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Patrick Sean Tomlinson / @stealthygeek / "Torque Wheeler" / @RealAutomanic / Kempesh / Padawan v2.5 - "Conservative" sci-fi author with TDS, armed "drunk with anger management issues" and terminated parental rights, actual tough guy, obese, paid Quasi, paid thousands to be repeatedly unbanned from Twitter
Naw. People would tell the tale to others over beers, at parties, or post r/WhateverTheRedditIsForAirBBnBTales.
Most normal people would not become patposters over it. And if they did, so few have the dedication to keep going after a block.
But naming people in a doomed from the start lawsuit has some people taking that shit personally.
After the doomed MPD suit I expect to see more visits from DNS (Milwaukee Department of Neighborhood services) but if we get lucky the feds/MPD have actual evidence that the torswats posts are right and Patrick did pay for the self swats.
His new swats could be the less tethered to reality people who would are taking offense to Pat's political takes. There is some other group to be pointed at and the MPD has no reason to not investigate.
Honestly I really pitty fatrick he has litterally no one to keep him company expect houseplants and a lesbian wife who leaves him half the time. He has to spend most of his time alone on twitter. His own daughter has never met him before.
Honestly I really pitty fatrick he has litterally no one to keep him company expect houseplants and a lesbian wife who leaves him half the time. He has to spend most of his time alone on twitter. His own daughter has never met him before.
That is true patrick caused a lot of his misery, he threatened to kill his own daughter. However I am sure patrick is mentally ill or lacking in iq. People with mental disabilties need to be held to different standards than normal people.
That is true patrick caused a lot of his misery, he threatened to kill his own daughter. However I am sure patrick is mentally ill or lacking in iq. People with mental disabilties need to be held to different standards than normal people.
Honestly I really pitty fatrick he has litterally no one to keep him company expect houseplants and a lesbian wife who leaves him half the time. He has to spend most of his time alone on twitter. His own daughter has never met him before.
That is true patrick caused a lot of his misery, he threatened to kill his own daughter. However I am sure patrick is mentally ill or lacking in iq. People with mental disabilties need to be held to different standards than normal people.
I think those two positions aren't necessarily irreconcilable. Society needs consistent standards lest degeneracy start to run rampant, but at the same time if someone decides to self-exclude from society at large because they are unable to live up to said standards, then I would hope that they would typically be left to their own devices. However in Patrick's case, his continued insistence on wanting to be admired as some sort of macho polymath Renaissance man means that he deserves no quarter nor pity despite his obvious intellectual deficiencies [edit: and also because he's so fucking fat].
That is true patrick caused a lot of his misery, he threatened to kill his own daughter. However I am sure patrick is mentally ill or lacking in iq. People with mental disabilties need to be held to different standards than normal people.
If someone's a complete retard to the point they can't stop themselves from threatening to murder women and children, they belong in a tard home, not in society. Patrick isn't so low IQ he doesn't know better, though, so where he belongs is in prison, not enjoying it.
However in Patrick's case, his continued insistence on wanting to be admired as some sort of macho polymath Renaissance man means that he deserves no quarter nor pity despite his obvious intellectual deficiencies
That combined with the fact that he looks down his pig nose and constantly talks down to even the people on his side who are in lockstep agreement with him on politics, stalker children, and all things in between-hard to feel pity for a guy like that.
Imagine how satisfying it would be to have Fatrick come at you in real life, so you could kick the living shit out of him?
I do sometimes. I would love to kick his fat fucking face in.
Wrong yet again, stalker. You will be immediately subdued and will await the arrival of the police officers who are legally required to do exactly my bidding, none more and none less, according to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin. Enjoy prison.
Make him squeal like a piggy like Ned Beatty in Deliverance.
If someone's a complete retard to the point they can't stop themselves from threatening to murder women and children, they belong in a tard home, not in society. Patrick isn't so low IQ he doesn't know better, though, so where he belongs is in prison, not enjoying it.
I actually would agree with this, patrick should not be allowed to own guns or knives. Ideally he should be put in a mental health care facility (aka asylum) under 24 hour surveliance so no african children go missing.
According to footage Pat posted himself, one cop responded and “brandished” a flashlight.
But I do enjoy how he calls Pat out for milking this shit on social media instead of writing books or doing standup (which he has claimed pays his mortgage).
According to footage Pat posted himself, one cop responded and “brandished” a flashlight.
But I do enjoy how he calls Pat out for milking this shit on social media instead of writing books or doing standup (which he has claimed pays his mortgage).
In many countries during the Cold War there was a rule, taught by fathers to sons. “always keep
your rifle pointed in a safe direction - but if possible, point it at USSR.”
Around here in the western hemisphere we have a variation: “Son, your rifle will always swing to point towards Milwaukee because of the great gravitational pull. You can contest it, but only for awhile. So get used to it.”
it's been nearly a year since i finished my readview of The Ark, Patrick S. Tomlinson's first book and the first part of the three-part Children of a Dead Earth series. life happened, to be brief, but i wanted to continue reading his books out of morbid curiosity and if i've got my facts straight, Patrick's case against the stalker city of Milwaukee and the children on the police force has a hearing in the near future, so why not celebrate?
first, a primer. i was confused, angry, upset, and MATI with The Ark up to the end of it. i hold that it was totally unacceptable for it to be published and put on shelves; however, two chapters into Trident's Forge and i experienced a sort of whiplash in writing quality that has to be seen to be believed. either Patrick got himself a good editor or he genuinely improved as an author - either way, it deserves recognition.
Trident's Forge is already a massive improvement over The Ark in every conceivable way that i'm keen on finding out if it holds up to the end or not. after an abominable first book, the second book, so far, feels like easy, casual reading material.
i'm going to reiterate my approach to these read-through reviews of Pat's fine works. i group all my thoughts by chapters and summations at the end. anything that i read, i read twice: first on autopilot and second to scrutinize. i'll do my best to avoid nitpicking like Noah Antwiler but i'm a very stream of mind person with amateur-level experience at copy editing. i will probably get ahead of myself or wrap around like a gay retard, or even contradict myself.
here's a link to the final chapter of The Ark, which contains links to the rest of the readview for that series. page numbers might not line up entirely due to posts getting deleted from the thread but just go back or forwards one page and you'll see it. i do want to set up a proper thread of my own for this kind of thing but i haven't spent much time at all figuring out how i even want it to look. ideally i'd set up a webpage of some kind to post it to but i get the feeling Rick would send an EPSC takedown (EPSC = Enjoy Prison, Stalker Child) and deliver many thousands of grievance statements at my senTencing.
i did not include a mention of this in The Ark, but i will state that i'm not committing an act of software piracy or theft - i am not uploading Pat's ebooks without his consent. i believe that what i'm doing is transformative and falls under fair use as i am commenting on and criticizing his work.
my ebook reader lets me make notes in five colors. here is an explanation for my color coding and what highlight means what:
Blue - Important passages, information for the thread and review.
Purple - Semi-important passages, another delineator if needed.
Red - Errors and critical issues.
Yellow - Pointless or Meandering BS; low-severity issue i.e. with grammar
Green - Praise or compliments for Patrick
let's begin.
==Characters; Introduced in Order of Appearance==
Kexx:
Atlantean. A genderfluid alien native to the planet Tau Ceti G.
Mei Nakamura:
A victim of terrorist child abusers on the Ark during the events of Book 1. Apparently an ambassador for peace now.
==Items of Interest, Flora and Fauna, Factions, Group and Location Names, etc.;==
G'tel:
A village of some sort belonging to a tribe of native Atlanteans on Tau Ceti G.
Ulik:
An animal-like species native to Tau Ceti G. Walks on four legs. Uliks hunt in packs, Arisen, so they're probably space wolves (no, not those!). Apparently they don't have fur, though.
Black Bridge:
N/A... (Patrick's Proper Nounism is already revved!)
Dwellers:
N/A... (PROPER NOUNS!)
Cuut:
Atlantean god. Definitely not cute. Nothing more for now...
Varr:
Atlantean god. Varrgle deez nuts. Nothing more for now...
Xis:
Atlantean god. Female-equivalent (zer skill xis VASTED on zis team!). Nothing more for now...
Seeds of Cuut:
N/A... (But my brain can't stop trying to spell it as 'Cunt' for some reason).
Bulo:
Atlantean sealife. Nothing more for now...
--E1: When I first read The Ark, my first and most immediate gripe was the hailstorm of unexplained terms and proper nouns in what was one of the most unengaging and confusing first pages of any book I've read. I was completely lost, going insane, and it was the kind of thing that'd make some people bin a book on principle.
Before I tackle the multicolored elephants in the very first screencap of this readview, I will say this: at least Patrick cannot screw up letting a more natural environment speak for itself in fewer words. To be clear, I'm not giving him credit for this, but following a character who just left the protective boughs of their village into cooler wilds is far more digestible than whatever the fuck The Ark started with.
And yes, I'm using 'their' because so far we do not know what Kexx is.
But, I'm not being generous when I say I'm relatively well immersed in the first few paragraphs of Trident's Forge despite what I've highlighted, and this is an opener that is leagues better than The Ark's.
Ok, with that out of the way, let's get to the big sigh: The fucking alien pronouns. I cannot wait to find out how Patrick intuited this and expects me, the reader, to intuit it. Ze = He? But that can't be right, because 'zer body'! Ffffuuuuuck!!!
To briefly recap The Ark, the motive for that story was that Tau Ceti G had a native population and the remnants of humanity were about to colonize their world. The antagonists wanted to genocide what was left of humanity to protect the natives from human colonization. Trident's Forge opens up from the perspective of an Atlantean who is living their best Atlantean life and unknowingly watching the colonization of their world. I will give Patrick credit for the world building here, because it's a gentle nod to anyone who read the previous book but it also, I feel, has just enough unpadded detail to to give a reader enough reason to turn the page.
But, I still have issues. First, Patrick's Proper Nounism Engine™ is already revved up. *Dwellers!* *Black Bridge!* *Seeds of Cuut!* (Mentioned before 'Cuut' zitself!). But *deep times* don't deserve capitalization, apparently. Another is the obviousness of how alien our initial character Kexx is, yet we have no description of Kexx's anatomy, body, how Kexx... works. At all. Besides handling a spear. We'll get this very soon but IMHO we should get characterization before set dressing.
Then we learn about uliks! Yes, you don't capitalize racial names when used in this context, but out of all the things that were capitalized, introducing Uliks was not. This living, breathing thing intrudes on the scene and gushes light down its front legs (whatever that means) and it's gone. So while there is some marked improvement in Patrick's writing - edited or not - there's still too much information being given and yet not enough pertinent information. But I also wouldn't call it padding. It's just jumbled and the potential is there. Some of that potential is being hit, but it's not the best it can be.
Overall, the first few pages are summarizing the events between The Ark and Trident's Forge from the perspective of a native. I especially like the little reference back to the first book, highlighted in Purple. It was said in The Ark that the Atlanteans were fawning over the explorer 'bot sent ahead of the Ark itself and it's being referenced here, with a little expounding! That's good writing!
--E2: Oh, so the Dwellers are 'they'! Not 'zeir' or anything like that, Rick? That's not very respectful of you!
lol, imagine if that was an actual plot point, though...
Also 'the deep below'. Come on... when did people stop reading books? This is a grammatical error on the first page of the book. Two for two so far, Rick! Damn!
--E3: Alien pronunnery aside, I'm relatively invested in what I'm reading so far because, again, despite the overloading jumble of information, this is at least the kind of text that the author doesn't have to explain. Our brains can do a lot of the work here. I feel that Patrick takes too long getting to the salient things I've highlighted here, like details on Kexx's biology, something that seriously helps in grounding me to something distinctly non-human - something that doesn't even follow our social conventions.
While Kexx relaxes and ponders the many shiny orbs in the sky, though, what appears to be a human naval vessel rolls up and lands nearby. I'm alright with Kexx's perspective and thoughts on the sudden arrival. Each passage of text has movement, builds off momentum, and we're going somewhere! Unlike in The Ark where we got nowhere for the entire first chapter, there's a sense of frantic build-up.
--E4: Depending on my mood I might've sinned some of these passages for padding but I'm not too bothered, really. So far so good still! A decent first contact between humanity and aliens while adding in a couple more details about Kexx's biology, which is good but, and this is just me speaking, it shouldn't have been stretched over so much narrative. It could have been a lot punchier.
Still better than The Ark.
--E5: Huh. I'm still hooked, so that counts for something. It's too soon to say I'm really enjoying this, but this is such a breath of fresh air compared to the first book. Patrick is avoiding Proper Nounism for some things that he should and some things that he probably shouldn't. It's good to see more and more of Kexx's biology and way of being getting described as it's utilized, things like crests, posture, voice, inflection, the little light shows. That's another plus for Patrick.
This first encounter is going really well. Surely nothing --
Mei.
Mei Nakamura is a character from the first book. She was a naturally born human on the titular Ark, which means she wasn't bred in a tank and implanted with an Elon Musk neuralink called a 'Plant'. She's Japanese (and Patrick is romanizing Japanese speech for the first time) and she was also a victim of child abuse. Her fellow vagrants, called the Unbound (or Geisha sometimes), made her work as a prostitute. The protagonist of The Ark, Detective Bryan Benson, despite being well aware of this, still let a then-minor prostitute Mei kiss him and he essentially committed statutory rape at that part of the book.
I was seriously hoping she would NOT be making a return but okay. She's a first encounter ambassador or whatever now. Great. Mei's history aside, I can say I genuinely enjoy the brief interaction between her and Kexx, especially the bit about how Mei gets the name slightly wrong but, eh, Kexx probably made the same mistake, too.'
And that's Chapter 1...
In Chapter 1 we're following a character named Kexx, who is an Atlantean and native of Tau Ceti G. Kexx just left home to chill in the wilds and contemplate recent events, like the explorer rover that the local tribe settled in G'tel is worshiping as an agent of their pantheon. All of a sudden, a naval vessel rolls up and scares off some wild flesh-dogs and Kexx is discovered by the humans on board. It's a successful first encounter event that presumably sets up amicable relations between Kexx's tribe and also has a nice little twist at the end.
I detest the use of nonstandard pronouns but I have to confess, I found this to be a good, immersive opener. The difference between this and the very first pages of the The Ark is night and day. Not only that, despite obvious errors that should have been caught, it looks like Patrick improved as a writer, maybe even had help. Despite the somewhat unfocused verbosity of this opening, there was a sense of development and movement. It feels like there's momentum, and a chance for characters to find their footing rather than getting some bullshit missing persons case dumped on them and ignored for 2/3rds of the book.
This chapter is VERY small in composition and that was a wise decision because it allowed the environment to breathe, and it had just the right amount of nodding to the previous book for people who read it but was also recognizable enough for people who start with this book to get a sense of what's what and thus be interested in turning the page. Trident's Forge is off to a pretty good start, and I will ALSO give props to Patrick for having some characterization.
It's easy to take this for granted, but just including descriptions and blurbs about character expressions, feelings, emotions, matters a lot... at least to me. There was hardly any of that in The Ark, and thus a lot of the characters in that book lacked identifiable tics and personalities in general.
==Characters; Introduced in Order of Appearance==
Kexx:
Atlantean. A genderfluid alien native to the planet Tau Ceti G.
Mei Nakamura:
A victim of terrorist child abusers on the Ark during the events of Book 1. Apparently an ambassador for peace now.
Bryan Benson:
Human. The returning protagonist of The Ark. A gigasaurus who is Patrick's self-insert that sleeps in murder victims' beds and beats up waitstaff for complaining about his lack of hygiene. Is the "Director of Recreation and Athletic Preparedness" on Gaia.
Pavel Korolev:
Human. A returning sidekick of Bryan Benson and former constable on the titular Ark. The least schizo of buddies.
Lindqvist:
Human. A Nord who is very huge and probably a viking. If we hooked him up to an Animus we'd probably get to play Assassin's Creed: Valhalla.
Dr. Jeanine Russell:
Human. She was a medbay staffer on the Ark itself noteworthy for being randomly horny for Bryan Benson.
David Kimura:
He was the elder of the Japanese bums living off the radar on the Ark. Named 'Agong', which means 'Grandfather' in Mandarin; was thought to have died of a heart attack after joining the Ark's council. Was actually the Bad Guy in the story and a complete asshat. He's fucking dead.
Avelina Pareira da Silva:
Science Director; Head of Environmental Research & Development on the Ark. Was the mastermind of a conspiracy to genocide humanity to protect the natives of Tau Ceti G from colonization. She's fucking dead.
Theresa Benson:
Bryan Benson's wife and the Chief Constable on Gaia. Hopefully no longer a malfunctioning robot operated by a mouse fidgeting with tiny levers in her brainbox.
Deputy Administrator Merick:
New character. Deputy Admin to Administrator Valmassoi. Nothing more for now...
Administrator Valmassoi:
A name dropped in Book 1 but never formally introduced. Nothing more for now...
Captain Mahama:
Captain of the Ark in Book 1. Presumably still serving in a formal capacity.
==Items of Interest, Flora and Fauna, Factions, Group and Location Names, etc.;==
G'tel:
A village of some sort belonging to a tribe of native Atlanteans on Tau Ceti G.
Ulik:
An animal-like species native to Tau Ceti G. Walks on four legs. Uliks hunt in packs, Arisen, so they're probably space wolves (no, not those!). Apparently they don't have fur, though.
Black Bridge:
N/A... (Patrick's Proper Nounism is already revved!)
Dwellers:
N/A... (PROPER NOUNS!)
Cuut:
Atlantean god. Definitely not cute. Nothing more for now...
Varr:
Atlantean god. Varrgle deez nuts. Nothing more for now...
Xis:
Atlantean god. Female-equivalent (zer skill xis VASTED on zis team!). Nothing more for now...
Seeds of Cuut:
N/A... (But my brain can't stop trying to spell it as 'Cunt' for some reason).
Bulo:
Atlantean sealife. Nothing more for now...
Gaia:
The human designation for Tau Ceti G.
Dervishes, Yaoguai, Spartans, and Mustangs:
Names for Zero Finals teams on the Ark, now football teams on Tau Ceti G (or Gaia).
Shambhala:
The name of the first human colony on Tau Ceti G, or Gaia.
--E1: I am pleased to see Pavel Korolev is a returning character. Out of a heap of inane retards, he managed to be the most rational and sane adult working alongside protagonist Bryan Benson, and was my second favorite character with Devorah Feynman being the first. He occupied a sidekick role primarily but was depicted surprisingly well. High hopes for this guy.
And of course, Bryan Benson is back as returning protagonist. The man, the myth, the legend - Patrick's self-insert who was the only noteworthy white angloid male in an extremely diverse cast of characters. A gigasaurus who crawled his way up from nothing twice in a row and saved all of humanity when he wasn't fucking his then-girlfriend and coworker in a murder victim's home and bed.
Chapter two starts off in the human colony with Bryan Benson and a couple names from the first book engaging in football practice. Lindqvist never made an appearance in the first book but his name was dropped as being a member of Benson's preferred grav-sportball team. I'm also surprised it's football practice and not baseball practice given Patrick's appreciation for the Brewers, but maybe he's just mocking football. I don't have a dog in this conversation, though. I've never watched sports and I don't enjoy them.
But it's not lost on me how go-getting this is. No padding, just a normal game, a nod to Zero Finals (ughhhh) but hopefully the references end there and hopefully sports references don't worm their way into fifteen different unrelated plot points going forward. We're not learning about a fucking murder mystery while our protag tries desperate to keep watching a game that has no explanation either!
I still have to rain on the parade though, specifically the passage emphasizing Lindqvist's ethnicity. I'm going to simply reference two separate tirades I went on during Chapter 8 of The Ark.
*Captain Mahama* is introduced, presumably the lady in charge of the Ark's Crew and everything going on here outside of the aforementioned Council whose full membership has yet to be established. Patrick shows us just how inclusive he is that an old Zimbabwean woman occupies the role of Captain on the Ark, which brings me to making a very tired but nevertheless important point: he's as much a true believer in Left-wing propaganda as Cenk Uygur is, and he can't help but champion this diversity crap everywhere he goes. I'm hazy on when "diversity", or the obnoxious installation of minorities in all kinds of media really took off, but this book was published in 2015, meaning writing could have been underway as early as 2014.
There is not a single white male in this story who occupies any meaningful position aside from Bryan Benson, whom is obviously Patrick's self-insert so of course he can't be low on the food chain. The only other white male character is Constable Korolev, a Russian bit character in Chapter 2 who may or may not appear again, and Laraby is dead so who the fuck cares - actually, if he is technically white (his name suggests as much) then a white man died first among a richly diverse cast, which I'm sure Patrick must have thought was a great twist or subversion. And no, I'm not counting the old fart Salvador Kite, whose name (and nickname Sal) strongly implies Italian or Sicilian descent. And even if he is white, he's portrayed as a criminal who miserably laments about how his lineage will die out and he'll shovel shit and probably die when a tree falls on him on Tau Ceti G - I'm not being facetious.
Everyone with real authority, power and influence is either female, a minority, or both. True, it was obvious immediately from Chapter 1, with the ridiculous focus on *Zero Finals* and a Mexican and Chinese team being front & center, but there's a certain kind of hubris in Mahama tracing her roots back to Zimbabwe, a historically poverty-ridden shithole among shitholes. The hyper-specificity of this is very telling about Patrick himself. My guess is if this were a TV show (or worse, a video game), Mahama would be played by Debra Wilson, twisting the knife that much harder.
Honestly, I'm shocked we haven't seen an Indian yet. If we do, I guarantee you they'll be part of a Tech biz, likely a C-tier employee. Mark my words.
[[...Patrick also unsubtly dropped in that most if not all of surviving humanity are born and bred in tanks/tubes. there's mandatory birth control and child licenses, and procreation through traditional means is essentially on hold until they found a new colony. with Earth presumably destroyed and the remainder of humanity, about 50,000 people, each genetically pre-screened to filter out inheritable diseases, negative traits and criminal dispositions, crammed into a ship where living space is at an absolute premium, and with at least the last four of five generations of humanity being born in tanks, why is the culture and ancestry of certain characters (read: the diversity inclusions) so important to mention? not only has he made it clear that this is a mixed utopia-dystopia where there's a ruling class and a lower caste referred to as literal fucking cattle, he also seems to think that humanity would not have become extremely homogeneous to the point these ancient identities are wiped out or considered unuseful to the future they're going to forge.]]
[[...i can believe some people might hold on to who their forebears were and be glad to talk about their ancestry and help others discover their own to get in touch with a shared past (oops, i fixed Patrick's writing a bit), but it has never been brought up or highlighted in the story so far. in fact, Patrick regularly dismisses the legacies of his own setting as, quote, "moved into the dustbin of history". the Chinese inserts have an entire dedicated residential sector, Shangri-La (lol) and this CCP-loving lardass enjoys elaborating on them to an unhealthy degree. the in-universe sport that everyone watches and plays has only one defined team: the Chinese one. the Mexican team are merely called the Mustangs, in honor of his Rustang. when it comes to introducing non-white characters he feels the need to expound primarily on their ethnicity/nationality, which is bold-faced demagoguery that contributes nothing meaningful to the story or the setting. Director Hekekia isn't an able-bodied man with dark, calloused skin who owns his role as chief engineer, he's Samoan; Captain Mahama isn't a graying sage advising the next generation with her horizons of experience and caution, she's Zimbabwean.]]
If you read that, I'm still wagering ten bux on there being a C-tier Indian character in one of Patrick's books (no spoilers!) and I find his grade-school references of character ethnicities to be facepalm-provoking.
tl;dr: Patrick puts women and turbo-minorities (and women of many hues) in positions of power and I was not kidding in the slightest when I said Bryan Benson was the only white male in the story who occupied a meaningful position of power. I'm hoping Trident's Forge does NOT continue that trend because it'll just be tedious.
--E2: As said, I'm not interested in sports-related topics but the content of this chapter is so far pretty good because it's not interrupting anything. We don't have an overarching goal or threat that characters will get behind or in front of, and we're meant to be getting immersed in humanity's resurgence.
Somehow, Patrick avoided making an ass of himself in the "imperial vs. metric" debate by using the setting of his book to justify why X is now Y. I appreciate it. Not that I care overmuch either, but it bears mentioning that the Yaoguai were a Chinese sport team on the Ark itself. The Dervishes were mentioned but nothing specific, so I assume they're a team of brown people. The Spartans are a new name, though. Benson's favorite team were the Mustangs... so what do you think he's calling his football team in honor of Rick's favorite Rustang?
--E3: While I am still immersed and enjoying my reading so far, I have to stop and grouse about this. I can't let it go. Humanity called its first colony away from Earth Shambhala.
“Shambhala” is the name of a mythical kingdom in Central Asia where the people enjoyed harmony, good health, and well-being. The basis for such an enlightened society is the people's confidence and respect for inherent goodness, wisdom, and dignity—in themselves, in each other, and in society.
It's innocent enough, it means well, certainly. But I can't overlook this based on what I've already read.
So let me refresh the minds of anyone who read along with me on The Ark. Patrick has a bizarre habit of wanking off China and its Communist Party. Chinese characters in The Ark lived affluently, occupied crucial roles, and furthermore, had literally half of the Ark's living space designated in their favor -- there were two habitat modules, and one was very Chinese-influenced while I don't remember the other off the top of my head.
But the Chinese one was called Shangri-La.
Let me also reference some particularly rank bullshit from The Ark with some editorial notes:
...Steven Spielberg must have had a hand in this book because we see a blatant downplaying of America & the West while its enemies are framed positively. The US Constitution is there. Nothing special about it; oh but the US Declaration of Independence has *succumbed to the ravages of time*. Meanwhile, the Chinese crafted their own constitution after abolishing Communism (lmfao, rofl, LOL) on an authentic silk scroll *nearly three meters long* and *handwritten in stunning calligraphy*. Fuck off, Pat.
...Last in this chapter is a mention of the *Ark Treaty*, a document that defines the entire Ark program, signed by each and every nation state and the leaders of every recognized country - the fastest treaty ever ratified, according to Patrick. **[EN: It was just the UN Treaty, but renamed.]** Cool story, but, like, what *is* the Ark Treaty? That was really, really vague. Believe me, I'm not leaving anything out. It's another Patrick-ism: devote an entire paragraph to something that he thinks is important but never elucidate why.
...What follows is Devorah making good on Sal's request for an educational private tour, through a variety of projects and displays featuring things like a terracotta warrior and the remains of Ramesses II. Patrick typed "famous ancient artifacts" into the google search engine and threw down a few things, basically. We get some insight as to how the Museum's possessions were chosen: the countries that contributed the most to the Ark obviously had a larger say in what would be preserved - America, China, the uh, *Japanese-Korean Alignment* (very optimistic, Patrick!), India (lol), Brazil, and the European Union.
...There is a very specific line about how every country wanted to "stack the deck of future history", which almost makes blood spray through my penis like a firehose. This is another theme or concept that has never been relevant, and in fact been downplayed if not dismissed outright in several encounters up to this point. Nobody on this ship seems to care about where they came from, and realistically, surviving humanity would be cowed with sports & booze and feel-good manipulations by their Neuralink implants that they'd become extremely homogenous and either form all-new cultures or become utterly dysgenic in-flight.
...Chao Feng is living a life of luxury it turns out. Upon entering, they come into an opulent residence that shames 99.9% of the Ark's other hovels, and it is also extremely Chinese because why wouldn't it be. Once it's clear, Devorah enters and begins inspecting the premises, noting that everything here is authentic: the rug is real silk, woven on a hand loom - genuine persian. A vase from the Ming Dynasty rests nearby, and... more stuff. Ordinarily this wouldn't be remarkable or even bothersome, but because so much text in this book wanks off China, my eyes are rolling all the way to Shangri-La.
I am also going to remind my fellow funsters that whilst the Chinese were fellated at every avenue, the Japanese representation was the polar opposite. Most Japanese characters were living as Plant-less bums in the space sewers and prostituting teenage girls for supplies. For some reason, one of the antagonists, a Japanese thug, had a Chinese name too (Huang). It's because of this shit right here that I know he's not taking the piss out of China bribing and blackmailing everyone to bring them to heel - he really is a mouthpiece for CCP.
Pattern recognition! I'm NOOTICING, Patrick! You are not a conservative, Porky. These are your delusions again and they are why your life is already over. Enjoy wookieposting.
Also I did not miss a character. The name Hoffman is mentioned but I ran a CTRL-F on his name and he's just a one-off; this is the only time we see a Hoffman. I guess that means he'll be in Book 3...
--E4: The story does continue enjoyably. Reading through this, it's easy to forget that Benson was a bland boring whiteslice - Patrick is doing good here. We're learning about Bryan, his current quirks, a few nuances, his scars, and we've got a feel for his dialogue and the brash irreverence that constitutes his disposition. Our protagonist is still the local bro and hero.
This is all a massive improvement over The Ark... but on the other hand, this is only possible because Benson finally has a concrete history to connect readers to him and that was absent in the first book. Previously, he had no history or characterization to speak of -- I mean, yeah, he had a background, but it was conveyed so poorly that he was effectively a facsimile of a human being... like most of the cast.
Even better, I'm not reading about sports hooligans and other frat-tards vomiting, boozing, or shitting and pissing, nor am I reading a random tidbit about some 6-year old girl drowning in a pond totally out of left field. And yes, Stlaker, that did happen in Book 1: Bryan looking at water and deciding it was a good time to remember how a child died there.
Trident's Forge's introduction of Benson is focused, it's conveying valuable information, and I'm easily falling in with him as I read. The writing is punchy, every new sentence is telling me something new, and I'm hopeful that he's shaping up to be a worthy protagonist this time around. I'm willing to let Book 1 Bryan Benson be water under the bridge if this continues.
Bryan aside, Dr. Jeanine Russell from Book 1 gets a nod. She can be summed up as any boilerplate techie you'd see on a USA Network crime & mystery TV series like NCIS or Law & Order. She was also horny for Bryan Benson because Patrick S. Tomlinson. It remains to be seen if she'll be relevant in this book.
David Kimura is also mentioned. He was the leader of the Japanese bums living in the space sewers who collaborated with Avelina Pareira da Silva to try and genocide humanity to save the Atlanteans on Tau Ceti G from human colonization. Kimura is fucking dead, and I'm happy about that.
Avelina da Silva was a Science Director on the Ark itself. She was the Head of Environmental Research & Development, the person responsible for making sure humanity could get agriculture going on Tau Ceti G as soon as possible. She was the mastermind of the conspiracy that began with the death of Laraby and the near-genocide of humanity on the Ark. She was arrested at the end of the book and judging by the succinct use of 'posthumous' in the next screencap, she's fucking dead, and I'm happy about that.
There are some grammatical errors here and there, but I also highlighted in Red, and I admit it might be unfair, that Patrick has given us the reason that Bryan Benson survived Kimura's suicide bombing on the Ark when they had their showdown. The Ark was a mess of bullshit, contrivances, plot conveniences, blahblah. Benson surviving a bomb, after all the other things he'd miraculously survived, was just the cherry on top of a shit sundae.
It's a good explanation, it fits in here, but part of me is still sour about how easy Benson got off.
Lastly... Bay of Landing. Really? Rick...
--E5: More strong, focused writing from Patrick here, giving us plenty of interesting worldbuilding that satisfies readers of Book 1 and anyone starting in the middle. We learn that the Ark has been converted into a space station that provides protection, power, and foodstuffs for the colonists on Gaia by utilizing a space elevator. I'm not a well-read sci-fi nerd but there's just the right amount of detail here for me to not care how plausible any of what's described is.
Patrick, in writing Trident's Forge, has learned not to linger on shit that doesn't matter or mention something and fail to elucidate on why it was mentioned in the first place. During the readview of The Ark, I was always interested in reading about Tau Ceti G and the actual sci-fi elements beyond the awful murdery mystery, and what can I say, this is the kind of thing I like. Straightforward character introductions, a good set-up for the world and universe so far, and it all comes to making someone like me want to read more.
It's also mentioned that Avelina sabotaged some of her work, and a lot of crops and plants were genetically coded to die out, putting humanity at a disadvantage. As Benson tells us, there's an ongoing effort to clean up the mess which I presume means they're still trying to undo the damage or come up with alternatives. I like this. I also like she was probably vented into space.
--E6: We continue with even more worldbuilding with Benson. In the very first paragraph, I highlighted in Green the detail about 'workforce cut by two fifths just a month before they arrived'. Having read Book 1, this is another detail that I like, but it's also missing an explanation for new readers (at least, so far, so I'm not decrying it).
Near the end of Book 1, the Japanese bum terrorist named Huang bombed Shangri-la and about 20,000 people died. It was insufferable to read through because Patrick was glossing over the doomsday scenario entirely and it was getting fixed and handwaved in the background as Benson was used as a patsy for the terror attack. Seeing it mentioned, though, I like that.
I don't like being reminded of Zero Finals, but I can't deny that Patrick is giving Benson some very fat shoes to fill. Sure, there's a lot of wanking off Benson but this is a fresh start and it feels appropriate. We have 30+ chapters to go where this could all be fucked up but for now I'm just glad there's a character I can conceivably root for.
Benson also notes that humanity is littering again and this didn't really happen on the Ark, which was heavily monitored to the point everyone had a Neuralink embedded in their brainmeats from their birth in a tube. It's a good touch.
--E7: Benson arrives home and yet again Patrick pulls off good set dressing. I'm not even remotely confused about where I am or what I'm supposed to be thinking about. I am going to mention this every single time because The Ark failed at this about 100% of the time.
Why are law enforcers still called constables?
Anyway, Theresa is here, the love interest of Book 1 now Benson's wife. Her characterization was all over the place, I don't even know where to begin. They'd go from sounding like bitter enemies to tender and sweet on a dime. Benson and Theresa could hardly have been called a relationship outside of them fucking like rabbits in a murder victim's home & bed.
Yet here, the dialogue is corny and serviceable. This is Theresa's first appearance in the book. Her smartass, doting wife personality is on full display and I can only hope this remains consistent in all future chapters. I'm cautiously appreciating the dynamic between Theresa and Benson, and I liked the referential quip about Jack and the Beanstalk.
I'm still comfortably immersed, but I'll note that *Plants* are not detailed by Patrick again. It may be an oversight, but the nature of the device might slip under people's radars given how much else there is to think about so far. As a refresher, *Plants* are Elon Musk Neuralink devices that were woven into the brainmeats of humans born on the Ark during its voyage from Earth. Humans were, as a rule, not born naturally, instead being bred in tanks. 'Plants' were connected to a Big Brother™ system that meant the Ark's command staff could literally spy on anyone and everyone as needed to ensure absolute order amidst chaos. In practice, it was a vessel for plot convenience and Patrick was shitting out newer and more convenient features as he needed for the story. It'd take too long to go over every single thing, but I'll mention more as needed (just like Rick).
--E8: I am floored by what I'm reading. I could be a prick and ask if Patrick even wrote this but I'm gonna give him credit. I have personal hangups with Patrick because I know too much about him, I will NOOTICE his unsubtle politicking, but damn if this isn't actually written and presented nicely. Even better, we have a clear inference of what the <> means in dialogue!! In Book 1, I thought <dialogue in gator teeth> was a bug or editing failure but it was dialogue via Plant devices, and here in Trident's Forge, it's not confusing! Hallelujah!
Theresa and Benson have a little tete-a-tete about food and whatnot, we learn that Benson is no longer a constable but a planetside director in a decidedly civilian role. There's more and more immersive worldbuilding, germane details coming left and right... and now we're getting set up for even more intrigue.
A new character, Merick, dials Benson's head-phone (his Plant) and Benson tells him to shove it to the big screen. We don't know anything about Merick but he seems young and new and he's the Deputy Administrator, presumably to Valmassoi, and responsible for running things on Gaia.
Valmassoi as well was a name mentioned in The Ark but he made no appearances and nothing about him was expounded upon. It looks like he's going to be an actual character as well.
This entire page is very easy reading with a flow of dialogue that is easy to follow; it's enjoyable, and we're given a hook to turn the page to the next chapter. Benson is being called to a meeting by Captain Mahama, the Zimbabwean woman (lol) who occupied the highest position of power during Book 1. People starting in the middle won't know what Mahama is a captain of, but they can infer. Prior readers know who she is and that she and Benson have worked closely together.
I'm looking forward to what comes next.
Chapter 2 of Trident's Forge introduces us to Bryan Benson and does a fantastic job of immersing us into the setting of Tau Ceti G (or Gaia). Who Bryan Benson, returning protagonist from The Ark is, his exploits and background, are all conveyed neatly, the prose doesn't get hung up on irrelevant details, we get plenty of nods to the events of Book 1, and each location is described in a single paragraph that leaves no doubt about where events are taking place.
I have my personal hangups with Patrick and Book 1, but looking at Trident's Forge in a vacuum, this isn't bad at all. I'm having old and new characters introduced to me, they're being characterized and given an authentic voice, and I feel like I'm experiencing the rebuilding of humanity believably told from the perspective of a local normie like Benson. We see him training a football team, still practicing old habits from when he used to be a constable on the Ark, and generally enjoying life with his loving wife. This is the kind of stuff that hooks casual readers...
...If the "Hey, we need you to come to this very important meeting" at the end wasn't enough. Patrick's not wasting time, he got some good quips in, and... yeah. I'm very optimistic. This could still end up being a trash fire but these two chapters, so far, have been the best things Patrick has written that I've read.
"The Media" has provided coverage. Just not to the level anyone who make the statement 'the media isn't covering this' thinks it should be covered.
Normally the person making such a statement found out about whatever is because the media covered it at one time.
Trump got shot at. Ok. But the damage to his body was such he walked into a medical facility and left it under his own power. Society has also decided that covering vigilante violence can create new cases. What the hell are people expecting the level of coverage to be? What Patrick is bitching about was broadly known - Epstein and Trump knew each other. This new document release just adds to a pile already covered. The people bitching about the lack of Trump shot coverage are the same kind of people who'd also bitch that the media doesn't need to glorify the shooter by providing coverage.
Major media has only so many people, so many hours a day to produce their output. The human mind wants new and interesting things and providing that is why the advertisers use news as a vehicle for their advertising. So coverage gets triaged. Trump being a horn dog for vagina, even under age vagina isn't new news VS Trump being shot, things being Joever for MBNA Joe, Harris learning how to be more presentable in public VS her word salad highlighted moments as VP, or even highlighting whenever Trump is channeling his own Joe senior moments. Then one has the economic conditions in China, Russia, America. Various 'kinetic military actions' across the globe. The affidavits making statutory rape claims were mentioned as existing a few years ago and got coverage then. I'd not be shocked that Patrick mentioned 'em back then. The only newness to them is the formal release and the documents are getting that level of coverage.
"The media" wants to get paid. So 'the media' provides information in a way to not offend the money flow. Don't do things to piss off the advertisers (example for the zoomers - YouTube AdPocolpis) and do just enough to keep the consumers to come back and consume more. The money flow can also get nicked as mention above with the lawsuit. A court case brought to trial and concluded becomes 'truth' and these court documents reflect this. It's why people settle lawsuits out of court so documents can be sealed and why a law had to be passed to release the documents in question. Want an example of a news reporting lawsuit with some parties not being sued while others were? Melana trump VS Webster Tarply Those who went the route of 'this source says this about Melania' VS those who just published the Melania statements were the difference in being sued. "The media" isn't going to frame the documents as 'Trump is a pedophile' because a witnessed affidavit speaks for itself and the reporting will be 'court document says X'. Patrick, the man who says anyone who brings up his own court documents are going to prison for harassment can't seem to grasp such.
Patrick does not seem to be able to track the new incidents of ongoing mental decline of Trump to attempt to sway an audience. Or take the actual financial numbers to demonstrate financial malfeasance. Instead Patrick is a lazy pig and just takes others output and spits it back out. When Patrick decides to show how smart he is and use the rolls of fat in the head of Pat we get to laugh at paint filled water balloons. Patrick tries and fails to use emotion to sway and such will work at the start - look at all the comments on the FARK page. Emotional reactions to the story being told. Once more data is presented Patrick's story becomes less compelling. Patposters and Leslie are examples of prolonged Patrick exposure.
Patrick, your conduct is why you are not getting new book deals.
