Alex
@random-alex.bsky.social
📤 162
📥 52
📝 1328
I am and have been many things.
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Alex
Grant Watson
about 7 hours ago
NEW REVIEW! "Series Acclimation Mil" is a near-perfect episode of Starfleet Academy in every respect bar timing.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/t...
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TV REVIEW: Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, 1.5 “Series Acclimation Mil”
First broadcast 5 February 2026. I have sat on writing this review for longer than usual, because “Series Acclimation Mil” is easily – for good or bad – the most interesting…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/02/10/tv-review-star-trek-starfleet-academy-1-5-series-acclimation-mil/
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
3 days ago
In this new (free!) essay, Koneru Hanmantharao looks at a range of parenting examples across SF cinema and tv, showcasing a variety of scenarios... Read it here - and tell your friends!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
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Alex
Doctora Malka Older
1 day ago
if you want to dive into non-anglophone culture for any reason, there's a new
@storybundle.bsky.social
In Translation bundle from an amazing array of languages, and donations from it go to
@globalvoiceslingua.bsky.social
! Please check it out!
storybundle.com/translation
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StoryBundle
Pay what you like and get a bundle of awesome ebooks and more!
https://storybundle.com/translation
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Grant Watson
1 day ago
NEW REVIEW! Hosoda Mamoru's new anime feature Scarlet is a dizzying and ambitious epic riff on Shakespeare's Hamlet. It is screening now in Australian cinemas.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/r...
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REVIEW: Scarlet (2025)
It is difficult to imagine that William Shakespeare, when writing the playscript for Hamlet around 1600, could imagine it would still be getting fresh stagings and adaptations 425 years later ̵…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/02/09/review-scarlet-2025/
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
2 days ago
New essay! Free to read! Parenting in science fiction - machines and humans as parents, parenting of clones and aliens, parenting in danger and from afar... Read now:
www.speculativeinsight.com
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Alex
Grant Watson
2 days ago
Congratulations to my wife Sonia Marcon and her very talented co-stars for their Outstanding Ensemble nomination in this year's Green Room Awards for Melbourne experimental theatre. Flesh Mirror was an amazing show, and their nomination is so well deserved.
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
2 days ago
New essay! Free to read! Parenting in science fiction - machines and humans as parents, parenting of clones and aliens, parenting in danger and from afar... Read now:
www.speculativeinsight.com
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Alex
Grant Watson
2 days ago
NEW ESSAY! A new essay, published today, takes a look at Naruse Mikio's 1945 samurai drama A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangen-do: shot during the waning months of World War 2, it was one of only two period dramas that Naruse directed in an 89-film career.
fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/n...
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Naruse During Wartime | A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangen-do (1945)
Any discussion of Japan’s finest film directors must surely include Naruse Mikio. Naruse started his career as what one might call a director’s director – loved by his fellow artists, but not…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/02/08/naruse-during-wartime-a-tale-of-archery-at-the-sanjusangen-do-1945/
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
3 days ago
In this new (free!) essay, Koneru Hanmantharao looks at a range of parenting examples across SF cinema and tv, showcasing a variety of scenarios... Read it here - and tell your friends!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
4 days ago
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family... Read now for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
4 days ago
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family... Read now for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com
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Alex
Doctora Malka Older
5 days ago
Thread of the translated books available from the
@storybundle.bsky.social
translation bundle benefiting
@globalvoiceslingua.bsky.social
!
add a skeleton here at some point
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Alex
Premee Mohamed
5 days ago
OKAY GANG BUCKLE UP we are PUBLISHERS MARKETPLACE OFFICIAL for WICKHILLS Thank you to
@mkcurry.bsky.social
and
@jonathanstrahan.bsky.social
and
@torbooks.bsky.social
for making it happen! Prepare for me to NOT SHUT UP ABOUT THIS MOTHERFUPPIN BOOK (when I am less busy)
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I love the Object Lessons series. And this one on Lipstick hit me personally - having had a somewhat fraught relationship with femininity. Includes thoughtful perspectives on lipstick being seen as positive and negative, has some lovely history, etc.
randomalex.net/2026/02/06/o...
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Object Lessons: Lipstick
I read this courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury. It’s out on Feb 19. I have a fraught relationship with the idea of femininity. I obstinately rebelled against participating in…
https://randomalex.net/2026/02/06/object-lessons-lipstick/
5 days ago
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
5 days ago
Science fictional parenting: quiet moments, guiding through adversity, chosen families - this essay explores a wide range of examples, looking at how parents have been imagined particularly through cinema. Read now for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com
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Alex
Ellie Marney
6 days ago
Australia is like that kid at school who gets bullied but is still a fawning sycophant with the bullies, therefore participating in their own subjugation
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Alex
Val Nolan
7 days ago
Delighted that my essay 'The Dublin Portal... Or The Dublin Intrusion?' has been BSFA longlisted for Best Short Non Fiction (among other great
@speculativeinsight.bsky.social
pieces by
@arobertswrites.com
&
@thehubble101.bsky.social
!). Check it out here:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/dubli...
😀
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The Dublin Portal… Or The Dublin Intrusion? — Speculative Insight
Val Nolan explores the real-life Dublin Portal as exemplifying ideas of a portal fantasy story.
https://www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/dublin-portal
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@mondyboy74.bsky.social
is absolutely correct to rave about this.
7 days ago
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
7 days ago
ICYMI... and this fantastic cover from
@bydhiyanah.bsky.social
add a skeleton here at some point
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Alex
Brisbane in 28
8 days ago
The Brisbane / Meanjin Worldcon Bid for 2028 is at Capricon 46
@capriconsfcon.bsky.social
in Chicago this weekend! We're having a party on Thursday and Friday nights, the 5th and 6th. Stop by our Fan Table in the 1st floor corridor to find out more!
#capricon46
#capricon2026
#brisbanein28
#worldcon
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Alex
Emma Osborne 🍉
8 days ago
Hell yes, my debut novella GRIEF EATER is now live on Barnes and Noble for pre-orders! I would greatly appreciate any help in spreading the word. Thank you!
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grief-eate...
@interstellarflight.bsky.social
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Grief Eater|eBook
Visceral, gritty, and unforgiving, GRIEF EATER is a zombie story like you've never read before. When Kristina rises from her violent death, she's not the same fragile woman her family once abandoned. ...
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/grief-eater-emma-osborne/1149341515?ean=2940196331787
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Alex
Ian Mond
8 days ago
An awesome novel from an awesome author.
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Books Read: Slow Gods by Claire North
Maybe North’s best novel?
https://open.substack.com/pub/ianmond/p/books-read-slow-gods-by-claire-north?r=92f5v&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
8 days ago
If you want to try Speculative Insight out, you could buy the July-Dec 2025 collection in ebook, for AUD20 - or a paperback for AUD35 (inc shipping!). Of course, subscribing for the year gets you two ebooks, and only costs AUD30... (~GBP15, or USD19).
www.speculativeinsight.com/buy-collections
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Alex
Angela Slatter 📚
9 days ago
Very excited to share this cover! Can't wait for y'all to get your eyes on this novella! Once upon a time there were 3 sisters and a very dark place...
add a skeleton here at some point
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Bloomsbury's Object Lessons goes for Ballot... which is actually a history of voting in the US, and focused on the last decade, rather than anything broader. Which is interesting in itself if that's what you know you're getting (reader, Read The Blurb).
randomalex.net/2026/02/02/o...
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Object Lessons: Ballot
You can take compulsory voting from my cold dead hands. I read this book c/ NetGalley and the publisher, Bloomsbury. It’s out now. I love every Object Lessons book. In some ways, this one is …
https://randomalex.net/2026/02/02/object-lessons-ballot/
9 days ago
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
10 days ago
Fairytales, why we love them and why we keep messing with them: @angelaslatter and GennaRose Nethercott discuss why they play in
#fairytale
space...
www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/slatter-and-nethercott
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Alex
Kathleen Jennings
9 days ago
HONEYEATER, an (AUREALIS shortlisted! Locus 2025 recommended!) haunted subtropical tale, is available now! Order through your favourite bookstore or: USA:
torpublishinggroup.com/honeyeater/
Australia:
panmacmillan.com.au/9781761562303/
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
11 days ago
If you're keen on fairytale rewritings, you might enjoy this conversation between @angelaslatter and GennaRose Nethercott, all about why they play in the fairytale space...
www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/slatter-and-nethercott
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Alex
Ian Mond
11 days ago
It’s Wuthering bloomin’ Heights!
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Books Read: Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë
Poor Hareton. Poor Cathy (Linton).
https://open.substack.com/pub/ianmond/p/books-read-wuthering-heights-by-emily?r=92f5v&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
11 days ago
If you're keen on fairytale rewritings, you might enjoy this conversation between @angelaslatter and GennaRose Nethercott, all about why they play in the fairytale space...
www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/slatter-and-nethercott
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Alex
Joanne Anderton
12 days ago
Pixerina comes out soon and in preparation I visited the Norman Lindsay gallery! That beautiful house with its gardens inhabited by magical statues was in my mind while writing this book. Like this woman, watching over the pool. Imagine swimming out there, wouldn't you feel safe under her gaze?
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Alex
Kathleen Jennings
12 days ago
On mapping the world tree:
tanaudel.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/m...
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Mapping the World Tree — a silhouette illustration
Lisa Hannett’s Yet She Lives: Fierce and Fantastical Women of Norse Mythology, is now out, and in it is my silhouette map of Yggdrasil, the world tree. I do like a good impossible map (as for the m…
https://tanaudel.wordpress.com/2026/01/30/mapping-the-world-tree-a-silhouette-illustration/
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Alex
Brisbane in 28
13 days ago
#elevatingAustralasianCreators
add a skeleton here at some point
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Most Australians*: start rocking out to INXS. * Possibly only those over 35. Maybe only me.
add a skeleton here at some point
12 days ago
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
12 days ago
It's a fifth Friday of the month, which means: bonus content! This time it's a discussion between the fabulous @angelaslatter and GennaRose Nethercott. They're both doing fascinating things with fairytales, and that's the focus.
www.speculativeinsight.com/extras/slatter-and-nethercott
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Alex
Grant Watson
13 days ago
NEW REVIEW! Ignore the fatuous claims about being based on a true story, and Stuart Rosenberg's 1979 hit The Amityville Horror is a pretty effective haunted house thriller.
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/28/r...
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REVIEW: The Amityville Horror (1979)
It is true that, in late 1974, 23-year-old Ronald De Feo shot and killed his family inside their home in Amityville, New York. What is almost certainly not true is that the Lutz family, who moved i…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/01/28/review-the-amityville-horror-1979/
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Alex
Wizard's Tower Press
14 days ago
Our ebooks are now distributed by Draft2Digital, which means you can buy them on Apple Books, Smashwords and other platforms. They are also available through BorrowBox and other library platforms. Here's the order page for The Green Man's Heir:
books2read.com/u/m2znvd
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
14 days ago
ICYMI! This compilation of the July-Dec 2025 essays has an excellent range of topics, plus two amazing exclusives - this one, and another about queer-coded villains as heroes (Demolition Man! Nimona!). The ebook is ~USD14, or subscribe for ~USD20 for the year...
add a skeleton here at some point
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
14 days ago
ICYMI... two of the greats discussing questions of empire, and reactions to empire. (Facilitating this conversation fulfilled a long-held dream of mine...)
add a skeleton here at some point
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Alex
Grant Watson
14 days ago
NEW REVIEW! Stephen Herek's The Three Musketeers is reasonably fun, but does it get to claim credit if it's stealing someone else's fun?
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/28/r...
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REVIEW: The Three Musketeers (1993)
Stephen Herek’s The Three Musketeers must surely stand as one of Hollywood’s most cynically made production of the 1990s. It seems not to be made with love or passion, but rather an exa…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/01/28/review-the-three-musketeers-1993/
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Alex
Ian Mond
15 days ago
There’s a lot of good here. But I wasn’t convinced by some of the plot/story choices.
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Books Read: All That We See or Seem by Ken Liu
Interesting, provocative even, but it tested my already very thick willing suspension of disbelief.
https://open.substack.com/pub/ianmond/p/books-read-all-that-we-see-or-seem?r=92f5v&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true
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Alex
Jonathan Strahan
16 days ago
Coode Street 716: Gary K. Wolfe and Jonathan Strahan discuss dystopias, cozy fiction and other dilemmas on the latest episode of the podcast.
www.podbean.com/eas/pb-v5u3n...
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Episode 716: Dystopias, cozy fiction and other dilemmas
There are snowstorms blowing where Gary is and Jonathan can see rain falling outside in Perth's midsummer, but the Motel Six has been safely relocated and the Gershwin Room is open once again. Convers...
https://www.podbean.com/eas/pb-v5u3n-1a2b534
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Angela Slatter 📚
16 days ago
Very honoured to be part of the 2026 Pixel Project!
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Brisbane in 28
16 days ago
Have a look at our proposed venue, The Brisbane Convention & Exhibition Centre! This fantastic facility, situated on the South Bank of the Brisbane River, contains 44 meeting spaces, including 4 exhibition halls and 3 auditoriums.
#brisbanein28
#worldcon
#bcec
bcec.com.au
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Grant Watson
16 days ago
NEW REVIEW! When an Australian warship gets sunk in the Timor Sea during World War II, the survivors are left to contend with a great white shark. It's pure B-grade pulp, but is it good?
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/26/r...
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REVIEW: Beast of War (2025)
Kiah Roache-Turner has comfortably established an impressive niche as Australia’s resident source of pulp genre entertainment, by directing a string of films including Wyrmwood (2014), Nekrot…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/01/26/review-beast-of-war-2025/
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
20 days ago
If you’re interested in the act of translation…
add a skeleton here at some point
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Alex
Speculative Insight journal
17 days ago
#BSFA
voters...
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Alex
Cat Sparks
17 days ago
Splashdance
#birds
#ornithology
#audubon
#closeup
#BirdsoftheWorld
#BirdsofBlueSky
#photography
#BirdoftheDay
#wildlifephotography
#birdphotography
#AussieBirds
#AustralianBirds
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Liz
17 days ago
Escape Routes is out! Covering season 1 of Industry, new eps of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (a slog), The Night Manager, a long piece on this week's Starfleet Academy, Fallout, Hijack, and the promised rant about antisemitism in The Pitt fandom.
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Escapist Routes #43
the promise of the premise
https://escapistroutes.beehiiv.com/p/escapist-routes-43
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Alex
Grant Watson
17 days ago
NEW REVIEW! Nia DaCosta's 28 Years Later sequel The Bone Temple is so much better than just an excellent follow-up. If I gave stars, this would get five of them.
fictionmachine.com/2026/01/25/r...
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REVIEW: 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (2026)
Nia DaCosta takes over from Danny Boyle to direct The Bone Temple, the direct sequel to 2025’s 28 Years Later. This new film could not exist without last year’s effort, and yet it impro…
https://fictionmachine.com/2026/01/25/review-28-years-later-the-bone-temple-2026/
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