A.C. Flory's Blog, page 78
April 9, 2019
Review – The Prince’s Man by Deborah Jay
I gave Deborah Jay’s novel – The Prince’s Man – 5/5 stars and posted this review on both Goodreads and Amazon:
I’m not sure what I was expecting when I started reading ‘The Prince’s Man’, but the reality blew me away. The story is a grown up fantasy reminiscent of Robin Hobb’s Farseer series [which I also happen to love]. You’ll find Machiavellian politics, intrigue, loyalty, a hint of love, and a cast of characters you can relate to. Yes, they have their flaws, but don’t we all?
To my mind, watching the characters change and grow is at least half the fun. The other half is getting to know the world in which those characters live. In all types of speculative fiction, the world is as much of a ‘character’ as the characters themselves. Think how important the planet Arrakis is to the story of Dune.
As readers we want to step out of our everyday lives and get lost in another world. And the author does not disappoint. The otherness of The Prince’s Man is evident right from the start, but there are no boring info. dumps. We learn about the world in the same way we learn about the human characters, by watching the story unfold, a bit at a time.
And finally, I’d like to say something about the plot. It. Is. Not. Predictable. To me, that’s one of the book’s greatest strengths. I like to be surprised, and nothing puts me off more than ‘the same old same old’. In The Prince’s Man, the author kept me guessing right to the end.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book of the series, and I highly recommend this one to anyone who likes a story with real meat on its bones.
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2770933130
I’ve been horribly slack about posting reviews the last year or so, and for that I apologise. Diana Peach’s review of Nabatea reminded me of the impact our reviews have on the authors who write the books we read. I have posted some reviews on Amazon, but not enough. From here on out, I intend to update my Goodreads account with reviews of the books I’ve enjoyed the most. I read an awful lot so I can’t review everything, but I will do better than I have been doing todate. 
April 5, 2019
Resources for Writers – Reddit
I have read mentions of ‘Reddit’ for so long that I should know what it’s about, but I don’t. I’ve always been too busy, or lazy, to find out. This fabulous article is going to change all that:
Social Media is the place to ask questions and make connections. As a writer, many of the magazines I publish in or authors/editors I meet are via connections on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. One platform that I also visit for this purpose is Reddit.
Not only does it give an insight to the platform itself, it provides a list of ‘sub-reddits’ [think groups] that could be invaluable, especially for science fiction writers like me.
April 3, 2019
Indie Book Month — Promote Your Books
I met a lot of my closest online friends via books. I’ve also read a lot of wonderful books through my friends. Here’s hoping that Charles French’s generous initiative helps us all find new books, and new friends.
April 2, 2019
A review of Nabatea that almost made me cry
Forgive me if I reproduce this review in its entirety, but as a pantster, it’s validation of a sort I never expected to get:
Oooh, I loved this series, and now that it’s over, I’m suffering from a book hangover.
Nabatea is the final book in the Innerscape series. Book 1 primarily introduces the main character Miira Tahn and guides the reader through her entrance into the virtual world of Innerscape. During Book 2, sabotage, scheming, and political intrigue results in multiple victims including two people close to Miira. In Book 3, the search for truth commences and resolves amidst a cover-up that threatens Miira’s life.
The plot takes off quickly when Miira is confronted with disturbing information about the murders, and her prying questions raise alarms among those who want to hide the truth. A plot to silence her brings in two dedicated investigators who start gathering clues and unraveling the web of lies.
Miira is tenacious, a strong woman, but also vulnerable both physically and emotionally. Her character is compelling and consistent throughout the series, and I teetered on the edge of my seat as the danger to her life increased. Several pivotal new characters enter the action in this book, and though late in the overall story, the author pulled it off without a glitch. All characters are distinct, believable, and emotionally charged.
Flory did a marvelous job of tangling up the truth by loading the story with lies and misinterpretations. The unraveling of the events around the murders as well as the investigation into the cover-up required an intricate job of storytelling that was rather impressive. Several characters are investigating the truth simultaneously, and because they’re coming at it from different angles, their assumptions and conclusions are often erroneous and mismatched. I would recommend reading these books in a tight timeframe to help keep all the complex plot threads straight.
The worldbuilding is exceptional, the dialog natural, the writing and editing flawless. And the ending was highly satisfying as all of the threads tie up nicely. I will definitely read more of this author in the future.
Update April 4, 2019: I was so carried away that I totally forgot to add a link to the actual review. Here it is!
My thanks to Cage Dunn for reminding me. 
March 31, 2019
Active verbs, their use, and their limits
via Active verbs, their use, and their limits
Please click the link above to read the entire article. It is literally the best discussion of active verbs I’ve ever read. More importantly, it’s probably the only discussion of their limits I’ve ever read as well. All too often, fads replace craft on social media. ‘Show-don’t-Tell’ I’m looking at you!
In my not-so-humble opinion, the secret to good writing is to get the balance right. Non-stop action becomes boring after a while because there is no contrast. In visual terms, think of an image painted in nothing but black, charcoal and dark blue. Non-stop navel gazing suffers from the same affliction, as do sentences constructed of nothing but ‘action’ verbs.
The English language is incredibly rich, both in terms of vocabulary and grammatical forms. They’re all there to be used…when appropriate. A good craftsman would never throw away a perfectly good tool just because it’s no longer ‘popular’. The real trick is to become that good craftsman.
March 28, 2019
Devil in the Wind – Black Saturday
I’m not a poetry person, at least not normally, but I’m sitting here crying as I read this poem by Frank Prem. It’s about the Black Saturday fires that claimed 173 lives here in Victoria.
I was at home in Warrandyte that day. I’d sent the Offspring away, but I was at home with Dad and the animals because Dad had mild dementia and…I don’t think any of us really believed. I listened to 774 radio all day and some horrific reports were being phoned in, but we had the best roof sprinklers money could buy, and fire-resistant shutters. I was sure we’d be fine. And we didn’t really believe.
The next day, the reports started coming in and finally, we believed. That’s the background. Here is the poem that’s brought me to tears.
evidence to the commission of enquiry: all in the ark for a while
well
you have to go back
to the chaos of that time
back to february
as the day got on
we realised we were in strife
because the thing was bigger and hotter
and faster and more unpredictable
it was more everything really
and we’d started to get word of huge losses
in other places around and about
people
property
animals
whole towns
so we were head-down-and-bum-up
and worried
about what was going to happen next
anyway
out of the smoke came a sort of convoy
led by a horse whose halter was held
by a woman driving a ute
in the back of the ute
a dog was running around
like a mad thing
after that came another car
with a float and two more horses
next was a vehicle that a police fellow
was driving
he’d been up in a chopper
trying to winch people out
but the wind got too big
so he dropped down and helped
by driving the car
with whoever he could get into it
then there were a couple of deer
that jumped out of the bush
when the cavalcade went past a clearing
and a pair of koalas
and three kangaroos
and some lizards
all running as part of the convoy
they scattered pretty quick
when the procession of them
emerged from the smoke
and the flames
but it was all in together
for a while
It was ‘all in together’ for a while after Black Saturday too. We grieved, and donated food, and money, and hay because the animals were starving, and because we were alive and so many were not.
The love has disappeared now, but for a while we had it and I thank Frank Prem for helping me remember. Parts of this post will become my review on Amazon because this is my memory of the devil-wind.
March 26, 2019
Democracy and the Bell Curve
This is the bell curve:
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https://www.statisticshowto.datasciencecentral.com/bell-curve/
It’s a statistical concept that says information about everything will create the shape of a bell curve if you can sample all of the population. Here, population is defined as whatever it is that you’re looking at. [Click the link above to read a more precise definition of a bell curve].
Let me give you an example. This is a rough spread of colours. It’s not accurate but bear with me:
[image error]
Now, if you could ask every single person on earth which was their favourite colour, you’d end up with a smallish number of people at either end of the bell curve choosing black or white. Most people, however, would choose one of the colours in between those two extremes.
These are the people in the middle of that bell curve.
These are the people commonly referred to as the ‘silent majority’. These are the people who ultimately make or break the system of government we call democracy.
Of course, present day democracy isn’t ‘real’ democracy. It’s representational democracy, meaning we elect a tiny elite to do all the voting for a set period of time. We-the-people are lucky if our single vote has any influence on who is elected to vote for us. I
n case it isn’t completely obvious, I loathe representational democracy, and that’s despite living in a country that does it better than most. In Australia’s version, everyone of voting age has to vote, whether they want to or not. In theory at least, our votes can be expressed as a bell curve because the whole population is included in the result – i.e. some rabid right wingers on one side, some rabid left wingers on the other, and everybody else somewhere in the middle.
The net effect of having all those middies voting is that the power of the two extremes is diluted.
In countries that don’t have compulsory voting, the silent majority largely don’t vote. That means the two extremes are the ones who care enough to vote. And that means the power of the extremes is not moderated by ordinary, everyday voters with ordinary, everyday wants and needs.
I have understood the power of the bell curve for over 40 years. It is the reason I believe that representational democracy will, one day, be superseded by a more direct, more democratic voting system. In this barely imaginable future, ordinary people will be allowed to influence the direction of politics in a more meaningful way. Instead of only getting a say once every 4 years, they’ll have the option of voting directly on issues that concern them. Think social media or #auspol but with teeth. No more electing ambitious, professional bastards politicians to do our voting for us!
That’s the upside of direct voting, but there’s a downside as well, two in fact. People who don’t think direct voting is a good idea usually point to ‘populism’ as an example of how real majority rule can go horribly wrong. And they do have a point. While only the extremes get to have their say, direct rule of any sort can only lead to disaster.
But…we’re now smart enough to factor the ‘extremes’ into any direct voting system we devise. For example, let’s say we have a direct voting referendum on something emotional, like say a new flag. We could set up a system whereby a referendum would only pass [and hence become law] if a majority of at least 95% of the total population actually voted, one way or the other. This would ensure that direct voting faithfully reflected the wants and needs of the real majority.
Ah, but what about security, you say.
At the moment, security is the single biggest issue holding us back from direct voting, but I believe that blockchain technology, or something like it, will eventually make direct voting a viable and secure possibility.
I am still playing through all the issues in my head, but I honestly believe that one day, we will be like those ancient Athenians who first came up with the concept of democracy. It does feel weird though to think that it’s already been well over 2,000 years since democracy was first attempted.
Wouldn’t it be nice if we were the first to finally get it right?
Meeks
March 25, 2019
1193 words!
[image error]
I’ve had a brilliant day and just wanted to share. According to StoryBox, I ended the day up by 1193 words, but as deleted words are subtracted from the running total, I figure I’m probably closer to 1500 new words. Good words. Action words. lol
I recognized some time ago that Kaati was more of an ‘action’ character than the Blue so it behooved me to let it do warrior-type stuff, or at least, action-hero type stuff. And I have. Such fun.
March 22, 2019
Rats, rats and more rats! Nice ones. :)
Disclaimer: I don’t like rats, but these ones could make me change my mind. I was blown away by how smart they are. The video is about their tricks. Seriously amazing:
But what got me onto rats in the first place? This photo:
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At first I thought they were toys, staged to look like little musicians. Then I followed the link to its home and discovered that they were real!
Please visit this amazing site to see all the photos:
Discover The Photographs Of Artists Rats By Ellen van Deellen
Have a great weekend!
Meeks
March 19, 2019
Pamukkale thermal pools in Turkey
I needed some cheering up and found this amazing image on jigsawplanet.com:
[image error]
The caption read only ‘Turkey’ so I didn’t like my chances of learning more. Wrong. This place is famous with a capital ‘F’ and, as you’ve probably gathered, it’s called Pamukkale.
I’m not doing free advertising for this tourist company, just love their photos, particularly the sunset one:
[image error]
Now I’m off to bed to dream of flying to Pamukkale in my Lear jet…:)
Night, night,
Meeks
