19 Comments

Wonderful writing, great dialogue and an intriguing story laden with puzzles for our intrepid explorer to solve. It’s all here. However, all I could think of when I got to the end was, “He’s got his own action figure??!!” 😆

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Thanks, Daniel. Glad you enjoy it. Guess who else has their own action figure deluxe set? 😅

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Ahh, excellent, it continues. I really liked learning things here from Samuel's perspective. The reader gets the information as Samuel is doing so. Works really well.

“I must have missed the button brief—” really tickled me. You've captured that sense of Bond-like off-the-cuff humour here 😄

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Maybe I need to be less cryptic! 😅 But all will become clear... soon. Or so I hope. Not to clear, just enough. Glad the humour part landed! It's a satire take after all, or aims to be. Thanks, Nathan!

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The level of crytpic-ness is just right for me. There's drip-feed of information coming from that dialogue, but it still leaves just enough information to have a carrot dangled in front of the reader.

The best kind of page-turner! (If only there were pages here, not just scrolling ...)

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There shall be pages eventually! Part 1, 2 and 3 will be around 30k words

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Oh snap - those pills are tic-tacs?! Looks like Samuel is screwed even more than we thought. What a turn of events. I also concur - why hasn't Hasbro called yet? Carter is such a hunk - a mix of Indie and Bond.

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Those Beaumonts, can't trust them about anything, probably aren't even proper tic-tacs, so no name ripoff. Cheapskates. Yeah, Hasbro, needs to get those action figures done pronto! Christmas is coming!

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Hahah. Hasbro has been so bro. Create your own Hasbro!

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And we shall call it Hasnobro... no wait. Hassis... no... Hasbrosis... uh, sounds dangerous.

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Roflmao Hasbrosis-23

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I want an Alexander Ipfelkofer action figure with laser buttons! Laser buttons! How cool. This story has my head spinning, Alex, but I am sorting it out and sticking with it. I like the nasty Erich character. I like this: "He groaned, inhaling the damp odour of mould, machine oil and grease." That olfactory clue set me right down on the cold, damp floor next to Carter. Eeeuw...

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😅 Those Laser Buttons require 00 license, I'm afraid. Glad you found it enjoyable, head-spinning notwithstanding. It will all become clear... I hope! :)

And about these action figures... someone call Hasbro!

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Great dialogue. Energetic prose!

Really like the ideas laden in this: "A cosmic union, a sea of stars, birth of galaxies, a symphony of light and darkness, and he felt its unbridled rage, searing through him like lightning and with it came fear, fear of vanishing into that light, fear of what he would become, what he could do."

Also enjoy the double-sided nature of things. Which side are they are on?

I'll also say that I like the belt-like symbol at the end which appears to be glittering as one scrolls down the screen. I haven't noticed that before. :)

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Thanks, Kate! yes, Carter is in for some cataclysmic change, Will it be the great unifier?

As to which side? Excellent question! Which is the right side? Is there a right side? Or do we have to choose between the "lesser of two weevils?" Or is there a choice at all? Stimulate speculation, it's what I like in stories.

The Carter dinkus glitters? Oooh? It doesn't do that here, now I want it to sparkle! 😅 /goes to make an animated gif...

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Catching up on my Dr Carter. Sturdy tweed indeed.

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Thanks much, Peter! Never underestimate double 0 tweed!

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I continue to greatly enjoy your writing style, the range of sensory details, like the hum of the turbine and the scent of pretzels. It really helps immerse the reader. The dialogue is sharp and colorful while revealing the character motivations and relationships. You also keep us curious with the plot intrigue by hinting at the larger mysteries (which feel like a combination of supernatural and scientific elements).

I only noticed the audio option after reading! I listened to it out of curiosity. I'm really impressed by the lengths you went to for this to feel immersive. The narration of multiple characters, each giving a fairly distinct feel. Even the additional details such as the voice talking over radio. Your effort shows!

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Thanks, David. Much appreciated and great to hear the larger mysteries are picked up on! NASA's X-Point (and Zero-Point Field) research was one of the scientific points of inspiration and adding a supernatural element to it felt "natural."

Glad you found the audio immersive, I added it after the email went out, maybe that's why it was a bit hidden. I had more sound effects but decided to leave it at a minimum this time. Something to add for the full audiobook version, perhaps.

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