Hi, all.
This is a rare website-only post on October 6, 2024. I’m mentioning the date, because there’s a decent chance the link below will be broken after a few weeks. I’ll likely update the podcast again sometime later this month, and I doubt the link will work following that. Or it might be talking about different things if the link keeps working as I iterate the podcast. Either way, it might be nothing or it might differ from my commentary.
In this brief window, I’m sharing an AI podcast from Goggle’s Notebook LM that talks about parts of my six books (three main, three bonus content) that are publicly available, which you can see on the sidebar. A bunch of fact checks on the confabulations of the two synthetic hosts does not make for compelling reading on a newsletter, and perhaps not in a straight blog post. But this experimental AI service is incredibly interesting to me. And I’m betting others may find it interesting too.
PLEASE NOTE: You must login to a Google account to listen to this recording.
Click or tap here to listen to the AI podcast.
And here’s my commentary on the artificial discussion. I’ll also have another newsletter entry above where I discuss it further in a day or two, which will summarize my thoughts and the general uncanny vibe, even if the link no longer works if you’re looking at this later in the future.
Minute 0:
False: The POTG series has no prophecies.
False: No summoning the dead with pyromancy. That’s necromancy with Durduun’s cultists and the struggle to possess the Mosul Flute, not Ashe.
Minute1:
False: Ashe doesn’t bend time. Tempes does that.
SO FALSE: The Brigands are not villains. They’re initially distrustful of each other, but they are Ashe’s allies.
Interesting: The AI hosts will insert laughter and insert verbal ticks. It’s very realistic.
Minute 2:
False: Nirva and Svithe are not part of the Brigands.
True- ish: Frulgrath is the only antagonist who was a former member of the Brigands. He’s not really a force of nature. More like a poisonous weed that keeps popping back again and again.
False: Ashe doesn’t serve Corsis
False: “No one knows all the rules.” There are multiple conversations in all three books about the Game’s rules.
Minute 3:
True ish: The kliosts emerge as a big threat in Book 2.5. Ashe and the other Brigands don’t deal much with the kliosts, though ViRauni does. This podcast version doesn’t talk at all about Ed, Harry, and the other Book 3 characters, though previous iterations of the podcast did.
Interesting: The female AI’s mumbled “exactly”. Again, that is very realistic.
True ish: Unseen force of kliosts. Sort of. It’s either airborne or imbibed. Their effects aren’t exactly visible, but they aren’t unknowable.
Interesting: Million dollar question. People do speak in cliched sayings like that.
False: The question of who’s wielding this thing in reference to the kliosts. It’s plainly Hekati, as shown extensively in Book 3.
Minute 4:
False ish: The specifics of the Game are mysterious. It’s not immediately apparent why Corsis is playing the Game. But it’s no mystery that he’s the one in control and the Rules are told in each of the main three books.
False: Another mention of Ashe using time bending. That’s Tempes.
Minute 5:
False: There are ZERO mentions of destiny in my novels. I hate that “chosen one” stuff. My characters earn their greatness.
True: I like their discussion of the Battle of the Two Cities, though they keep it vague to defending a city.
Minute 6:
True: Talk of mancy’s versatility is accurate.
False: Ashe never looks into the future. He cannot see future possibilities. Avril looks at the past and jumps through the time hole. Nirva looks in her painting to see possible futures, which might be the source of the confabulation.
False ish: Nirva is utterly lost by her obsession with her painting, which makes Avril sad. But Nirva is consumed with bringing Avril to heal. Her love for her daughter, if it exists, is utterly twisted by madness, fear, and hate.
Minute 7:
Interesting: The AI hosts mention layers. I really doubt they actually detect narrative nuances. I think that’s just verbal slop they put together through ingesting thousands of hours of people doing reviews.
Minute 8:
Interesting: The mention of “It’s still our choices that matter.” Very generic. You could literally say that about any story.
Minute 9:
Interesting: “Oh, man. That’s tough.” Again, very realistic dialogue.
Interesting: “In a world where the lines between wonder and horror are blurred… what does it even mean to be human?” Again, a generic statement you could say about any sci-fi or fantasy novel where the characters have powers.
I’ll have more thoughts above, but all-in-all, while Notebook LM clearly has some miles to go, I’ll be interested to see where those miles tread.
