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Ancillary Review of Books
@ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
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culture, power, speculation

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Ancillary Review of Books @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · Dec 31
Last post of the year! We present ARB's Notable Criticism of 2025—ten articles that highlight the vitality and possibilities of speculative criticism:
ARB’s 2025 Notable Criticism
In the field of speculative criticism, many of the challenges and positive developments we noted last year are still in full effect. 2025 has brought even more precarity for culture writers and aca…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
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strangehorizons.bsky.social
Here's more from our Criticism Special Issue!

Structural Functionalism and Fantasy Fiction  
by O. F. Cieri

Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
NON-FICTION Quote For its part, fantasy’s inherent voyeurism still stems from curiosity in the human experience and celebration of our collective creativity, but there remains the leftovers of a structural functionalism lens that believes all culture is nothing but language, religion, and material needs. end Quote Structural Functionalism and Fantasy Fiction  by O. F. Cieri 26 January 2026 Strange Horizons
January 30, 2026 at 11:51 PM
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sebsp.bsky.social
Check out this review I wrote for the excellent @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org on Jeremy Rosen’s new book on the genre turn of literary fiction, Genre Bending
January 29, 2026 at 8:04 AM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
The Plastic Utility of Genre: @sebsp.bsky.social reviews Jeremy Rosen's GENRE BENDING (@stanfordpress.bsky.social)
The Plastic Utility of Genre: Review of Jeremy Rosen’s Genre Bending
Sebastian Sparrevohn Under Review:Genre Bending: The Plasticity of Form in Contemporary Literary Fiction. Jeremy Rosen. Stanford University Press, December 2025. Jeremy Rosen’s Genre Bending: The P…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 28, 2026 at 3:10 PM
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haymarketbooks.org
So much love for @moonpalacebooks.bsky.social
“Everything We Do Matters.” Minneapolis’s Moon Palace Books is a Hub For Anti-ICE Resistance
Angela Schwesnedl from Moon Palace Books in Minneapolis picked up my phone call on Saturday almost two hours to the minute after Alex Pretti was murdered in the street by ICE officers. “If you have…
lithub.com
January 27, 2026 at 3:12 PM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
In the latest episode of A Meal of Thorns, biographer Jon Tattrie (TO LEAVE A WARRIOR BEHIND) joins to talk about Charles R. Saunders' sword-and-soul classic IMARO, and its many lives & afterlives:
A Meal of Thorns 42- IMARO with Jon Tattrie
Charles Saunders’ sword and soul narratives, pulp-fantasy-inspired tales of Black and African heroes, helped blaze a trail for the genre—but, like Saunders himself, they have a complica…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 26, 2026 at 6:10 PM
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danhartland.bsky.social
📣 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.
26 January 2026
Welcome to the annual Strange Horizons criticism special!
strangehorizons.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:41 PM
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maxwellgrant.bsky.social
I just finished the works of vermin based on this review. It was an incredible statement of a book and I loved every minute reading it.
January 20, 2026 at 12:32 AM
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whiterxbbit.bsky.social
I have a chapter on ectogestation and reproductive justice out in this new edited collection on Technology, Health, and Law in Life and Death 👇 www.bloomsbury.com/uk/technolog...
Technology, Health, and Law in Life and Death
This book brings together leading global scholars to examine the legal, ethical and social implications of biotechnological innovations in healthcare throughout…
www.bloomsbury.com
January 23, 2026 at 5:35 PM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
How Do We Live at the End of the World? @rymkechacha.bsky.social reviews Juhea Kim's collection of speculative climate stories, from @eccobooks.bsky.social:
How Do We Live at the End of the World? Review of Juhea Kim’s A Love Story from the End of the World
Rym Kechacha Under Review:A Love Story from the End of the World. Juhea Kim. Ecco, November 2025. After two successful novels, Juhea Kim presents A Love Story from The End of the World, a short sto…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 23, 2026 at 1:52 PM
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danhartland.bsky.social
Gems across every category in the @bsfa.bsky.social long list. I’ll note some of the nonfiction.

Very good to see Kincaid, @adamroberts.bsky.social and @jsanchez-taylor.bsky.social in long nonfiction. Some other works there I’ve not read but now want to, too.
Vote for the BSFA Awards
www.bsfa.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 4:01 PM
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megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Reading Awards Longlists to Gratifyingly Find 'Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism' in an Age of Fascism

(Heartfelt thanks to anyone nominating and/or voting and/or just reading the essay. The fascists will lose.)
Vote for the BSFA Awards
www.bsfa.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 2:16 PM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
The SFF Librarian Reviews: Jeremy Brett looks at Rambo's RUMOR HAS IT (@torbooks.bsky.social), Cooney's SAINT DEATH'S HERALD (@solarisbooks.bsky.social), Nolan's HAPPY BAD (Astra House), and THE ESSENTIAL AKUTAGAWA, tr. Medhurst (@tuttlepublishing.bsky.social):
The SFF Librarian Reviews: January 2026
SFF Librarian Reviews Jeremy Brett As a voracious reader, and as someone for whom science fiction and fantasy are part of my daily job as a science fiction librarian, I come across a lot of wonderf…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 21, 2026 at 2:20 PM
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pinebeltblues.bsky.social
I’ve got another review up at @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org !
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org Ancillary Review of Books @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · 13d
This Page Intentionally Left Blank: @pinebeltblues.bsky.social reviews KJ Cerankowski's NOTHING WANTING (@uminnpress.bsky.social)
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 19, 2026 at 10:56 PM
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poetmorgan.bsky.social
It’s a good day to follow @bookcritics.bsky.social. Our finalist lists drop today!
January 20, 2026 at 12:40 PM
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czwrites.bsky.social
Excited to have a little flash piece about demons and queer precarity in this edition of @havenspec.bsky.social!
havenspec.bsky.social Haven Spec Magazine @havenspec.bsky.social · 13d
Our ✨January 2026 issue✨ is ready at last!

Subscribers will get it January 26th, and everyone else can read it February 2nd!

It's taken a long time to get the issue ready, but take a look at that 😍TOC😍! The wait was well worth it!

Subscribe through Patreon:
www.patreon.com/c/HavenSpecM...
Haven Spec Magazine, Issue Twenty-One, January 2026. Cover and table of contents. The issue will be available to subscribers on January 26th, and its contents are as follows: Cover Art by Aimee Cozza. Fiction: Magical Girl: Corporate Failure by Lia Lao. Demon In Repose by J.A.W. McCarthy. A Beginner’s Guide to Summoning Demons by Cynthia Zhang. Bootcut by Allison Pottern. Branches by Matt Tighe. And If You Must Be Wicked, You Must by Elou Carroll. A Tree is not a Home by Diana Dima. Poetry: A Party, A Party! by Faith Allington Queercoded Villanelle by anaum sajanlal last psalm by P. H. Low Rainmaker by Olumide Manuel Nonfiction: Letter from the Editor, Ya Herd? by Leon Perniciaro. Little Fiction Reviews by the Editors of Haven Spec Magazine.
January 19, 2026 at 10:30 PM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
This Page Intentionally Left Blank: @pinebeltblues.bsky.social reviews KJ Cerankowski's NOTHING WANTING (@uminnpress.bsky.social)
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 19, 2026 at 2:45 PM
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megapolisomancy.bsky.social
New entry coming soon(ish), perfect time to read the old ones and see how many times I used the words weird or liminal or unsettling
megapolisomancy.bsky.social Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social · Jun 13
I've been threatening for a while to start a column on collections of weird fiction, and so: Profane Illuminations, a quarterly series where I'll look at a few in tandem and see what threads I can draw out about their stories and the genre at large. Quick intro here, first full entry next week.
Profane Illuminations: An Initiation
Zachary Gillan Everyone knows that the short story is the ideal form for weird fiction. But why? What is it about the form and the genre that makes them so symbiotic? What might we learn by explori…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 18, 2026 at 4:49 PM
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fiyahlitmag.bsky.social
Happy Friday! Let's love on our creators today. Who is a Black SFF author you wish more people were screaming about? Bonus if they have new work coming out this year 🔥🔥🔥
January 16, 2026 at 3:36 PM
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vajra.me
I haven't read any of these yet, though some are already sitting in my TBR. Tragically, some (e.g. WHERE THERE ARE WOLVES AGAIN and A GRANITE SILENCE) don't seem available in the US yet
December 22, 2025 at 2:46 PM
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fabius.bsky.social
since I haven't on bsky that long or that active i feel like i should post some of my stuff every now and then. this one was about the point, and powerlessness, of literary studies

ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2022/03/11/c...
Climate Change Lurking Behind Every Corner: Review of Mark Bould’s The Anthropocene Unconscious
Climate Change Lurking Behind Every Corner: Review of Mark Bould’s The Anthropocene Unconscious Fabius Mayland Under Review:The Anthropocene Unconscious: Climate Catastrophe Culture. Mark Bould. Ve…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 13, 2026 at 6:57 PM
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tacobellquarterly.org
I'm fully confident literary magazines will survive the AI apocalypse. There is no better time to become a creative writer. You already have an inside track because most people have never even heard of these things that can never die. We will be here with the cockroaches and Taco Bell
January 16, 2026 at 5:35 PM
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
The Other Perspective: @mishagw.bsky.social reviews Theodora Goss's collection LETTERS FROM AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY (@tachyonpub.bsky.social)
Exploring Theodora Goss’s Letters from an Imaginary Country
Discover Theodora Goss's _Letters from an Imaginary Country_, a compelling short story collection exploring themes of identity and female empowerment.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 16, 2026 at 3:09 PM
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thetransfemininereview.com
So on @withouthistoryband.bsky.social's recommendation, I tracked down the essay "Necessary Golems" by sci-fi critic John Clute this morning.

And yeah, people need to read this, cause boy does it feel relevant.
Most of us are writers and critics and readers of sf, and as such we inhabit a beehive-dense congregation of affinity groups, by virtue of which it is very difficult for anyone who has been involved in the genre for more than a few years not to have had contact with a significantly high proportion of those who’ve also been active in the field. The benefits of affinity are, in general, obvious enough. But there are reasons to think that this degree of personal contact is not the healthiest thing in the world for sf criticism. The club-like camaraderie of sf unsurprisingly tempts critics and reviewers (in particular) into any number of strategies designed to avoid internal friction: refusing to review books written by friends or acquaintances – which, for anybody who’s been in the field for more than a decade or so, may well mean most of the writers going; muffling negative responses – after one has found oneself forced into a midnight spasm of honesty – in the dawn rewrite; dissimulating archly, in code. The end-result – that the sf beehive buzzes with “friends” who will not review the books of anyone they know, in case they might have to tell the truth – gives sf a sad face. Reviewers who will not tell the truth are like cholesterol. They are lumps of fat. They starve the heart. I have myself certainly clogged a few arteries, have sometimes kept my mouth shut out of this “friendship” which is nothing in the end but self-interest. So perhaps it is time to call a halt. Perhaps we should establish a Protocol of Excessive Candour, a convention within the community that excesses of intramural harshness are less damaging than the hypocrisies of stroke therapy, that telling the truth is a way of expressing love: self-love; love of others; love for the genre, which claims to tell the truth about things that count; love for the inhabitants of the planet; love for the future. Because truth is all we’ve got. And if we don’t talk to ourselves, and if we don’t use every tool at our command in our time on Earth to tell the truth, nobody else will. If that means we sometimes make errors, speak cruelly, carve caricature grimaces onto the raw flesh of books, so be it. Some golems are necessary.
January 15, 2026 at 11:22 PM
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casella.bsky.social
If you're a member of the @horrorwritersassoc.bsky.social, may I suggest you check out @megapolisomancy.bsky.social's "Reading Weird Fiction in an Age of Fascism" for the Short Nonfiction category (and a worth a read either way):
January 15, 2026 at 3:55 PM