Okay, one of the books is by a Mormon, and I know some people still think we’re not Christian. Also you have to squint a little bit to see the damnation theme.
I also guessed the AI answer! For me, it was two things: (1) the em dash, surrounded by spaces (which it seems like ChatGPT has recently segued to using... it used to be only me who did that, and I was breaking the style guides), and (2) this one line:
>> "If you bounce off names like “Hierarch Voyle” and “Knights Exemplar” and “Menoth’s Fury” you’re going to have a rough time."
It was a funny line — I actually chuckled! — but funny in a shallow way. There's something about the phrase "bounce off" that I both like, and feels empty. Not sure what to do with that.
My understanding is that em dash set off with spaces is what you use in books, and without spaces it's newspapers. But I'm not sure what category blogs fall into, and I could have it backwards.
Also I totally get what you mean by the that phrase, but it is very AI.
I have this idea for a book that I will almost certainly never write. The opening line is going to be something like "I had long expected Armageddon, the final battle between good and evil—the end of the world. But I never expected it to involve more than two sides and end in a tie."
I ran a speculative draft of the open pages by Evan and he suggested the Blish books. And they were definitely on point, and so was the book by Lee (less so the Correia). What is that point? That there is a lot of interesting territory at the edges of traditional theology if you use your imagination.
As far as "The Day after Judgment" I think if you just read the Milton-esque speech given by Satan at the end of the book you'd get 90% of the themes. But also it's a short book so you could just tear through it in a few hours.
I read Blish's Black Easter back in the 1970s when I was a teenager.
The ending was a gut punch.
I also guessed the AI answer! For me, it was two things: (1) the em dash, surrounded by spaces (which it seems like ChatGPT has recently segued to using... it used to be only me who did that, and I was breaking the style guides), and (2) this one line:
>> "If you bounce off names like “Hierarch Voyle” and “Knights Exemplar” and “Menoth’s Fury” you’re going to have a rough time."
It was a funny line — I actually chuckled! — but funny in a shallow way. There's something about the phrase "bounce off" that I both like, and feels empty. Not sure what to do with that.
Thanks for the Easter-morning thinking puzzle.
My understanding is that em dash set off with spaces is what you use in books, and without spaces it's newspapers. But I'm not sure what category blogs fall into, and I could have it backwards.
Also I totally get what you mean by the that phrase, but it is very AI.
I always like these kinds of "collections of book review" did you pull anything especially interesting out of it from reading them as a collection?
I have this idea for a book that I will almost certainly never write. The opening line is going to be something like "I had long expected Armageddon, the final battle between good and evil—the end of the world. But I never expected it to involve more than two sides and end in a tie."
I ran a speculative draft of the open pages by Evan and he suggested the Blish books. And they were definitely on point, and so was the book by Lee (less so the Correia). What is that point? That there is a lot of interesting territory at the edges of traditional theology if you use your imagination.
I thought the AI one was Into the Storm, and I'm surprised you gave it away. i would have asked people to guess in the comments.
Perhaps I shouldn't have. But I figured it would be pretty easy to figure out, so why draw it out?
Yep, I got the AI guess right!
Also, it sounds like "The Day After Judgment" contains more themes than I faintly remember from reading it as a teenager. Maybe I'll try it again?
But did you get the model?
As far as "The Day after Judgment" I think if you just read the Milton-esque speech given by Satan at the end of the book you'd get 90% of the themes. But also it's a short book so you could just tear through it in a few hours.