#Xenosphere

[blinking-out-stars]

Warning.

Message Recipient: N/A

Message Provider: Thousand of Xenosphere inc.

Subject: Distortion

[Fondest greetings, my esteemed co-conspirators of dread.

It has come to our attention the increasing number of distortionate entity are contributing to a more unstable reality; one in which the Things we so desperately want approach more quickly than anticipated.]

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[This message is to offer a congratulations! It Is Not What It Is has done well to ensure the world in which we live and die continues its shift into something greater. Keep up the great work, avatar of the Twisting Deceit. A compensation delivery will shortly be delivered to your most frequented places.]

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[Regards,and kindest thanks,

Thousand.]

--- ..- .-. / .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. / ... .... .- .-.. .-.. / -... . / --- ...- . .-. .-.-.-

@speyeralling-down-thy-majesty @visceralfractal @flwrgrl70

[END COMMUNICATION]

[phe0nomenal]

So lately I've been spending my summer getting hyperfixated on transformers and starting a collaborative au/fan iteration called EXO with some of my fellow transformers friends!! I started developing my oc Patch a few weeks ago and I've grown unhealthily attached to her, the rest of the EXO crew, and their plethora of trials and tribulations. If anyone wants to hear more about Patch and her friends, pleaSE send me an ask, as I'd love to share more!!

(little bit of info about Patch below the cut)

• (This AU/iteration uses TFP as a base for the overall lore and background, though several events and aspects have been adjusted to fit the story)

• The EXO team (short for Extreme Xenosphere Observation team) is a group of Cybertronians who have unique physical properties that allow them to survive extreme environmental conditions that other Cybertronians may not be able to. Some examples include resistance to heat, cold, high pressure, or toxins! Most of the assignments the team is given revolve around researching unexplored or somewhat dangerous planets, though sometimes they are individually called upon for certain rescue or retrieval missions.

• Patch is the head researcher/medic of the team, and she is unique in the fact that she wasn't built with unique properties like the rest of the team, and rather is there as an overseer/medical professional to assist on missions. She has a special interest in unique and rare transformer properties, so her assignment to the group was a dream come true for her!

• When the war began on Cybertron, things began to take a turn for the team. Patch was called in to be a war medic, while many of the other members were drafted into different positions. Many friends ended up perishing in the war, and many others ended up going missing instead, with no idea whether they were alive or dead. Eventually, Patch ended up adding onto the number of missing bots when the base she was staying at was raided by decepticons and she was taken prisoner. Luckily, she barely managed to sneak out on an escape pod, but she was greatly injured and wasn't able to control the pod before going into stasis. She only woke up a few hundred years later, crash landed on an uninhabited planet with a -1 leg from the resulting crash. Alone, injured, and with no way off planet, Patch knew she was in for a tough ride. But even then, she knew that she wouldn't stop fighting to survive until she could get off the planet and reunite with the members of her team, if it was the last thing she did.

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

Neurodivergent

The Bends

Relentless (Omicron Nu Epsilon)

Prismatic (Album Version)

Angry People

Curse

Kick it (Peaches ft. Iggy Pop Cover)

Bits And Razors (Album Version)

From The Stars II (Kite And Vireo)

Spotify | Bandcamp | YouTube

[industrial-fishing-simulator-rpg]

 07/11/2024 - Actual Play Report

Xenosphere I

NOTE: Usually in Industrial Fishing Simulator player character’s are called ‘Survivors’ and scenarios/adventures are called ‘missions.’ But I won’t necessarily use that language here. 

Also I’m not trying to make this like the most perfect play report essay in the world, but I am trying to be somewhat thorough–so–know that.

Xenosphere I - Recording 1 - Introduction

Part I: Summary

Some time in the distant far future, when humanity has encountered a variety of extraterrestrial species and has spread among the stars, an ancient artifact is discovered on the oceanic planet Kestrasi Meridia (which is renamed from TOI-1452b, an actual possible exoplanet in the Draco Constellation). This artifact proves deeply mysterious, covered in strange writing, and is sending out a signal to a location deep underwater on Meridia. 

A team of Survivors, made up of language, archaeology, and biology researchers, as well as nautical explorers is assembled to investigate the signal emanating from the strange artifact. These are the players of the game Xenosphere I for Industrial Fishing Simulator. They are sent on this mission from the Ixta-B87 research station by Dr. Helene Lazara and have been assigned the following roles:

Crew Roles and Directives:

The Concierge (played by Spencer) - Captain (must be filled)

Report in with Dr. Helene Lazara or check for any messages in the office.

Sir Barnaby Stephus III (Justin) - Xenolinguist

A few days ago, you requested some final analyses on the tablet’s hieroglyphics. Check the lab computer for any readout results.  

deb (Emma) - Xenoarchaeologist

You’ve been researching the chemical composition of the artifact in relation to any compounds native to the planet Meridia. Your most recent test results should be available in the lab.

Shakes (Hannah) - Astrobiologist

Distract your peers from their tasks. (1) by alerting them of an incoming object of large size on the sonar computer; (2) destabilizing or sabotaging equipment; (3) lying. Or distract your peers from being suspicious of you by engaging in seemingly normal tasks for your role such as surveying the computer systems or asking for diagnostic information from NESSI.

You are a saboteur, a double agent–maintain absolute secrecy from your peers. You’ve received your orders from your implanted radio transceiver behind your ear. “Disable the emergency protocol system and sabotage docked submersible in Deep Search IX. Retrieve the Dialect Cube, designated Synta in the Xenosphere 45.909 W, -206.784 S. Assure you are the sole survivor. Press to alert.” 

You are working with an organization known as the Inquisitorium who is operating in deep secrecy within the Neb Corp, working to sabotage their efforts to exploit ancient alien technology by capturing it for themselves. You do not know what a Dialect Cube or what a Xenosphere is.

You have an Inquisitorium contact, an android called ‘Pann.’

You can press your radio implant behind your ear to ping the Inquisitorium contact and will receive rendezvous information or other communications

You cannot communicate back other than to press your implant button twice for “yes” and three times for “no.”

Patback (Alex) - Nautical Technician

That power outage was strange. You need to check on the engine room and power supply.

Assure that the docked submersible craft in the docking bay is secure and available for use.

Pancake (Zoe) - Computing Officer 

You kept it a secret from your fellow crew, but you touched the tablet with your bare hand and cut your index finger on its extremely sharp edge. You stopped the bleeding, but think you might have an infection. No one is allowed to touch the relic without safety equipment due to its radioactivity, and you need to check on the progress of your infection quickly. 

Allegra (Bee) - Medical Officer

Prepare the high yield pressure suits for all crew found in the store room and assure all crew have oxygen tanks. 

Check on the vitals of your crew mates. You might want to grab a bioscanner from the clinic. 

Their underwater journey commenced aboard the research submarine Deep Search IX and travel had proceeded for several days for some several hundred nautical miles when a sudden power surge occurred. During the surge, the lights went dark, the entire crew miraculously went unconscious and the vessel descended rapidly by about 3200m near to the depth of the mysterious signal. When they awoke, they found that only a few minutes had passed and they went about their tasks as well as investigating the power surge. 

The Captain of the submarine, a Khardimon called The Concierge (Spencer) went to the office and found a voice message from Dr. Helene Lazara which she had missed from last night.

Xenosphere I - Recording 2 - Message from Dr. Lazara

The voice message indicated that a power failure at another research station on the planet had blacked out communications and that the Captain should call Dr. Lazara soon to be briefed about a “situation.” Dr. Lazara also mentioned that she believed the artifact might be a key. 

Meanwhile, Allegra (Bee) immediately went about collecting high yield pressure suits and oxygen tanks for the entire crew, but was intercepted by Pancake (Zoe), who revealed a strange wound on her hand to Allegra. Allegra examined the wound and found that the inside of the laceration was beginning to crystalize. Under a microscope, it appeared that the crystallization was growing out from the wound and the edges of the crystallization were rotating like saws, chewing through Pancake’s flesh and churning out crystal formation. 

In the lab, Sir Barnaby (Justin) received the below readouts of a linguistic analysis of the glyphs that were found all over the artifact, which yielded strange and cryptic results. This was clearly some kind of alien language which was connected somehow to Khardimons, the enamel-based magnetically-sensitive alien species which appeared on Earth centuries ago. Also in the lab, deb (Emma) found a material analysis of the artifact which found a match. The artifact appeared to be composed of several chemical compounds: hydroxyapatite and fluorapatite crystals, and compounds from local corals. This meaning, the tablet was made of the teeth of some kind of creature in addition to the local coral component. 

At this point, Patback was also in the engine room, where he discovered that the power surge which briefly knocked out the Deep Search IX had nearly drained all of the power cells in the submarine which would soon go into emergency power failure. Patback immediately changed out the power cells for fresh ones and then assessed the submarine’s auxiliary submersible in the lower docking bay. He surreptitiously packed himself some survival gear into the submersible (which can only seat 2) and went to join the others, but was briefly followed by Shakes who seemed to be checking out the area of the docking bay and cargo hold. 

During this time, Shakes was receiving transmissions to their radio implant from an organization known as the Inquisitorium. Shakes was being ordered to distract the crew from their objectives but also to get to the signal first and retrieve an important relic for the Inquisitorium, betraying their crew mates. 

At the control room, the Captain (The Concierge - Spencer) called back Dr. Lazara and a strange pick-up occurred in which most of the crew heard the following:

Xenosphere I - Recording 3 - Alien Transmission

At the end, the receiver was shot and a tracking signal alert popped up on the console, indicating that the Deep Search IX was now being tracked by an unknown source. Ixta-B87 station was downed. With some quick thinking, the computing officer, Pancake, managed to dislodge the tracking signal and the crew made their descent to the complex, where they were met by an alien structure mounted into the side of a geothermal vent some 3200 or more meters below the surface of Meridia’s dark waters.

This complex seemed to have an entrance protected from the water by a deep magenta energy field which the Survivors were able to pass through in their scuba suits unharmed. They entered into a large chamber where they encountered a closed impassable energy field and an access panel of sorts with a slot just the size of the ancient table they’ve been carrying. However, a little while before leaving they had just made the agreement to leave the tablet on their ship so they had to send a few people back to retrieve it before they were able to unlock the energy field and proceed further into the complex. 

The next chamber was very large, containing two dais near the entrance which blazed with blue flames that smelled lightly of sulfur and at the opposite end two one-eyed statue-like figures who bared strange alien faces as seen in the image below (slightly resembling the Khardimon aliens). This room also had two magenta energy field doors and one green energy field door. But the Survivors didn’t have too much time to think before the statues began to wake up, chittering at each other before attacking the Survivors. 

A pith collector head

A crappy map of the complex. (1) Entrance, (2) Trophy Hall, (3) Holding Tank, (4) Xenosphere

A somewhat fraught and desperate battle raged on for some time, the statue-like figures (pith collectors) using strange Khardimon magics to gain various upper hands, but the Survivors discovered that by coating their various weapons in the blue flame from the dais they could deal devastating attacks to these creatures. During the battle, there were losses, however. While it was Pancake who helped deal a death blow to one of the creatures, the other began to absorb its shattered friend and in the process melted Pancake’s mind, killing her. Additionally, the Captain (The Concierge) attempted to cast a spell but failed, causing a paradox from the Whoops! Table which resulted in her being swallowed by a dark vortex and being jettisoned into deep space thus removing her from the game. Ultimately, the remaining Survivors destroyed the last creature and were able to recover themselves.

However, during combat, Patback had managed to wander off through the green unlocked energy field into the complex’s trophy hall where he discovered many strange relics including a great slate-black khopesh and a fragment of an enormous glass-like dragonfly wing with a single watering humanoid eye in its center which kept Patback in a catatonic state as he stared at it. Luckily, he was rescued by his companions who would help to study this strange chamber, revealing at the end of the hall–a mural depicting an ancient Khardimon raising a khopesh above its head and holding the head of a slain victim in its other hand. An inscription of text matching that from the xenolinguist’s analysis of the table was also carved into the mural on removable stone cartouches which thus began the puzzle that would end the game. 

Effectively, to summarize, the Survivors had to take clues from the analysis of the tablet, translating letters they learned there into words from an alien language, piecing together similar words into like meanings until eventually they could translate the puzzle in the final room of the complex–the Xenosphere, a large gyroscopic holding tank for an item called the Dialect Cube. 

In one room, the trophy room with the alien mural, the Survivors found the word for liar/lies, and in another room, a strange room where they found a glass sarcophagus where a seemingly human woman wrapped in vines was entombed alive, they found the word for truth. Then in the Xenosphere, placing the cartouches of the words lies and truth on either end of the scale there would balance it and placing the word for balance found also in the mural room in the slot on the Xenosphere’s control panel would unlock the device.

When the Survivors had finished their puzzle, the Inquisitorium had arrived at the complex, surrounding the Survivors, handing over a large carbine to the saboteur Shakes and taking the Dialect Cube. The game ended with the remaining Survivors surrounded at gun-point, Shakes with the Dialect Cube in hand, and a mysterious organization at the forefront.

Part II: System Check, Play-Report

This game was very fun, but also very complicated. I knew it was going to be very complicated going into it. Mostly because of the xeno-linguistic puzzle I had devised to end the game and unlock the end of the “dungeon.” But, as soon as Justin (who played Sir Barnaby the xenolinguist) got his hands on the readout prop I had made of the alien language, he began working on deciphering it right away, which I would bet saved the game about an hour when they actually got to the point where they were gaining more clues for the puzzle. I was worried the entire week prior to playing that I had created a puzzle that was wayyyyy too hard for a reasonable person to solve within the one-shot TTRPG setting, but they did it. And using the system I arranged within the game, they paid as a team, 50 Lore points to receive one hint from me, and of course, received a little bit of guidance on the structure of the puzzle which I felt was not really something that helped them solve it but rather helped them to understand how to think about it. 

Overall, I thought it was a fun experience. I had fun writing this game. I got to play with my linguistics chops which I always get a lot out of, and some of the repeat players like Bee (Allegra) and Emma (deb) said that they felt this was the best FishSim game yet and as newbies to TTRPGs in general felt like they got into their characters easier and had a more full roleplaying experience which made me very happy of course. Justin (Sir Barnaby) is a person that I’ve been playing D&D and other TTRPGs with for years and years and years–since the beginning and it was an absolute pleasure to have him and to see him immediately dive into the linguistics puzzle. 

I am also glad that I got to have Zoe (Pancake) and Alex (Patback) join us as first timers to any TTRPG ever. It's been so great that FishSim is getting to see so many first time TTRPG players. RIP to Pancake who was absolutely eviscerated by the pith collector using the Eyes of the Architect ability, but it is what it is and Zoe had to leave anyway. Alas. 

This is also the first FishSim game where we’ve gotten a lot of use out of the Whoops! Table which is rolled upon whenever a spell fails to cast. Unfortunately, it was mostly Spencer (The Concierge) who failed to cast any spells and died because of it, but in this game casting spells is extremely high risk, extremely high reward and I always warn all my players prior about this.

Once again, I am thinking of things to change mechanically in the game. I am thinking that Will is definitely not a necessary statistic separate from Stress. I am still pondering replacing it with Aware/Perceive or something similar. I think that could be beneficial. On the matter of spells–I am wanting to make spells a bit more sci-fi flavored so I’ve decided to rename them Compounds and I have decided that they are composed of ingredients in combinations of three which are combined in a device which helps a Survivor cast the Compound. When a failure occurs, a paradox occurs, and one must roll on the Whoops! Paradox Table to see what the resulting failure is. Thanks to Bee, I now have a list of 300 Compound recipes for these created by her swiftly programmed randomizer. So, I’ll be working on that for a long while, I’m sure.

Also thinking about Occupations as distinct from Species. Currently, FishSim only uses the term Occupation which refers to whether your character is Human, Android, Simulacrum, or one of three alien species. But I am wondering if it might be interesting to have Occupations as opposed to Species. That being said, it is still extremely helpful that every game starts with each character and player choosing a role on the ship and me sending them their personal directive. That really gets the game rolling and seems to be pretty fun for everyone prior to regrouping.

Part III: Personal Note

I put a lot of effort into Industrial Fishing Simulator, truly because I think it's fun to make my own TTRPG and I think it's fun to get my friends together in a room, play a silly sci-fi alien game, eat food, and gab. But I am also very grateful that people enjoy the stories I tell and see me as a good storyteller. And I’m glad I can make some of my friends’ very first TTRPG experience a good and memorable one. 

I’ll be tabling Industrial Fishing Simulator for a couple months so I can edit in some of the changes I want to make but I’ll be back soon! 

Thanks to everyone who reads these little play reports and who plays the game!

~ clio <3

[hesawifebeaterdanusethegun]

Currently listening to Rabbit Junk - Xenospheres

[dekay01]

Xenosphere (Steam Deck): COMPLETED!

I can’t tell you about this game too much because it will spoil it for you. What I can say, it’s a sort of simplified Trials game (you know, that motorbike on a 2D track thing) but also that it isn’t. It’s also not very long, is very free (on Steam), and it’s by Nifflas who you might know from such games as Knytt and Affordable Space Adventure.

[rickie-the-storyteller]

May Writing Challenge - Day 19

By @creativepromptsforwriting.

Here are today's 200 words:

"Who?"

I rolled my eyes. "Kay Miyazaki? The creator of The Xenosphere? Gaming legend? Master of worldbuilding and storytelling?"

"Never heard of him," Hope replied with a dismissive shrug.

"How can you not know who he is? Xenosphere was like a cultural reset!"

"Is it, though?" Hope's eyes danced with mocking amusement. "I've literally never heard anyone mention it except you losers."

Seb and Eshe shared a look, no doubt recognizing that I was about two seconds away from launching into an impassioned nerd rant. Eshe jumped in quickly.

"Come on, now. Let's not ruin a perfectly good day by rehashing that tired 'my interests are superior' debate again," she said, putting a placating hand on my shoulder.

"Zeke's got a point, though," Seb piped up, ever loyal. "Xenosphere is great - incredibly innovative for its time with branching narratives and player-driven choices. Plus, Kay came up with the idea himself and created the first two games of the series independently. He deserves his flowers."

"Exactly!" I exclaimed, feeling gratified that I had Seb's support. "Thanks, bro. But anyways, Hope, you will acknowledge him. Put some respect on his name!"

Hope scoffed. "Dude, no. Why should I?"

I was incensed now (I get way too passionate about this stuff). "Because he's awesome! He is the father of this legendary game franchise! The whole thing was born from his epic creativity."

Hope rolled her eyes again. "Yeah. And he should have pulled out."

[jhavelikes]

The setting is Africa, 2066, in the aftermath of a global alien visitation that has swallowed the whole of London and rendered America “dark”. The aliens – whatever they are – don’t really interact with humanity, although they have released microscopic fungal spores into the air to create a “xenosphere”, a shared telepathic space accessible by a select group of human psychics called “sensitives”. Thompson’s story is built around one particularly Tarkovskian oddity: a vast, impenetrable alien dome in rural Nigeria around which a ring-shaped human city, the titular Rosewater, has grown up. Once a year an aperture opens in the side of this dome and all sick people in the vicinity are healed – sometimes perfectly cured, sometimes remade in unusual ways. Even the dead are raised (though as soulless zombies). The place has become a mecca for the world’s unwell and the city has developed to cater for them.

Rosewater by Tade Thompson review – a stellar SF debut | Science fiction books | The Guardian

[beatcroc]

sorry for the random ask but it's rlly cool to find someone else who enjoys rabbitjunk! nobody else i know listens to them :(

(also hello hi im too shy to send this off anon but we're mutuals)

YOOOOO NICE

i actually just discovered them like a couple months ago but it was an INSTANT fave. i have been on sooo much different kinds of bullshit thanks to their stuff recently 😌

[richhybrid]

Bath Time Records Albums Of 2020. Part 6. 55. Phoebe Bridges — Punisher // Soft dynamics hide the powerful and deeply emotional songs on offer. Phoebe is a song writing genius, get on board now. 54. Unleash The Archers — Abyss // Progressive Power Metal from one of Canadas best. Their fifth album condenses everything that makes them great and turns it all up to 11. 53. Taylor Swift — Folklore // Pop royalty makes an Indie Pop album, and you know what? It's fucking stunning. 52. Rabbit Junk — Xenospheres // Cyberpunk Industrial mavericks once again show why they are one of the undergrounds best kept secrets. 51. HEALTH — DISCO4::Part 1 // Stop gap collaboration album from the noisy geniuses. Collaborations with JPEGMAFIA, Xiu Xiu, Youth Code, Perturbator and 100 Gecs among others show they truly are a forward thinking band. 50. Grimes — Miss Anthropocene // Alternative Art Pop from the genres new figurehead. So many shades of music here. Never anything less than fascinating. 49. Ulcerate — Stare Into Death And Be Still // Progressive Death Metal with huge gaping chasms of atmosphere to delve into. Horrifyingly good. 48. Booka Shade — Dear Future Self // House music and alternative Electronica forge a new path with soulful beats and euphoric synths. 47. The Birthday Massacre — Diamonds // Massive Industrial tinged Gothic Rock by one of the genres most unique sounding bands. #BathTimeRecord #AlbumsOfTheYear #AlbumsOf2020 #PheobeBridges #Punishers #UnleashTheArchers #Abyss #TaylorSwift #Folklore #RabbitJunk #Xenospheres #Health #Disco4Part1 #Grimes #MissAnthropocene #Ulcerate #StareIntoDeathAndBeStill #BookaShade #DearFutureSelf #TheBirthdayMassacre #Diamonds (at Wakefield) https://www.instagram.com/p/CJOaEa3sfeQ/?igshid=tm0aauet3pp

[chaotic0range]

New Xenogender Adult Discord Server!

Welcome to the 👽Xenosphere👽 an 18+ Server for Xenogender Adults and their allies!

Information:

For mogai/xenogender/neurogender people and allies

18+ and requires ID verification but you only need to show the picture and birthdate as well as take a picture with your ID. No photos are shared or saved per our privacy policy. (This is to prevent trolls and to protect adults and minors alike with the presence of NSFW channels)

Is very open and welcoming to neurodivergent people and OSDD/DID systems (including self-diagnosed) and has options/areas for mental health and lgbtq+ support; includes pluralkit

Don't bother joining if you're bigoted, xenogender/mogai phobic, radfem, fascist, or in any other hate group. You'll be kicked and blocked.

🌟 Highlights 🌟

Gender Database

Xenogender Chat

Channels for NSFW Discussion

Plural Kit

Special Xenogender Emojis

Support Channels for OSDD/DID systems and neurodiverse people

Autistic Run Server

Community Support

Choose your own roles

[semper-legens]

128. Rosewater, by Tade Thompson

Owned?:  No, library Page count: 390 My summary: Nigeria, 2066. The town of Rosewater clusters around an alien biodome. Kaaro has been here since the start. He is a sensitive, a finder who can locate anything in the xenosphere, a psychic dimension. But he is not alone. The sensitives are dying. And soon, Kaaro will have to fight for all he has. My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

Here’s another one I picked up just...because! The synopsis on the back is even shorter than my summary up there, I didn’t really know anything going in, and didn’t really have any expectations. Overall, while it’s not the kind of thing that I usually read or that usually hooks me, I was engaged with this book and enjoyed it well enough.

Kaaro is the protagonist, and he’s a bit of a strange one. He’s an antihero with a shady past, who is in the present day working for the government using his psychic powers. He’s interesting to me in that he isn’t really 100% aligned to one faction or another within the story, he’s more looking out for his own self-interest, which made him a good POV character. He doesn’t do this in a way that’s annoying or too selfish, though - I had a rocky start with seeing him as likeable, but in the end I came around to liking him well enough. He’s done some messed-up things, but he doesn’t really try to justify them, and his present actions show him to be a decent person.

The storytelling in this book is very terse, not too wordy, in a way that comes across initially as being quite blunt and matter-of-fact. It took some adjustment for me - my preferred narrative style tends towards the purpler prose, and I can’t say that I was completely on board with it, but I definitely warmed up to it. It helps characterise Kaaro, as it’s his first-person POV. You certainly get a good sense just from word choice and focus of what kind of person he is.

In the novel, there’s not a lot of straight-up exposition. Elements of the world are introduced organically, some not being explained until chapters and chapters later, some explained, some the reader can intuit from context clues. Overall I really like this mode of conveying information; exposition dumps aren’t always bad, but they need to be worked into a narrative organically. Better if you can tell your story and let the worldbuilding unfold naturally, and this book does that well.

What else? There’s this back and forth structure - chapters alternate between Kaaro in the present of 2066 and his backstory, mostly in the 2050s. Somehow I managed to miss this and get disoriented early on, but once I acclimatised I found myself drawn in. It’s a classic narrative technique, build one plot until the reader is aching to know what happens next, then swich point of view and repeat. It works well here!

In all, an enjoyable read, though not my usual type of narrative. Not sorry I picked it up though.

[mynailednazareneindustries]

Nailed Nazarene Industries MAgazine Top 10 Weekly - Week 43 - Underground Bandcamp https://snovelle.wixsite.com/nailedmagazine

10 - Knife Planet - Beetle 09 - Sattalite - Kolmas katse 08 - FAILSAFE! - The Touch Of Satan 07 - Tangram - Separated Silence 06 - Brujas - 2 05 - Rabbit Junk - Xenospheres 04 - Путь - Юдоль скорби 03 - Rïcïnn - Nereïd 02 - STAR - Violence Against STAR 01 - Clouds Taste Satanic - The Satanic Singles Series

[dekay01]

Xenosphere 1

[areax]

you’re in her dms im communicating with her through the xenosphere we are not the same

[thehonestreader]

Rosewater by Tade Thompson

Rating: C-

Rosewater is a town on the edge. A community formed around the edges of a mysterious biodome, its residents comprise the hopeful, the hungry, and the helpless--people eager for a glimpse inside the dome or a taste of its rumored healing powers. Kaaro is a government agent with a criminal past. A sensitive, he can navigate the massive psychic space created by the dome. But when something within the dome begins killing off other sensitives, Kaaro must defy his masters to avert a horrifying future.

--

The only things that made me pick this up was that I liked the colors on the cover and the summary on the back caught my attention. I didn’t have any expectations going in, but if I had I think I’d be disappointed right about now.

This is the kind of book that usually doesn’t work for me because it jumps through time so much. There are some books where I don’t mind it, but they are few and far between, and they do it in a way that doesn’t lose me. This is not that kind of book. This one constantly moves between three times in Kaaro’s life: when he’s a younger man, when he’s training for S45, and the present while he’s in Rosewood. These different times are clearly labelled with when and where they happen, and yet I still found myself getting confused. They happen almost every chapter, and they interrupt the flow of what was going on. They’re also used in a very cheap way to put in several cliffhangers that feel unnecessary.

I also couldn’t figure out what this book wanted to be. Honestly, I don’t think the author knew either. I thought maybe magic, then cool future sci-fi, then cyberpunk, then aliens, then...everything. It was all of those, and somehow none of them at the same time. It’s too much. Too much stuff, too many ideas crammed into one story so that nothing is every explored enough that I felt satisfied with where things go. I wanted more information about the world. I wanted to know about the mechanical implants that people had, about the dome healing, about how the sensitives and xenosphere works, about the freaking aliens that have invaded the planet. But nothing is given the time it needs. Even the mystery of why all these sensitives are dying is brushed aside, and that’s supposed to be the main focus of the story!

Maybe one day, if I’m very bored or very desperate, I’ll read book number two. But if that day ever comes it’s going to be a long way off.

-Review by C.M.