels between the author and biologist and the fictional character.
Let me explain; I was introduced to Richard Dawkins through his book The God Delusion. I bought in at Manchester or Birmingham air port on a whim, whilst waiting in the departure lounge. I read it and really enjoyed it, I'd been questioning my vague beliefs and leaning towards atheism for a while. Reading the book felt like a pat on the back with a reassuring 'You're right' whispered in the ear by professor Dawkins. Well, maybe a shout in the ear - the book has some definite hatred and criticism of religions. It's filled with angst and vitriol for theism in general. The tone of the book really left me thinking, 'Wow! Dawkins really hates religion! I wonder where all that angst came from!?'
I think was an atheist before I read The God Delusion but it confirmed me I think. Science of the Discworld and other science books helped of course - the difference with The God Delusion was that it said, 'It's okay to be an atheist.' and it said, 'Don't give special privileges to religious beliefs. If they are ridiculous, treat them so - even if they are labeled 'religious'.
Having gained an interest in science and having confirmed my atheism. I decided to look into Dawkins earlier work. I was actually bought as a gift 'The Selfish Gene' one Christmas and read it cover to cover in a very short time. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but it was not what I was expecting.
In The Selfish Gene there was literally no mention of atheism or anti-theism at all. Certainly not with any intent. It was more a succinct and carefully crafted argument that evolution and natural selection were being examined from the wrong perspective, and that we should treat genes as the entities vying for survival using creatures, or organism's as survival machines. I can see why it raised eyebrows upon it's release. I think it was a new way of thinking. Dawkin's examples of evolutionary stable states within a population were fascinating and they made a compelling argument for how morality could come about in the absence of religion. The examples of altruistic behavior in non-human species reinforced this.
The actual part of the book which I think caused offense was probably the section on the 'god meme'. It's a tiny part of the book, but one which theists might find offensive. I don't recall any intense hatred of religion written in it, but more a matter-of-fact discussion on how the 'god meme' evolved and propagated.
I actually think if theists has ignored The Selfish Gene and just not mentioned it, Dawkin's wouldn't have become the figurehead for atheism which he became. When you read The God Delusion it's filled by a large chunk with rebuttals for theists attacks on his earlier work. If they'd ignored The Selfish Gene then he wouldn't have had the ammunition to write The God Delusion! I don't know about The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design I haven't read it yet - it's on my to read list, but I suspect it only exists because theists threw their arms up at The Selfish Gene
I love that we can make fun of religion. It feels liberating to think that religious beliefs can be ridiculed. This is my favorite song mocking religion:-
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendly...
So Dawkins, was an accidental anti-theist in my view. I may be wrong, but I don't see a lot of anti-religion vitriol in The Selfish Gene.
The same is true of Brael Truthseeker. In The Last Dragon Slayer he's been left cursed unable to talk about 'The Truth'. He's really portrayed as a character who society turned on because he discovered something society didn't like.
In The Verkreath Horror his curse is partially removed, allowing him to explain why he was cursed. In the story, Brael was able to do something which in reality we can't really do - disprove the existence of god. In a world where people took the existence of a god and an afterlife for granted, this has massive ramifications and none of the characters truly want to accept it. Their attitudes to death, morality and sense of purpose change through this revelation. It's a dangerous truth.
In The Blood Queen Brael makes his way to civilization. The church obviously knows about his 'Truth' and the effects it had on gravian society - hence the desire to shut him up. They stand to lose a lot, if Brael can disprove the existence of god - their livelihood, their status, and more. There is a real fear, rallying soldiers to battle is easy when telling them a glorious death in battle guarantees them a place in paradise.
The effects of 'The Truth' are potentially huge. What would happen in our world - if we could prove without a shadow of any doubt, that there was no god, no allah, no vishnu, no zeus, no odin...
I think the world would go through a difficult time. In the 1980's you might have thought the influence of religion was diminishing, but as in Torea, when religion and faith is under attack - it fights back, so does religion in out world. As science answers more and more questions, leaving less room for god - religion fights back.
I think it's fighting for it's very existence at the moment, the scary thing is, it appears to be winning. Western, rational muslims being radicalized and heading to join Isis in creating an Islamic State or Caliphate - how can this happen? Living in a society with checks and balances, justice and equality, with a welfare state and a policy of tolerance and inclusion - to live in a state where medieval rules apply and people are governed by barbarism and violence? How can people want this? It makes no sense to me, I don't see any mention of Isis supporters of the female gender. That isn't surprising, it would be more surprising if you did - it would infer women would want to exist as second class citizens, volunteer to undergo FGM and accept living their lives under a shroud.
Religion is fighting back and fighting back hard. I fear for the world, that's partly why I wrote 'The Deathsworn Arc' it's a way of expressing my fear and appealing for a more secular, rational and reasonable world, where people are able to live their lives, free from the shackles of religious oppression.
We should be thankful to the Brael Truthseekers and Richard Dawkins of this world, people are willing to fight for a better, secular world - based on reason and logic, rather than fear and superstition.
This thought occurred to me yesterday. Richard Dawkins is very much a Brael Truthseeker of House Krazic. An odd thought you might think, and it wasn't intentional - but I think there are real parallels between the author and biologist and the fictional character.
Let me explain; I was introduced to Richard Dawkins through his book The God Delusion. I bought in at Manchester or Birmingham air port on a whim, whilst waiting in the departure lounge. I read it and really enjoyed it, I'd been questioning my vague beliefs and leaning towards atheism for a while. Reading the book felt like a pat on the back with a reassuring 'You're right' whispered in the ear by professor Dawkins. Well, maybe a shout in the ear - the book has some definite hatred and criticism of religions. It's filled with angst and vitriol for theism in general. The tone of the book really left me thinking, 'Wow! Dawkins really hates religion! I wonder where all that angst came from!?'
I think was an atheist before I read The God Delusion but it confirmed me I think. Science of the Discworld and other science books helped of course - the difference with The God Delusion was that it said, 'It's okay to be an atheist.' and it said, 'Don't give special privileges to religious beliefs. If they are ridiculous, treat them so - even if they are labeled 'religious'.
Having gained an interest in science and having confirmed my atheism. I decided to look into Dawkins earlier work. I was actually bought as a gift 'The Selfish Gene' one Christmas and read it cover to cover in a very short time. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, but it was not what I was expecting.
In The Selfish Gene there was literally no mention of atheism or anti-theism at all. Certainly not with any intent. It was more a succinct and carefully crafted argument that evolution and natural selection were being examined from the wrong perspective, and that we should treat genes as the entities vying for survival using creatures, or organism's as survival machines. I can see why it raised eyebrows upon it's release. I think it was a new way of thinking. Dawkin's examples of evolutionary stable states within a population were fascinating and they made a compelling argument for how morality could come about in the absence of religion. The examples of altruistic behavior in non-human species reinforced this.
The actual part of the book which I think caused offense was probably the section on the 'god meme'. It's a tiny part of the book, but one which theists might find offensive. I don't recall any intense hatred of religion written in it, but more a matter-of-fact discussion on how the 'god meme' evolved and propagated.
I actually think if theists has ignored The Selfish Gene and just not mentioned it, Dawkin's wouldn't have become the figurehead for atheism which he became. When you read The God Delusion it's filled by a large chunk with rebuttals for theists attacks on his earlier work. If they'd ignored The Selfish Gene then he wouldn't have had the ammunition to write The God Delusion! I don't know about The Blind Watchmaker: Why the Evidence of Evolution Reveals a Universe Without Design I haven't read it yet - it's on my to read list, but I suspect it only exists because theists threw their arms up at The Selfish Gene
I love that we can make fun of religion. It feels liberating to think that religious beliefs can be ridiculed. This is my favorite song mocking religion:-
http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendly...
So Dawkins, was an accidental anti-theist in my view. I may be wrong, but I don't see a lot of anti-religion vitriol in The Selfish Gene.
The same is true of Brael Truthseeker. In The Last Dragon Slayer he's been left cursed unable to talk about 'The Truth'. He's really portrayed as a character who society turned on because he discovered something society didn't like.
In The Verkreath Horror his curse is partially removed, allowing him to explain why he was cursed. In the story, Brael was able to do something which in reality we can't really do - disprove the existence of god. In a world where people took the existence of a god and an afterlife for granted, this has massive ramifications and none of the characters truly want to accept it. Their attitudes to death, morality and sense of purpose change through this revelation. It's a dangerous truth.
In The Blood Queen Brael makes his way to civilization. The church obviously knows about his 'Truth' and the effects it had on gravian society - hence the desire to shut him up. They stand to lose a lot, if Brael can disprove the existence of god - their livelihood, their status, and more. There is a real fear, rallying soldiers to battle is easy when telling them a glorious death in battle guarantees them a place in paradise.
The effects of 'The Truth' are potentially huge. What would happen in our world - if we could prove without a shadow of any doubt, that there was no god, no allah, no vishnu, no zeus, no odin...
I think the world would go through a difficult time. In the 1980's you might have thought the influence of religion was diminishing, but as in Torea, when religion and faith is under attack - it fights back, so does religion in out world. As science answers more and more questions, leaving less room for god - religion fights back.
I think it's fighting for it's very existence at the moment, the scary thing is, it appears to be winning. Western, rational muslims being radicalized and heading to join Isis in creating an Islamic State or Caliphate - how can this happen? Living in a society with checks and balances, justice and equality, with a welfare state and a policy of tolerance and inclusion - to live in a state where medieval rules apply and people are governed by barbarism and violence? How can people want this? It makes no sense to me, I don't see any mention of Isis supporters of the female gender. That isn't surprising, it would be more surprising if you did - it would infer women would want to exist as second class citizens, volunteer to undergo FGM and accept living their lives under a shroud.
Religion is fighting back and fighting back hard. I fear for the world, that's partly why I wrote 'The Deathsworn Arc' it's a way of expressing my fear and appealing for a more secular, rational and reasonable world, where people are able to live their lives, free from the shackles of religious oppression.
We should be thankful to the Brael Truthseekers and Richard Dawkins of this world, people are willing to fight for a better, secular world - based on reason and logic, rather than fear and superstition.
August 23, 2014
The Last Dragon Slayer - Reduced!
At least for a short spell, I've reduced the price on 'Deathsworn Arc: The Last Dragon Slayer' to as low as Amazon will let me!
Go grab it now before I change my mind!
:)
Go grab it now before I change my mind!
:)
August 18, 2014
A Great Review!
I got another great review of book 2 'The Verkreath Horror' :-
http://bookshelfreflections.com/2014/...
I've been off the radar for a bit - on holiday... However, against the odds - I got book 3 out before I went!
Yay!
Already a dozen people have picked up book 3:-
The Blood Queen
Available UK here:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Queen-D...
US Here:-
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Queen-Dea...
I'm really pleased with book 3, it's long it's complicated - but I think it's good! My long suffering wife thinks it's the best book, I just need to wait for an unbiased opinion!
I am a little burned out though. I got a bit of a boost in sales with a Kindle Countdown deal, but things have slowed down again. I've had off and on eye-strain for days and I'm working on perfecting the opening chapters of book 4. I also had a new idea!
I now have an urban fantasy series and a sci-fi series on the back-burner.
I wish I could do this full-time, I love telling stories, there's something intoxicating about it. It's addictive, if only I had more time :(
Martyn
http://bookshelfreflections.com/2014/...
I've been off the radar for a bit - on holiday... However, against the odds - I got book 3 out before I went!
Yay!
Already a dozen people have picked up book 3:-
The Blood Queen
Available UK here:-
http://www.amazon.co.uk/Blood-Queen-D...
US Here:-
http://www.amazon.com/Blood-Queen-Dea...
I'm really pleased with book 3, it's long it's complicated - but I think it's good! My long suffering wife thinks it's the best book, I just need to wait for an unbiased opinion!
I am a little burned out though. I got a bit of a boost in sales with a Kindle Countdown deal, but things have slowed down again. I've had off and on eye-strain for days and I'm working on perfecting the opening chapters of book 4. I also had a new idea!
I now have an urban fantasy series and a sci-fi series on the back-burner.
I wish I could do this full-time, I love telling stories, there's something intoxicating about it. It's addictive, if only I had more time :(
Martyn
July 28, 2014
Eye-strain, what a pain!
Just when I seemed to be getting there and thought I stood a cat in hell's chance of finishing book 3, i go and over-do it. I spent most of Saturday trying not to focus on anything close to me and wearing reading glasses. I've never had such bad eye-strain, the constant frantic, writing, reading, re-writing, re-reading, editing and so on - ground me to a halt on Saturday.
My eyes are a BIT better now - but not much. I will try to finish before I go on holiday, but I can't promise it. As things are - it may have to wait until I return :(
Martyn
My eyes are a BIT better now - but not much. I will try to finish before I go on holiday, but I can't promise it. As things are - it may have to wait until I return :(
Martyn
