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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best
@andybest.bsky.social
260 followers 240 following 1.5K posts
Writer and musician. Current thing: fantasy novel Aertelis is live and 'wide', including all library services. UBL: https://books2read.com/u/bz9BOE Blog: write.as/aertelis/ My stuff is at andrewbest.net
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · Mar 14
Do you want a character-driven adventure echoing classic Sword & Sorcery film and TRPGs, but also the literary style, worldbuilding and themes of the New Wave writers like Moorcock and Le Guin?

I've got you covered. And it's wide + available to libraries.

UBL: books2read.com/u/bz9BOE
#booksky
📚💙
Andy's fantasy novel is finally available, and it's wide at all APPS and available for libraries. Sword and Sorcery. Inspired by the New Wave fantasy of Moorcock, McCaffrey and le Guin. Existential journey in unfamiliar lands. Action, quest and adventurers. A standalone story. “Everything decays, but the glass’steel decayed at a rate so slow as to be invisible on the scale of a single lifetime. In the sword she saw visions of her home. Her home so far away, deep down in the reflection of her elven eyes, sunk deep in her memory, transferred to the blade, as far away as a million years is long.” Zana Hala’Kaalni is a warrior princess in exile, untethered from her home, and from her sense of self. Allowing chaos to lead her, she enters a nation on the verge of civil war, a quest for a failed utopia, and the ruins of a long dead era, the lost history of her world. Aertelis combines the action of classic Sword & Sorcery, the literary themes of the Sci-fi Fantasy New Wave, and the character-driven storytelling of the modern era. Aertelis is a standalone story in the Kalni Chronicles anthology.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 19h
Looking at Drew Struzan posters and seeing "Revenge of the Jedi." When it came out in the UK, the novelization and merch was already done before the name change, so, a friend of mine had a Revenge of the Jedi novel, with the poster artwork as the cover, I think. We were in primary school.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 2d
In the UK during the 80s, the genre was called Teen Fiction. I use 'YA' as a shortcut here.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 2d
Don't have an unhinged opinion, but as a younger teen I found industry YA to be simplistic and patronizing, preferring adult SFF. The exception was Futuretrack 5 by Robert Westall, which was eerily prophetic given its from 1983. The OG dystopian YA.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 2d
Peace and love. No worries.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 3d
Yup, but it's fine. Social media is not the best for context.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 4d
Big Daily Mail energy: pedos and immigrants will take your kids, also, let's all consider how attractive this 6 yr old is.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 6d
I found a rare example of a good writer doing games/lit crit in the wild @gracemachine.bsky.social : even in games references and creative choices work when coherent and connected to a theme or thesis
Hades II's Ill-Defined, Unserious World Undermines the Depth and Power of Mythology
With its cardboard cutout characters, Hades II flattens the fearful, uneasy mystery of its mythic inspirations.
www.endlessmode.com
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Reposted by Andy Best
chaosium.bsky.social
Chaosium @chaosium.bsky.social · 6d
Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine is the complete guide to BRP—the same system that powers Call of Cthulhu, RuneQuest, Pendragon, Rivers of London, and countless others.

www.chaosium.com/basic-rolepl...
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 7d
I feel seen.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 7d
The corporate takeover of the more organic internet activity involved essentially substituting social media for 'internet' in most people's minds, and bending other online media to its model.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 7d
I ran an indie Web 2.0 era blog that got a large readership, had an agent take it to Random House for a book deal, that led to meeting like minded people from around the world, and more, and I had no public-facing social media or smart phone during the main run.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 7d
As someone who was active during Web 2.0, I think it's important to make a distinction. [online] connection, communication, independent arts, and even success are not the domain of social media™ [1/2]
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Reposted by Andy Best
paperbackparadise.bsky.social
Paperback Paradise @paperbackparadise.bsky.social · 7d
Photo of a vintage book cover featuring Dracula dropping gold coins onto his pile of gold coins, he’s smiling as he clearly is a greedy individual. A full skeleton lays on the pile of gold, perhaps it is one of his girlfriends. A naked woman looms in the background for some reason. Copy and title read: HOW DID DRACULA GET RICH? Selling Frankenstein’s Feet Pix Online By Herman Baldsack Dracula made a fortune off of Frankenstein's feet without his permission and he is a disgusting piece of garbage for that
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 7d
Also, their economic argument doesn't even work: as if music, graphic design, films and books aren't huge global industries that bleed into all other industries.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
yay, I continue my lifelong Chaotic Good streak in all things
caasbrey.bsky.social
caasbrey @caasbrey.bsky.social · 8d
Book Alignment Chart Lawful Good Neutral Good. Chaotic Good Book ribbon. Sentence pointer. Scrap paper/receipt Lawful Neutral. True Neutral Chaotic Neutral Ebook. Proper bookmark. Leaf Lawful Evil. Neutral Evil. Chaotic Evil Memorising Book face-down. Dog Ear. Page Numbers
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
Me too, in fact, I wasn't aware that the version I grew up on was a re-issue until the more recent controversy. Huge part of my childhood by the way.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
And because -the internet- let me be clear that I am referring to camps and centers where kids are sent to be made 'not gay'
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
Gen X here. Conversion therapy was, and is, an obvious child-torturing atrocity of our times.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
The controversy was finding out they had all been edited already, on and off over a few years. In the end the publisher re-released a set of 'classics' alongside the modern versions. CATCF had already been edited like this in 1970 though, over the Oompa Loompas, who were original African.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 8d
Dem leaders would never use the DHS infrastructure to use violence and no due process on protest movements. Now, how did Occupy Wall Street end suddenly as it gained traction in other cities ... hmmnn
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Reposted by Andy Best
michaelwhelan.bsky.social
Michael Whelan @michaelwhelan.bsky.social · 9d
DRAGONSBANE (1985)
Acrylic - 28” x 18”

I loved this book—the protagonists and dragon are very engaging and held my interest right from the start. 1/4
On a platform in front of a stone castle wall a black dragon rises on back legs while holding out an unconscious woman in its clawed forelimbs. There’s intelligence reflected in the slit of purple eyes that focus downward. On its head, it has a pair of curving, forward facing horns, a short shaggy mane, and a fin that runs down the back of its long, sinuous neck. Its form is all scales and bristles, but despite the fearsome appearance its body language suggests gentle care. Farther back, a pair of men stand on mist shrouded stairs leading down from the front of the castle. A drawbridge carved with the artist’s sigil tilts forward slightly ajar.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 9d
Best song with Ophelia in the title: "Hey There Ophelia" by MC Lars.
Nerdcore forever.
MC Lars - Hey There Ophelia (Official Lyric Video) ft. Gabe Saporta of Cobra Starship
YouTube video by MC Lars
youtu.be
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 9d
Even among the enshittification of everything, it still amazes me that high profile sites with news and articles about culture have auto play and auto play pop up video. Not to mention it's been years since pivot-to-video was exposed as a scam within the biz.
andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 10d
Lol if the CEO is hiding block lists then that nullifies this post in every way. back to basics I suppose - endless struggle.
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andybest.bsky.social
Andy Best @andybest.bsky.social · 10d
TBH in the early days I did what everyone said and used mod tools so that all air was taken away from bad actors/behaviour, ruthlessly, and now when I see posts about existential crises on Bsky, I have to research out-of-site for 10 mins to find out what it's about.

The issues are still real obv.
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