Embargo | Sci-fi Short Audiobook
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- Опубліковано 20 вер 2024
- "They are killers first and tricksters second. You never know about the trick until you’re dead."
Thanks to all the viewers who voted in last months’s audience-selected topic poll!
Written toward the winning topic: “Bioships & Space Whales”
For a thorough breakdown of the topic as only Isaac Arthur can do, check out (Space Whales): • Space Whales & Bioships
With a definite thanks to Issac for the subtopic ("The Phosphorous Problem"):
• The Fermi Paradox: The...
More on this project: www.rowelit.co...
If you prefer to read rather than listen or would like to read along, full text of this and all my Sci-Fi Weeklies are available though my Substack: perowe.substac...
perowe.substac...
Sci-Fi Collections: www.rowelit.co...
Support (greatly appreciated): www.rowelit.co...
Now on Twitter: / perowe4
For the serious writers out there: Mechanics of Fiction Writing Series / @mechanicsoffiction
About this project: I am writing a weekly sci-fi story to the theme of Isaac Arthur’s SFIA videos. It’s a crazy challenging timeframe to create a good short story in, and to do so publicly is even more daunting. I’m just hoping some good stories come out of this, I have fun writing them, and most importantly, the audience enjoys!
Thanks for stopping by!
(Neither this channel nor this video are affiliated with or endorsed by Isaac Arthur or SFIA, the author’s just a big fan)
![[ SCI-FI ] GREAT WALL OF MARS BY ALASTAIR REYNOLDS [ FULL AUDIOBOOK ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yLDdunQvEAo/mqdefault.jpg)
![[ SCI-FI ] GREAT WALL OF MARS BY ALASTAIR REYNOLDS [ FULL AUDIOBOOK ]](/img/tr.png)
I negotiate commercial contracts for a living. I never thought someone could make contract negotiations into an interesting scifi story, yet here we are. Cheers!
Thanks, Montie! Doubtless there are fewer space whales and thermal mines in your day-to-day 😂
Delightful short story. Elegant in construction and so enjoyable. A credit to the author.
Thanks, Darrel! Glad you enjoyed it 😃
“Well played.” Mr. Rowe.
Cheers, Barron! Only game I really want to play every day.
Absolutely brilliant. Thank you. What a storey to be introduced to your work. Joseph Conrad said " a work that aspires, however humbly, to the condition of art should carry it's justification in every line"
I do believe you work to a sandline like this.
Thanks, Gibbon! Glad you enjoyed it 😃
What a great, quote! I hadn't heard that one, and I've studied Conrad a little. I used to teach college-level writers, and at the start of the semester, to my fiction students, I would play a video of Isabella Selder playing Bach, ask them how long they thought she practiced, and let them know that, as one of Robert DeNiro's characters once said, "That is the discipline."
Fantastic story! One to stand with the greats.
Thanks, Goofball 😂 Glad you enjoyed it 🙏
Absolutely loved this story. I spend the majority of my free time playing strategy games and this one hit home for me.
Cheers, Patrick! Mind that left flank against Etteran opponents :)
One of the best. Worthwhile endeavour to continue.
Thanks, Steve! 😃
Perfectly paced, amazing writing as always.
Thanks, Robin!
Really enjoyed this one! It's cool seeing the timelines of some of the immortal characters in your stories intertwine with the mortal ones. The contrast between their timescales and what motivates them is really in really interesting.
Thanks, Erik. Glad you liked it! It's funny how stories bring us to places we might not otherwise go. That contrast really fascinated me too when writing "Dark Swarm," and it is definitely something that needs to be probed a bit more. One of the many things I love about fiction is the way it can ask questions you didn't even know you had. We'll see how it develops!
Keep getting better!
Thanks, Thomas! That is the goal every week.
Wonderful. Just wonderful. ❤
Cheers, Jason! Glad you liked it.
original is an understatement, thank you for a very entertaining story.
Thanks, Charles!
Another WOW from me.
Great story, well told.
Cheers, Karl! 😃🙏
I thought the Dresens recur or it it just a similar name, perhaps.
Phew!!! I thought Thursday would never get hear. Gray
I agree. Listening to Foundation is the only way I made it!
Trust me, it gets here fast on my end 😃
Thanks, Gray!
@@jobethk588 Love Foundation!
I worked out Vendringer was meta-gaming, I thought it was alienation of everyone again the Trask but turned out he his meta-strategy had meta-strategy.
Cheers, Martin! He was a tricky character who surprised me as the story went along too.
Great story. I really enjoyed the feel of chess and the art of war wrapped into it. As well as the utilitarian space whales.
Thanks, SC! Glad you liked it. Initially, I was thinking about having the supposedly insentient whales start to become conscious, and then dilemma about forcing them to work in an asteroid field where they constantly get injured. And I think that could be a fine story, but it kinda felt very Star Trek TNG. Sometimes the themes are the main plot element, sometimes the main plot element, by necessity, places them in the background a little. Once Vennegor showed up, he really took control of the story. Great suggestion!
@@RoweLit I think it worked great and was a another unique story. If you had gone with your other idea it would have been good just not great. A tribute is one thing, cliché is a whole other thing. I for one am grateful that you're not a star trek writer lol. Maybe the bio ships in the story are referred to as space whales for more the human psyche than the ships themselves. Some comfort for their creators, stuck out in the middle of no where living for centuries. A future idea for them could always be an engineered virus. Perhaps a group could have mistaken the ships to be in fact sentient. Creating a virus to control them and it not having the intended effects. Maybe it does nothing, kills them or creates the very sentient that they entered to control. Ether way I would love to see the ships pop up again from time to time. Maybe as a retrofitted cargo hauler or a passenger transport. They are in your universe now. I also wanted to say I was surprised how well you can integrate ideas into your universe like this. It feels natural, that is more difficult than most people think. Have a great weekend and thanks again for sharing your wonderful work.
@@sanecanadian2351 I may do a talk on the Mechanics channel about integrating ideas. Really it boils down to asking the questions who would be affected by this and how, and then finding the most interesting story of how those situations play out. Here, it was the question why would you need a bioship/what would they be good for, and the short answer was self-healing in a harsh environment, then it developed from there.
I'd like to think we'll revisit a lot of these themes/characters/places when the time is right.
Cheers, SC! Enjoy yours as well.
@@RoweLit Sounds good. I'm using your other channel for homeschooling lol. Family and friends are coming over so busy busy.
That was fvkin AWESOME. I luuuuved that story
Thanks, Af! Glad to hear it! 😃
Always enjoy your stories
Thanks, Revana! So glad to hear it 😃🙏
great picture!
Thanks, Felicity!
At about 120 words a minute for a speaking pace, I am floored by how much you write in a week. Do you read and record in a single sitting? Also, what made you decide to take up this mantle of delivering free audio literature?
Hi, Francis! I write my stories usually over four or five days, and I would even consider reading/recording part of the editing process, as I often make a few subtle changes as I record., The goal is usually to record in a single sitting, but I started having vocal struggles a few months back, and am working my way back to getting the raw audio done in one sitting again with the help of some vocal coaching. There were a lot of reasons I started publishing my work here--building an audience, reaching people, sharing my passion for sci-fi and fiction more generally. It was something that felt right to try and still feels right to keep going! Grateful you're listening, Francis!
PE Rowe is one of the greats.
Grreat visual!
👋👋👋👋👋
Thanks, Vicki. I definitely liked this one as well!
You write such clever stories!
Thank you, Susan 🙏You write such nice comments 😃
Wow amazing story! Beware a patient enemy...
Thanks, Balrog! I'll be careful...
One of the best story yet!
Glad you liked it!
Excellent! Thank you.
Cheers, Marianne!
Great story! Topic idea, space pets!
Thanks, Chris! That's a great one that hasn't come up yet. I can see that in a poll soon for sure 👍
Embargo - after listening 6 or 7 times - is hands down my favorite. Any chance of running into the 4 main characters again?
Wow, thanks, Erik! Glad you enjoyed this one 😃 There's always a chance, but I'm not sure when/how soon. A lot of stories have been coming around again lately, so maybe sooner than we know 🤔
Absolutely brilliant !:-)
Cheers, Barry! Something about those audience-selected topics gets me inspired 😃
Your tales would make a base for great role playing games....
Thanks, Scott. That's not my wheelhouse for sure, but if someone with that inclination were inspired in some way, I'd love to see where it could go 🤔 I'm sure it won't be long before somebody asks me how to play Sabaca 😄 I think the rules are similar to that game in Star Wars where the pieces bodyslam each other, only with sticks 🤣
Good one, really good one.
Thanks, Mario 🙏
What a wonderful writer you are. I am getting through every one of your pieces.
Thanks Ed! So glad you're enjoying. Many more to come!
Wonderful
Cheers, greyghost!
My dear friend thank you for another great story. Is Vinegar based around the WW2 General Vinegar Joe Stilwell? He was a salty clever dog. If not can you shed any in sight in to any influences in this character? The T
Poor Trasp kind of remind me of the cold war soviets. Did you ever tell who started the war by introducing the deadly nanites in the wagon wheel or cog story? I thought it was the good okd wizard of Athos. But I am probably wrong on that issue. Thanks again!
Cheers, Todd! Glad you liked it. There's no specific inspiration for Vennegor. There are a lot of clever, clever generals through the ages, and I would say that though I've studied both World Wars a fair amount, I'm definitely more well read in the Roman and Greek traditions in warfare (or at least I was long ago). So there's definitely inspiration, but it's more of a spirit of many than a single one.
The deeper forces behind the war weren't revealed in "Age of Deception," just a glimpse of the origin. Carolina's working on it feverishly with the help of some clever friends, but it's a question that may take a while to unearth...
@@RoweLit well sometimes the fog of war leads to better stories than a disgruntled nanite tech sabotaging a co worker work resulting in a war thru a black swan or is it black flag event. But then again the tragic war from an imbelic playing a prank fits will with just how stupid war actually is in real life.
Always eager to see your next work my friend.
Yeah that one was really good.
Cheers, S Dv. Glad you enjoyed it!
Excellent
😃
Cobalt are w-les!
Dang embargo 😮
Cheers, Mark!
Keep writing.
Thanks, Eric! That's the plan 😃
@@RoweLit Good 😎🙏
Mark CEN CA here I am 😮
👀
So aholes win. Didn’t care for this one.
Sometimes they do, yes, 😃
Please get back to the whiskey chaos
Coming right up, Eric! 😃 I try to do one a month. I've got one I'm editing now for upload tomorrow morning (Ep. 8), an origin story for Sosh (shooting for this Thursday) and one next month for the "Cyborg Armies" theme.