Dan Hartland
@danhartland.bsky.social
Writes, variously. Reviews Editor, Strange Horizons. Columns at Ancillary Review. Songs over at Bandcamp. Also see @savinglives.bsky.social.
Pinned
Dan Hartland
@danhartland.bsky.social
· Aug 10
☎️ SH CRITICISM HOTLINE NOW OPEN
In mid-August, thoughts naturally turn to the end of next January: the @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special.
What spec fic essays, roundtables, interviews, song-and-dance routines have you got for us? Go broad!
⚾️ Pitch us: danwhartland at gmail dot com
In mid-August, thoughts naturally turn to the end of next January: the @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special.
What spec fic essays, roundtables, interviews, song-and-dance routines have you got for us? Go broad!
⚾️ Pitch us: danwhartland at gmail dot com
At @savinglives.bsky.social, we've spent months planning World AIDS Day in Birmingham, UK. Tomorrow, @ftcbirmingham.bsky.social meets to plan the five years until the UN's 2030 goal of eliminating new infections.
Community awareness and policy success are linked. Abandoning WAD has material impact.
Community awareness and policy success are linked. Abandoning WAD has material impact.
1/ ⚠️ Breaking: At CDC, we've been told the US Government will not officially commemorate World AIDS Day this year. No explanation given.
November 25, 2025 at 11:16 PM
At @savinglives.bsky.social, we've spent months planning World AIDS Day in Birmingham, UK. Tomorrow, @ftcbirmingham.bsky.social meets to plan the five years until the UN's 2030 goal of eliminating new infections.
Community awareness and policy success are linked. Abandoning WAD has material impact.
Community awareness and policy success are linked. Abandoning WAD has material impact.
Good news: First review of the week!
Even better news: It’s @thehubble101.bsky.social on Alix E. Harrow!
“The dismissal of fantasy is compounded by the strategy of rhetorical containment in which novels in the genre by women are singled out.”
Even better news: It’s @thehubble101.bsky.social on Alix E. Harrow!
“The dismissal of fantasy is compounded by the strategy of rhetorical containment in which novels in the genre by women are singled out.”
The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow
A critical discomfort with fantasy still remains a feature of public life.
strangehorizons.com
November 25, 2025 at 12:52 PM
Good news: First review of the week!
Even better news: It’s @thehubble101.bsky.social on Alix E. Harrow!
“The dismissal of fantasy is compounded by the strategy of rhetorical containment in which novels in the genre by women are singled out.”
Even better news: It’s @thehubble101.bsky.social on Alix E. Harrow!
“The dismissal of fantasy is compounded by the strategy of rhetorical containment in which novels in the genre by women are singled out.”
The last review of the SH week is from @ianjsimpson.bsky.social, and focuses on Jacy Morris's We Like It Cherry (@tenebrouspress.bsky.social). "Morris is writing about tradition and belief and survival; about the Other both within and outside of our immediate experiences."
Spoilers, obvs:
Spoilers, obvs:
We Like It Cherry by Jacy Morris
Morris is writing about cultural destruction due to climate change—and how the “west” cares little for any other people or their traditions
strangehorizons.com
November 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM
The last review of the SH week is from @ianjsimpson.bsky.social, and focuses on Jacy Morris's We Like It Cherry (@tenebrouspress.bsky.social). "Morris is writing about tradition and belief and survival; about the Other both within and outside of our immediate experiences."
Spoilers, obvs:
Spoilers, obvs:
Reposted by Dan Hartland
Just (belatedly) listened to this and having read it twice now and discussed it at my book group, want to say that When There Are Wolves Again is not so central liberalist as portrayed. The central political action is a protest camp and the dominant values are countercultural rather than liberal 1/2
Paul March-Russell on When There Are Wolves Again, in the latest episode of Critical Friends: “From a kind of Marxist revolutionary position, this book will really annoy you. But actually it is reaffirming a faith in legal, constitutional, democratic institutions.”
Radical reformism? Discuss.
Radical reformism? Discuss.
Critical Friends Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully
Dan Hartland is joined by Paul March-Russell and Jacqueline Nyathi to discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism. Where has it gone? How do writers express it? And what are its pit…
www.strangehorizons.com
November 20, 2025 at 11:42 AM
Just (belatedly) listened to this and having read it twice now and discussed it at my book group, want to say that When There Are Wolves Again is not so central liberalist as portrayed. The central political action is a protest camp and the dominant values are countercultural rather than liberal 1/2
Wednesday's review is of the latest collections in the long-standing manga series by Shintaro Kago, Dementia. Shannon Fay finds "an absurdist comedy ... that uses a blend of SF and horror to get its point across."
On ageing, care, and shortsightedness:
On ageing, care, and shortsightedness:
Dementia 21 volumes 1 and 2 by Shintaro Kago
Dementia 21 tackles the question of elder care in the form of an absurdist comedy manga that uses a blend of SF and horror to get its point across.
strangehorizons.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:54 PM
Wednesday's review is of the latest collections in the long-standing manga series by Shintaro Kago, Dementia. Shannon Fay finds "an absurdist comedy ... that uses a blend of SF and horror to get its point across."
On ageing, care, and shortsightedness:
On ageing, care, and shortsightedness:
Reposted by Dan Hartland
No donations for 2 days. Please help Archita reach her goal and get some semblance of security in this terrible time for her and her mother.
Fellow Calcuttan writer/editor Archita Mittra is in desperate need of financial help. She recently lost her father, her home was damaged in the recent rains, & her mother's in hospital. They don't have insurance, & she's a freelancer. I can vouch for her. Please share widely & donate:
Donate to Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives, organized by tehseen baweja
Hey Everyone! My name is Tehseen and I publish an online magazine called T… tehseen baweja needs your support for Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives
www.gofundme.com
November 15, 2025 at 11:34 AM
No donations for 2 days. Please help Archita reach her goal and get some semblance of security in this terrible time for her and her mother.
Wait, it’s Monday again?!
Here’s the excellent Roy Salzman-Cohen on Maggie Nye’s The Curators (@nupress.bsky.social).
A historical fantasy that defies forced unities, Roy inds that “The Curators refuses to answer many of its own questions” - but maintains a productive tension.
Here’s the excellent Roy Salzman-Cohen on Maggie Nye’s The Curators (@nupress.bsky.social).
A historical fantasy that defies forced unities, Roy inds that “The Curators refuses to answer many of its own questions” - but maintains a productive tension.
The Curators by Maggie Nye
The Curators is fascinating, perplexing, and difficult.
www.strangehorizons.com
November 17, 2025 at 11:55 PM
Wait, it’s Monday again?!
Here’s the excellent Roy Salzman-Cohen on Maggie Nye’s The Curators (@nupress.bsky.social).
A historical fantasy that defies forced unities, Roy inds that “The Curators refuses to answer many of its own questions” - but maintains a productive tension.
Here’s the excellent Roy Salzman-Cohen on Maggie Nye’s The Curators (@nupress.bsky.social).
A historical fantasy that defies forced unities, Roy inds that “The Curators refuses to answer many of its own questions” - but maintains a productive tension.
Friday’s review at @strangehorizons.bsky.social is from @erichendel.bsky.social, on Adam Oyebanji’s Esperance (@dawbooks.bsky.social in the US, @hachetteuk.bsky.social in the UK).
It’s a novel, Eric finds, in which “alternate interpretations of the story emerge constantly.”
It’s a novel, Eric finds, in which “alternate interpretations of the story emerge constantly.”
Esperance by Adam Oyebanji
Alternate interpretations of this story emerge constantly.
strangehorizons.com
November 14, 2025 at 9:37 PM
Friday’s review at @strangehorizons.bsky.social is from @erichendel.bsky.social, on Adam Oyebanji’s Esperance (@dawbooks.bsky.social in the US, @hachetteuk.bsky.social in the UK).
It’s a novel, Eric finds, in which “alternate interpretations of the story emerge constantly.”
It’s a novel, Eric finds, in which “alternate interpretations of the story emerge constantly.”
Archita is now so close to her fundraising target - and reaching it will help her rebuild her and her family’s life. Please help her get there if you can!
I’m selfish: I want to see more of her writing. This campaign will help her in time to get back to what she loves - and is good at - doing.
I’m selfish: I want to see more of her writing. This campaign will help her in time to get back to what she loves - and is good at - doing.
Donate to Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives, organized by tehseen baweja
Hey Everyone! My name is Tehseen and I publish an online magazine called T… tehseen baweja needs your support for Help Archita and Her Mom Rebuild Their Lives
www.gofundme.com
November 14, 2025 at 5:11 PM
Archita is now so close to her fundraising target - and reaching it will help her rebuild her and her family’s life. Please help her get there if you can!
I’m selfish: I want to see more of her writing. This campaign will help her in time to get back to what she loves - and is good at - doing.
I’m selfish: I want to see more of her writing. This campaign will help her in time to get back to what she loves - and is good at - doing.
Reposted by Dan Hartland
Caught up with this while running errands this evening. Great episode that complicates but doesn’t dismiss the idea of hope in speculative fiction.
And it was quite the surprise to hear my suggestion that SF&F publishing re-embrace the short novel mentioned at the very end.
And it was quite the surprise to hear my suggestion that SF&F publishing re-embrace the short novel mentioned at the very end.
NEW PODCAST ALERT!
The latest Critical Friends episode it out now!
In Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully, Dan Hartland, Paul March-Russell, and Jacqueline Nyathi discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism.
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
The latest Critical Friends episode it out now!
In Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully, Dan Hartland, Paul March-Russell, and Jacqueline Nyathi discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism.
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/po...
Critical Friends Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully
Dan Hartland is joined by Paul March-Russell and Jacqueline Nyathi to discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism. Where has it gone? How do writers express it? And what are its pit…
strangehorizons.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:54 AM
Caught up with this while running errands this evening. Great episode that complicates but doesn’t dismiss the idea of hope in speculative fiction.
And it was quite the surprise to hear my suggestion that SF&F publishing re-embrace the short novel mentioned at the very end.
And it was quite the surprise to hear my suggestion that SF&F publishing re-embrace the short novel mentioned at the very end.
Mine should be neither the first nor last response to this book! Maybe read the column; do read Dispelling Fantasies.
“We now owe Joy Sanchez-Taylor something of a debt, because in her new Dispelling Fantasies she has laid a foundation stone which can help us move forwards rather than look back … “
“We now owe Joy Sanchez-Taylor something of a debt, because in her new Dispelling Fantasies she has laid a foundation stone which can help us move forwards rather than look back … “
OMG! My first review for Dispelling Fantasies! Huge thank you to @danhartland.bsky.social for bringing my thoughts about genre into such a brilliant, nuanced conversation ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/2025/11/12/s...
Snap! Criticism: Sanchez-Taylor and Onyebuchi
Dan Hartland What should you read if you want to understand what you’re reading? Gang, this column would of course advise that you read criticism. But there are other, and less eccentric, answers. …
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 13, 2025 at 5:52 PM
Mine should be neither the first nor last response to this book! Maybe read the column; do read Dispelling Fantasies.
“We now owe Joy Sanchez-Taylor something of a debt, because in her new Dispelling Fantasies she has laid a foundation stone which can help us move forwards rather than look back … “
“We now owe Joy Sanchez-Taylor something of a debt, because in her new Dispelling Fantasies she has laid a foundation stone which can help us move forwards rather than look back … “
Reposted by Dan Hartland
Snap! Criticism time: @danhartland.bsky.social is back, this time reading Tochi Onyebuchi's HARMATTAN SEASON (@torbooks.bsky.social) with Joy Sanchez-Taylor's DISPELLING FANTASIES (@ohiostatepress.bsky.social)
Snap! Criticism: Sanchez-Taylor and Onyebuchi
Dan Hartland What should you read if you want to understand what you’re reading? Gang, this column would of course advise that you read criticism. But there are other, and less eccentric, answers. …
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 12, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Snap! Criticism time: @danhartland.bsky.social is back, this time reading Tochi Onyebuchi's HARMATTAN SEASON (@torbooks.bsky.social) with Joy Sanchez-Taylor's DISPELLING FANTASIES (@ohiostatepress.bsky.social)
🫰SNAP!🫰
My latest column for the excellent @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org, on Tochy Onyebuchi, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, and what to read to understand what you’re reading.
How might we fill the “imagination gap” in our fictions?
My latest column for the excellent @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org, on Tochy Onyebuchi, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, and what to read to understand what you’re reading.
How might we fill the “imagination gap” in our fictions?
Snap! Criticism: Sanchez-Taylor and Onyebuchi
Dan Hartland What should you read if you want to understand what you’re reading? Gang, this column would of course advise that you read criticism. But there are other, and less eccentric, answers. …
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
November 12, 2025 at 7:02 PM
🫰SNAP!🫰
My latest column for the excellent @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org, on Tochy Onyebuchi, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, and what to read to understand what you’re reading.
How might we fill the “imagination gap” in our fictions?
My latest column for the excellent @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org, on Tochy Onyebuchi, Joy Sanchez-Taylor, and what to read to understand what you’re reading.
How might we fill the “imagination gap” in our fictions?
Here’s Wednesday’s review, from Cameron Miguel on KJ Parker’s Making History: “This tale returns to the question of truth […] and […] the narrator challenge[s] the foundations of historical narrative.”
A review by a reviewer for whom the book “was engineered in a lab”:
A review by a reviewer for whom the book “was engineered in a lab”:
Making History by K. J. Parker
Making History is a meta-narrative revolving around the story of history itself, and how historians shape the boundaries of discourses on the past.
www.strangehorizons.com
November 12, 2025 at 3:23 PM
Here’s Wednesday’s review, from Cameron Miguel on KJ Parker’s Making History: “This tale returns to the question of truth […] and […] the narrator challenge[s] the foundations of historical narrative.”
A review by a reviewer for whom the book “was engineered in a lab”:
A review by a reviewer for whom the book “was engineered in a lab”:
Reposted by Dan Hartland
The website of Alter Magazine - a space for “new literary writing on science, technology, and progress from South Asia,” has just gone live: www.altermag.com
The first long-form piece - my essay on the secret history of Indian science fiction - will be published on 22 Nov.
Watch this space!
The first long-form piece - my essay on the secret history of Indian science fiction - will be published on 22 Nov.
Watch this space!
New Literary Writing on Science, Technology & Progress
Alter Magazine is a monthly journal of ideas documenting the dreams & dilemmas shaping the Subcontinent's aspirations for collective human progress.
www.altermag.com
November 12, 2025 at 10:09 AM
The website of Alter Magazine - a space for “new literary writing on science, technology, and progress from South Asia,” has just gone live: www.altermag.com
The first long-form piece - my essay on the secret history of Indian science fiction - will be published on 22 Nov.
Watch this space!
The first long-form piece - my essay on the secret history of Indian science fiction - will be published on 22 Nov.
Watch this space!
So it’s the Szalay. It may be the most consistently realised of the books, but how good a thing that is will be down to your taste. The judges clearly liked this depiction of “[a] self [who] remains a mystery to us, because it is a mystery to him.”
I read the Booker Prize shortlist (again). Rum do, this year - but not uninterestingly.
On the bourgeois novel:
On the bourgeois novel:
The Booker Prize 2025
Many awards shortlists make a statement. Whether by accident or design, the clutch of books from which a given work is granted a particular gong are to one extent clear about – or at least re…
thestoryandthetruth.wordpress.com
November 10, 2025 at 10:17 PM
So it’s the Szalay. It may be the most consistently realised of the books, but how good a thing that is will be down to your taste. The judges clearly liked this depiction of “[a] self [who] remains a mystery to us, because it is a mystery to him.”
New week at SH, and in Reviews we open with a doozy: @shinjinidey.bsky.social on Paul Kincaid's Colourfields (@briardenebooks.bsky.social). Who doesn't love reading a critic on a critic?
So much to pick out in this really productive dialogue. But key: "Kincaid is attempting to apprehend a public."
So much to pick out in this really productive dialogue. But key: "Kincaid is attempting to apprehend a public."
Colourfields by Paul Kincaid
Colourfields is constituted by tensions inherent to the genre.
strangehorizons.com
November 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM
New week at SH, and in Reviews we open with a doozy: @shinjinidey.bsky.social on Paul Kincaid's Colourfields (@briardenebooks.bsky.social). Who doesn't love reading a critic on a critic?
So much to pick out in this really productive dialogue. But key: "Kincaid is attempting to apprehend a public."
So much to pick out in this really productive dialogue. But key: "Kincaid is attempting to apprehend a public."
Reposted by Dan Hartland
I read the Booker Prize shortlist (again). Rum do, this year - but not uninterestingly.
On the bourgeois novel:
On the bourgeois novel:
The Booker Prize 2025
Many awards shortlists make a statement. Whether by accident or design, the clutch of books from which a given work is granted a particular gong are to one extent clear about – or at least re…
thestoryandthetruth.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I read the Booker Prize shortlist (again). Rum do, this year - but not uninterestingly.
On the bourgeois novel:
On the bourgeois novel:
I read the Booker Prize shortlist (again). Rum do, this year - but not uninterestingly.
On the bourgeois novel:
On the bourgeois novel:
The Booker Prize 2025
Many awards shortlists make a statement. Whether by accident or design, the clutch of books from which a given work is granted a particular gong are to one extent clear about – or at least re…
thestoryandthetruth.wordpress.com
November 8, 2025 at 1:31 PM
I read the Booker Prize shortlist (again). Rum do, this year - but not uninterestingly.
On the bourgeois novel:
On the bourgeois novel:
Paul March-Russell on When There Are Wolves Again, in the latest episode of Critical Friends: “From a kind of Marxist revolutionary position, this book will really annoy you. But actually it is reaffirming a faith in legal, constitutional, democratic institutions.”
Radical reformism? Discuss.
Radical reformism? Discuss.
Critical Friends Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully
Dan Hartland is joined by Paul March-Russell and Jacqueline Nyathi to discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism. Where has it gone? How do writers express it? And what are its pit…
www.strangehorizons.com
November 7, 2025 at 8:21 PM
Paul March-Russell on When There Are Wolves Again, in the latest episode of Critical Friends: “From a kind of Marxist revolutionary position, this book will really annoy you. But actually it is reaffirming a faith in legal, constitutional, democratic institutions.”
Radical reformism? Discuss.
Radical reformism? Discuss.
The week’s horror theme at SH ends with a review of a novel that seriously commits to the bit, paying homage to slasher classics in a way that Racheal Chie finds generative.
Field Of Frights by Christina Hagmann
Field of Frights pays mindful homage to movies like Nightmare on Elm Street, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Friday the 13th, and Halloween.
strangehorizons.com
November 7, 2025 at 4:17 PM
The week’s horror theme at SH ends with a review of a novel that seriously commits to the bit, paying homage to slasher classics in a way that Racheal Chie finds generative.
I very much approved of how this discussion centred the weirdness of Big Bird, since that is I think a big part of what gives it a sense of scale and even - albeit in the context of decline - *wonder*.
Elsewhere, it also speaks to Jacqui’s thoughts on redemption (or lack thereof) in fiction here:
Elsewhere, it also speaks to Jacqui’s thoughts on redemption (or lack thereof) in fiction here:
November 6, 2025 at 3:08 PM
I very much approved of how this discussion centred the weirdness of Big Bird, since that is I think a big part of what gives it a sense of scale and even - albeit in the context of decline - *wonder*.
Elsewhere, it also speaks to Jacqui’s thoughts on redemption (or lack thereof) in fiction here:
Elsewhere, it also speaks to Jacqui’s thoughts on redemption (or lack thereof) in fiction here:
Wednesday’s review over at SH continues the monstrous theme of the week, with @subham6.bsky.social on Victory Witherkeigh’s The Demon: “The novel’s soul lies in its interrogation of identity.”
The Demon by Victory Witherkeigh
The integration of Filipino mythology is this novel’s beating heart.
strangehorizons.com
November 5, 2025 at 8:44 PM
Wednesday’s review over at SH continues the monstrous theme of the week, with @subham6.bsky.social on Victory Witherkeigh’s The Demon: “The novel’s soul lies in its interrogation of identity.”
Reposted by Dan Hartland
Good podcast ep on my favourite part of speculative fiction: near future sf and also hopeful stories. Something we are sorely lacking in these days.
🎧New Critical Friends! It was a real pleasure to convene this talk with Paul March-Russell of @sffoundation.bsky.social and Jacqueline Nyathi of @hararereview.bsky.social.
On the hopeful imagination: “We should have a much bigger perspective when we’re thinking about how to get to the future.” (JN)
On the hopeful imagination: “We should have a much bigger perspective when we’re thinking about how to get to the future.” (JN)
Critical Friends Episode 17: On Imagining Hopefully
Dan Hartland is joined by Paul March-Russell and Jacqueline Nyathi to discuss speculative fiction’s approach to hope and optimism. Where has it gone? How do writers express it? And what are its pit…
strangehorizons.com
November 5, 2025 at 6:01 PM
Good podcast ep on my favourite part of speculative fiction: near future sf and also hopeful stories. Something we are sorely lacking in these days.
More novella s̶h̶e̶n̶a̶n̶i̶g̶a̶n̶s̶ discourse.
For Day 4 of #NovellaNovember, let's talk about Randy Duncan's
"Kade & Karger: Big Trouble for Lil' Easy." Word count wise, this is probably closer to novelette than novella, but I'm not being super strict about the line between the two (or between novella and short novel).
"Kade & Karger: Big Trouble for Lil' Easy." Word count wise, this is probably closer to novelette than novella, but I'm not being super strict about the line between the two (or between novella and short novel).
November 5, 2025 at 2:16 AM
More novella s̶h̶e̶n̶a̶n̶i̶g̶a̶n̶s̶ discourse.