sean guynes
@guynes.bsky.social
critic and cultural historian of genre fantasies
senior acquiring editor (@leverpress.bsky.social) and associate editor of sf (@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social)
read more: seanguynes.com
senior acquiring editor (@leverpress.bsky.social) and associate editor of sf (@lareviewofbooks.bsky.social)
read more: seanguynes.com
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Genre Fantasies: 2025 in Review
A brief recap of 2025 on the Genre Fantasies blog.
seanguynes.com
I generally don't think of myself and my work as something I'm "proud" of, but I sure did do a lot this year and 2025 felt like a sea change for me.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Reposted by sean guynes
Me, pantsless, to the employees of the Home Depot paint department
January 3, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Me, pantsless, to the employees of the Home Depot paint department
Reposted by sean guynes
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
Reading “Will-O-the-Wisp” by Thomas Burnett Swann
Thomas Burnett Swann’s Will-O-the-Wisp (1976) is the author’s tenth novel and is set in seventeenth-century Devon. It is a critique of Puritan moralizing against love, sexuality, and the body…
seanguynes.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:56 AM
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
Reposted by sean guynes
No single piece of art can carry the weight of all our hopes and dreams. No single piece of art can heal all hurts. Art does not have an obligation to do that. Art does not have an obligation.
But some works give so much, and we can love them for it with a passion of people in need of salvation.
But some works give so much, and we can love them for it with a passion of people in need of salvation.
January 2, 2026 at 9:08 PM
No single piece of art can carry the weight of all our hopes and dreams. No single piece of art can heal all hurts. Art does not have an obligation to do that. Art does not have an obligation.
But some works give so much, and we can love them for it with a passion of people in need of salvation.
But some works give so much, and we can love them for it with a passion of people in need of salvation.
Reposted by sean guynes
Worth a read (and great cover art)
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
Reading “Will-O-the-Wisp” by Thomas Burnett Swann
Thomas Burnett Swann’s Will-O-the-Wisp (1976) is the author’s tenth novel and is set in seventeenth-century Devon. It is a critique of Puritan moralizing against love, sexuality, and the body…
seanguynes.com
January 2, 2026 at 8:15 PM
Worth a read (and great cover art)
Reposted by sean guynes
Interesting continuation of this ongoing look at the novels of Thomas Burnett Swann.
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
Reading “Will-O-the-Wisp” by Thomas Burnett Swann
Thomas Burnett Swann’s Will-O-the-Wisp (1976) is the author’s tenth novel and is set in seventeenth-century Devon. It is a critique of Puritan moralizing against love, sexuality, and the body…
seanguynes.com
January 2, 2026 at 9:14 AM
Interesting continuation of this ongoing look at the novels of Thomas Burnett Swann.
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
Reading “Will-O-the-Wisp” by Thomas Burnett Swann
Thomas Burnett Swann’s Will-O-the-Wisp (1976) is the author’s tenth novel and is set in seventeenth-century Devon. It is a critique of Puritan moralizing against love, sexuality, and the body…
seanguynes.com
January 2, 2026 at 6:56 AM
My first essay of 2026 continues my read through of Thomas Burnett Swann's 16 historical fantasy novels.
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
WILL-O-THE-WISP (1976) was only published in the UK, the cover has absolutely nothing to do with the novel (I explain what happened), and it's about Puritans. It's surprisingly awesome!
I'm damn tired of this Big Weird Fiction hegemony
For 2026 let’s remind ourselves what really matters: weird fiction
January 2, 2026 at 4:02 AM
I'm damn tired of this Big Weird Fiction hegemony
Linda Hamilton was wasted on the nothingburger final season of Stranger Things, a show that should have had its one excellent first season and nothing more.
The only standouts of the final season were the introduction of Holly as co-lead and the last ~15 minutes of the finale.
The only standouts of the final season were the introduction of Holly as co-lead and the last ~15 minutes of the finale.
January 1, 2026 at 8:44 PM
Linda Hamilton was wasted on the nothingburger final season of Stranger Things, a show that should have had its one excellent first season and nothing more.
The only standouts of the final season were the introduction of Holly as co-lead and the last ~15 minutes of the finale.
The only standouts of the final season were the introduction of Holly as co-lead and the last ~15 minutes of the finale.
Great thread of everything @mealofthorns.bsky.social -- A HUGO-NOMINATED PODCAST -- did this year.
Big thanks to everyone who joined me this year on A Meal of Thorns, and to everyone who listened along and supported us! Feeling like a thread as we leave 2025 behind us: a chance to boost these again. Great guests & great books—take a look, and take a listen wherever you find your podcasts!
January 1, 2026 at 8:34 PM
Great thread of everything @mealofthorns.bsky.social -- A HUGO-NOMINATED PODCAST -- did this year.
One of my favorite things I did this past year:
720 pages, for my sins: @guynes.bsky.social talked me through Elizabeth Kostova's "vampires, I guess" novel THE HISTORIAN, with many asides on publishing-industry phenomena and how easy it is to replicate gnarly patterns if you're not being conscious of them:
A Meal of Thorns 37 – THE HISTORIAN with Sean Guynes
Vampire scholar, science fiction studies editor, and ARB co-founder Sean Guynes joins to discuss Kostova’s 2005 historical vampire thriller. We both have fairly negative opinions of the book, but i…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 1, 2026 at 8:33 PM
One of my favorite things I did this past year:
Reposted by sean guynes
I generally don't think of myself and my work as something I'm "proud" of, but I sure did do a lot this year and 2025 felt like a sea change for me.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Genre Fantasies: 2025 in Review
A brief recap of 2025 on the Genre Fantasies blog.
seanguynes.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I generally don't think of myself and my work as something I'm "proud" of, but I sure did do a lot this year and 2025 felt like a sea change for me.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Reposted by sean guynes
Zohran is mayor, we've achieved full communism
January 1, 2026 at 5:16 AM
Zohran is mayor, we've achieved full communism
Reposted by sean guynes
Thanks for doing the work, showing us all that it’s possible to do well and with joy!
Scholarship while academia is dying is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and you’ve helped me think through it as much as anyone. sml47.blogspot.com/2020/09/abol...
Scholarship while academia is dying is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and you’ve helped me think through it as much as anyone. sml47.blogspot.com/2020/09/abol...
Abolition and Scholarship
This week, the new project “ Study & Struggle ” kicked off reading groups across the country as a part of a months long project of abolition...
sml47.blogspot.com
December 31, 2025 at 8:01 PM
Thanks for doing the work, showing us all that it’s possible to do well and with joy!
Scholarship while academia is dying is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and you’ve helped me think through it as much as anyone. sml47.blogspot.com/2020/09/abol...
Scholarship while academia is dying is something I’ve been thinking about for a long time, and you’ve helped me think through it as much as anyone. sml47.blogspot.com/2020/09/abol...
That is incredibly kind! And, yes, scholarship, study, and knowledge-production can continue outside of academia!
This is an empowering read - encouraging without being condescending or flip about difficulty - for someone like me, in that do-or-die stage of dissertation writing.
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
“I agonized over just what I was doing. Whether it was building to something, whether I would eventually complete one of the dozens of projects I’ve outlined in my “Pandora’s Box” document, whether I could someday leave a mark on the field.“
December 31, 2025 at 7:57 PM
That is incredibly kind! And, yes, scholarship, study, and knowledge-production can continue outside of academia!
Reposted by sean guynes
This is an empowering read - encouraging without being condescending or flip about difficulty - for someone like me, in that do-or-die stage of dissertation writing.
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
“I agonized over just what I was doing. Whether it was building to something, whether I would eventually complete one of the dozens of projects I’ve outlined in my “Pandora’s Box” document, whether I could someday leave a mark on the field.“
December 31, 2025 at 7:48 PM
This is an empowering read - encouraging without being condescending or flip about difficulty - for someone like me, in that do-or-die stage of dissertation writing.
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
Academia is dying, but scholarship and the joys of study, knowledge, and critical discursive communities are vigorous and rich
Reposted by sean guynes
“I agonized over just what I was doing. Whether it was building to something, whether I would eventually complete one of the dozens of projects I’ve outlined in my “Pandora’s Box” document, whether I could someday leave a mark on the field.“
December 31, 2025 at 7:22 PM
“I agonized over just what I was doing. Whether it was building to something, whether I would eventually complete one of the dozens of projects I’ve outlined in my “Pandora’s Box” document, whether I could someday leave a mark on the field.“
Reposted by sean guynes
Thomas Chatterton? Ann Radcliffe's Gothic romances? Critiques of capitalist, colonialist modernity? Celtic gods and Satanic witches in the forests of 18th-century Bristol?!
My newest essay looks at Thomas Burnett Swann's ninth novel, THE NOT-WORLD (1975), a slight novel with great ambitions.
My newest essay looks at Thomas Burnett Swann's ninth novel, THE NOT-WORLD (1975), a slight novel with great ambitions.
Reading “The Not-World” by Thomas Burnett Swann
Thomas Burnett Swann’s The Not-World (1975) is the author’s ninth novel and is set in eighteenth-century Bristol. It’s not very good but articulates Swann’s typical themes nicely …
seanguynes.com
December 29, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Thomas Chatterton? Ann Radcliffe's Gothic romances? Critiques of capitalist, colonialist modernity? Celtic gods and Satanic witches in the forests of 18th-century Bristol?!
My newest essay looks at Thomas Burnett Swann's ninth novel, THE NOT-WORLD (1975), a slight novel with great ambitions.
My newest essay looks at Thomas Burnett Swann's ninth novel, THE NOT-WORLD (1975), a slight novel with great ambitions.
I generally don't think of myself and my work as something I'm "proud" of, but I sure did do a lot this year and 2025 felt like a sea change for me.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Genre Fantasies: 2025 in Review
A brief recap of 2025 on the Genre Fantasies blog.
seanguynes.com
December 31, 2025 at 7:03 PM
I generally don't think of myself and my work as something I'm "proud" of, but I sure did do a lot this year and 2025 felt like a sea change for me.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Here's a bit about why and what I wrote (200k words across 30 essays!) this year.
Great thread on book readership data for 2025. Also depressing.
2/ Overall, 40% of Americans say they didn't read any books in 2025. Most of the rest read just a handful. Then there's a small minority of really heavy readers (more on them shortly!):
December 31, 2025 at 4:19 PM
Great thread on book readership data for 2025. Also depressing.
Reposted by sean guynes
Round-up post on my 2025. The year in which I left paid academic employment, but still produced quite a lot of academic work. I also wrote some other good stuff. On balance, I think I have survived the transition and plan to build on many fronts next year (more news on which in January) #AcademicSky
My 2025
Once more I find myself limping over the line at the end of the year, sniffling with a minor virus. I’ve been limping metaphorically since November, when I ran out of spoons at PictCon – which was …
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
December 31, 2025 at 3:53 PM
Round-up post on my 2025. The year in which I left paid academic employment, but still produced quite a lot of academic work. I also wrote some other good stuff. On balance, I think I have survived the transition and plan to build on many fronts next year (more news on which in January) #AcademicSky
Reposted by sean guynes
Daycare centers were also the primary target of the Satanic panic, because fundamentally American religious conservatism is opposed to women having jobs outside the home.
Trump guys are about to Comet Pizza every third daycare center because they think they are all fronts for Somali money laundering. They're only doing this near cities with progressive mayors. This is straight up Government by LibsOfTikTok.
December 30, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Daycare centers were also the primary target of the Satanic panic, because fundamentally American religious conservatism is opposed to women having jobs outside the home.
Proust here 🥱
Kant there 😴
I'll be starting the Valdemar and Witch World series.
Kant there 😴
I'll be starting the Valdemar and Witch World series.
December 31, 2025 at 12:12 AM
Proust here 🥱
Kant there 😴
I'll be starting the Valdemar and Witch World series.
Kant there 😴
I'll be starting the Valdemar and Witch World series.
Reposted by sean guynes
Nice of this guy to let the entire scientific community know they have no reason to ever read any of his papers
Generative AI can be a valuable aid in writing, editing and peer review – if you use it responsibly, says Dritjon Gruda
go.nature.com/4ahSVpq
go.nature.com/4ahSVpq
Three ways ChatGPT helps me in my academic writing
Generative AI can be a valuable aid in writing, editing and peer review – if you use it responsibly, says Dritjon Gruda.
go.nature.com
December 30, 2025 at 10:31 PM
Nice of this guy to let the entire scientific community know they have no reason to ever read any of his papers
If you need AI as an assistant in your job, in order to do what you are paid to do as a supposed expert, then you are very clearly not qualified for your job.
Or you work for a business school.
Or you work for a business school.
Generative AI can be a valuable aid in writing, editing and peer review – if you use it responsibly, says Dritjon Gruda
go.nature.com/4ahSVpq
go.nature.com/4ahSVpq
Three ways ChatGPT helps me in my academic writing
Generative AI can be a valuable aid in writing, editing and peer review – if you use it responsibly, says Dritjon Gruda.
go.nature.com
December 30, 2025 at 11:46 PM
If you need AI as an assistant in your job, in order to do what you are paid to do as a supposed expert, then you are very clearly not qualified for your job.
Or you work for a business school.
Or you work for a business school.
This! Pay attention to how organizations you belong to or work for use surveys, how they phrase questions, and how they report results in order to get what the already wanted re: AI.
In the world of politics, such surveys, unscientific and with randos inserting themselves, are a way to deflect taking responsibility for an issue, or to use said survey to support whatever those in control wanted to do in the first place, before it became controversial. 4/?
December 30, 2025 at 11:35 PM
This! Pay attention to how organizations you belong to or work for use surveys, how they phrase questions, and how they report results in order to get what the already wanted re: AI.