Two-Thirds of a Turbinepunk Mil-Sim Novella
i'm pretty proud of it :)
During COVID, I got really into tabletop role-playing games—first as a Dungeon Master, then as a games writer. Eventually I got tired of RPGs (or rather tired of the people who posted about them on Twitter), and realized that much of the thrill I got from DMing games could come from writing my own fiction.
My first Discord messages about writing jet fighter shlock date back to March 2021, and I’ve been tinkering away at the novella ever since. Typically I let the project sit for months at a time, and then I dive back in with a rush of inspiration. I’ve used it as a means-test for generative AI: I have a custom Claude prompt for running developmental editing, and it’s been a valuable tool for nailing the technobabble and military jargon. It’s now at a fun balance between mil-sim realism and Ace Combat rule-of-cool bullshit, with remaining echoes of the conlanged riff on the Lancer setting that it used to be. It’s now at 30,000 words, and at two parts out of three. I’m pretty proud of how it’s going so far. I would ask for feedback, but I really just want validation.
Take a look! It’s got “turbinepunk” alt-‘70s vibes, my idea of hot women (Iñirid my beloved), nuanced exposition around watches and language barriers, and a fight scene and a sex scene with matching choreography.
…Did you think this was still a blog about the electric grid? That’s now my day job; I spent all of today reading 60 pages of Deep Research reports on combined cycle gas turbines, so you will get the research you remember from Energy Crystals on SemiAnalysis, only better and when it’s damn well ready.
See attached a PDF and an ePUB for your entertainment. Maybe in two more years it’ll be done.
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