Oh yes, we're doing this on Saturday 25th October at MCM Comic Con in London. Join me, RJ Barker, Alex Pheby and Juliet E. McKenna, as we discuss how to build fantasy worlds and our new book of essays, WRITING THE MAGIC (out September 18th).

Don't forget to grab a ticket for a night discussing Fantasy fiction with Dan Coxon, Alex Pheby and R.J. Barker at Dead Ink Bookshop! We're celebrating the launch of WRITING THE MAGIC ✨ Date: 18.09.25 Time: 6 - 8 PM Tickets: £5 entry // £13 entry & book deadinkbookshop.com/products/sep...

Signing with Wes at Elliott Bay bookstore in Seattle. V. cool guy.

No Tropes For Me—Let’s Write Weird panel @seattlein2025.org #worldcon2025

Our short story prize is open for submissions again! Please share this widely - and please send us your stories: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/prize Closing date 8 November!

Alert! Alert! We're having a 35% backlist title sale. And just look at these incredible books: www.galleybeggar.co.uk/gbp-timeline...

We're bringing a little magic to #Liverpool this September! WRITING THE MAGIC will launch on Thurs 18 Sept at Dead Ink Books, Liverpool, at 6pm. Discussing it with me will be archmages of the written word Alex Pheby & RJ Barker. More info and tickets below. deadinkbookshop.com/products/sep...

Reading “Waterblack” by @alexpheby.bsky.social and a dreadful thing is occurring — this novel (and the series it concludes, “Cities of the Weft”) is SO bloody good that it’s spoiling me rotten. I’m not being hyperbolic when I say that this is as good as Mervyn Peake.

Do yourself a favor and read the cities of the West trilogy from @alexpheby.bsky.social. Waterblack, the last installment, is a mind blowing conclusion?? that I am in total awe of. Rating: 5/5⭐ Final Recommendation: BUY ALL OF THEM IMMEDIATELY #booksky 💙📚💫🖋️

Links, Tips and Suggestions substack.com/@samj/note/c...

Our latest newsletter is live: shorturl.at/0KVXi Contains: news. News about Waterblack, upcoming books, upcoming short story prize and more.

Epic review of Waterblack in @strangehorizons.bsky.social by Matthew Eatough: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no... "Waterblack will be greeted as a fitting conclusion to one of the landmark works of experimental fantasy of the twenty-first century...

Amid the excitement of the @strangehorizons.bsky.social fund drive, we also have a standard issue this week (we are rockstars). In Reviews so far: Eatough on Waterblack and Pheby’s Cities of the Weft (@galleybeggars.bsky.social); @marinaberlin.bsky.social on Wheel of Time’s third and final season.

THE COUNTDOWN APPROACHES! We have 4 days to reach our fundraising goal & we have a LONG way to go!! Be the reason that the Locus lights stay on! Help us out at igg.me/at/locusmag2025. We are so grateful for your support! Fundraiser link in bio #sff #scifi #fantasy #booksky

"If, in Peake, I saw the possibility of a fundamentally different sort of fantasy story from those of Tolkien and his many imitators then in Pheby we can see the perfection of that method" Sounds right! www.typebarmagazine.com/2025/02/23/i...

The Fiction shortlist: Mark Bowles, All My Precious Madness @galleybeggars.bsky.social Lucas Rijneveld, My Heavenly Favourite, translated by Michele Hutchison @faberbooks.bsky.social Phillip B. Williams, Ours @vikingbooksuk.bsky.social Yasmin Zaher, The Coin @wearefootnote.bsky.social

We just finished recording a bonus episode with @alexpheby.bsky.social about his work, the undeserved disrespect heaped on Sci-Fi/Fantasy, and Final Fantasy games. We all had a great time chatting with him and can't wait to get the episode out to you! We'll be back to Against the Day in two weeks!

The third has finally come to join the others. I can’t wait to see how the Weft expands in Waterblack @galleybeggars.bsky.social @alexpheby.bsky.social

My God. Mark Bowles, All My Precious Madness. Do read it, please.

I'm listening to Waterblack by Alex Pheby and it's fantastic. Been looking forward to it so much.

Explore @Mondyboy’s review of WATERBLACK by @alexpheby (@alexpheby.bsky.social): “In a series that’s all about power, Pheby reminds us that he’s the one in control; he chooses which narrative lever to pull.” locusmag.com/2025/03...

open.substack.com/pub/samj/p/b... A few words about the publication of Waterblack.

Lovely review of Waterblack on the @turnarounduk.bsky.social blog: theturnaroundblog.com/2025/02/28/w...

Hello Scotland! This is happening in Edinburgh next week. Tickets still available - will be an excellent event. (Please RT so people get to hear about it...) www.toppingbooks.co.uk/events/edinb...

My latest article in Typebar Magazine is a close reading of the Cities of the Weft trilogy by the inestimable @alexpheby.bsky.social

And that’s a wrap 🥲 Thank you @alexpheby.bsky.social for one of the most imaginative and wonderful trilogies I’ve ever experienced. I loved these characters so much. What a conclusion.

app.thestorygraph.com/books/4b111f... Finished Malarkoi. I think I loved it even more than Mordew. It makes me want to read anything and everything by Alex Pheby. What a writer!!! #BookSky💙📚

Today @alexpheby.bsky.social comes to Hell to give us the 5 tracks that will be used to torment him for all eternity! Alex talks about his new book WATERBLACK, tells us about the challenges of writing a trilogy, and gives us what is surely the worst job anyone has ever done ever. tr.ee/PQLPm4WkLE

Already a couple of hundred pages into Malarkoi. No idea why I left it so long but Alex Phelby is a droll, vivid and meticulous writer, crafting impossible worlds that feel vital and immediate. Highly tempted to move on to Waterblack directly after this… #BookSky💙📚

New from @galleybeggars.bsky.social 'Waterblack' by @alexpheby.bsky.social Cities Of The Weft - Book III SIGNED copies avilable from @blackwells.bsky.social but hurry! Only a small handful are left! 📖 sample to peek inside and share www.jellybooks.com/cloud_reader...

After finishing Waterblack by @alexpheby.bsky.social , I can say with certainty that it’s a phenomenal read, and the best in a trilogy that got better with each book. I cannot recommend the Cities of the Weft trilogy enough. Please go find it and read it. #Mordew #Malarkoi #Waterblack

Wow, look at this big and beautiful book! @alexpheby.bsky.social @galleybeggars.bsky.social

We are thrilled to be hosting a launch with @alexpheby.bsky.social for Waterblack, the conclusion of the Cities of the Weft Trilogy this Sunday! He will be in conversation with Mikey Please (launching his debut novel with us in April). Tickets available here www.bookhausbristol.com/events/#e122...

"In this formidable finale, Pheby has given this subgenre a master class in what it means to create and own a wholly original world without compromise." @steppinlazer.bsky.social reviews Alex Pheby's Waterblack: reactormag.com/book-review-...

We have a signed copy of @alexpheby.bsky.social's brand new Waterblack in stock (but you can also order it on the W website while they have copies). Out today, this epic conclusion to the Cities of Weft trilogy has all the intellectual detail and intensely evocative writing you've come to expect!

It's publication day for Waterblack. A fantasy masterpiece. We're very proud. And very lucky (again!). What a book. www.galleybeggar.co.uk/campaigns/vi...

Signed copies of Waterblack. Get ready!

Get ready for the beautiful @waterstones.bsky.social special edition of Waterblack. They're all signed and will be on their way to the shops soon.

He did them all! And more:

Given current events, if you need some great dark fantasy writers (and you do): N.K. Jemisin @nkjemisin.bsky.social Marlon James Alex Pheby @alexpheby.bsky.social Clive Barker Gene Wolfe R.F. Kuang @rfkuang.bsky.social Jeff VanderMeer @jeffvandermeer.bsky.social Mervyn Peake

Literary fantasy recs for folks who find themselves suddenly in need of new literary fantasy authors: Bones of the Moon by Jonathan Carroll Tales of the Flat Earth by Tanith Lee Last Call by Tim Powers The Tooth Fairy by Graham Joyce The Orphan’s Tales (2 vols) by Catherynne Valente