Jeremy Szal
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jeremyszal.bsky.social
Jeremy Szal
@jeremyszal.bsky.social
Space opera/fantasy author. Aliens, monsters, asteroid cities, half-human warriors.
Books: STORMBLOOD, BLINDSPACE, WOLFSKIN, BROKEN STARS, etc.
Published by Gollancz. 🇦🇺. Trilingual (🇬🇧 🇩🇪 🇯🇵)
Newsletter: http://eepurl.com/gy9K4r
I've just had some Very Good News drop in my inbox, which rarely ever happens. I may have to break out the good gin tonight.

Watch this space!
November 24, 2025 at 11:16 PM
Want to read my books for free? Easy.

Get them from a library. I get paid, you're supporting the ecosystem, and you get to read them in print. Everyone wins.

Instead, my work has been stolen over 50,000 times (!) on pirate sites.
I posted a buy link here to "A Magical Inheritance" a few days ago, and 24 of you immediately went to Anna's Archives and fucking stole it from me.

Yes, stole it.

I do not get paid for your download there because YOU ARE STEALING FROM ME.

🖕
November 24, 2025 at 8:27 AM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
Realised that it’s 10 years to the day since my first book was published - a strange old tale set in the 147th century, featuring a giant (but very awkward) hominid protagonist. There’s a lot I’d do differently if I were writing it now, but I had such a great time coming up with so much weird stuff.
November 19, 2025 at 10:11 AM
Nice bunch of stolen product you have there.

Would be a shame if something happened to it.
AI advocates have warned that if every author in the class action filed a claim, it would "financially ruin" the entire industry.
Authors celebrate “historic” settlement coming soon in Anthropic class action
Advocates fear such settlements will “financially ruin” the AI industry.
arstechnica.com
November 19, 2025 at 5:43 AM
Page 322, line 12, replace 'corpse' with 'carcass'

Page 58, line 29, replace 'mauled' with 'mangled'.

Final proofs are always entertaining.
November 17, 2025 at 4:48 AM
Pluribus has to be one of the best pilot episodes I've ever seen. Given who the creator is, that's no surprise, but still.

It's not discussed enough, in my opinion, how utterly horrifying and anxiety-inducing it is. Feels like a horror show at times.

Can't wait to see where it goes.
November 15, 2025 at 5:41 AM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
@adrianmgibson.bsky.social is a great guy, @sffaddictspod.bsky.social is a great podcast and there are plenty of great authors like @frasierarmitage.bsky.social who feature in this anthology.

I know how much work and care has gone into so please consider backing this amazing anthology!

📚 🍄 👇
🍄 THE BOOK OF SPORES anthology is officially LIVE ON KICKSTARTER 🍄
From stem to cap, we’ve put so much love (and spores) into this project, so we hope you’ll back it. There are a variety of awesome reward tiers available too.

Now, go back The Book of Spores: www.kickstarter.com/projects/fan...
November 13, 2025 at 10:57 PM
I'm doing something a little different with my newsletters: writing about experiences, opinions, bizarre discoveries I've made during travel, etc. Weekly, maybe fortnightly.

This one is online for all: that time I signed a woman's arm in a Star Wars bar in Japan.

open.substack.com/pub/jeremysz...
That Time I signed Human Flesh in Japan
Yeah, you read that right.
open.substack.com
November 12, 2025 at 1:08 PM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
Really? A book I translated, that I have dreamed of translating for some 15 years, was released today by a good publisher, an imprint of Hachette, and no one on BlueSky cares at all? Not even a little bit?

#booksky #wheresthelove
At last! My translation of Michio Hoshino's The Traveling Tree is out today in the UK! I’ve been dying to translate this beautiful book for more than 15 years.

Read my thoughts on translating it:
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Or purchase a copy:
www.amazon.co.uk/Travelling-T...

#japaneseliterature
November 7, 2025 at 11:44 AM
I have voted in the Goodreads choice awards.

And that is all I will say about the Goodreads choice awards. :)
November 11, 2025 at 11:15 PM
I think a lot of people, myself included, hate the pressure and expectation and struggle that comes from writing, internal or external (from publishing etc).

Writing should be enjoyable and rewarding, but sometimes it can be a massive pain, or fiendishly difficult. They aren't mutually exclusive.
Sometimes I wonder if our many years of jokes about writers hating writing and doing anything but writing, etc, have convinced people that the writing part is the hurdle and the goal is just to have a thing in hand. But I am here to tell you: the writing is the best part. The act is the thing.
November 11, 2025 at 3:58 AM
The Long Walk is an excellent film.

And dare I say... it also has excellent pacing.
November 9, 2025 at 10:14 AM
I really enjoyed this one. Gets a recommendation from me, too.
Today's review:

A sharp, magic-tinged fantasy with a strong opening, a welcome lack of romance, and a prickly protagonist you can’t help but root for.

fantasy-faction.com/2025/anji-ki...

💙📚🪐 #FantasyFaction #SFFbookRecommenfation
November 7, 2025 at 11:09 PM
What's this? An exclusive excerpt of Wolfskin's prologue, you say? 👀

(Be warned, major spoilers lie ahead.)
The conclusion to Jeremy Szal’s space opera The Common has a release date, and after the un-put-downable Stormblood and the expansive Blindspace it’s time to wrap up this story with Wolfskin. Head to the blog to check out an exclusive excerpt.
EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT: from Wolfskin by Jeremy Szal
Read our exclusive excerpt of Jeremy Szal's upcoming novel Wolfskin, the final part of his The Common series.
www.grimdarkmagazine.com
November 5, 2025 at 12:04 PM
Well, Adrian is saying it, so it must be true. 👀
Jeremy's work is always a lot of fun.
From @jeremyszal.bsky.social ...do preorder this outstanding SF novel, which completes his remarkable debut serues!
November 4, 2025 at 11:20 AM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
Jeremy's work is always a lot of fun.
From @jeremyszal.bsky.social ...do preorder this outstanding SF novel, which completes his remarkable debut serues!
I can't believe I finally get to announce this:

Wolfskin, Book 3 in the Common Saga, will be coming out in March 2026. It is, I think, the best thing I've ever written.

I've been out of the public and literary consciousness for a while, so any support is appreciated.

(pre-order links below)
November 3, 2025 at 11:00 PM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
From @jeremyszal.bsky.social ...do preorder this outstanding SF novel, which completes his remarkable debut serues!
I can't believe I finally get to announce this:

Wolfskin, Book 3 in the Common Saga, will be coming out in March 2026. It is, I think, the best thing I've ever written.

I've been out of the public and literary consciousness for a while, so any support is appreciated.

(pre-order links below)
November 3, 2025 at 11:40 AM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
First two books in the series were some of my favourites of the last few years. Book 3 is an automatic pre order!
I can't believe I finally get to announce this:

Wolfskin, Book 3 in the Common Saga, will be coming out in March 2026. It is, I think, the best thing I've ever written.

I've been out of the public and literary consciousness for a while, so any support is appreciated.

(pre-order links below)
November 3, 2025 at 11:36 AM
I can't believe I finally get to announce this:

Wolfskin, Book 3 in the Common Saga, will be coming out in March 2026. It is, I think, the best thing I've ever written.

I've been out of the public and literary consciousness for a while, so any support is appreciated.

(pre-order links below)
November 3, 2025 at 11:12 AM
Sigh. Here we go again.
October 30, 2025 at 12:07 PM
Well, that's certainly an acquired taste...
October 25, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
“I am not interested, nor will I ever be interested. I'm 61, and I hope to be able to remain uninterested in using it at all until I croak. ... The other day, somebody wrote me an email, said, ‘What is your stance on AI?’ And my answer was very short. I said, ‘I'd rather die.’” 🫡
Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro says 'I'd rather die' than use generative AI
Del Toro's new Frankenstein adaption reimagines Mary Shelley's 1818 Gothic novel. Frankenstein was like a tech bro: "creating something without considering the consequences," he explains.
www.npr.org
October 23, 2025 at 10:08 PM
AI can't generate:

The aroma of coffee at dawn
A dog licking your face with joy
The sea wind howling in your ears
A sincere message from a loved one
The feeling of arriving at your holiday destination
The melancholy of saying goodbye to a friend.
Anything that makes us truly human.
October 24, 2025 at 1:38 AM
"It was a sawing, terrifying sound that thrust knives of ice between the discs of my spine, filling me with mortal terror."
42 (why would anyone pick anything else?)
October 23, 2025 at 11:05 PM
Reposted by Jeremy Szal
Proofs for Wolfskin are (finally) on my desk.

Give me a random number between 1 and 672 and I'll give you a spoiler free line from each corresponding page! 🐺
October 22, 2025 at 1:35 AM