Henry Neilsen
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henryneilsen.bsky.social
Henry Neilsen
@henryneilsen.bsky.social
Sci-fi and Speculative author and writer of essays about extremely nerdy stuff. Anti genAI, pro humanity. Lefty. Environmental designer by day.
Pinned
My new book and companion anthology is NOW LIVE on Kickstarter. It's a cyberpunk horror novel and collection that imagines what a late-stage cyberpunk world would look like, and what happens to the people who aren't the benefactors of the system. ⤵️🔗
An excerpt from Mise En Abime, by @lauren.taylor.bak for THE DISCONNECTED. Kickstarter link in bio.

Lauren's story left me shocked with its raw depiction of sex work in an eternally connected world. This story is incredibly powerful in its depiction of the edge of exploitation and consent.
November 12, 2025 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
One of my authors, @henryneilsen.bsky.social, has posted a reel showing the process of creating the cover for his upcoming dystopian cyberpunk novel, The Savage Aether.

Check it out (and back the Kickstarter!) 👇

www.instagram.com/reel/DQ3wuEv...
November 10, 2025 at 2:01 PM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
I am slowly building up the gallery of character art on my Ko-fi site. It's there if you want to see the kind of work I do, all in one place.

You can order your character art commissions from my Ko-fi page, too.

ko-fi.com/bookcoversby...
Buy Jon Stubbington a Coffee
Become a supporter of Jon Stubbington today!
ko-fi.com
November 6, 2025 at 2:06 PM
Super excited to wake up to my Kickstarter being funded today!

If you're interested in backing a Cyberpunk horror novel and it's in-universe anthology, check out the link below!
November 3, 2025 at 3:04 AM
I'll have more to say about this tomorrow because it's late here, but the feeling that a bunch of people believe in my work enough to put cash on the line to help me bring it to life will always and forever be amazing. Thank you.
November 2, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
Cyberpunk, a genre with enormous gravity, one that all but subsumed the high-minded optimism of the sci-fi that preceded it.

This week we have an extra essay from guest writer @henryneilsen.bsky.social

Don't miss it: liviajelliot.substack.com/p/slow-down-...
October 31, 2025 at 11:02 AM
My new book and companion anthology is NOW LIVE on Kickstarter. It's a cyberpunk horror novel and collection that imagines what a late-stage cyberpunk world would look like, and what happens to the people who aren't the benefactors of the system. ⤵️🔗
October 29, 2025 at 9:55 PM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
Super excited to be part of this technodystopic horror anthology with @henryneilsen.bsky.social! Save the pre-launch for updates about the upcoming Kickstarter.
Welcome to THE SAVAGE AETHER

LINK TO PRE-LAUNCH: www.kickstarter.com/projects/hen...

Thrilled to announce that my new novel THE SAVAGE AETHER is about to launch its campaign. You can follow the link above to sign up for the pre-launch so you’ll be notified as soon as it’s ready.
Coming soon: The Savage Aether / The Disconnected
Henry Neilsen's new Cyberpunk horror novel and its companion anthology, featuring a range of exciting voices of near-future horror.
www.kickstarter.com
October 14, 2025 at 9:25 AM
Welcome to THE SAVAGE AETHER

LINK TO PRE-LAUNCH: www.kickstarter.com/projects/hen...

Thrilled to announce that my new novel THE SAVAGE AETHER is about to launch its campaign. You can follow the link above to sign up for the pre-launch so you’ll be notified as soon as it’s ready.
Coming soon: The Savage Aether / The Disconnected
Henry Neilsen's new Cyberpunk horror novel and its companion anthology, featuring a range of exciting voices of near-future horror.
www.kickstarter.com
October 14, 2025 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
Artwork from the special edition of Sunward Sky by @henryneilsen.bsky.social that came out last year.

Henry has a new novel on the way and the Kickstarter for it will be launching soon. I'm excited for everyone to see the artwork for the new book and to discover the new story.

ArtByJon
October 12, 2025 at 8:59 PM
Submissions closed today for THE DISCONNECTED, the anthology I'm preparing alongside my next novel. I've started skimming all 27 submissions I received and I'm blown away by some of the ideas that people have brought to the table. It's going to be very hard to pick only a few of them.
August 17, 2025 at 11:43 AM
I think the whole "vote with your wallet" thing doesn't work - but you can at least make decisions for yourself about predatory software. A bit of a diatribe and some alternative suggestions for software packages, if you're sick of Microsoft being garbage.

henryneilsen.substack.com/p/vote-with-...
Vote with your Wallet
Doesn't work, but here's some alternatives to annoying programs!
henryneilsen.substack.com
August 15, 2025 at 4:11 AM
Seriously, the power of abstract metaphor can't be overestimated. Stuff being about more than one thing when you're only showing people one thing is one of the really fun parts about art.
So every so often, someone will run across the art installation of the robot cleaning up its own hydraulic fluid and start arguing. It’s a metaphor for burnout. No, chronic illness. The artist intended it to be about creating under censorship.

The very neat thing about art is it’s all correct.
August 7, 2025 at 4:28 AM
Constantly fascinated by the way AI and it's proponents consistently get things wrong, but still claim their ignorance is better than other's expertise because they used AI to get there. A write-up about a weird paper I found about carbon use by AI models.

open.substack.com/pub/henrynei...
Does AI really use less carbon than a human?
First of all, what a stupid question.
open.substack.com
August 4, 2025 at 11:11 AM
I have a call for submissions up for my cyberpunk horror anthology! It's a shared universe with my next novel, but I'm keen to see what other people think a cyberpunk world in collapse would look like!

If you're interested, click the link below!

thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Market?id=19...
The Disconnected - The Submission Grinder
thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com
July 15, 2025 at 10:28 PM
For some reason known only to the prime movers of the universe I decided to read the EULA for Balder's Gate 3 and I'm glad I did if only for the unhinged bit about eldritch beings.

Also, apparently you should send them fan art to get perks?
June 29, 2025 at 8:28 AM
Some things that are really cool: my books are now available in my local library! I gave a talk about my experience starting a story as a podcast. Very exciting to get my first talk as an author under my belt, and I'm very keen to do more in the future.
June 26, 2025 at 5:01 AM
I'm reading American Prometheus, the biography of Oppenheimer.

First of all, it's one of the best biographies ever. The authors put in WORK.

Secondly, the timeline following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki is one of the most tragic things I've read.
April 27, 2025 at 12:13 AM
Brb updating all of my bios to read AUREALIS AWARD FINALIST.

Cannot believe my story LIFE IN THE DIRT has made the shortlist for this year's Aurealis awards, along with a bunch of other talented writers!

aurealisawards.org/2025/04/15/2...
April 15, 2025 at 12:44 AM
I really enjoyed Adolescence, but I think it risks flattening discussions of misogyny to only discussing online radicalisation, and I think we ignore the broader context to our detriment. This article discusses the things that provide fuel for extreme ideologies to take root.
Adolescence and the fuel of online radicalisation
Jamie is a normal kid who goes to school, hangs with friends, does all the normal early teenager stuff, but after Jamie murders his classmate Katie it’s revealed that he’s got a deep dark secret: Jami...
open.substack.com
April 14, 2025 at 4:53 AM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
My art for the cover of the sci fi novel Sunward Sky, which launched a few weeks ago. Please give author @henryneilsen.bsky.social a follow for all the news on this book and his future novels.

We also made a special edition version for Kickstarter backers, with exclusive cover art.

BookCoversByJon
March 6, 2025 at 6:50 PM
Today my novel, SUNWARD SKY, is released to the world! Grab a copy at the links below.

books2read.com/u/bWxz2M

www.booktopia.com.au/sunward-sky-...

I’ve written about its creation, but I want to take a moment to talk about of the books, movies, art, politics and science that influenced it. 🧵
Available now at your favorite digital store!
Sunward Sky by Henry Neilsen
books2read.com
February 15, 2025 at 1:22 AM
The Rando awards return in 2025 with a bunch of randoms shouting about their favourite books! (And giving trophies to the winners!)
Friends, it's time.

Our panel of nine passionate Randos spent all of 2024 reading the very best books they could get their grubby hands on. Now comes the challenging part: winnowing down our shortlists, and then picking our deserving winners.

But first: the categories!
(cont)
February 7, 2025 at 3:25 AM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
Henry Neilsen ( @henryneilsen.bsky.social ) is an Australian SF author with a new novel, Sunward Sky, out imminently.
January 25, 2025 at 10:48 AM
Reposted by Henry Neilsen
Very well written, realistic and insightful recap about an authors experience on Kickstarter after a successful campaign. I recommend a look if you're considering it
#author | #writingcommunity
If anyone is interested in running their own Kickstarter to publish their book, I've compiled a heap of notes about my experience in the hope that I can help others who want to take the leap!

open.substack.com/pub/henrynei...
So How'd the Kickstarter Go?
Experiences and notes from a successful first crowdfunding campaign
open.substack.com
January 12, 2025 at 11:09 AM