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
<i>House of Open Wounds</i>, <i>Days of Shattered Faith</i>, <i>Lives of Bitter Rain</i> by Adrian Tchaikovsky
After I published my effusive review of Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances , I received a comment from Tchaikovsky on twitter notin...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
So, Weapons: this is about school shootings, right?
Specifically, the way that authority figures - parents, teachers, cops - have completely abdicated responsibility for children's safety, leaving the kids to rescue themselves.
Specifically, the way that authority figures - parents, teachers, cops - have completely abdicated responsibility for children's safety, leaving the kids to rescue themselves.
November 17, 2025 at 11:14 PM
So, Weapons: this is about school shootings, right?
Specifically, the way that authority figures - parents, teachers, cops - have completely abdicated responsibility for children's safety, leaving the kids to rescue themselves.
Specifically, the way that authority figures - parents, teachers, cops - have completely abdicated responsibility for children's safety, leaving the kids to rescue themselves.
Hmm, restricting solely to books I have copies of:
Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Transmentation | Transience by Darkly Lem
Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
Letters From An Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss
(cont.)
Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Transmentation | Transience by Darkly Lem
Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
Letters From An Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss
(cont.)
It's the time of year where Tiktok starts on "ten before the end". I don't think lists like that actually do much for making me read things, but I like making lists so here's my attempt at the ten books I'd like to get to before the end of the year.
The metric is "feel v bad I've not read it yet".
The metric is "feel v bad I've not read it yet".
November 17, 2025 at 2:46 PM
Hmm, restricting solely to books I have copies of:
Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Transmentation | Transience by Darkly Lem
Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
Letters From An Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss
(cont.)
Notes From a Regicide by Isaac Fellman
Transmentation | Transience by Darkly Lem
Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski
Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha
Letters From An Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss
(cont.)
Another Pluribus thought: feels like I'm meant to see Carol as quite flawed, and it's true that her baseline is pretty misanthropic. But in three episodes:
1. her wife died
2. the world ended
3. she can't get mad about this or millions will die
So I think in context she's doing pretty well!
1. her wife died
2. the world ended
3. she can't get mad about this or millions will die
So I think in context she's doing pretty well!
November 16, 2025 at 1:31 PM
Another Pluribus thought: feels like I'm meant to see Carol as quite flawed, and it's true that her baseline is pretty misanthropic. But in three episodes:
1. her wife died
2. the world ended
3. she can't get mad about this or millions will die
So I think in context she's doing pretty well!
1. her wife died
2. the world ended
3. she can't get mad about this or millions will die
So I think in context she's doing pretty well!
This is my core problem with Pluribus. It's a show that wants you to think a lot about its premise, to engage deeply with the mystery it's teasing. But at the same time there are vast parts of its worldbuilding where its attitude is clearly "don't think about it too hard or the story won't work".
Ok so re: Pluribus, if I was working in a Biosafety Level 4 or ABSL-4 lab and my colleague got bit by a rat infected with a mysterious alien virus I would simply not immediately drag them out of the containment chamber and into the open air but that’s just me.
Watched the first five minutes of Pluribus and oh hi it’s the Very Large Array! I haven’t seen it show up in media in a while. You may remember it from Contact, which had essentially the same “we found a pattern” plot. It’s 27 dishes (radio antennas) in a Y shape across 22 miles. A very cool place!
November 16, 2025 at 9:49 AM
This is my core problem with Pluribus. It's a show that wants you to think a lot about its premise, to engage deeply with the mystery it's teasing. But at the same time there are vast parts of its worldbuilding where its attitude is clearly "don't think about it too hard or the story won't work".
Feels a bit like the 19th century, when men with middle class jobs had to learn to write like a clerk, while gentlemen were expected to have unreadable handwriting.
Every office has an executive tier whose emails are like:
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
saw on news , , can we replce complianc dept with web 3
and a worker tier whose emails are like:
Dear Jim,
First of all, I *love* this idea! Unfortunately, I spoke with Legal and identified a few issues with this approach. For starters…
Well, it's a little clearer now why billionaires are so invested in technology that produces better written emails.
November 13, 2025 at 9:28 AM
Feels a bit like the 19th century, when men with middle class jobs had to learn to write like a clerk, while gentlemen were expected to have unreadable handwriting.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Why Elon Musk Needs Dungeons and Dragons to Be Racist
The fantastical roots of “scientific racism”
www.theatlantic.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:42 PM
The far right is obsessed with Lord of the Rings and Musk keeps posting about "hobbits" because modern scientific racism owes more to fantasy worlds and gaming systems than genetic science, and they see both as effective mediums for right-wing propaganda www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2025/1...
Spoiler: it’s because he died. The writers of a franchise whose main character has been played by seven actors across sixty years think they have to come up with a plot explanation for the character coming back after dying in the previous movie. radaronline.com/p/james-bond...
EXCLUSIVE: James Bond Writers Reveal Twist That Has Left New Creators With 'Huge Headache' When It Comes to Resurrecting the Super-Spy for Amazon
Bond writers are now racking their brain, trying to move forward with the franchise after the last film's wild twist.
radaronline.com
November 11, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Spoiler: it’s because he died. The writers of a franchise whose main character has been played by seven actors across sixty years think they have to come up with a plot explanation for the character coming back after dying in the previous movie. radaronline.com/p/james-bond...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
Let's make it official:
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
Shelved By Genre
These are books discussed on the podcast Shelved by Genre!
bookshop.org
November 7, 2025 at 8:29 PM
Let's make it official:
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
SHELVED BY GENRE's next unit, spanning ALL of 2026, will be a delve into the depths of modern genre with J.R.R. Tolkien's THE HOBBIT, THE LORD OF THE RINGS, and THE SILMARILLION.
If you don't have those, you can grab them through our Bookshop:
bookshop.org/lists/shelve...
Two episodes in, Pluribus feels like a pretty classic case of "is this actually good, or is it just expensive?"
November 7, 2025 at 10:06 PM
Two episodes in, Pluribus feels like a pretty classic case of "is this actually good, or is it just expensive?"
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
Good morning! Dick Cheney is dead and I have an obituary that I wrote all the way back in 2017 about this monster!
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/cheney
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/cheney
Cheney - Lawyers, Guns & Money
Dick Cheney, one of America’s worst war criminals, is dead. Born in 1941 in Lincoln, Nebraska, which amazingly makes University of Nebraska football only the second most grotesque American cultural ph...
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com
November 4, 2025 at 12:11 PM
Good morning! Dick Cheney is dead and I have an obituary that I wrote all the way back in 2017 about this monster!
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/cheney
www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com/2025/11/cheney
It's not exactly the same thing, but finding out that Jerry Orbach - who I knew as Lenny Briscoe from watching Law & Order with my mom - was also the voice of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast broke my pre-adolescent brain.
I think everybody has a “Wallace Shawn from Young Sheldon” — my first one would probably be “Vincent Price, the guy who did the voice of Ratigan in The Great Mouse Detective”
November 3, 2025 at 6:56 AM
It's not exactly the same thing, but finding out that Jerry Orbach - who I knew as Lenny Briscoe from watching Law & Order with my mom - was also the voice of Lumiere from Beauty and the Beast broke my pre-adolescent brain.
Going by the first two episodes of The Witcher S4, Liam Hemsworth seems to have chosen to play Geralt without what, to me, is his defining trait, a constant state of annoyance.
October 30, 2025 at 9:27 PM
Going by the first two episodes of The Witcher S4, Liam Hemsworth seems to have chosen to play Geralt without what, to me, is his defining trait, a constant state of annoyance.
Look, there's pettiness, and then there's Netflix cutting the "previously on The Witcher" superclip so that it contains zero Geralt dialogue and only shows him from behind.
October 30, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Look, there's pettiness, and then there's Netflix cutting the "previously on The Witcher" superclip so that it contains zero Geralt dialogue and only shows him from behind.
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
<i>House of Open Wounds</i>, <i>Days of Shattered Faith</i>, <i>Lives of Bitter Rain</i> by Adrian Tchaikovsky
After I published my effusive review of Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances , I received a comment from Tchaikovsky on twitter notin...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:23 PM
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
An extremely pleasant review of the Tyrant Philosophers series to date.
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
<i>House of Open Wounds</i>, <i>Days of Shattered Faith</i>, <i>Lives of Bitter Rain</i> by Adrian Tchaikovsky
After I published my effusive review of Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances , I received a comment from Tchaikovsky on twitter notin...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 5:01 PM
An extremely pleasant review of the Tyrant Philosophers series to date.
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
<i>House of Open Wounds</i>, <i>Days of Shattered Faith</i>, <i>Lives of Bitter Rain</i> by Adrian Tchaikovsky
After I published my effusive review of Adrian Tchaikovsky's City of Last Chances , I received a comment from Tchaikovsky on twitter notin...
wrongquestions.blogspot.com
October 29, 2025 at 4:23 PM
New blog post: in which I discuss books 2, 3, and 3.5 in @aptshadow.bsky.social Tyrant Philosophers series, "the richest and most complete exploration of the theme of totalitarianism and its inherent contradictions in all of Tchaikovsky's recent work." wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2025/10/hous...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
Stainless by Todd Grimson is a 1996 vampire novel reprinted by McNally Editions, and more than worthy of rediscovery. A washed up rocker becomes a vampire's familiar in seedy 90s LA. Disturbing, sexy, funny, and sometimes even romantic, this is a great vampire story, but also a great LA story.
Stainless — McNALLY EDITIONS
Todd Grimson A bloody, erotic love story from “the greatest horror writer you’ve never read . . . In Stainless , Todd Grimson set out to write ‘the Ultimate, Final Vampire Novel’—and succeede...
www.mcnallyeditions.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Stainless by Todd Grimson is a 1996 vampire novel reprinted by McNally Editions, and more than worthy of rediscovery. A washed up rocker becomes a vampire's familiar in seedy 90s LA. Disturbing, sexy, funny, and sometimes even romantic, this is a great vampire story, but also a great LA story.
Stainless by Todd Grimson is a 1996 vampire novel reprinted by McNally Editions, and more than worthy of rediscovery. A washed up rocker becomes a vampire's familiar in seedy 90s LA. Disturbing, sexy, funny, and sometimes even romantic, this is a great vampire story, but also a great LA story.
Stainless — McNALLY EDITIONS
Todd Grimson A bloody, erotic love story from “the greatest horror writer you’ve never read . . . In Stainless , Todd Grimson set out to write ‘the Ultimate, Final Vampire Novel’—and succeede...
www.mcnallyeditions.com
October 28, 2025 at 5:20 PM
Stainless by Todd Grimson is a 1996 vampire novel reprinted by McNally Editions, and more than worthy of rediscovery. A washed up rocker becomes a vampire's familiar in seedy 90s LA. Disturbing, sexy, funny, and sometimes even romantic, this is a great vampire story, but also a great LA story.
Now that we know Doctor Who is coming back, can we all just agree to pretend the Billie Piper regeneration didn't happen and Ncuti Gatwa is still the Doctor? I get that he didn't want to be in employment limbo, but two seasons with him was nowhere near enough. www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-wh...
It's Official: Doctor Who Is Returning But Without Disney
As expected, Disney is pulling out of its BBC partnership - freeing up a fresh future for Doctor Who.
www.denofgeek.com
October 28, 2025 at 4:47 PM
Now that we know Doctor Who is coming back, can we all just agree to pretend the Billie Piper regeneration didn't happen and Ncuti Gatwa is still the Doctor? I get that he didn't want to be in employment limbo, but two seasons with him was nowhere near enough. www.denofgeek.com/tv/doctor-wh...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
My review of Lindsay Merbaum's novella Vampires at Sea - AKA "what if Lazslo and Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows had a marital crisis on a cruise ship" - is online today at @locusmag.bsky.social locusmag.com/review/vampi...
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum: Review by Abigail Nussbaum
Vampires at Sea, Lindsay Merbaum (Creature 978-1-951971-22-9, $18.00, 168pp, tp) October 2025. Rebekah and Hugh are a power couple of long standing. She does something undefined but very lucrative …
locusmag.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
My review of Lindsay Merbaum's novella Vampires at Sea - AKA "what if Lazslo and Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows had a marital crisis on a cruise ship" - is online today at @locusmag.bsky.social locusmag.com/review/vampi...
My review of Lindsay Merbaum's novella Vampires at Sea - AKA "what if Lazslo and Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows had a marital crisis on a cruise ship" - is online today at @locusmag.bsky.social locusmag.com/review/vampi...
Vampires at Sea by Lindsay Merbaum: Review by Abigail Nussbaum
Vampires at Sea, Lindsay Merbaum (Creature 978-1-951971-22-9, $18.00, 168pp, tp) October 2025. Rebekah and Hugh are a power couple of long standing. She does something undefined but very lucrative …
locusmag.com
October 27, 2025 at 5:52 PM
My review of Lindsay Merbaum's novella Vampires at Sea - AKA "what if Lazslo and Nadja from What We Do in the Shadows had a marital crisis on a cruise ship" - is online today at @locusmag.bsky.social locusmag.com/review/vampi...
Oy.
For those who are unaware - which apparently includes the writers of this show! - this is a mistake on the level of "Happy Yom Kippur!" Tisha B'Av is a day of deep mourning. Tu B'Shvat is when you eat yummy dried fruit.
For those who are unaware - which apparently includes the writers of this show! - this is a mistake on the level of "Happy Yom Kippur!" Tisha B'Av is a day of deep mourning. Tu B'Shvat is when you eat yummy dried fruit.
Rabbi invites ‘Nobody Wants This’ writers to join ‘Judaism basics course’ after Netflix rom-com mixes up Jewish holidays
Rabbi invites ‘Nobody Wants This’ writers to join ‘Judaism basics course’ after Netflix rom-com mixes up Jewish holidays - The Jewish Chronicle
A scene featuring Jewish actors Adam Brody and Seth Rogen confuses Tu BiShvat with Tisha B’Av
buff.ly
October 27, 2025 at 5:42 PM
Oy.
For those who are unaware - which apparently includes the writers of this show! - this is a mistake on the level of "Happy Yom Kippur!" Tisha B'Av is a day of deep mourning. Tu B'Shvat is when you eat yummy dried fruit.
For those who are unaware - which apparently includes the writers of this show! - this is a mistake on the level of "Happy Yom Kippur!" Tisha B'Av is a day of deep mourning. Tu B'Shvat is when you eat yummy dried fruit.
Guy who can't even keep a cloud computing network up and running without occasionally knocking out the global internet thinks he can go to space.
tech.yahoo.com/science/arti...
tech.yahoo.com/science/arti...
Jeff Bezos Says He Doesn't Understand Why Anybody Alive Now Would Be 'Discouraged'—Because Soon, 'Millions Of People Will Be Living In Space'
Jeff Bezos says the future is so bright, he "doesn't see how anybody can be discouraged who is alive right now." Speaking at Italian Tech Week 2025 earlier this month with Ferrari and Stellantis chair...
tech.yahoo.com
October 25, 2025 at 1:01 PM
Guy who can't even keep a cloud computing network up and running without occasionally knocking out the global internet thinks he can go to space.
tech.yahoo.com/science/arti...
tech.yahoo.com/science/arti...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
I'm very happy to announce that my next novel TRAITORS' NEST will be published in July 2026 by Macmillan's imprint First Ink!
www.thebookseller.com/rights/first...
www.thebookseller.com/rights/first...
First Ink unveils award-winning Frances Hardinge’s YA historical fantasy
First Ink has acquired Traitors’ Nest, a historical YA fantasy novel by Frances Hardinge, the award-winning author of the Costa Book of the Year 2015, The Lie Tree.
www.thebookseller.com
October 23, 2025 at 9:40 AM
I'm very happy to announce that my next novel TRAITORS' NEST will be published in July 2026 by Macmillan's imprint First Ink!
www.thebookseller.com/rights/first...
www.thebookseller.com/rights/first...
Reposted by Abigail Nussbaum
Congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me), recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for Rakesfall!
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
October 21, 2025 at 4:18 PM
Congratulations to Vajra Chandrasekera (@vajra.me), recipient of the 2025 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize for Fiction for Rakesfall!
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
Chandrasekera's book was chosen by authors Matt Bell, Indra Das, Kelly Link, Sequoia Nagamatsu, and Rebecca Roanhorse.