I prefer last stand to last gamble/gambit in part because of Custer's Last Stand. My target audience of course knows/expects Satan will lose in the end, but I think the reason people read those end of the world stories is to see how. Although his last challenge is a key driver for the story, ultimately it's about Connor being able to overcome Satan's control over him (genetically programmed to obey daddy, raised to believe his father has been wronged, etc.) and ultimately triumph in the end, albeit as the Lesser King and the Unholy Shepherd (if Gandalf can have a billion names, why not two titles for Connor (in addition to Antichrist).
351 2024-11-30 19:36:49
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
352 2024-11-30 08:02:02
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Of all of the above, I like Satan's Last Stand best.
353 2024-11-30 05:36:40
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Other possibilities for the trilogy title:
Satan's Last Stand - granted, it implies he will lose, but a Christian audience expects that anyway.
The Last Challenge - meh
Satan's War - nice and short, kind of boring though
The Millennia War - a possibility since the Last Challenge unfolds over two millennia
Kingdom of Fire & Faith - still in the running, albeit long
A title similar to Burn it all Down, which I like, but has been used too often
The End - simple, but impossible to find given the number of books with The End as part of the title.
Great Deeds Await
Great Deeds Await You
Killing the Messiah
354 2024-11-28 16:11:55
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Lord of the Earth, while slightly shorter may not help much. For example: in addition to naming the trilogy, the wording will most likely be something like: Lord of the Earth Book One (or Book 1).
Earth's Lord - yup, too short
Earth's Supreme Lord doesn't work too well because the winner could be Christ, Satan, or Connor. Referring to Satan or Connor as Supreme Lord seems a bit much.
Final Gambit - hmm, not a fan of that one
355 2024-11-28 07:29:25
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Hmm. Per my previous post, I was hoping to shorten the title of the series from "The Lord of the Earth" because, when combined with the title of each novel, it strikes me as very long to have on a book cover. All three of those I was considering (The Lesser King, The Immortal Sinner, and The Unholy Shepherd) are too suggestive of the fact that Connor is not Christ, which is the big twist of book one. The Lesser King and The Unholy Shepherd are great titles for book three, though.
I really like Google AI's suggestion of Kingdom of Fire & Faith, but that's even longer than the current series title. The abbreviated title of Fire & Faith hasn't been used too much, but I find it too bland. I may just say to heck with it and use the full title (Kingdom of ...).
356 2024-11-19 20:51:26
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I like Unholy Shepherd best too. The title is meant to reflect the difference between who he was, and who he became in the end.
The Lesser King is nice too because Connor is crowned king at the end (i.e., he not only survived but came out on top), but unlike his father, Connor freely acknowledges that he is not the greatest king.
The other one I like is the Immortal Sinner because Connor becomes immortal at the end.
Since the name of my trilogy (The Lord of the Earth) is rather long, especially when it has to appear alongside the name of the novels, I'm probably going to rename the trilogy to one of the above three (probably the Lesser King) and perhaps one of the others as the title of book three. Except I don't think I want Connor to be both Shepherd and King.
357 2024-11-19 01:09:11
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Not a fan of End War. Not lofty enough. ![]()
Needless to say, The Day of the Lord is taken. ![]()
I could also see giving Connor a different title than king, like The Shepherd or The Caretaker. The book could then be called the Unholy Shepherd or the Holy Caretaker.
Great Deeds Await, with or without You at the end.
The Antichrist Burns or The Burning of the Antichrist, which, technically, he does.
Burned Alive! possibly with The Destruction of the Antichrist as the subtitle, although the subtitle is a little misleading; he is burned alive and destroyed, but he is brought back to life by God, who declares the Antichrist part of him to no longer exist/been burned to nothing)
The Immortal Sinner - since Connor will become immortal at the end.
The Antichrist Triumphant.
EDIT: Oddly, the Unholy Shepherd has been used before too, although only once, released in 2019 or 2021, for a murder-mystery. 4.8 stars on Amazon, although only from 9 reviewers (friends & family?). So, I consider that title usable.
EDIT: A Kingdom of Fire and Faith. -- Google's AI suggested this one. ![]()
From the looks of the two lists (including my previous post), it will almost certainly be one of the titles in blue. Right now, "The Lesser King" and "The Unholy Shepherd" are in the lead.
358 2024-11-18 10:48:31
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
The War for Souls Begins/Has Begun - possible alternative title for book 2; Nnamani's line was "The war for souls has just begun."
Great Deeds Await - possible title for book 3
My preference though is a title that could apply equally to Connor and Jesus. Something like "Rise of the King", but that title would only work for Connor, whereas "Return of the King" would only work for Jesus, assuming it wasn't already slightly used. ![]()
Crowning of the King - primarily refers to Connor.
The Lesser King - unused, I really like this one, but it also only applies to Connor.
All Hail the King - relatively unused title; I like this one; applies to both Connor and Jesus
King of the Stars
Into the Lake of Fire, Beyond the Lake of Fire
The Father Chooses His Champions Wisely - a line from the epilogue, refers to both Connor and his mother; a bit long, though.
The Lord of the Earth - currently the name of the trilogy, but I could rename the trilogy and use this title for book 3
Continued next post...
359 2024-11-18 08:23:31
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Well, crap! An end times novel was just released called "The War for Souls", which was to be the title of my second book. It's from the line Nnamani speaks as he and Campagna flee the Vatican at the end of book one.
360 2024-11-18 00:34:52
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Cool additions:
- Depending on how bad you sinned in your life, the harsher the planet will be that you will be sent to live on.
- At the end of the story, I can have the real Christ crown Connor on Earth as king of all those worlds.
- Possibly with the ability to see what is happening on each of the worlds he has to rule. Probably using some special orb filled with water from the Sea of Galilee.
361 2024-11-17 21:50:35
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Satan will indeed be thrown (sucked) into the lake of fire, which, as you may recall, is an interstellar portal, but it can also send you elsewhere on Earth. God decides who goes where. Satan will end up on a small moon being sucked into the black hole at the center of our galaxy. Haven't figured out if I plan to send all demons there as well, or elsewhere. Some hellish world, perhaps, with instructions from God that no one ever go there. But will humans obey him this time? ![]()
I have two options (or both together) for someone going into the lake of fire. One is that time in the lake of fire is much slower than real time, so before you pass through the portal you will be punished by the lake for the unabsolved misdeeds of your life. However I make it, it can't be forever since I want to get all mortal sinners to other worlds. Which brings me to option 2, which is to state that they are, figuratively, in the lake of fire forever since they'll be on other worlds forever (they can never get back to Earth). I'll probably combine them, so you get some burning, then get transported.
Connor/Adam burn to nothing except for one thought: Agony! That's because Adam agreed before returning to Earth to personally accept everyone else's punishment. But he's too afraid to jump into the lake when the time comes, so Connor does it (one of the great deeds that awaits him). Then they get transported back to Megiddo, to the other waiting characters.
One issue to resolve is that I want the portals to be able to take you between worlds, so Connor, Campagna, and Romano, among others, can travel everywhere in the future since Connor, who is now immortal, has to rule all of it. Connor's throne will be on a renewed Earth.
Satan will, of course, burn worse than anyone else. And he'll never get away from the black hole.
Just to clarify my previous comments, many Catholics consider Revelation heavily figurative, but since there's 1.3 billion of them, I'm guessing a huge number of them don't know much about it. Even if they've read it, much of Revelation seems bizarre, so you probably need help understanding it, and if you go to the internet for your info, there are tons of Protestant websites that give their interpretation, but I don't recall any saying that they're a Protestant website and that interpretations differ.
The Catholic-specific study guides can vary quite a bit too. If you like, I'll send you the name/author of what I thought was the best one. When I first read Revelation, I thought John was off his meds.
But, the aforementioned book was terrific at explaining things, and by the time I was done, I thought John was brilliant.
362 2024-11-16 22:51:12
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Yeah, but not all Catholics agree on Revelation being heavily symbolic, primarily because of the influence of Protestant interpretations online and in popular books, like the Left Behind series. Also, because Revelation isn't discussed much in Catholic churches. Some priests don't teach it because they think it's too scary for parishioners. And, since the Church has said little officially about how to interpret it, Catholics are free to speculate.
Oddly, I was watching a Catholic priest explain Revelation, and he discussed the 42 months as if they were literal, not figurative. Hmm. I haven't had the time to finish the video yet.
My comment that humans suck at interpreting the Bible (45,000 denominations), includes all Christians, not just Protestants, whose denominations are fruitful and multiply like bunnies.
There are simply too many ways to interpret many of the verses (the four "senses" used by Catholics), so whose to know? I read many different study guides for Catholic and Protestant interpretations of Revelation while researching Connor. Although some agree on some things, they can still vary wildly. One author went so far as to suggest that cell phones (held up to the head, like a mark on the forehead) and credit cards/fingerprints (for buying) are the marks of the Beast.
And although Satan's goose may indeed be cooked, I wonder who came up with the idea that he can't turn back to the light. I mean, even Vader overcame his nasty side. And I have a trilogy with a kid who ultimately overcomes much of his destiny, but then everyone except me is reading Revelation incorrectly. ![]()
363 2024-11-16 19:36:03
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
The bet was made shortly after Satan read Revelation, so early in the second century.
With respect to your previous comments, God knows everything, God will win.
Here's the logic I've tentatively settled on (unless someone blows this up on me):
Like everything in the Bible, the version of Revelation we have has to be interpreted correctly. So, when God shows it to us, common sense says that the correct interpretation of the future currently in the Bible is: Satan and sinning humans, change your ways or Revelation is what will happen to you. It's God's final warning.
As a result, Satan knows he must do something else, otherwise his butt will burn. Rather than stop sinning and return to worshipping and serving God, Satan cooks up the challenge, which, if he succeeds, offers him a different way to escape the fire while simultaneously forcing God and the angels to leave Earth, so Satan can rule it. Since God has a greater purpose for the challenge, he accepts.
The prophets, too, realize that Revelation is a warning (as are many Bible stories), not to be read literally (e.g., prove your obedience to God by killing your son, unless an angel stays your hand), so they have no problem writing it the way they did, which was done under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Humans, being smart too, have enough intelligence that they can figure this out as well (hell, I did, and my brain's not exactly firing on all thrusters, lol). It's just that most humans suck at interpreting the Bible correctly (45,000 denominations and counting), so most Christians think Revelation is literally what will happen.
Many Catholics have begun to realize what God intended, and have changed their interpretation, including the fact that much of the wording in Revelation is figurative, not literal. They too realize God is saying: Satan and sinning humans, change your ways, or Revelation is what will happen to you.
One might ask why God didn't simply come right out and say the above words. Sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't. He didn't, for example, include an explicit statement prior to the story of the Flood (sinning humans, changes your ways, or I'll drown you all). Similarly, in Genesis, in the story of Adam & Eve, he didn't say, sinning humans, don't disobey me (i.e., don't eat the fruit), or I'll punish you severely, although he does say that elsewhere. Tons of examples where God has decided to show, not tell. ![]()
Here, too, dual timelines are no longer needed.
364 2024-11-15 23:32:44
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
>> I don't know if you have any other choice. God anticipated the bet and gave the prophecies
George, I'm not sure from your sentence which future you think God has to give the prophets. In order to avoid the causality loop, I believe God has to give the prophets the version of Revelation that we ourselves have in the real world, which, as I noted way above, is a valid version of the future, just not the one Satan chose. Of course, God knows when he gives the prophets the version of Revelation without a challenge, that it is not the version that will ultimately come to pass. Do you consider that lying?
365 2024-11-13 22:14:58
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Satan (De Rosa) can't, but Connor can. He's descended from both De Rosa (a recently killed member of the breeding program) and Campagna (unknowingly descended from an escaped member of the breeding program from centuries past), so he's actually more powerful than Satan, although I haven't figured out when the best time is to use that. His brawl with De Rosa inside St. Peter's Basilica in the middle of book two is interrupted when Connor collapses (Adam is trying to break through). Connor doesn't like reading the minds of people he cares about because he gets flooded with a lot of their private thoughts.
EDIT: I just figured out when to use it.
During the aforementioned brawl, Connor allows his father to belt him in the face a few times before grabbing De Rosa's thrown fist midair with one hand and beginning to crush it. Surprises the hell out of Satan, after which Connor really lets him have it, right before Connor collapses.
366 2024-11-13 16:35:56
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I think loops in stories are great, especially unintended ones. But I'm not sure how this story would benefit from placing everything in a loop, other than an opening for sequels.
The planned plot is already very complex (Connor carrying Adam's soul, Connor learning that he was bred to follow Satan, Dr. Lombardi is actually Eve in her glorified body, etc.). Also why would God allow that loop when he just took actions, per my previous post, to prevent a different one?
Current plan for book two:
- Apocalyptic events have begun (i.e., natural disasters, etc.)
- Connor is a badass; has twin Goth girlfriends with whom he regularly has sex; has concluded he's on the wrong side of history, but feels compelled to serve his father, even though he's still pissed off that he was conceived through rape
- Connor continues working to convert ever more Protestant churches to follow him; pushes Muslim leaders to convert as well; destroys several of their holy places, including the mosque on the Temple Mount, to force them to accept him; returns control of the Temple Mount to the Jews as a sign that he really is their Messiah
- Connor has begun experiencing symptoms of Adam awakening within him, which he doesn't understand and keeps hidden from Satan; those will get worse and worse
- Satan sends Connor's girlfriends away, so Connor ups the ante and takes a Protestant minister's 16-year-old son as a gay lover
- Bishop Romano is given the journal of a deceased geneticist, who in modern times, was responsible for Satan's ongoing breeding program
- Campagna invites Connor to a meal at her parents' home, where he meets a number of his relatives; he gets upset because everyone is being so nice to the "Antichrist"; he and his grandfather have a heart to heart on the balcony
- Romano arrives and shows Connor the journal, including entries about the gene in Connor that was bred specifically to compel him to do Satan's bidding
- Connor decides he wants out; their first stop is Campagna's regular church, where Romano hears his first real confession; he is baptized; they celebrate Mass; he receives instructions from the Holy Spirit to return to his father in preparation for what's to come
- He does so; finds his lover strangled in St. Peter's Square; confronts Satan; they have a huge supernatural fight in St. Peter's Basilica
- Connor collapses during the fight due to Adam's continued awakening; he's hospitalized; Satan summons Campagna because Connor seems near death and he's hoping she can save him; Connor recovers and returns to Satan
- Cardinal Nnamani continues to implement his holy vision to retake the Vatican "without violence" on the part of his followers; leads them to St. Peter's Square to confront the Unholy Trinity on the steps leading into St. Peter's Basilica
- all hell breaks loose; God uses Campagna to cleanse the Vatican of demons; Satan is severely burned/disfigured during the cleansing and disappears from the Vatican
- Adam awakens fully; the Holy Spirit arrives (same Black man as in book one) and uses his powers so Connor and Adam can meet face-to-face, even though they exist within the same body and share one soul
- More details TBD
- book three is equally busy, including Connor discovering and meeting his supernatural "cousins" from the breeding program, who still live deep in the jungle where they were bred; Apocalyptic disasters continue; the final confrontation between Satan's demons and Connor and his cousins at Megiddo; big-ass fight between Connor and Satan's lieutenant, who is actually many demons (10?) in one powerful genetically enhanced body; Christ returns
- lots more to the story, including the rescue mission, Connor's desire to free everyone from Hell, condemned sinners begin getting sucked into the Lake of Fire in vast numbers, where they "burn" for a time before transporting to other worlds to live/try again to make it to Heaven (this is akin to a loop, by the way)
- Connor/Adam given the chance to jump into the lake of fire and accept God's punishment on behalf of all mortal sinners, something Adam is too terrified to do, but Connor throws himself/Adam in; they burn until all that remains of them is the thought of "pain!"; finally, Connor/Adam are transported back to Megiddo, where Campagna, Romano, and others are waiting; Connor has a glorified body, making him immortal
- Connor and several of the main characters are taken to the top of a mountain by St. Michael, where they meet the Father; not sure if the mountain will be the same as the one where Moses went to receive the ten commandments; Connor and the others are told about the portal, the other worlds for sinners who didn't make it to Heaven this time around; Connor is told his punishment for trying to free all souls from Hell is to rule all of those worlds; Campagna and Romano decide to join him
- Satan eventually gets sucked into the lake of fire; he burns like Connor/Adam did; is transported to a small moon or large asteroid that is falling into the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way
- Although I'm unlikely to live long enough to write any more books in the series (I still want to finish Archangel as a series of novellas), the ending to book three of Connor pretty much sets up an infinite number of potential sequels in which he rules the galaxy
Other than that, not much going on.
Now you probably see why I'd rather not add a loop to this story as well. ![]()
367 2024-11-13 09:10:43
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Are you referring to the loop I mentioned earlier but didn't explain? If so, it goes like this:
Assume John always knows and writes about what really will happen in the future. Since the challenge doesn't appear in Revelation, Satan will issue one. But, John should have foreseen that and mentioned it in Revelation, including the fact that Satan loses. Of course, as soon as Satan reads that, he knows not to issue the challenge, at least not that one. But if he doesn't issue it, then John would have written Revelation as we know it. And again, Satan would issue the challenge.
To prevent this loop, God prevents Satan from knowing his final fate. So, Satan would have issued the challenge and spent 2000 years preparing for it (breeding humans to produce superhuman Connor). Even though Satan no longer knows his fate, he has no choice but to proceed since winning is the only way he can escape the lake of fire.
He also no longer knows the fate of the Antichrist, the False Prophet, any of the demons, and all mortal sinners. If he did, that would give him too much information, from which he could probably guess his fate, and the loop would exist yet again.
So, God has to prevent Satan and us from knowing our fates. God is also more than willing to let Satan sweat over his ultimate fate.
Naturally, the fact that there are two possible futures, both equally valid, though only God knows which will come to pass, is really two timelines but without me having to even mention the word or describe the concept.
The only issue is whether Christians/Catholics will view God's actions as "lying" to the prophets. I say no because both timelines are equally valid, and either could come to pass based solely on Satan's decision about the challenge (naturally God knows in advance what Satan will decide, but that doesn't remove Satan's free will).
And God chooses to show the prophets the future that does not result in a causality loop, which also serves God's purpose with regard to the future rescue mission undertaken by Connor/Adam.
368 2024-11-13 05:58:00
Re: The Archangel Syndrome (309 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Firestones
369 2024-11-13 02:21:48
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I'm doing this from memory, which is never a good thing, but for Catholics, the 1000 year period has been underway since shortly after Christ's death, when they developed the concept of the Eucharist. That is, to Catholics, the real presence of Christ on Earth.
It therefore follows that Satan is already in the bottomless pit, locked away. Naturally, that's not a physical pit, nor is there a physical chain around him. Since, figuratively speaking, his power is diminished in this period, what we see in the real world is his remaining influence.
I included the aforementioned chain in the first draft: the Christian cross around De Rosa's neck. It was secured around his neck by St. Michael at a moment when Satan was distracted. It's what causes his painful stigmata every time he kills a clergyman. That's what keeps him from killing more of them. The chain also prevents him from leaving his current (De Rosa) body.
370 2024-11-13 00:04:54
Re: The Archangel Syndrome (309 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I decided a while ago that I'm going to rename atreidite, the mineral that acts as a hyperbattery to power stardrive jumps. While I intend to give some nod to Dune in this story, if I haven't already, atreidite is too obviously close to Atreides. I want something more creative.
The name should suggest its function (an incredibly powerful battery). My first alternative, which I immediately dismissed, was to call the mineral "abattery". :-)
I'm open to suggestions.
Dirk
371 2024-11-12 23:37:13
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I tell my doctor his pills make me stupid. ![]()
I understand what you're saying, Terry, but the whole premise of the challenge is that things will not end the same way as originally prophesied by John and others. Since I insist that the Bible in my story remain inerrant, the question becomes, what's the best way to explain how that is possible? The alternate timeline is okay, but there is a lot of complexity to the concept if you think about it. The write-up for it is fairly straightforward for those who want to read at most a few paragraphs about how it works and move on.
But many readers these days are very savvy, and I don't want to publish something that is fatally flawed the moment you peek under the hood. If you do focus on it, then you have to think about things like: How many instances of me are there in the multiverse? Are we each distinct individuals, no more alike than twins, or are we connected on a deeper level? If the latter, how many souls are there for me? Is it just one that is somehow shared by all of us? I'd be okay with raising all those issues if that was the focus of the novels, but it's not. And there are many more issues beyond those above.
The other alternative I also considered right from the beginning was to sidestep multiple timelines (2 in this case) and have God give the prophets a vision of the future that is identical to our future. The latter would come true only if there was no challenge, which is the real world we live in. So, the Bible prophesies tell our future.
But the challenge changed that, which is a future God chose not to reveal in full. In part, it's to keep Satan from knowing his future. But mostly it's to prevent a crazy time loop. I'll skip the details for now.
As noted in my earlier posts, God wants Satan to issue the challenge, which is exactly what he eventually does. God's role in steering Satan to that chosen path amounted to having the prophets write the prophesies we see in the Bible, knowing that Satan would read and act on them in an attempt to prevent them from coming to pass. But the prophets and Satan are intelligent and have free will. They should have at least considered what will happen when Satan reads Revelation. The fact that they didn't doesn't change the fact that the outcome still required conscious decisions on their part. God knew what their decisions would be, but they made the choices.
While it's true that Satan really had no choice (lake of fire or mystery prize behind door #2), he made it far worse for himself. As mentioned in the ancient letter (written by Satan), demons and glorified humans have the ability to tolerate the Lake of Fire, although it still involves great suffering, but not so much that the punished beings can no longer contemplate their eternal punishment. After all, what's the point of a punishment if the condemned are in such searing agony that they are nothing more than tortured animals without even the ability to think anymore. Their whole existence would be reduced to one endless thought: agony!
Instead, Satan foolishly upped the ante by suggesting that if Satan won the challenge, God and the angels should return to the spirit realm and abandon Earth forever, leaving it to Satan to rule. God said okay, but if Satan loses, the temperature in the lake of fire will rise a thousandfold (oops). Since the challenge remained Satan's only escape from the lake, he had to accept.
And God has no need to fog Satan's mind.
I could ramble on, but I'm tired.
372 2024-11-12 04:10:08
Re: Savior of the Damned (the Connor series) by Dirk B. (1,461 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
I've been mulling ways to eliminate dual timelines. It's a fairly complex issue, with plenty of plot holes no matter which way I slice it.
Rather than another timeline, which requires readers to wrap their minds around my 4th century explanation and ignore the plot holes, what if God gave the Bible prophets a vision of the future that is identical to what they eventually wrote down, yet that version would only come to pass if Satan did not issue the challenge?
In this way, the vision is true/correct, although the prophets, including John, and Satan will all misinterpret it as prophesying what will happen, rather than what could happen. This means the Bible remains inerrant. It is and remains the faithful word of God; it just has to be interpreted correctly.
While it could be argued that this is close to God lying, he gave all those prophets and Satan sufficient intelligence to question the prophecies, yet none of the prophets thought to consider what will happen when Satan reads Revelation. Even Satan should have questioned God's motives. As a result, Satan issued the challenge rather than suffer an eternity in the lake of fire.
That's exactly what God wants (and being omniscient he knows it will happen), but in addition to intelligence, God also gave those men (and Satan) free will, so the decisions (and the misinterpretations) were theirs to make. Just as God knows when someone will sin, it's still up to that person to make the decision that takes them down the dark path.
Had Satan seen how he was being manipulated and chosen not to issue a challenge, then the future prophesied in the Bible would actually come to pass, which leaves Satan back in the lake of fire. So, you see, technically, the "false" vision could have come true based solely on Satan's free will.
In this way, the Bible remains inerrant and I have no need to introduce an alternate timeline and everything that goes with it.
I wonder how long until this solution falls apart. ![]()
373 2024-11-11 18:23:34
Re: The Archangel Syndrome (309 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
That reminds me, in addition to the Bunny Divine news broadcast, which only lasts for a few paragraphs, I could write a real short story about the killing of Mama and many other mobsters, with Kay as the protagonist/assassin.
374 2024-11-11 18:17:48
Re: The Archangel Syndrome (309 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
Oh, he's definitely in it, the first time driving his old beat-up taxi trying to help Joseph & Paul escape the spaceport where they work as slaves, and the second time when he helps break the kids out of prison and drives them back to the spaceport in a limo to a waiting transport. The latter ride was completely uneventful, which is boring.
So, I intend to equip the limo with fantastic tech to fight off Caligula's forces pursuing Joseph. Since there have already been two chases in the story (the first where Mama's guards pursue Joseph, an escaped slave, and the second when Imperial forces pursue Apollo as he flees the planet), another chase probably wouldn't be that interesting, unless I can find something very unique to do. At this point, Leonardo is rich and powerful as he was hired by his Aunt Ma'am (Apollo's former governess and the Imperatrix's chief slayer) to help her run Mama's Little Shipping after Lady Kay kills Mama with a poison that causes his intestines to expand at the speed of sound, as described in my Bunny Divine short story.
Remember, in a market scene in one of the Indiana Jones films, where an Arab blocks Indiana's path and shows off his skills twirling a sword? Indiana pulls a gun and just shoots him. Problem solved. LoL. I'm trying to think of a way to do something similar using the limo tech, although much more involved than the scene with Indy. After all, these are Imperial forces in hot pursuit, not just a few guards from a criminal organization.
Details TBD.
375 2024-11-11 05:43:41
Re: The Archangel Syndrome (309 replies, posted in Fantasy/Magic & Sci-Fi)
That's what embedded credit cards are for.
Add a few replicated copies of Galaxinet throughout the solar system (and the rest of settled space), and you're good to go. Anyplace in the galaxy you go, if they have a copy of Galaxinet, you won't be able to do much of anything until overdue bills are paid. Very basic food, clothes, shelter, and medical care might be exceptions, but your choices will be very restricted. Of course, none of this will make it into the book, and someone much smarter than me can figure out how to build banking and other services into a galactic database that only gets updated every 12 hours. Too bad the scarcity of atreidite for interstellar travel is holding up progress on that front. ![]()