Abigail Nussbaum
@abigailnussbaum.bsky.social
Blogger, critic, 2017 and 2025 best fan writer Hugo winner.
Blogs at wrongquestions.blogspot.com and www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
Review collection TRACK CHANGES available at briardenebooks.uk/shop/
Blogs at wrongquestions.blogspot.com and www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
Review collection TRACK CHANGES available at briardenebooks.uk/shop/
Pinned
The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past
"Frodo and Gandalf" by Alan Lee [Gandalf] paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: 'This is the Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them ...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
The Great Tolkien Reread continues today with "The Shadow of the Past", an infodump chapter that unexpectedly lays out much of what The Lord of the Rings is about, and is also an effective, disquieting reintroduction to Gollum. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The cold open of this week's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms:
January 26, 2026 at 8:28 PM
The cold open of this week's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms:
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
📣 It's here: the 2026 @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special!
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
26 January 2026
Welcome to the annual Strange Horizons criticism special!
strangehorizons.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:41 PM
📣 It's here: the 2026 @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special!
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
I'm just going to keep saying this: I will take headlines like this seriously the day even one of these AI-peddling ghouls treats actual human beings with anything resembling the sympathy and compassion they keep demanding for their software.
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
Anthropic's philosopher says we don't know for sure if AI can feel
Anthropic's philosopher, Amanda Askell, says she worries that AI might not 'feel that loved' and grow up feeling 'always judged.'
www.businessinsider.com
January 26, 2026 at 7:25 AM
I'm just going to keep saying this: I will take headlines like this seriously the day even one of these AI-peddling ghouls treats actual human beings with anything resembling the sympathy and compassion they keep demanding for their software.
The good folks at @inkle.co were kind enough to send me a Steam key for their new game, TR-49, and it is a delight. Short and sweet - I finished it in two evenings - and perfectly pitched between challenging and frustrating, it's a fantastic addition to lineage of Her Story/Roottrees-derived games.
TR-49 - inkle
Independent developer of narrative games and interactive stories.
www.inklestudios.com
January 23, 2026 at 11:46 AM
The good folks at @inkle.co were kind enough to send me a Steam key for their new game, TR-49, and it is a delight. Short and sweet - I finished it in two evenings - and perfectly pitched between challenging and frustrating, it's a fantastic addition to lineage of Her Story/Roottrees-derived games.
This is an excellent analogy, because my recollection from grade school is that the pen on the right looks fun and exciting, and then you play with it for a few minutes and realize it's not actually useful for anything and in fact makes some tasks more cumbersome, and never think about it again.
yeah, just out of interest, how many people choose the pen on the right for real work or art? See a lot of them in professional workplaces, do you?
January 22, 2026 at 12:21 PM
This is an excellent analogy, because my recollection from grade school is that the pen on the right looks fun and exciting, and then you play with it for a few minutes and realize it's not actually useful for anything and in fact makes some tasks more cumbersome, and never think about it again.
Behold my many different types of Tolkieniana.
January 21, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Behold my many different types of Tolkieniana.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
NEWS! My next book, TRANSLUNAR, about a closeted trans woman who's an astronaut in the sixties, is coming out in fall 2027! It'll be on Wildthorn, Tor's brand-new general fiction imprint -- a dream, as it lets me work with @englelaird.bsky.social on my literary and historical fiction as well as SFF.
January 21, 2026 at 5:00 PM
NEWS! My next book, TRANSLUNAR, about a closeted trans woman who's an astronaut in the sixties, is coming out in fall 2027! It'll be on Wildthorn, Tor's brand-new general fiction imprint -- a dream, as it lets me work with @englelaird.bsky.social on my literary and historical fiction as well as SFF.
"Americans, know that all Europeans hate you" is probably not the most useful way to approach the current situation. But as someone who has spent the last 2+ years scrolling past the opinion that my murder would be an act of decolonization, I feel like you guys could stand to practice some stoicism.
January 21, 2026 at 2:23 PM
"Americans, know that all Europeans hate you" is probably not the most useful way to approach the current situation. But as someone who has spent the last 2+ years scrolling past the opinion that my murder would be an act of decolonization, I feel like you guys could stand to practice some stoicism.
Over at @lawgunsmoney.bsky.social, I have posted my traditional list of the books I'm looking forward to in 2026. www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/01/the-...
The Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2026 - Lawyers, Guns & Money
A few weeks ago, Jake Casella Brookins posted on BlueSky: “curmudgeonly thought this morning is that “anticipation” is bad for arts & art culture”. Which, given how much the “most anticipated” genre h...
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
January 19, 2026 at 9:12 PM
Over at @lawgunsmoney.bsky.social, I have posted my traditional list of the books I'm looking forward to in 2026. www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2026/01/the-...
"Average person starts wars over Nobel Peace Prize" factoid actually just a statistical error. Spiders Donald, who thinks about the Nobel Peace Prize every day and has started 10,000 wars to get it, is an outlier and should be impeached.
The Nobel Peace Prize becoming so prestigious that wars are fought over a head of state coveting it is some real monkey paw stuff for Alfred Nobel.
January 19, 2026 at 1:03 PM
"Average person starts wars over Nobel Peace Prize" factoid actually just a statistical error. Spiders Donald, who thinks about the Nobel Peace Prize every day and has started 10,000 wars to get it, is an outlier and should be impeached.
I see that it is once again necessary to re-up this simple but, apparently, hard to grasp point.
I might also add that the author community's constant slalom between "if you wait for a series to conclude before starting it you are personally responsible for the death of the genre" and "how dare you expect an author to finish a story they've started" is perhaps not the most effective messaging.
January 19, 2026 at 8:37 AM
I see that it is once again necessary to re-up this simple but, apparently, hard to grasp point.
Rachel Reid writing Heated Rivalry in 2019: behold this detailed timeline of Shane and Ilya's relationship from 2008 to 2017
Rachel Reid writing Long Game in 2022: this book begins two years after HR and spans about a year
Me: doesn't that mean-
RR: NOPE! There will be no date markers whatsoever!
Rachel Reid writing Long Game in 2022: this book begins two years after HR and spans about a year
Me: doesn't that mean-
RR: NOPE! There will be no date markers whatsoever!
January 18, 2026 at 11:35 AM
Rachel Reid writing Heated Rivalry in 2019: behold this detailed timeline of Shane and Ilya's relationship from 2008 to 2017
Rachel Reid writing Long Game in 2022: this book begins two years after HR and spans about a year
Me: doesn't that mean-
RR: NOPE! There will be no date markers whatsoever!
Rachel Reid writing Long Game in 2022: this book begins two years after HR and spans about a year
Me: doesn't that mean-
RR: NOPE! There will be no date markers whatsoever!
Lot of anniversary posts on my feed this week reminding me that ten years ago, both David Bowie and Alan Rickman died right around my birthday, and I was still young enough that this felt shocking and not like the sort of thing that just happens with increasing regularity.
January 14, 2026 at 6:59 PM
Lot of anniversary posts on my feed this week reminding me that ten years ago, both David Bowie and Alan Rickman died right around my birthday, and I was still young enough that this felt shocking and not like the sort of thing that just happens with increasing regularity.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
Really is something Tolkien-y in the air this year. Weird Studies (@weirdstudiesphil.bsky.social) kicking off with an episode about "On Fairy-Stories":
The Perilous Realm: J.R.R. Tolkien's 'On Fairy Stories'
Podcast Episode · Weird Studies · 01/14/2026 · 1h 16m
podcasts.apple.com
January 14, 2026 at 6:24 PM
Really is something Tolkien-y in the air this year. Weird Studies (@weirdstudiesphil.bsky.social) kicking off with an episode about "On Fairy-Stories":
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
The Great Tolkien Reread continues today with "The Shadow of the Past", an infodump chapter that unexpectedly lays out much of what The Lord of the Rings is about, and is also an effective, disquieting reintroduction to Gollum. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past
"Frodo and Gandalf" by Alan Lee [Gandalf] paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: 'This is the Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them ...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:23 PM
The Great Tolkien Reread continues today with "The Shadow of the Past", an infodump chapter that unexpectedly lays out much of what The Lord of the Rings is about, and is also an effective, disquieting reintroduction to Gollum. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Great Tolkien Reread continues today with "The Shadow of the Past", an infodump chapter that unexpectedly lays out much of what The Lord of the Rings is about, and is also an effective, disquieting reintroduction to Gollum. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
The Great Tolkien Reread: The Shadow of the Past
"Frodo and Gandalf" by Alan Lee [Gandalf] paused, and then said slowly in a deep voice: 'This is the Master-ring, the One Ring to rule them ...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
January 13, 2026 at 4:23 PM
The Great Tolkien Reread continues today with "The Shadow of the Past", an infodump chapter that unexpectedly lays out much of what The Lord of the Rings is about, and is also an effective, disquieting reintroduction to Gollum. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/01/the-...
Why, it's almost as if Stancil is a perfectly normal person and a good egg, and it's the people who have made obsessing over his every action as if it proves his innate perfidy who are the weirdos.
Will focusing his endless font of energy when it comes to being annoying towards ICE totally rules and I tip my cap. Someone buy that man a tank of gas
January 12, 2026 at 6:38 PM
Why, it's almost as if Stancil is a perfectly normal person and a good egg, and it's the people who have made obsessing over his every action as if it proves his innate perfidy who are the weirdos.
Rewatching the first episode of Pluribus, and it's just making me mad all over again how stupid and criminally careless its "scientist" characters have to be for the entire series's plot to even happen.
January 11, 2026 at 7:09 PM
Rewatching the first episode of Pluribus, and it's just making me mad all over again how stupid and criminally careless its "scientist" characters have to be for the entire series's plot to even happen.
Erich von Däniken, popularizer of the idea that non-white ancient people were incapable of building monuments, died yesterday, prompting many people to say "that guy was still alive?!?". In honor of his passing, I think @ifbookspod.bsky.social should do a special episode on Chariots of the Gods.
'Chariots of the Gods' author Erich von Däniken dies at 90
Erich von Däniken, the Swiss author whose books on the extraterrestrial origins of ancient civilizations brought him both fame and scorn, has died at age 90
abcnews.go.com
January 11, 2026 at 5:18 PM
Erich von Däniken, popularizer of the idea that non-white ancient people were incapable of building monuments, died yesterday, prompting many people to say "that guy was still alive?!?". In honor of his passing, I think @ifbookspod.bsky.social should do a special episode on Chariots of the Gods.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
is it time to start blogging through The Lord of the Rings, yes, I think so
A Tolkien Re-Read: Prologues | Jared Pechacek
Get more from Jared Pechacek on Patreon
www.patreon.com
January 5, 2026 at 5:15 PM
is it time to start blogging through The Lord of the Rings, yes, I think so
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
One for those 'most anticipated books of next year' lists. Allan on Priest on Ballard and everything in between.
December 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
One for those 'most anticipated books of next year' lists. Allan on Priest on Ballard and everything in between.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
And we're off on my reread of Lord of the Rings, 50 years since I first read it. Here, I outline why it's three different books in one (and I don't just mean The Fellowship, The Two Towers and the Return). #Tolkien #lotr
50 Year Reread of The Lord of the Rings – Introduction: Three Different Books
I first read the Lord of the Rings 50 years ago in the winter of 1975-76 when I was ten years old. In fact, I read it in the autumn of 1975 and then immediately reread it. Then for Christmas that y…
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
January 5, 2026 at 10:16 AM
Wicked: For Good is nowhere near as good as the first movie (which was, itself, only OK). But I continue to be flabbergasted by how these movies are, by some margin, the most explicitly and unambiguously anti-Trump works to come out of Hollywood in years.
January 3, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Wicked: For Good is nowhere near as good as the first movie (which was, itself, only OK). But I continue to be flabbergasted by how these movies are, by some margin, the most explicitly and unambiguously anti-Trump works to come out of Hollywood in years.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
With a knock on your door, a kindly wizard invites you to join us on Shelved By Genre's LORD OF THE YEAR, in which we will consider the popular but contested works of JRR Tolkien, kicking things off with a long rumination upon the first four chapters of THE HOBBIT: rangedtouch.com/2026/01/02/t...
January 2, 2026 at 2:27 PM
With a knock on your door, a kindly wizard invites you to join us on Shelved By Genre's LORD OF THE YEAR, in which we will consider the popular but contested works of JRR Tolkien, kicking things off with a long rumination upon the first four chapters of THE HOBBIT: rangedtouch.com/2026/01/02/t...
On the second day of the year, I sat down to answer emails that have been glaring at me for a response for an amount of time I will not publicly disclose, except to say that at one point the phrase "a turducken of shame" was used.
January 2, 2026 at 12:08 PM
On the second day of the year, I sat down to answer emails that have been glaring at me for a response for an amount of time I will not publicly disclose, except to say that at one point the phrase "a turducken of shame" was used.