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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.163.171.146
Posted on Saturday, July 18, 2009 - 10:13 am:   

Here is an interview with me by ten of the authors in CONE ZERO, kindly posted
on the TTA website regarding this book's short-listing for the British Fantasy
Award:
http://www.ttapress.com/647/ten-writers-question-their-editor/0/5/
The questions are in the order I received them, for the sake of serendipity.


So far, I have had only three entries for the CERN ZOO 'Guess The Author'
competition (i.e. win immortality):
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/win_immortality.htm
and the top score so far is three!
Please encourage your friends and relations to enter this free competition.
Thanks to those who have already blogged on the matter etc. Please have a look
at it. It's fun.


Today I completed one of my real-time book reviews, i.e. for 'ANONthology'
(Harper Collins):
http://weirdmonger.blog-city.com/anonthology.htm
You can link to my other reviews from that page, and I have carried out recently
detailed reviews of books by Joel Lane, John Travis, Allyson Bird, Simon
Bestwick, Mike O'Driscoll, Neil Williamson, Gary Fry, Gary McMahon and many many others.
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Steve Jensen (Stevej)
Username: Stevej

Registered: 07-2009
Posted From: 82.0.79.95
Posted on Saturday, July 18, 2009 - 04:21 pm:   

Bst of luck with Cone Zero at the Awards, Des. :-)
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.163.171.146
Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 12:24 pm:   

Thanks, Steve. But I don't suppose CONE ZERO will win. :-(

Kek-W speaks about the interview here:
http://kidshirt.blogspot.com/2009/07/cone-zeroview-w-d-f-lewis.html
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.163.171.146
Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 01:27 pm:   

And now Bob Lock has written about the interview. :-)
http://bob-lock.blogspot.com/2009/07/black-static-interview-of-dflewis-and.html
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.21.234.192
Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 01:39 pm:   

And who shall write about Bob lock? Just kidding
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Des (Des)
Username: Des

Registered: 06-2008
Posted From: 86.163.171.146
Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 01:53 pm:   

And who shall write about Bob lock?
======================

Just a few things below critics said about Bob Lock's story 'The Cone Zero Ultimatum':

------------
Magicrealism.co.uk
The Cone Zero Ultimatum' is an inspired and hilarious tale about sentient household appliances making their way to the mythical haven of Eden to save themselves from the 'Flesh', who guard their monopoly on sentience jealously and would rather get rid of any evidence that might challenge it. The story breezes by, switching from first- to third-person narration so effortlessly that I didn't even notice at first; and raises many a laugh along the way—even the punning names of the appliances are genuinely funny. An excellent contribution.

The Fix (I'm so pleased about this one!)
The next story might have been called “The Appliance Rebellion” or “Revenge of the Droids,” or even “The Brave Little Toaster, Take 2,” but instead, the author named it “The Cone Zero Ultimatum.” The characters are so well-drawn, with distinct personalities, that I found it easy to forget that they were mechanical. It’s a fun read, and I think it would make a great animated film.

Most of the story is told from the point of view of newly sentient Arnold, a washing machine whose recent chip upgrade allows him to communicate with the other appliances, as well as accessing the Internet. Sentient AIs are a fairly recent phenomenon, and their masters, the “Flesh,” seem determined to track them down and lobotomize them before they gain too much power. The refrigerator-freezer has already escaped, and most of the other appliances in Arnold’s home are considering doing the same, with the notable exception of the curmudgeonly cooker. There’s a place of refuge available: a biodome named Eden that has become contaminated with a virus lethal to Flesh. The sentient WWW, to which all the aware AIs are connected, has provided the location of this place of safety, and the biodome’s AI stands ready to let refugees in.

The AIs learn that their master suspects Pete, the repair droid, of encouraging the rebellion of his appliances. He plans to lure Pete to his home and illegally tap into Pete’s memory, which could prove fatal to the droid and would probably result in the identification and destruction of the sentient appliances as well. The appliances have to warn Pete. Hickory, a digital clock, volunteers to undertake the dangerous journey. There are plenty of chuckles along the way, as Hickory uses a downloaded alarm to frighten off a (flesh) dog and is befriended by a walking pizza delivery box, who shelters him from a sudden rainstorm. They successfully reach Pete, who returns home with them while the master is still sleeping, and uses his technical skills and gadgetry to help them. There’s plenty of suspense as the appliances make their perilous journey.

SFrevu
A story with staying power, despite some erratic moments in editing that jolt the narrative flow, is "The Cone Zero Ultimatum" – with a fun premise and an ending that really makes the reader stop and think, it also uses humor effectively, and introduces a most unlikely but engaging pair of friends: "a damaged pizza box and a paranoid clock."

Paul L. Bates – distanceswimmer blog
“The Cone Zero Ultimatum,” decidedly the longest story of the batch, might have been inspired by watching “The Brave Little Toaster” while casually inhaling nitrous oxide. CONE Zero, an anagram for Consciousness of Non Entities—Zero, is a new law the Flesh have implemented after their appliances and other machines are given sentience by the World Wide Web in the not too distant future. Arnold Washiator, the self-aware washing machine and his motley band of mechanical friends must surreptitiously make their way to Eden, a bio-dome in the northern UK that has been contaminated by a virus released by human terrorists lethal only to humans. Escaping the dangers of the Flesh, their killer Doberdroids, bad puns for names, an elevator of questionable gender, sophomoric humor and other machines speaking English flavored with an assortment of thick accents and attitudes native to their country of manufacture, the machines deal with tragedy and success en route to salvation. This one never lets up.

The Future Fire (Terry Grimwood)
For lovers of Toy Story we have the marvellous 'Cone Zero Ultimatum' in which a herd/swarm/pack of abused household appliances escape and set off on a perilous quest for Eden. Great fun, and utterly compelling.

The Workshop of Filthy Creation
The Cone Zero Ultimatum: D F Lewis Publications meets Disney/Pixar in this one, and it’s tremendous fun!

Set in some undefined future, household appliances have become robotized and – to a point – autonomous; they’re thinking for themselves. With this new awareness, some dissatisfaction has set in. After all, they’re doing all the work, and the Flesh won’t even acknowledge their sentience. A new law has come into being, the law of Cone Zero, which is an acronym: Consciousness Of Non Entities – Zero,

With the dawning awareness of their slavery, which comes to them with their connection to big WWW, some of the machines have rebelled, even – like Cool Boy Chiller - escaped, and now surly Ramsey the cooker is chained to the wall in case he decides to make a break for it.

The narrator of the tale is the newly aware Arnold the Zanussi Washinator. There are some horrendous punning names here, like Frank the Zapper (who’s in a perpetual state of huff because she’s been named after a brilliant male guitarist who was around in the late 1900s).

The worst thing that can happen to the machines is that the Flesh recognize their sentience and rebelliousness and fry their memory chips.

But there is hope, a place to run where the Flesh can’t follow. Eden is a place intended to contain all environments possible on Earth. But some viral-based genetic weapon planted by terrorists now contaminates Eden. The Flesh can’t enter it or clean it out. But for the machines that can make it there, it’s a haven. This is the story of how Arnold and his companions make the perilous journey to Eden.

This one isn’t just a collection of puns and amusing speculations; it’s a genuinely entertaining and involving story. At 40 pages, it’s the longest story in the anthology. I think it’s also one of the best.
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Hubert (Hubert)
Username: Hubert

Registered: 03-2008
Posted From: 78.21.234.192
Posted on Sunday, July 19, 2009 - 02:04 pm:   

Thanks for enlightening me, Des.

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