And here is the fifth and final of BSFA Best Novel shortlist reviews: Nina Allan's A Granite Silence. That this was on the list led to my impulsive decision to review the shortlist according to specific criteria concerning historical mechanisms of change and the idea of the SFF writer as historian.

Excellent article 💚 In fiction, meet my peatland expert, Elizabeth, in ALSTON MOOR as she endeavours to restore the North Pennines peatbogs. Coming September 2026 from @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @goldsf.bsky.social @unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social

Designing the cover, part one: Tom Joyes has provided brilliant covers for all of Briardene's books to date, and this week I want to take a moment to acknowledge the various influences and choices that went into the striking cover for The Recollections. His website is tomjoyes.studio

My review of Aliya Whiteley's The Misheard World is up at @locusmag.bsky.social. This was the first great SFF novel I read in 2026, and a standout even in Whiteley's top-notch bibliography. locusmag.com/review/the-m...

Four-year-old’s reading vocabulary now includes his name, wow and Hattifatteners.

We have some news!

Happy publication day to @bentufnell.bsky.social! PARADISE is out now. www.influxpress.com/paradise

Nuevo relato: "Una soñadora llega a la ciudad tomada", de Malcolm Devlin. Malcolm regresa al blog con una segunda historia distópica (pero esta con un toque weird), con la que celebramos la reciente publicación de su 1ª novela en el mercado español. cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/u...

You can now read the Spanish translation of "A Dreamer Arrives in the Occupied City", by @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social, in Cuentos para Algernon. First published in Interzone. Enjoy it! cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2026/02/16/u...

Look at this handsome beast. And Then I Woke Up / Y Entonces Desperté from @obscuraed.bsky.social, translated by Mª Pilar San Román and that glorious Sam Araya cover back again.

Two beautiful poems by Don Paterson about his son Jamie. ‘The Thread’ (from Landing Light, 2003) and ‘The Circle’ (from Rain, 2009).

Sí, amigas. Odio los prólogos, por eso me cuido mucho al aceptar uno. Y no me arrepiento de haber escrito el de 'Y entonces desperté', de @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social, que publica @obscuraed.bsky.social esta semana. Lo tenéis en @librujula.bsky.social 🧟‍♂️ but not 💻🔥 librujula.publico.es/odio-los-pro...

Hoy toca decidir. ¿Te atreverás a despertar? 🔪🎀🧟👁️🔪🎀🧟👁️🔪🎀🧟👁️ 🔪Y entonces desperté🔪 🖋️ @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social Trad. de Mª Pilar San Román Prólogo de @toliol.bsky.social 🎨 Samuel Araya

An estate agent is forced to choose between a sale and his humanity when facing the inhuman eldritch forces that feed off rental tenants across the United Kingdom. Next week... "Agency" by @georgesandison.bsky.social Edited by @datlow.bsky.social Art by Jamie Keenan

Cuando un virus afecta a la forma en la que las personas perciben la realidad que las rodea… resulta complicado estar seguro de nada. Esto es lo que sucedió. 🔪Y entonces desperté🔪 🖋️ @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social Trad. de Mª Pilar San Román Prólogo de @toliol.bsky.social 🎨 Samuel Araya 🔹11/02/2026🔹

Ya casi está aquí, la primera novela de Malcolm Devlin en español. Y que además está francamente bien, como hace ya un tiempo os explicaba por aquí: cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2022/09/07/l...

"At once startling and merciless, THIS'LL MAKE THINGS A LITTLE EASIER is unafraid to take us into a very strange territory that keeps opening up into spaces weirder and stranger still. An impressive follow up to THE BLACK MAYBE. Veres just keeps getting better and better." - Brian Evenson

You can now read the Spanish translation of the terrific "The Hanging Game", by Helen Marshall (@manuscriptgal.bsky.social), in Cuentos para Algernon. First published in @reactorsff.bsky.social edited by @annvandermeer.bsky.social. Enjoy it! cuentosparaalgernon.wordpress.com/2026/01/19/e...

I’m thrilled to reveal the stunning cover art for my novel, ALSTON MOOR. Coming 29 September! I’m so grateful to cover designer Heather Ryerson and the team at @goldsmithspress.bsky.social @goldsf.bsky.social. 📚@unamccormack.bsky.social @sarahsuch.bsky.social More: annecharnock.com/alston-moor/...

I've been procrastinating on the right moment to share this, but the cover release and opening pre-orders might just be it. AGENCY by me! It's a cosmic horror about commercial landlords from nether-hell dimensions. #nonfiction #fnar www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0GBYKFTV8 www.amazon.com/Agency-Tor-O...

"...Ursula would walk into town each morning because she imagined her sister’s house was pushing her out like a splinter of wood under the skin." #ghostadvent Night 17: Her Alberta by @malcolmdevlin.bsky.social www.weirdhorrormagazine.com/her-alberta

One for those 'most anticipated books of next year' lists. Allan on Priest on Ballard and everything in between.

A review! By a me! Of a very interesting book indeed.

The Coode Street Advent Calendar 2025 - Day 7 Jonathan talks to BSFA Award winner Aliya Whitely about what she's been reading, would recommend and has coming up. www.podbean.com/eas/pb-7vyvv...

Half Price Engines Beneath Us and You Will Grow Into Them and other Influx goodies. And a very tangential excuse to repost this picture of my son's Halloween Lego house even though neither it nor the books have anything to do with Black Friday.

We're running a big #BlackFridaySale! All Influx titles in paperback and eBook are a full 50% off (+P&P) until November 30th Just use discount code BFRIDAY25 at checkout. influxpress.com/shop

MAD SISTERS OF ESI is one of The Washington Post’s 10 best SFF novels of 2025. In the sheer amount of what gets published each year and what gets lost, this feels like a small, precious miracle ❤️

I'm incredibly excited that this is coming out next year. Translated by the brilliant María Pilar San Román and published by @obscuraed.bsky.social.

Bookmail! October sale pickups! From Influx Press! They arrived over a week ago but the cats liked sitting on the parcel and it is illegal to move them!

Groke AI

Fantastic news, this. Nina Allan wins the Prix Médicis étranger for The Good Neighbours.

As if by magic, this review (the Swift one, aka read this everyone) is now online. locusmag.com/review/when-...

Feb 2026 brings a new standalone novel from the Queen of Speculative Fiction: Arthur C. Clarke award-nominated Aliya Whiteley! Here's what @oliverklangmead.bsky.social @manuscriptgal.bsky.social @timjmajor.bsky.social & @catamaroon.bsky.social thought of it! Preorder geni.us/misheardw

15% off all Cloisterfox zines from now until Halloween! We've got stories by Robert Shearman, Ally Wilkes, Malcolm Devlin, and many more. Give one to a child instead of sweets and completely derail their psychological development. www.etsy.com/shop/cloiste...

Half price for Halloween. You Will Grow Into Them, Engines Beneath Us and a whole lot of other excellent Influx paperbacks including Joel Lane, Elizabeth Hand and more.

Half price for Halloween. You Will Grow Into Them, Engines Beneath Us and a whole lot of other excellent Influx paperbacks including Joel Lane, Elizabeth Hand and more.

When There Are Wolves Again is out in the UK today! I wrote something about the book, and keeping going, and some personal stuff I dithered over but, well, it's been A Year. I'm so glad the book is out there and thank you so much to everyone who has supported it 🐺🤍 ejswift.co.uk/2025/10/09/w...

Like Bulgakov's The Master and Margarita? The Lady, The Tiger, and the Girl Who Loved Death weaves together magic, political spectacle, and the power of storytelling in a world where reality and illusion blur dangerously together. Out from @titanbooks.bsky.social now! #DarkFantasy #CircusBooks

Thanks to @argonautbooks.bsky.social for sending M home with this one last month; she inhaled it this evening in the pub with a soundtrack of 90s and 00s Britpop, which was apparently "A++ vibes" for this unsettling little read.

This is absolutely wonderful news.

Gottle of gears. Very happy that this one has had a new lease of life.

💙📚🩸 You will start & finish this in a day. It's equally chilling and heartfelt, immediately grabs you, and has much to say on reality and perception. An incredibly relevant, compelling, and scary book ⬇️

Just putting this here. Again.

These are some of my favorite films and if you love them too, my novel is absolutely made for you! THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH has all the magic, drama, and political edge you crave🔥 Out from @titanbooks.bsky.social (and thanks to @cathtrechman.bsky.social for the fab edits!)

“At its core, THE LADY, THE TIGER AND THE GIRL WHO LOVED DEATH is a story about stories.” @mondyboy74.bsky.social reviews @manuscriptgal.bsky.social

Life imitating art: Reading about Moscow’s surreal detachment from war while people live in carefully constructed unrealities reminds me why I wrote The Lady, The Tiger and the Girl Who Loved Death—a story about power, illusion, and the lies we tell ourselves www.nytimes.com/2025/08/30/w...

Come for the three glorious stories, stay for the exquisite tailoring on the trenchcoat.

Free delivery, though, so that's nice.