Reviews for Terror Tree

Very interesting. The character is an AI. Looking forward to more from Ashley

Very interesting. The character is an AI. Looking forward to more from Ashley. She is a very talented writer and story teller.

Do robot tanks dream of electric sheep

I really enjoyed this short story, the writer was able to bring the cold logical voice of the AI into the narrative and tell a story in the first person, which is no mean feat.

the reader is left wondering about the back story of this conflict as we only see it from the tanks perspective as it returns to combat, learning more and more on each occasion.

the first chapter of the next book, that is included has also wet my appetite and I'm looking forward to finding out more about this universe

The future of AI driven armoured combat...

An interesting POV take on where the future of AI driven armoured combat could go.

Particularly apposite with the recent news that Russia's military has a new armed robot tank (the Nerehta, which can be fitted with a 12.7mm or 7.62mm machine gun or an AG-30M grenade launcher) that outperformed manned vehicles in recent exercises, Colonel Oleg Pomazuev told the Russian news site Military Review, as well as Russia's taking a hard-line on the United Nations' proposed ban of Lethal Autonomous Weapon Systems (LAWS).

Panzer Jäger Mark One – PJM1-M1

Work in Progress: four innocent Sheridan and one AMX Takara tank models went into the making of this pile of parts.

I have a plan...

I'm a model-maker. I can't help it, I just like making things. Don't ask me why, I just do. So, given I made models for the combat armour suits in my novels, it stands to reason I will want to make a cybertank.

Ogre, for those who don't know, is a boardgame from Steve Jackson Games that can also be played with miniatures. I have a few models (lots, but let's not go there) and like BattleTech it's one of my go to games.

I tag World of Drei Universe series as #OgreNotOgre for a reason.

But, when I write I want to write in my own universe.

To do so means I need to have in mind a picture of what I'm describing. The picture or in this case model, need not be a precise realization, just good enough to get the idea across to others that my cybertanks are different.

Writing Summary

The last couple of weeks have been chaotic. A combination of real life, weather, and Bank holiday sports, and finally getting the print version of Strike Dog up for sale.

Inspiration for a Cybertank Design

When I'm not obsessing over combat armour suits, I'm generally noodling stuff about cybertanks.

It's one of my passions. I have many like it.

Obyekt 279 was a Soviet era prototype tank designed during the Cold War with the expectation that atomic weapons would be in use. Here's an uncommon picture from the rear.

You can find out more about this interesting design here. I liked this rather nice quote from Wikipedia.

This special purpose tank was intended to fight on cross country terrain, inaccessible to conventional tanks, acting as a heavy breakthrough tank, and if necessary withstanding even the shockwave of a nuclear explosion. It was planned as a tank of the Supreme Command Reserve.

So we stole the divided track feature for the Panzer Jager Mark One that appears in The World of Drei series I blogged about here.

And over on YouTube there's this video.

Writing Log 2018-02-16

Not much of a writing log this week for lots of good reasons.

Busy doing other stuff: celebrating my birthday–yay me; a morning spent shooting, because we missed out the previous Saturday; PicoCon 35; writing an article for Galactic Journey; getting Mission One out of the door and up an Amazon.

All of this meant that I only spent two days writing, and I wasn't terribly productive on either day. Mostly down to stopping to do research on the fly. I managed 1,444 words, taking 9.75 hours, which was 148 words per hour.

And this week doesn't look to be any more productive due to annual health checks, which start with a blood test and then a couple of other follow-up appointments scheduled. It all eats into my time.

I also provoked my partner into drawing up a cybertank design for The World of Drei series. Original sketch on the back of a napkin lost, as it was used as a napkin. My doodle is above.

Then I remembered a link to a 1950s idea for a Baby Assault tank, which looks rather similar.