Oliver Arditi
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paracyclops.bsky.social
Oliver Arditi
@paracyclops.bsky.social
250 followers 380 following 59 posts
Writer, librarian, worldbuilder, conlanger, lapsed musician. I like fantasy, science-fiction and horror, books, records, comics, games, cats, food, and holding inexplicable opinions.
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Reposted by Oliver Arditi
worldfantasy2025.bsky.social
And it's time for the #WorldFantasyAwards2025 presented by Ellen Datlow. Ellen is thanking the jurors. This year’s judges are James Brogden, Jessica Day George, Lee Murray, Jonathan Oliver, and Molly Tanzer. For more information, see the WFC website.
November 2, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
lauraehall.bsky.social
A Calvin and Hobbes strip where Calvin’s dad is going to read him a bedtime story. First panel: Calvin’s dad, scanning a bookshelf: “What story would you like tonight? We can read anything except—“ Calvin, from bed, excited: “The Voynich Manuscript!” Second panel: Calvin’s dad, deeply exasperated: “NO! No Voynich Manuscript tonight! We’ve tried to decipher that book a million times!” Calvin, yelling: “I want the Voynich Manuscript!” Third panel: Calvin’s dad, trying to reason with him: “Look, you *know* how the story goes! You’ve memorized the whole thing! It’s completely unreadable!” Calvin: “I want mysterious glyphs and sigils!” Fourth panel: Calvin, in bed and staring wide-eyed into the dark: “Wow, the story was different *that* time!” Hobbes, also in bed and staring: (a long string of incomprehensible characters).
October 23, 2025 at 9:07 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I loved @emilymandel.bsky.social 's 'Sea of Tranquility' so much I'll just sound gushy if I try to say why. Hard recommend.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/03e8...

#sf #scifi #sciencefiction #seaoftranquility
A white male hand holding a copy of Emily St. John Mandel's 'Sea of Tranquility' in front of a dirty cottage window and some flowers.
October 20, 2025 at 11:37 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Le Guin's 'The Eye of the Heron' is a beautiful fable, that uses SF mechanics to explore some political ideas, through her usual beautiful prose and heartrending character portraits.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ed71...

#sf #sciencefiction @ursulakleguin.com #theeyeoftheheron #books #booksky
A copy of Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Eye of the Heron' held by a white male hand in front of a bookcase bearing some other Le Guin books.
October 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
'The City We Became' is a contemporary urban fantasy which concludes @nkjemisin.bsky.social 's duology mapping good vs. evil onto tolerance vs. the alt right. It's a lot of fun!

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/422a...

#fantasy #urbanfantasy #theworldwemake #books #booksky @nkjemisin.bsky.social
A copy of 'The World We Make' by N.K. Jemisin, on a table, partially shadowed.
October 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
makkon.bsky.social
a flow-chart with 2 islands. "Do I need AI?" that flows into a final island saying "No"
October 2, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
joannechocolat.bsky.social
Unsolicited writing advice, no. 235:
Stop equating wealth and fame with your value as a writer. Some of the writers we now admire were unknown in their lifetimes; just as many once-bestselling writers are now forgotten and unread. Making good art is not the same as making good money.
October 5, 2025 at 11:25 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I absolutely loved 'Under The Moon', a short, beautifully written SFFH story collection by E.M. Faulds. Small in size, enormous (sublunary) in scope, and frequently moving.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/71eb...

#fantasy #sf #horror #sffh #UnderTheMoonEMF #books @bethkesh.bsky.social
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Under The Moon' by E.M. Faulds in front of some stringed instruments.
October 5, 2025 at 11:59 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
'The City We Became' is a wonderfully written contemporary urban fantasy that redraws the map of good vs. evil to reflect the state of early 21st century politics.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/623b...

#fantasy #urbanfantasy #nkjemisin #thecitywebecame #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'The City We Became' by N.K. Jemisin
September 27, 2025 at 1:57 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Around 2011 @jamesbeaudreau.bsky.social sent me three CDs. Beautiful artefacts from which came lasting friendship. He recently released a solo guitar record, & it's a thing of strange, true beauty.

Old reviews: olidabass.blogspot.com/2011/03/albu...

jamesbeaudreau.bandcamp.com/album/workbe...
Workbench Recordings Vol. 1, by James Beaudreau
7 track album
jamesbeaudreau.bandcamp.com
September 19, 2025 at 12:00 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I enjoyed @annaleen.bsky.social ’s latest column in @newscientist.com It reminded me how weird it was to go out into the real world in the 1990s, after my upbringing in a feminist bubble, to discover that the battle for gender equality wasn’t completely done and dusted!

#wheresmyjetpack #feminism
September 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I was underwhelmed by 'Earthsong', final book in Suzette Haden Elgin's 'Native Tongue' 3logy. No sign of the first book's radicalism. I enjoyed it, but I doubt I'll remember it.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8a33...

#sf #sciencefiction #suzettehadenelgin #earthsong #nativetongue #books #booksky
A white male hand holding an iPad displaying the cover of the ebook of 'Earthsong' by Suzette Haden Elgin.
September 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I was knocked-out by Marlon James's 'Moon Witch Spider King'—a stonking follow-up to the first book in the series. Dense, intricate language, wonderful worldbuilding, and no holds barred.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4a40...

#fantasy #marlonjames #darkstar #moonwitchspiderking #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Moon Witch Spider King' by Marlon James in front of a messy sitting room.
September 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
clhellisen.bsky.social
I'm trying to get The Shape of Monsters tagged with the LGBTQ+ lable as I think it's struggling to find its queer readers.

Hopefully that tag will also help avoid the "1 star woke bs" reviews

Listen to The Shape of Monsters by C L Hellisen on Audible. www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0FGDJ5X1...
Audible
Try Audible free for 30 days! Start listening to best-selling audiobooks, exclusive Originals, and free podcasts with the Audible app.
www.audible.co.uk
August 28, 2025 at 11:41 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Just finished Michael Moorcock's 1993 'Stormbringer' omnibus. Much fun, occasionally profound—best story was the 1991 'Revenge of the Rose'.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a883...

#michaelmoorcock #elric #eternalchampion #chaos #stormbringer #fantasy #swordandsorcery #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Michael Moorcock's 1993 omnibus 'Stormbringer' in front of a shelf bearing other titles from the 1990s 'Tale of the Eternal Champion' omnibus series.
September 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
wiswell.bsky.social
Publishing hot take: traditional publishing is really hard, and self-publishing is really hard, and everyone deserves a sandwich and a nap.
July 31, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Reposted by Oliver Arditi
prismagic.bsky.social
Bluesky doesn't penalize you for using links, tags, using key words like Patreon or commissions, and doesn't have a central algorithm on your following feed, which means all the power rests on you to help your favourite creators be seen!
Utopia meme with text saying "Bluesky is people used the repost button more frequently."
July 30, 2025 at 6:05 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I've got a new favourite book! 'Black Leopard Red Wolf' by Marlon James is one of the best novels I've read, and the most accomplished contemporary fantasy book I've encountered.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1af4...

#fantasy #marlonjames #blackleopardredwolf #books #booksky
A copy of ‘Black Leopard Red Wolf’ by Marlon James resting on a black cat in a cardboard box
July 30, 2025 at 7:26 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
This is today’s office.
July 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
A v. interesting article on Marvel's foundational era, which seems to confirm Alan Moore's hilariously vitriolic take on the US comics industry (c.f. 'What We Can Know About Thunderman' in 'Illuminations').

flaminghydra.com/a-swingin-su...

#marvelcomics #stanlee #ronwhyte @flaminghydra.com
A Swingin’ Surprise or Two
The best-kept secret in the history of Marvel Comics was in high dudgeon by the time he sat down at his typewriter. It was a July afternoon in 1971, and Ron Whyte, a playwright and activist, was about...
flaminghydra.com
July 30, 2025 at 11:08 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I found 'The Kingdom of Gods' by N.K. Jemisin a beautifully crafted, thematically complex work of grown-up fantasy fiction.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b401...

#fantasy #fantasyfiction #books #nkjemisin #theinheritancetrilogy #thekingdomofgods
A copy of N.K. Jemisin's 'The Kingdom of Gods' lying on a fireplace.
July 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I loved this sumptuous English language re-launch of Metal Hurlant, jam-packed with a mix of classics and new stories. Favourites were Moebius's 'Is Man Good?', James Stokoe's 'Red Planet Tomatoes', and Yuri Campos's 'Lacuna'.

#comics #metalhurlant #bandedessinée #humanoids #moebius #comicsky
A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Metal Hurlant: Old Dreams, Young Visions' in front of some wet foliage.
July 2, 2025 at 12:05 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
If the bill being voted on by the UK parliament today gets through, it will become a potentially imprisonable offence for you to say you support Palestine Action, or even to praise any of its actions, or say you think it has a point. What's the name for this kind of government again? Democratic?
July 2, 2025 at 11:40 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I'm making my way through Tad Williams's 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn'. 'To Green Angel Tower: Siege' contains some good writing, and was really enjoyable to read, but for me it's a LOT longer than it needs to be.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e433...

#fantasy #epicfantasy #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'To Green Angel Tower: Siege' by Tad Williams, by a widow with foliage visible through it.
June 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Wishing everyone a joyous Midsummer Day ❤️
June 21, 2025 at 5:29 AM