Hello, lovelies!! It gives me great pleasure today to host Floor Kist and his new book, “Can Machines Bring Peace? The Thinking Machine Trilogy Part 1,” here on FAB!! For other stops on his Goddess Fish Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of this post to enter to win a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card!!! Also, come back daily to interact with Floor Kist and to increase your chances of winning!!
Thanks for stopping by!! Wishing you all lots of luck in this fabulous giveaway!!
Can Machines Bring Peace?
The Thinking Machine Trilogy
Part 1
by Floor Kist
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GENRE: Science Fiction
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BLURB:
Can a machine bring peace? Or are humans built for war?
450 years after Earth was bombed back to the Stone Age, a young diplomat searches for lost human settlements. Kazimir Sakhalinsk narrowly escapes an exploration mission gone wrong and searches for ways to make future missions safer for his people. A festival introduces him to the Marvelous Thinking Machine.
A machine Kazimir believes can change everything.
For his admiral it’s nothing more than a silly fairground gimmick. But Kazimir is convinced. Convinced enough to go against orders and build one of his own. Convinced enough to think he can bring peace. Convinced enough to think humanity is worth saving. What if he’s wrong?
He asks his hikikomori sister, a retired professor filling her empty days, the owner of the festival machine and the admiral’s daughter for help. Will that be enough?
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EXCERPT ONE:
Kazimir hears the beep-beep response to his beacon. The plane is overhead! His breath shortens as he peers through the night. Standard protocol states the plane will land at a safe landing zone within a kilometer radius of ground zero. If Kazimir can find the right direction, he may actually have a chance. There! The shape of the plane against a clouded moon is a beautiful sight. He is afraid to smile, but can’t help himself.
He follows it, stumbling over the thick roots of the trees. Quickly, he looks up.
There she is again. No. ‘That’s… that’s… black flag.’ That means the others are dead.
Standing against the tree, he retches. Cold sweat forms on his forehead and his back. He shouldn’t have left the settlement. He could have saved them. No. He would be dead too. Kazimir gags and coughs. He spits out the sour taste, and wipes his chin. ‘Yuck.’
He looks up, trying to control his breath. The twin rudders and the nose turret machine gun nozzle give the Ki-2 light bomber away. Kazimir has only seen it in the hangar of the Ryūjō. He remembers the pilot telling him about the 500-kilogram maximum bomb load. All headed towards the settlement.
The ground trembles with the explosion. Kazimir sees the red and yellow clouds grow against the dark sky. Seconds later, he hears the wheezing sound of the dropping bombs, followed by the roar of a thousand dragons. Sound travels at three hundred meters per second, so he must be about 300 meters away.
The hot blast wave that follows knocks him down. He hits his head on the root of the tree. ‘Stupid tree.’ He feels a sharp pain. Warm blood dribbles into his hair. Its metallic scent reaches his nose.
Sounds of the explosion die down.
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GUEST POST:
Fierce Female Lead Characters
Hi everyone!
Ally, thank you so much for hosting my guest post on your site. I thought I was a multi-passionate, but the number of interests you have on your site is incredible. Where do you find the time?!
You asked me about Fierce Female Lead Characters.
Although I have a male protagonist, I believe it’s the three women protagonists that really make “Can Machines Bring Peace? Hope in a Post-Apocalyptic Age” come alive.
The story starts with Kazimir who decides he needs to build a Thinking Machine to help make peaceful arrangements between the Empire and newly discovered settlements. After the destructions of the Final War, the Empire looks for lost human settlements to bring into the fold. Only not every contact goes smoothly. And that’s what Kazimir wants to change. He has literally no clue how to do it. And three women help him out.
First, his sister Kira. She was a student of Engineering until something bad happened to her. Since then, she’s been hiding in her room for the past five months. Her fierceness is not a go-get ‘er approach. I wanted to portray a shy, hurt woman find her inner strength and discover her value. At first, she finds the courage to open the door to her room and come out. A moment, I enjoyed very much because I can show the love of brother and sister.
Then, Kira has to face competition, or perceived competition. Kazimir is enthralled by Mizuki. And Mizuki is everything Kira isn’t. Kira is intimidated by Mizuki, until she realizes that both Mizuki and she have unique qualities that make the Thinking Machine possible. I enjoyed writing the scene where they go shopping together. Sorry, for the stereotype, but this is a very traditionalistic Japanese society. Mizuki brings out Kira’s inner beauty by accentuating her outer beauty:
“This is the power of the female form, your form. It’s the most beautiful thing in the world. It makes you attractive, dangerous and vulnerable all at the same time. And you have to decide which,” Mizuki tells Kira. “And imagine what new clothes can do on top of that.”
Kira grows even more, and actually builds The Thinking Machine, but I’ll let you discover that yourself :-)
Mizuki is the daughter of Kazimir’s admiral. I liked to add that tension, especially since the admiral disapproves of Kazimir’s Thinking Machine fancies. Born in a traditional household of quasi-nobility, Mizuki is the perfect daughter. But she wants to be more. And she certainly doesn’t want to be like her mother, whom she thinks is much too submissive to her father. Even her father prefers to take Mizuki to special occasions than his wife.
Mizuki is angry at men like her father who have so much more freedom to shape their own destiny. She feels likes she has to wait for the man to give her hers. Mizuki is confused by her feelings for Kazimir. She hasn’t met a man like him before – and she hates herself for saying this in a ‘romance novel’ way. But, Mizuki can’t believe how well he listens to her. Because of that, she discovers that she is quite valuable for the project.
It’s Mizuki who takes Kira to the most prominent electronics company to get help building the The Thinking Machine. It’s Mizuki who finds support from the Imperial Council for their project. And it’s Mizuki who talks down a ninja planning to destroy their Machine.
I enjoyed the balancing conversations she has with her father. My intension was to show how she grows with them:
“It pains me that we have grown apart like this. I feel that a part of me is missing, the way we stand here opposite each other, instead of next to each other. You have taught me that duty isn’t good or bad, it is what you do. And in this moment, we are both caught in our duty, but our duties seem to be different. And our duties now hold us prisoner. If we want to stand next to each other again, we both need to move. I have followed your wishes, and by doing so, I have moved away from mine. Please, Father, will you move for me? That we may at some point stand together again?”
Kuchi is a retired professor. And at 87 has come to terms that the next step in her life will be her death. Until Kazimir comes with this absurd proposal about a Thinking Machine he doesn’t know how to build. It’s his conviction that peace is possible that finally brings her aboard. Only to find a shy engineer and some entitled young woman, who is the daughter of the man that broke her career.
She brings rigor in the methods to build the Thinking Machine. Kuchi shoos away the charlatan owner of the festival Marvelous Thinking Machine, only to overcome her prejudices and see his worth for the project.
Kuchi finds herself caring for Kira, and inspired by Kazimir. These are things she didn’t expect to find anymore. And she is in awe of the Thinking Machine they built; that couldn’t have been built without her. And she makes peace with early events in her life.
Kuchi smiles at everyone. The hope of an Empire lies with them. These young people who took her on one of the best adventures of her life. And, here she was, getting ready to die quietly. She smiles at Kira, sweet Kira who has come so far. She smiles at Mizuki who turned out to be a butterfly.
Fierceness doesn’t mean being fierce. The three women are not fierce, but tenacious in their own way. I believe they all have their unique qualities. That they step up to the challenge none of them has faced ever before. All three take charge of their own life again, each in her own way. And I hope I’ve portrayed them in the respectful manner they deserve.
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AUTHOR BIO:
Floor Kist lives in a Dutch town called Voorburg with his wife, two sons, two cats and their dog Monty. He is currently deputy-mayor for the Green Party and an AI researcher. He’s concerned about current divisive public and political debates. But he’s also interested in how AI can be used to resolve society’s big issues.
This is his first novel. He’s been carrying the idea about a story about AI bringing peace for a long time. The Covid-19 lockdown in the Netherlands suddenly gave him time to actually write it.
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CONNECT WITH FLOOR KIST:
Website:
https://www.floorkist.nl/author
Blog:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21225715.Floor_Kist/blog
Goodreads Author Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/21225715.Floor_Kist
Goodreads Book Page:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/57214006-can-machines-bring-peace
Amazon Author Page:
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AMAZON BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon US Kindle eBook:
Amazon US Paperback:
Amazon CA Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.ca/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic-ebook/dp/B08XK42BMP
Amazon CA Paperback:
https://www.amazon.ca/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic/dp/151368115X
Amazon UK Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic-ebook/dp/B08XK42BMP
Amazon UK Paperback:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic/dp/151368115X
Amazon AU Kindle eBook:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic-ebook/dp/B08XK42BMP
Amazon AU Paperback:
https://www.amazon.com.au/Can-Machines-Bring-Peace-Post-Apocalyptic/dp/151368115X
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Floor Kist will be awarding a $30 Amazon or Barnes and Noble Gift Card to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.**This post contains
affiliate links and if clicked and a purchase is made, I may receive a small
commission to help support this blog.
This does not cost you anything, it just helps pay for all those awesome
giveaways on here**
