I'll be launching my D&D novel reading series this week, beginning with an essay on "Who Cares about D&D Novels Anyway?" which highlights the frustrating response to D&D novels in fantasy studies and argues why we should pay attention to media tie-in fiction more generally. Consider subscribing!

Cameron Miguel takes us through Ann Leckie’s return to the world of the Imperial Radch - a world he hasn’t previously experienced. This makes for an interesting test of a novel that operates as a standalone within the continuity. It’s a test, Cam finds, that this “newcomer-friendly” book passes.

In case you were worried I was off my bullshit--from the 5/26 edition: "Mashing literary realism and the fantastic together requires a paradoxical belief that both modes hold real artistic and explanatory power and aiming for that contradiction rather than using one as seasoning for the other"

Last review of the week at SH is from Sneha Pathak, of Cheon Seon-Ran's Locus-finalist vampire yarn, The Midnight Shift (translated for @bloomsburybooksuk.bsky.social by Gene Png). It's a novel whose message about the nature of loneliness "feels especially relevant".

Here, Duncan Lawie looks at the latest from Paul McAuley, a novel of climate change which "hits hard because we can see it in the world around us". I kept thinking of Paul March-Russell on EJ Swift as I read this one. A tight little corpus of Brit climate near-futures is forming.

As ever, @goingroguepod.bsky.social offers great, entertaining, whip-smart criticism. Frex: in this episode, a very lightly-worn riff on the movement Abrams squeezes into a single 18-second shot of BB-8 *for some reason* says so much about the perils of his film-making while also being very funny.

The first issue of SMALL PLANET: THE SF IN TRANSLATION MAGAZINE is OUT! www.sfintranslation.com?p=16928 #SFinTranslation

Really great review from @richmondbridge.bsky.social of CL Clark's new novel in the Arcane franchise. Lots of great thoughts here about the book itself, but also about tie-in novels in general, "a revealing node in the multimedia publishing and IP ecosystem for genre fiction."

This was a very fun conversation and a great followup to our panel at @flightsoffoundry.bsky.social last year, talking about what it means for fiction to be considered "didactic"

In our 2025 Year in Review piece, @hararereview.com chose Jane Mondruo's Zoi as a favourite. Never let it be said we don't go back to fill gaps in our reading! Here's A. Bristow-Smith on a novel which "highlights the fundamental problem of positioning ourselves as external to the world we inhabit."

Love fantasy's deep roots in the social sciences strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Excellent thread from Mr H, here - as usual, he takes utmost care to read generously.

Review #2 for the week at SH: @anushreenande.bsky.social on how Rym Kechacha’s “ambitious new novel is … darkly haunting, both in the atmosphere that envelops the reader … and in the themes its character-centric … story tackles.” Kechacha is among the most interesting writers working today. Read..

Over at SH, @kateem.bsky.social on Vonda N. McIntyre's final novel, published on May 15 by @timmi.bsky.social. What emerges, bitter-sweetly, is "an epic fantasy voyage" which adopts a fascinating approach to historical fantasy ... and, in more ways than one, leaves us asking what might have been.

I have listened - I have made notes - I have… thoughts.

At Pre-Raphaelite treasure trove Wightwick Manor today, where they are hosting an exhibition on the Rossettis. Apparently, they too had Opinions on the effect of negative reviews on authors.

And some thoughts about the episode and the discussions: I firmly believe reviews are For The Readers, but IMO, the discussion articulated an important approach to reviewing: paving a path, shining a spotlight, specifically in areas that get less attention, like debut authors and small presses /+

Some meaty thoughts from Roseanna here, not least because she employs the metaphor of The Tent. The Tent is all!

Friday's review is the first for SH from @timlockette.bsky.social, and it opens with Buck Rogers. "Planet of Ghosts, the new short story collection by Wesley R. Bishop," Tim argues, "may be as close as we can get" to a postmodern reframing of Philip Francis Nowlan.

My Locus piece on Calculation of Volume isn't online yet, so I can't give you the fully evidenced version of this assertion, but UK Kindle users should take advantage of the current 99p deal on volume I because it's probably the best SF series being published www.amazon.co.uk/Calculation-...

🧵 Really excellent thread, this.

Another episode on reviewing debuts might have looked like our ep on style: what features do we see in debut books, how should critics encounter and even allow for them. But what emerged was a discussion also - primarily? - about debut *writers*, sales and sentiment. Lotta skeets in that, turns out!

Totally agree! I was just saying to Molly Templeton that I'm more interested in the meta-analysis of the discourse that in caring whether anyone is actually "right." These arguments are as *old* and fundamentally irresolvable, but fascinating in their continued circulation and irresolvability.

I found this discussion a very frustrating listen. On the one hand, a lot of specific points of craft that I agreed with. But on the other hand, an overarching assumption that a review is an engagement with, or in service of, the author, that to my mind is completely misguided.

Response to the latest Critical Friends, on reviewing debut books. My personal view is very close to this - but we consistently see the opposite view expressed, that the interaction between reviewers and authors should be considered. I found it useful to explore this with people on that faultline.

great discussion here on the various responsibilities, expectations, ethics, etc. in reviewing, with a particular focus on debut works

A good companion to this episode’s discussion on when to go negative: a 2023 ep with @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social. “There’s a point where the tone of the review changes, where my goal is not to engage with what the book does, right or wrong, but just to say, ‘there’s nothing worth saving here.’

Today's review at SH is from @williamshaw.bsky.social and speaks to some of the themes of this week's podcast: here's a debut collection ... and in this case a somewhat negative reading. Thoughts to think with. On "a collection tragically caught in the orbit of its title story":

The second use of “provocative” to describe this episode. My work here is done etc. Downthread, Jonah wisely makes the case for as broad a reviewer base as possible. Here, I sought (as someone without it) the fiction-writers’ POV, but it’s 💯 important also to have critics who *don’t* wear two hats.

🗣️ NEW CRITICAL FRIENDS PODCAST! This month, @hanacarolina.bsky.social and @alexyquest.bsky.social talk to me about reviewing debuts: are there extra responsibilities a critic has to new writers, and if so what are they? Hana and Alex also recently wrote debuts of their own, so it's a rich chat.

I really enjoyed this conversation, which challenged me to think about the ethics of review a little differently. And that really surprised me, because I thought I had my whole review ethos figured out. Granted, I don't really review new work anymore, but this was a great, provocative conversation.

🗣️ NEW CRITICAL FRIENDS PODCAST! This month, @hanacarolina.bsky.social and @alexyquest.bsky.social talk to me about reviewing debuts: are there extra responsibilities a critic has to new writers, and if so what are they? Hana and Alex also recently wrote debuts of their own, so it's a rich chat.

It’s the first review of the week at @strangehorizons, and it is indeed a doozy. “How many books is this? Not one, despite the physical artefact. Its front and back covers, its table of continents, its index—they are all an illusory scaffolding for what is three books in an overcoat.”

📹 As the National Joint HIV and Sexual Health Conference kicks off today with @bhiva.bsky.social, we’re sharing our documentary on the realities of living with #HIV today. Hear from Ralph, Joe, and Margaret as they help us #EndTheStigma. 🔗 tinyurl.com/2wtmwjmx #TeamKings #HIV #SexualHealth

Oh, hi, weekend crowd. How was your week? Mine was spent fighting the genre wars on all fronts simultaneously. “SF’s hospitality towards ideas might be one reason for genre snobbery; or perhaps its denigrated environs are a suitable refuge for writers and approaches hounded out of the green zones.”

Friday's review at @strangehouse.bsky.social is from @alexyquest.bsky.social, who writes about Allee Mead's Isaac (out via @wctracy.bsky.social's Space Wizard Science Fantasy). AI, robots, romance: "Despite its brevity," says Alex, "Isaac manages to add another layer of narrative to all this."

Snap! Criticism! @danhartland.bsky.social looks at Potter & Taunton's THE BRITISH NOVEL OF IDEAS (@universitypress.cambridge.org) and McEwan's WHAT WE CAN KNOW (@aaknopf.bsky.social) to ask, even as the waters are rising, what bridges & causeways connect speculative fiction and...the other kind:

So of course I have already listened to this episode and *obviously* it is full of critical zingers. SH fans who remember Tansy’s Jurassic World: Rebirth review (quoth: “the film clunks”) will enjoy the extra salt about OG Jurassic World found herein. (Also: bonus @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social!)

What is the novel of ideas? What are novels? *What are ideas*?!! Some of these questions are addressed in my latest Snap! Criticism column for @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org.

Black Studies Podcast just dropped! Listen, I'm on #audiofuturism #BlackFutures #BlackStudy #BlackStudies @blkstudies-podcast.bsky.social #SFF #AcademicWriting #BlackSky share.transistor.fm/s/3c50e143

Today at Strange Horizons: cryptids, kaiju and corn, courtesy of a collection from @middlewestpress.bsky.social. Midwestern poet Thomas E. Simmons gives us a view from the ground of "a skillfully edited assortment of peculiar tales, some of them provocative, and others quite delightful."

"An accomplished debut which interrogates the experience of being marginalized and stereotyped"--we love this review of Chelsea's KRACKLE'S LAST MOVIE at @strangehorizons.bsky.social--thanks, @hanacarolina.bsky.social!!!

It's Monday, it's review day at @strangehorizons.bsky.social! Here's @hanacarolina.bsky.social on Krackle's Last Movie by Chelsea Sutton (@splitlippress.com), a novel which "posits each 'monstrous' character as a voice and a face of various responses to difference."

You can register for my event at the SFPL next Saturday on Eventbrite! www.eventbrite.com/e/author-tal...

Red letter day, this.

Out today from @lareviewofbooks.bsky.social, my essay reflecting on Thomas Burnett Swann's life and legacy as a fantasy writer 50 years after his death. This has been a year in the making and I'm happy there's a piece like this giving Swann some overdue attention!

Loved reading this - had no idea Stephanie was a fan of the twee, but by coincidence have myself spent most of the last week rediscovering Aberfeldy's late-twee masterpiece, Young Forever (2004) ... so the stars were clearly in alignment. (Re)discover twee yourself:

This is v exciting! Esp. bc this book is very much on my tbr.

Don't want to dissuade anyone from picking up the whole book, which sounds great and which I have been dithering over since it was published, but do want to point out that the Vandana Singh story the review spends time on is also available here: www.climatealmanac.org/pub/ud2xkkx1...

A return to the hopeful futures mines at SH (including citations of @hararereview.com’s prior writings on this topic for us): Seamus Sullivan on the Climate Imagination collection from @mitpress.bsky.social. Really worth sitting with this essay, it’s expansive and covers a disparate book very well.