Got it to trash it, but something strange happened...

Reviewer Fred had this to say about Magnum Thrax and the Amusement Park of Doom:

"Now this is one strange and awesome book. This book reminded me of "Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse" by Victor Gishler. It is unabashedly over the top and as weird as you can get. If it was made into a movie it would probably be Directed by Mel Brooks, in the vein of "Space Balls", "Flesh Gordan" "Barbarella" and "Ice Pirates". Beneath it all is a very sound plot that plays out well right up to the end. I got this book prepared to rip it to pieces but instead must praise it as a nice bit of fun satire! Is this book for everyone??? No but for the ones who get it, YES."

Kirkus actually links to Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse from their Magnum Thrax review. Go-Go Girls is a fabulous piece of pop-pulp sci-fi, so that's a plus.

Fred's review is a few years old now, but I wanted to note it because in the review title he says: 'Got this one so I could trash it but someting strange happened instead...'

That's noteworthy because another reviewer (who also enjoyed the book, and gave it the best review it's ever gotten) also felt the book was not as he expected from the title, blurb and imagery.

Which is a shame.

It shows that I chose badly when, well, 'branding' the book.

Something I have to work on.

Attachment, the Buddha and the soul mate

Emotions just happen. 

At least, for me they do. I can try to cajole an emotion into being. I can try and ‘be’ an emotion, but if that emotion does not then manifest, it’s not real.

It’s false, the pretense of a feeling, and that’s inauthentic and empty. I need to really feel it. So for me, emotions are not something turned on and off like a switch, but things to manage. I’ve had a number of people in my life tell me that they can turn their feelings on and off, whenever they like.

Which would be great. I can’t imagine how awesome that would be.

But they aren’t like that for me. They occur of their own accord, when they feel like it. And then I have to manage the damned things.

And this leads to the issue of attachment. 

I came to Buddhism many years ago, and joined (briefly) a cult. But that’s another story. Anyway. A formative experience I had, which taught me how painful attachment can be, is what ultimately led me to Buddha.

Buddhism crystallized things I already knew on a subconscious level but could not articulate in a clear, concise, conscious way.

There were emotional truths that I kenned without knowing, or fully understanding. 

Buddhism delves into why we suffer. Why life can be so agonzingly painful. Why our own emotions betray us.

It’s all about The Wheel of Life, or in more contemporary terms, how our genes us emotion to try and control our behaviour, often to the detriment of our conscious selves. How we try to hold on to things that are illusory and ephemeral. Everything changes. We can enjoy in the moment, but if you try and hold on to that moment? It’s not meant to last. 

Trying to hold on will only lead to pain.

Buddha knew the selfish-gene eons before Dawkins. 

And so Buddhism teaches non-attachment. 

We can become attached to all kinds of things: success, wealth, power, beauty, fame, sex, love, excitement. Drugs. Whatever. 

Jim Carrey muses that he had to find success in order to give up. 

The evolution of ego. Never thought I would be looking to a guy who has talked literally out of his butt for wisdom, but (haha) there you go.

He’s endorsing non-attachment. He’s moving beyond extrinsic to intrinsic value. He found the material empty. 

And I agree with that, while at the same time having issues and doubts. But I understand the thinking behind it, and the wisdom of the concept.

And then I go and develop attachment.

One that defied logic and reason, that I couldn’t understand.

It did, however, teach me valuable lessons and spur growth, which, ultimately, is why it had to happen.

And that leads to the idea of soul mates.

Soul mates are people who come into our lives to wake us up, to make us grow and change and face things we’d rather ignore. Truths we don’t want to face.

The process isn’t pretty, it isn’t logical, and it isn’t easy.

And the teacher may not even know they are teaching us, at least not on a conscious level. But they provide us with an invaluable service, nonetheless.

Surface events that don’t seem significant can connect us to our past, triggering old wounds, surfacing issues. Like toppling a domino.

Or butterfly wings in the South Pacific.

That’s the service. Everything else is on us. It’s internal, all part of our journey.

So let me say this to my teachers in life (and one in particular): I will always be eternally grateful. Thank you.

Ouch

Recently surfaced in Pompeii.

A really great review of Magnum Thrax and I can't write promo blurbs worth spit

Joel Smith took a look at Magnum Thrax and wrote what is perhaps the nicest and most awesome review my work has ever elicited. I just couldn't help but want to share it. 

"Comic Sci-Fi Is So Hard -- This Is A Worthy Contender This book is much, much better than the blurbs and the cover might lead you to believe...."

This is a good thing, but damn, I have to work on my blurb. 

"With the reference to Pleasurepit Five and the combat sexbots, the impression is that this is going to be a sci-fi Dean Martin/Matt Helm action sex comedy. Well, it is a little. But, and this is a big "but", only a little, because the author has some fun with the idea of sexbots being repurposed as soldiers, and then once we've done some leering and oogling and a few jokes, he lets that go and moves on to a much better book. 

 The story is that the few remaining civilized outposts on Earth are threatened by an attacking rogue amusement park, (think Disney by way of The Borg). An android delivers a weapon to Pleasurepit Five and our hero, Magnum Thrax, is the only one who can travel across the Death Zone to enlist the technowitches into the fight against this evil. So, what you really get is a sort of Mad Max, Lord of the Rings, Dirty Dozen, high tech mashup. But here's the really good part -- the post apocalyptic world is beautifully conceived, the techno/nano/quantum gobbledygook is wildly inventive, the characters are inspired, and the narrative and dialogue are unrelievedly funny." 

This is just so gratifying. To have someone really get the book, understand what I was going for, and get something out of it. I writer can't ask for more.

"Very little of the humor is in your face, and none of it is heavy-handed or stoopid. There are lots of dry throwaway lines, deadpan observations, and wry or edgy musings. The narrative is funny, but actually fairly subtle. There is a lot of cross-talk and snappy dialogue, especially between Thrax and his techno-nerd best friend. It's smart and clever stuff."

Read the whole marvellous thing here on Goodreads.

Thanks so much Mr. Smith!

And check out the book, if you dare, here!

Yes!

The Expanse has been picked up by Amazon.

The Kirkus Review of Magnum Thrax is in. What did they think? Read on...

Here's the verdict:

"In Bathurst’s sci-fi debut, a group of humans and androids vows to stop an out-of-control amusement park from engulfing a post-apocalyptic world.

In a dystopian future, Magnum Heironymus Thrax is one of the warriors who defend the Pleasurepit Five, a former pornography emporium that now houses a colony of residents. He leads a team of “sexbots” that have been reconfigured for combat. After defeating a massive land squid, Thrax is ecstatic to find a valuable power-suit in the creature’s belly. However, a man’s still inside the suit; he warns Thrax of the threat of “the Engines of Creation” before injecting something into Thrax’s arm. It turns out that an entity known as the Dark Lord is behind the Engines, which could consume the entire world; at their heart is a defunct amusement park from the mid-25th century. The injection that Thrax receives contains a “synvirus” that he can use to infect and destroy the Dark Lord, but if it’s not done within seven days, the virus will dissolve Thrax instead. His mission also entails rescuing Mindy, a young woman, from a monastery; the Dark Lord seems to have targeted her specifically, for reasons unknown. Thrax’s ragtag team consists of Jez and Candy, among other sexbots; his human programmer friend, Kal Ecto Grammer; and Ghatz, a lower-ranking Pleasurepit Guardian. Unfortunately, getting to the monastery requires passing through the Death Zone, which is populated by a variety of menaces, including “nanozombies” and “mummizombies.” Thrax can’t even trust his companions, as one of the team members has plans to betray everyone to the Dark Lord.

Bathurst’s novel initially seems to be merely a showcase for raunchy jokes, particularly as several characters are androids designed for sexual gratification. But the sexbots also have well-developed personalities: Jez, for instance, is a dominatrix model who’s often confrontational, while sensitive Candy expresses a desire to have a child. The story also takes jabs at consumerism, as corporations remain even after the apocalypse; Nike owns the monastery where the team is headed, and the amusement park’s creator was the Google Corporate Republic. Perhaps the best riff on this topic is Thrax’s newfound obsession with Cocainola, a soda that he persistently craves and praises, just as present-day consumers express their love for trite products. Of course, there’s also a good deal of overt, exaggerated comedy: although the frequent sex is never explicit, the violence is gleefully over-the-top, with some character deaths resulting in chunky bits. The abundance of dialogue incorporates contemporary slang, from the occasional “duh” to “bullshit”—apparently Thrax’s favorite word. Nevertheless, Bathurst’s descriptions contain scintillating imagery: “Traceries of electricity arced through the black churning murk far above, unleashing lightning bolts which struck all around the limo, turning ash to glass and scorching the limo’s shell.” The author also playfully alludes to other works; for instance, Thrax has a small, metal dodecahedron that many want, recalling the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s works.

Underneath this outlandish story’s brash exterior lies astute social commentary and sharp, unapologetic humor."

They liked it!

Quoting The Three Friedrichs

Because there just isn't enough pompous philosophical posturing on my frivolous blog.

And I felt like it.

All first page search results, because I am also feeling very lazy today.

To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

One certainly tries to. Suffering is the human condition. We all find our own ways to cope.

Nothing great in the world has ever been accomplished without passion.
- Friedrich Hegel

Passion or curiosity? Passionate curiosity? Passion can fuel creativity.

That which does not kill us makes us stronger.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

Sometimes suffering wakes us up.

An ounce of action is worth a ton of theory.
- Friedrich Engels

Action follows theory. One idea...

Really, though, this quote is here to motivate me to get off my lazy ass.

One must still have chaos in oneself to be able to give birth to a dancing star.
- Friedrich Nietzsche

 Yeah. Don't be constrained by rules. Embrace the inner chaos and create. Let nothing stop you.