Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
"I strongly feel that this is an insult to life itself."
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Wandering. Wondering. Freelancing. Often acquiring and editing SFFH for Angry Robot Books. Live in Edinburgh. Views my own and independent of my employers. Photos my own unless otherwise etc.
Pinned
Simon Spanton
@simonguy.bsky.social
· Nov 26
"Out on the pale criss-crossed sand, high-stepping, fringed, gauntleted, stalked some fantastic leviathan..."
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
To The Lighthouse, Virginia Woolf
"The day broke wild and shaggy. What light there was seeped into the glass buildings as though ashamed. All but a fraction of the guests who had attended the Cusp-Canines' party lay like fossils in their separate beds, or, for various sunken causes, tossed and turned in seas of dreams."
January 7, 2026 at 9:19 AM
"The day broke wild and shaggy. What light there was seeped into the glass buildings as though ashamed. All but a fraction of the guests who had attended the Cusp-Canines' party lay like fossils in their separate beds, or, for various sunken causes, tossed and turned in seas of dreams."
"I knew that she would come, like bitter winter, like the storm clouds rolling to us dark across the fields."
@ellenkushner.bsky.social
@ellenkushner.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 4:07 PM
"I knew that she would come, like bitter winter, like the storm clouds rolling to us dark across the fields."
@ellenkushner.bsky.social
@ellenkushner.bsky.social
The Trouble with Cacti.
—
Cactus, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lone Pine, California
—
Cactus, Sierra Nevada Mountains, Lone Pine, California
—
January 6, 2026 at 2:28 PM
The Trouble with Cacti.
Whatever issues I may or may not have with the TV Amadeus it did at least mean that I watched the 1984 film again (Abraham's old Salieri surely an inspiration for Oldman's old Dracula?). It also prompted me to get this, which I'd not heard before and is incredibly lovely.
So two times a win.
So two times a win.
January 6, 2026 at 11:37 AM
Whatever issues I may or may not have with the TV Amadeus it did at least mean that I watched the 1984 film again (Abraham's old Salieri surely an inspiration for Oldman's old Dracula?). It also prompted me to get this, which I'd not heard before and is incredibly lovely.
So two times a win.
So two times a win.
"Empty, silent, forbidding as a lunar landscape, and as uncharted, a tract of Gormenghast lay all about him.
There was no sound, no call of a bird or screech of an insect to break the silence of the stone. No rivulet slid lisping across the flagstones of Great Halls.
He was quite lost."
There was no sound, no call of a bird or screech of an insect to break the silence of the stone. No rivulet slid lisping across the flagstones of Great Halls.
He was quite lost."
January 6, 2026 at 10:25 AM
"Empty, silent, forbidding as a lunar landscape, and as uncharted, a tract of Gormenghast lay all about him.
There was no sound, no call of a bird or screech of an insect to break the silence of the stone. No rivulet slid lisping across the flagstones of Great Halls.
He was quite lost."
There was no sound, no call of a bird or screech of an insect to break the silence of the stone. No rivulet slid lisping across the flagstones of Great Halls.
He was quite lost."
Yes this one. But also the utter joy and purity of My Neighbour Totoro.
Never watched a Ghibli film before my forties so the childlike wonder of the films was all the more powerful.
Never watched a Ghibli film before my forties so the childlike wonder of the films was all the more powerful.
Laputa / Castle in the Sky for sure. The robots! The pirates! The score! (And the silence!) The tree! I first saw it when I was 7 or 8 maybe, and it sank right into my marrow.
January 5, 2026 at 5:56 PM
Yes this one. But also the utter joy and purity of My Neighbour Totoro.
Never watched a Ghibli film before my forties so the childlike wonder of the films was all the more powerful.
Never watched a Ghibli film before my forties so the childlike wonder of the films was all the more powerful.
Cooking tea music.
All This is Chance by Lisa O'Neill.
And never did a singer look more like she sounds.
All This is Chance by Lisa O'Neill.
And never did a singer look more like she sounds.
January 5, 2026 at 5:30 PM
Cooking tea music.
All This is Chance by Lisa O'Neill.
And never did a singer look more like she sounds.
All This is Chance by Lisa O'Neill.
And never did a singer look more like she sounds.
If you have read more than half a dozen SF or Fantasy books the chances are very high that Patrick will have had something to do with at least one of them or, at the very least, the author of that book will have been influenced or inspired by a book he was involved with.
News of me: I’m retiring. I’m 67 years old and I’ve worked full-time at Tor Books for 37 of those years. Today, January 5, is my official last day. This has been in train for several months, and while it hasn’t been a secret for some time, I haven’t mentioned it on social media until now. (1/3)
January 5, 2026 at 2:51 PM
If you have read more than half a dozen SF or Fantasy books the chances are very high that Patrick will have had something to do with at least one of them or, at the very least, the author of that book will have been influenced or inspired by a book he was involved with.
"She was reading aloud in a deep voice that rose above the steady drone of a hundred cats. They filled the room. Whiter than the tallow that hung from the candelabra or lay broken on the table of birdseed. Whiter than the pillows on the bed. They sat everywhere. The counterpane was hidden with them"
January 5, 2026 at 2:35 PM
"She was reading aloud in a deep voice that rose above the steady drone of a hundred cats. They filled the room. Whiter than the tallow that hung from the candelabra or lay broken on the table of birdseed. Whiter than the pillows on the bed. They sat everywhere. The counterpane was hidden with them"
Oh for goodness' sake...
January 5, 2026 at 2:21 PM
Oh for goodness' sake...
"I experienced tremendous happiness as I was making this film."
Happy birthday Hayao Miyazaki.
Happy birthday Hayao Miyazaki.
January 5, 2026 at 10:17 AM
"I experienced tremendous happiness as I was making this film."
Happy birthday Hayao Miyazaki.
Happy birthday Hayao Miyazaki.
"Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons - he had lost his reputation."
There and back again after a six hour drive through snow, behind snowplows and gritters.
There and back again after a six hour drive through snow, behind snowplows and gritters.
January 4, 2026 at 6:40 PM
"Indeed Bilbo found he had lost more than spoons - he had lost his reputation."
There and back again after a six hour drive through snow, behind snowplows and gritters.
There and back again after a six hour drive through snow, behind snowplows and gritters.
Film:
Spirited Away
Books:
Gogmagog and Ludluda by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg.
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Spirited Away
Books:
Gogmagog and Ludluda by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg.
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Are there some more fantasy movies and books in the realm of NeverEnding Story, Phantom Tollbooth, or Labyrinth that I'm unaware of?
Fantasy stories that aren't about elves and dragons and other Tolkien-esque things?
Where all of the creatures and concepts and races are new and made up and weird?
Fantasy stories that aren't about elves and dragons and other Tolkien-esque things?
Where all of the creatures and concepts and races are new and made up and weird?
January 4, 2026 at 7:51 AM
Film:
Spirited Away
Books:
Gogmagog and Ludluda by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg.
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Spirited Away
Books:
Gogmagog and Ludluda by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
Ombria in Shadow by Patricia McKillip
Lord Valentine's Castle by Robert Silverberg.
Rats and Gargoyles by Mary Gentle
Geometric portalage.
Oh @simonguy.bsky.social ...
Which door to the best #newyear ? ...Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, Bloomington, Indiana, USA
#photography #bloomington #blueskyartshow
#photography #bloomington #blueskyartshow
January 3, 2026 at 8:24 PM
Geometric portalage.
Alison's photo of the hill above the village and the snow that fell on it.
January 3, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Alison's photo of the hill above the village and the snow that fell on it.
Please enjoy Alison's video (and voiceover) of the dog in the snow.
January 3, 2026 at 12:38 PM
Please enjoy Alison's video (and voiceover) of the dog in the snow.
I think we will need the help of Scotland's gritting lorries (Gritty Gritty Bang Bang and Gritallica amongst them) to get us home tomorrow.
January 3, 2026 at 12:25 PM
I think we will need the help of Scotland's gritting lorries (Gritty Gritty Bang Bang and Gritallica amongst them) to get us home tomorrow.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
i was lucky enough to get a digital proof of this before christmas and it snuck in at the end of the year as one of my favourites of 2025! you should all be watching out for it this year 👀
ARCs of Jeff Noon's new novel, Moon Over Brendle, are in production.
A fantastical memoir? A ghost story? High-concept SF? Existential fantasy? A celebration of storytelling?
All of the above? Probably. Wholly Jeff Noon yet quite unlike anything else he's written? Pretty much. Amazing? Definitely
A fantastical memoir? A ghost story? High-concept SF? Existential fantasy? A celebration of storytelling?
All of the above? Probably. Wholly Jeff Noon yet quite unlike anything else he's written? Pretty much. Amazing? Definitely
January 3, 2026 at 11:03 AM
i was lucky enough to get a digital proof of this before christmas and it snuck in at the end of the year as one of my favourites of 2025! you should all be watching out for it this year 👀
Reposted by Simon Spanton
Highly recommend this on Cochrane, whose naval exploits of Napoleonic Wars were the inspiration for the Patrick O’Brian Master & Commander / Aubrey novels. Reality often more remarkable than fiction, especially in Cochrane’s political radicalism that earned him establishment enemies & persecution
January 3, 2026 at 8:23 AM
Highly recommend this on Cochrane, whose naval exploits of Napoleonic Wars were the inspiration for the Patrick O’Brian Master & Commander / Aubrey novels. Reality often more remarkable than fiction, especially in Cochrane’s political radicalism that earned him establishment enemies & persecution
Snow and full moon.
January 2, 2026 at 4:44 PM
Snow and full moon.
I am quite obsessed by this tiny anchorage.
January 2, 2026 at 3:29 PM
I am quite obsessed by this tiny anchorage.
"I didn't understand anything, but on the other hand Iremembered a section from The Land of Laughs where the Queen of Oil says to one of her children:
The questions are the danger.
Leave them alone and they sleep.
Ask them, awake them, and more than you know will begin to rise."
The questions are the danger.
Leave them alone and they sleep.
Ask them, awake them, and more than you know will begin to rise."
January 2, 2026 at 11:30 AM
"I didn't understand anything, but on the other hand Iremembered a section from The Land of Laughs where the Queen of Oil says to one of her children:
The questions are the danger.
Leave them alone and they sleep.
Ask them, awake them, and more than you know will begin to rise."
The questions are the danger.
Leave them alone and they sleep.
Ask them, awake them, and more than you know will begin to rise."
Introduce yourself as what almost killed you:
Hello! I am Buachaille Etive Mòr.
Hello! I am Buachaille Etive Mòr.
Introduce yourself as what almost killed you:
Hi, I'm the fireball from the kitchen oven
Hi, I'm the fireball from the kitchen oven
You might be the bread and the knife, but I will always be the apple, rotten on the orchard floor.
January 2, 2026 at 11:08 AM
Introduce yourself as what almost killed you:
Hello! I am Buachaille Etive Mòr.
Hello! I am Buachaille Etive Mòr.
Reposted by Simon Spanton
Why is it always ‘Who’s the best frontman of all-time’ when no vocalist has ever - nor ever shall - elevate a band as much as Sandy Denny did Fairport and Fotheringay?
January 2, 2026 at 10:33 AM
Why is it always ‘Who’s the best frontman of all-time’ when no vocalist has ever - nor ever shall - elevate a band as much as Sandy Denny did Fairport and Fotheringay?