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Nobility Among Us

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  • Nobility Among Us

    I obtained Dee Dee Warren's permission to post this.

    In between the old Tweb going down and this new forum rising from the digital dust, I published my first novel, Nobility Among Us.

    NAU_cover_image_shrunk.jpg

    During the beta reading stage, I received some helpful feedback from people at the old Tweb as well as other online communities, including some insightful criticism of the setting from Curtmudgeon just before he left us.

    It’s an alternative history novel with Christian themes, and mostly subtle Biblical parallels, about followers of the forbidden book using what influence they have to transform their small part of a vast oppressive society, and the fallout from that.

    It’s set in a huge kingdom that has reached modern levels of technology without shaking off its feudal political system and culture. The system has become highly oppressive (the media is totally controlled, the king and everyone in the nobility are immune from criticism, all philosophies that acknowledge any authority higher than the king are banned) but is showing signs of beginning to crumble.

    There was a failed uprising ten years before the book begins, and in response the ruling class changed their strategy towards pacifying the people. Dissent is now crushed in secret and they try to project a benevolent public image, part of that is an annual contest for young lowborn women in which the grand prize for the finalists is to attend the ball of the year, where at least one of the finalists will be married into a noble family.

    This both gives the people a romantic escapism from their daily troubles and the impression that they have some sort of voice, since the people are told that they decide who gets to the final (though the voting is rigged to filter out potentially dangerous candidates). This has worked well for the nobility so far, but this year a secret follower of the forbidden book gets to the final and gets together with a secret follower of the forbidden book within the nobility, a lowly viscount.

    And that’s just the prologue :)

    Nick did a brief review of it on deeper waters just over a month ago: http://deeperwaters.wordpress.com/20...lity-among-us/

    The paperback version can be ordered from various online bookstores around the world, there is also a kindle ebook version, which can be bought instead or obtained for free if you buy the print version. The amazon links given on the book's sales page use the Tweb affiliate code, so part of the proceeds from any purchases will go towards keeping Tweb running.

    Starting today at 8.00 a.m. PST (4pm GMT) a Kindle countdown deal on the book will begin for the US territory of Amazon.com, so the Kindle version can be bought for only $0.99 for the first 48 hours, the discounted price increasing by one dollar every two days until it reaches the full kindle price again next week.

    More information about the book, links to where it can be bought as well as to the prologue and first chapter can be found here (the same link is in my sig)
    --------------------------------------------------------

    Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

    Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

    Explore the Cinematic Superverse

    A Hope That Burns

  • #2
    nice.

    Comment


    • #3
      If I ever get back to reading books, I just might check this one out. It sounds interesting.

      Comment


      • #4
        I'm just a little bit into it but I was beginning to heavily suspect that's what the forbidden book stood for.
        "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

        Comment


        • #5
          Enjoying it so far, KG?

          The Kindle countdown deal is now active.


          I think the full paperback cover image is awesome (warning: 12.5 MB):

          https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/...over_f1_v5.png
          --------------------------------------------------------

          Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

          Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

          Explore the Cinematic Superverse

          A Hope That Burns

          Comment


          • #6
            So if I order the paperback from Amazon, I can contact you for a kindle version?

            Comment


            • #7
              If you order the paperback from Amazon, you can then get the kindle version for free from amazon via their matchbook program. If you buy the paperback from anywhere else, then contact me, provide a proof of purchase, and I'll send you the kindle version.
              --------------------------------------------------------

              Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

              Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

              Explore the Cinematic Superverse

              A Hope That Burns

              Comment


              • #8
                I'll mention the novel to a friend of mine that likely will buy and read it. Not sure if I will or not, but it does sound interesting. The nobility's method of placating those that they oppress is especially devious, a kind of deception that I don't see an awful lot of in the modern fictions I'm aware of.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Just Some Dude View Post
                  I'll mention the novel to a friend of mine that likely will buy and read it. Not sure if I will or not, but it does sound interesting. The nobility's method of placating those that they oppress is especially devious, a kind of deception that I don't see an awful lot of in the modern fictions I'm aware of.
                  Thanks, I'd appreciate that - getting the word out effectively is the hardest part of this whole process. Many oppressive regimes throw lavish public festivals and celebrations to give the people an emotional release and make them think that life isn't so bad after all. I thought I'd combine that with this other pacification strategy that ultimately backfires by doing what it was supposed to only pretend to do.
                  --------------------------------------------------------

                  Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

                  Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

                  Explore the Cinematic Superverse

                  A Hope That Burns

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Having the deceptive technique backfire to do actual good sounds awesome, and actually piques my curiosity a little more into reading it. I'll try and mention it to my friend before this Sunday is out.

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      This sounds awesome. Should put on my list. Also, good on you for getting it done. I've "been" in editing mode for years now; really ought to get back on that horse.

                      "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                      "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                      Katniss Everdeen


                      Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Just Some Dude View Post
                        Having the deceptive technique backfire to do actual good sounds awesome, and actually piques my curiosity a little more into reading it. I'll try and mention it to my friend before this Sunday is out.
                        Thanks, the contest is designed to produce sham fairy-tale marriages that make the people think the nobility will become more sensitive to their needs, but in this case produces a genuine productive marriage that emboldens a noble already inclined to act in the best interests of his subjects. That's not going to go down well with his superiors, but projecting the new benevolent public image means they have to be careful how their corrective actions will be perceived; they don't have to be that careful, since they have total control of the media so can cover up or spin incidents however they want, but it's something they haven't had to consider before this new strategy began.

                        Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                        This sounds awesome. Should put on my list. Also, good on you for getting it done. I've "been" in editing mode for years now; really ought to get back on that horse.
                        Thanks, and I know how you feel, I was in editing mode off and on for four or five years and there's always something you can still tweak, hopefully I can streamline that process with whatever I do next.
                        --------------------------------------------------------

                        Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

                        Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

                        Explore the Cinematic Superverse

                        A Hope That Burns

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          So, would anyone who has read it like to put up a review on amazon? Nick's review is looking pretty lonely out there...
                          --------------------------------------------------------

                          Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

                          Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

                          Explore the Cinematic Superverse

                          A Hope That Burns

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            The book is enrolled in the Kindle Owners' Lending Library, so anyone with an Amazon Prime Account can borrow the kindle version for free for as long as they like through that (I know that at least one person has already done so). I actually receive a royalty when someone borrows it through this program, (as opposed to lending your bought copy to someone for 14 days via Kindle Book Lending), so I encourage it.
                            --------------------------------------------------------

                            Nakonec pravda vitezi (In the end the truth wins)

                            Nobility Among Us and Beyond the Mist are now on sale worldwide, as is my first poetry collection, Selected Verse - Faith and Family and my second, Selected Verse - Heroes and Wonders

                            Explore the Cinematic Superverse

                            A Hope That Burns

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              I haz this book on Kindle!!!!

                              Seriously Ben it was a really good read and I am looking forward to whatever your write next.

                              A certain scene hit me particularly hard (I won't mention which one, but I'm sure if you've read it, you know).

                              What I also found personally cool, was that some of your characters had similar personalities to characters I've used when trying my hand at writing (never published or anything). For me it gave them a familiarity that allowed me to get into the story faster.

                              I will look to trying to do a review on Amazon.....I may want to reread it again first
                              Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.
                              1 Corinthians 16:13

                              "...he [Doherty] is no historian and he is not even conversant with the historical discussions of the very matters he wants to pontificate on."
                              -Ben Witherington III

                              Comment

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