Niall Harrison
@niallharrison.bsky.social
reader, critic, fan, he/him
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Welcome to the 2026 Criticism Special Issue!
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
![NON-FICTION
Quote
the ideal reader of the weird has to embrace a kind of wilful suspension of foreknowledge or generic expectation. This affected tabula rasa perspective requires, in turn, a critical approach, a practice of weird reading [1] hyper-attuned to the weird poetics of a piece as it signals its own weirding and becomes weird fiction.
end Quote
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan
26 January 2026
Strange Horizons](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:sxw2th36klmpelvkrux2pa3y/bafkreiddzptg5esulvbs7mnjcyp4mdxt7m6jffkjqncqob4xcrp4sqcqx4@jpeg)
January 26, 2026 at 6:01 PM
Welcome to the 2026 Criticism Special Issue!
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
The Brackish Pool: Towards a Critical Practice of Reading Weird Fiction
by Zachary Gillan @megapolisomancy.bsky.social
Link ⬇️
strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...
Reposted by Niall Harrison
📣 It's here: the 2026 @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special!
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
26 January 2026
Welcome to the annual Strange Horizons criticism special!
strangehorizons.com
January 26, 2026 at 1:41 PM
📣 It's here: the 2026 @strangehorizons.bsky.social Criticism Special!
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
💡 A whole week of critical insight, with a new essay and new review every day. A podcast, a roundtable, an *editorial*.
📚 The weird! Anthropology! Non-anglophone SFF! Plus thoughts on fantasy series, adaptations, film and more.
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Very pleased to see Paul Kincaid's Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction on the @bsfa.bsky.social longlist for long non-fiction: www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Vote for the BSFA Awards
www.bsfa.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Very pleased to see Paul Kincaid's Colourfields: Writing About Writing About Science Fiction on the @bsfa.bsky.social longlist for long non-fiction: www.bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Reposted by Niall Harrison
🚀 Congratulations to all those longlisted for BSFA Awards!
Check out the complete list here 👇and enjoy this celebration of diverse and exciting works!
bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Check out the complete list here 👇and enjoy this celebration of diverse and exciting works!
bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Vote for the BSFA Awards
bsfa.co.uk
January 22, 2026 at 6:22 PM
🚀 Congratulations to all those longlisted for BSFA Awards!
Check out the complete list here 👇and enjoy this celebration of diverse and exciting works!
bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Check out the complete list here 👇and enjoy this celebration of diverse and exciting works!
bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Oh my goodness! One of my favorite stories; I’ve been wishing I could reprint it for many years. Glad to see it’ll be available!
Researchers K. N. Sirsi and Sandra Botkin document the discovery of a family unable to conceive of gender...
Next week. "CONGENITAL AGENESIS OF GENDER IDEATION by K. N. Sirsi and Sandra Botkin" by @lateonsetgirl.bsky.social!
Art by Reiko Murakami
Edited by @pnh.nielsenhayden.com
Next week. "CONGENITAL AGENESIS OF GENDER IDEATION by K. N. Sirsi and Sandra Botkin" by @lateonsetgirl.bsky.social!
Art by Reiko Murakami
Edited by @pnh.nielsenhayden.com
January 22, 2026 at 5:29 PM
Oh my goodness! One of my favorite stories; I’ve been wishing I could reprint it for many years. Glad to see it’ll be available!
Exciting review copy received: The White Desert by Luis López Carrasco trans. Rosalind Harvey (Granta, June)
January 22, 2026 at 12:33 PM
Exciting review copy received: The White Desert by Luis López Carrasco trans. Rosalind Harvey (Granta, June)
Reposted by Niall Harrison
“Simón López Trujillo’s PEDRO THE VAST (2021, trans. Robin Myers) is a short novel that simmers and then sears...” Niall Harrison reviews new work from Simón López Trujillo
Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo: Review by Niall Harrison
Pedro the Vast, Simón López Trujillo (Algonquin 978-1-643-75710-0, $17.99, 144pp, tp) January 2026. From ice into fire, and from epic to intimate. Simón López Trujillo’s Pedro the Vast (2021, tran…
locusmag.com
January 22, 2026 at 2:00 AM
“Simón López Trujillo’s PEDRO THE VAST (2021, trans. Robin Myers) is a short novel that simmers and then sears...” Niall Harrison reviews new work from Simón López Trujillo
I have not had the writing day I hoped, but I *have* booked several appointments and been for a run, so it's not a total bust.
January 21, 2026 at 4:07 PM
I have not had the writing day I hoped, but I *have* booked several appointments and been for a run, so it's not a total bust.
Reposted by Niall Harrison
First time I've managed to get a DOI into a review of a novel locusmag.com/review/pedro...
Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo: Review by Niall Harrison
Pedro the Vast, Simón López Trujillo (Algonquin 978-1-643-75710-0, $17.99, 144pp, tp) January 2026. From ice into fire, and from epic to intimate. Simón López Trujillo’s Pedro the Vast (2021, tran…
locusmag.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:29 PM
First time I've managed to get a DOI into a review of a novel locusmag.com/review/pedro...
First time I've managed to get a DOI into a review of a novel locusmag.com/review/pedro...
Pedro the Vast by Simón López Trujillo: Review by Niall Harrison
Pedro the Vast, Simón López Trujillo (Algonquin 978-1-643-75710-0, $17.99, 144pp, tp) January 2026. From ice into fire, and from epic to intimate. Simón López Trujillo’s Pedro the Vast (2021, tran…
locusmag.com
January 20, 2026 at 9:29 PM
First time I've managed to get a DOI into a review of a novel locusmag.com/review/pedro...
Now reading the US edition of a novel by a British writer, set in London, in which the characters go to a hospital "emergency room". I will be checking the UK edition when it comes out to see if this irritation is included there.
January 16, 2026 at 9:59 PM
Now reading the US edition of a novel by a British writer, set in London, in which the characters go to a hospital "emergency room". I will be checking the UK edition when it comes out to see if this irritation is included there.
I think Saraswati is very good, and this review gets at many aspects of its voicing that make it very good, but I don't think it has the novel's relationship with science fiction quite right.
‘A near-future setting makes it possible to portray a recognisable world without having to name current political figures. What this means here is the freedom to show the India Modi has made without making reference to Modi.’
Adam Mars-Jones reads ‘Saraswati’.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Mars-Jones reads ‘Saraswati’.
www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v4...
Adam Mars-Jones · ‘I’m not a radical, Dad’: Gurnaik Johal’s ‘Saraswati’
More than one variety of omniscience is on show in Saraswati. What is referred to as an omniscient narrator is usually...
www.lrb.co.uk
January 16, 2026 at 8:56 PM
I think Saraswati is very good, and this review gets at many aspects of its voicing that make it very good, but I don't think it has the novel's relationship with science fiction quite right.
Reposted by Niall Harrison
After reading Last Letters From Hav (1985), the new book from acclaimed travel writer Jan Morris, some people wanted to visit Hav. The problem? There was no such place. This week's essay takes a look at this special work of social science fiction.
Wish it was here: Last Letters from Hav (1985) by Jan Morris
The definitive travel guide to a place that never existed
www.andyjohnson.xyz
January 15, 2026 at 8:05 PM
After reading Last Letters From Hav (1985), the new book from acclaimed travel writer Jan Morris, some people wanted to visit Hav. The problem? There was no such place. This week's essay takes a look at this special work of social science fiction.
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Farah Mendlesohn's Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ, or, As the Bear Swore - artist Judith Clute.
Out March 31, launch at Eastercon @easterconuk.bsky.social. You can pre-order now, paperback and ebook, in the Luna store and all other retailers. #booksfromscotland @effjayem.bsky.social
Out March 31, launch at Eastercon @easterconuk.bsky.social. You can pre-order now, paperback and ebook, in the Luna store and all other retailers. #booksfromscotland @effjayem.bsky.social
January 14, 2026 at 5:32 PM
Farah Mendlesohn's Considering The Female Man by Joanna Russ, or, As the Bear Swore - artist Judith Clute.
Out March 31, launch at Eastercon @easterconuk.bsky.social. You can pre-order now, paperback and ebook, in the Luna store and all other retailers. #booksfromscotland @effjayem.bsky.social
Out March 31, launch at Eastercon @easterconuk.bsky.social. You can pre-order now, paperback and ebook, in the Luna store and all other retailers. #booksfromscotland @effjayem.bsky.social
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Misplaced in Translation: @coimeas.bsky.social looks at the techniques, concerns & connections of Djuna's COUNTERWEIGHT (@pantheonbooks.bsky.social / @vintagebooks.bsky.social, tr. Anton Hur)
Misplaced In Translation: Counterweight
Nat Harrington Under Review:Counterweight. Djuna, translated by Anton Hur. Vintage, July 2024. Our aim is to have a properly functioning government. A country that can protect the people who live i…
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 14, 2026 at 1:40 PM
Misplaced in Translation: @coimeas.bsky.social looks at the techniques, concerns & connections of Djuna's COUNTERWEIGHT (@pantheonbooks.bsky.social / @vintagebooks.bsky.social, tr. Anton Hur)
"The narration is realist, but this does not detract from the estrangement that it provokes. The narrative proceeds through loops, repetitions, interjections" www.seizethepress.com/2025/03/29/w...
Writing Disaster in Balsam Karam’s The Singularity, translated by Saskia Vogel from Shinjini Dey - Seize The Press
Meanwhile elsewhere—” begins Balsam Karam’s The Singularity, depicting an unparticularized city; cars, highways, half-desert and mountains, the ever-rising ocean. Later there’s a description, almost a...
www.seizethepress.com
January 10, 2026 at 4:24 PM
"The narration is realist, but this does not detract from the estrangement that it provokes. The narrative proceeds through loops, repetitions, interjections" www.seizethepress.com/2025/03/29/w...
This is why I now stock up on the 1kg bags while they are available at the start of the year. (All mini eggs bags in a given year are best before 31 July of that year.)
Cadbury Mini Eggs over the past few years:
2022, 80g: £1
2023, 80g: £1.25
2024, 80g: £1.50
2025, 80g: £1.85
2026, 74g: £2
Dunno why, but this hits my “just won’t bother” threshold. I wonder if I’d be more likely to get a £1 37g bag; probably?
2022, 80g: £1
2023, 80g: £1.25
2024, 80g: £1.50
2025, 80g: £1.85
2026, 74g: £2
Dunno why, but this hits my “just won’t bother” threshold. I wonder if I’d be more likely to get a £1 37g bag; probably?
January 10, 2026 at 2:31 PM
This is why I now stock up on the 1kg bags while they are available at the start of the year. (All mini eggs bags in a given year are best before 31 July of that year.)
Most interesting bit of this (with apologies to Gautam, who was also very good) was Bora Chung talking about how SF has developed in Korea, primarily since the 1980s, with a big upswing since 2018/19 and Kim Choyeop's debut (collection If We Cannot Go At The Speed of Light out in English in March)
I will be in conversation with Bora Chung about magical realism and speculative fiction in east and south Asia this Saturday.
Join us online - details in poster.
Join us online - details in poster.
January 10, 2026 at 12:29 PM
Most interesting bit of this (with apologies to Gautam, who was also very good) was Bora Chung talking about how SF has developed in Korea, primarily since the 1980s, with a big upswing since 2018/19 and Kim Choyeop's debut (collection If We Cannot Go At The Speed of Light out in English in March)
Starting now!
I will be in conversation with Bora Chung about magical realism and speculative fiction in east and south Asia this Saturday.
Join us online - details in poster.
Join us online - details in poster.
January 10, 2026 at 11:32 AM
Starting now!
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Tomorrow! Join me, @annaleen.bsky.social and @older.bsky.social as we discuss our new anthology We Will Rise Again. Register at the link.
citylights.com/events/panel...
citylights.com/events/panel...
January 9, 2026 at 4:35 PM
Tomorrow! Join me, @annaleen.bsky.social and @older.bsky.social as we discuss our new anthology We Will Rise Again. Register at the link.
citylights.com/events/panel...
citylights.com/events/panel...
The denominator for these counts, if I've tallied correctly, is 34; so the most-cited title was mentioned by ~15%.
Because @niallharrison.bsky.social did it last year and I found it interesting, I've been counting up the
mentions in the SH 2025 in review, because I also haven't felt like the year has really coalesced around any tentpole books, so wanted to see what the numbers here said.
Here they are:
mentions in the SH 2025 in review, because I also haven't felt like the year has really coalesced around any tentpole books, so wanted to see what the numbers here said.
Here they are:
January 9, 2026 at 5:30 PM
The denominator for these counts, if I've tallied correctly, is 34; so the most-cited title was mentioned by ~15%.
Reposted by Niall Harrison
“ICE is, among many other things, a remarkable attempt to imagine how a variety of intellectual traditions might develop under radically altered conditions...” Niall Harrison reviews new work from Jacek Dukaj
Ice by Jacek Dukaj: Review by Niall Harrison
Ice, Jacek Dukaj (Head of Zeus 978-1-786-69728-8, $35.00, 1200pp, hc) January 2026. It is July 1924, and it is Winter in Europe. Benedykt Gierosławski, a student mathematician the same age as the …
locusmag.com
January 9, 2026 at 2:00 AM
“ICE is, among many other things, a remarkable attempt to imagine how a variety of intellectual traditions might develop under radically altered conditions...” Niall Harrison reviews new work from Jacek Dukaj
Reposted by Niall Harrison
A fantastical crossover!
@gautambhatia88.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bora Chung exploring the many worlds of speculative fiction across East and South Asia. You do not want to miss this discussion.
Happening online on Jan 10 (Sat). Scan the QR code to register.
@gautambhatia88.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bora Chung exploring the many worlds of speculative fiction across East and South Asia. You do not want to miss this discussion.
Happening online on Jan 10 (Sat). Scan the QR code to register.
January 5, 2026 at 7:26 AM
A fantastical crossover!
@gautambhatia88.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bora Chung exploring the many worlds of speculative fiction across East and South Asia. You do not want to miss this discussion.
Happening online on Jan 10 (Sat). Scan the QR code to register.
@gautambhatia88.bsky.social will be in conversation with Bora Chung exploring the many worlds of speculative fiction across East and South Asia. You do not want to miss this discussion.
Happening online on Jan 10 (Sat). Scan the QR code to register.
Congratulations and good luck to @thehubble101.bsky.social as the next editor of @sffoundation.bsky.social www.sf-foundation.org/fresh-about
SF Foundation UK News Science Fiction Journal
Foundation: The International Review of Science Fiction is a critical peer-reviewed literary magazine established in 1972 that publishes articles and reviews ab
www.sf-foundation.org
January 9, 2026 at 7:57 AM
Congratulations and good luck to @thehubble101.bsky.social as the next editor of @sffoundation.bsky.social www.sf-foundation.org/fresh-about
Reposted by Niall Harrison
Ice by Jacek Dukaj: Review by Niall Harrison locusmag.com/review/...
January 7, 2026 at 8:28 PM
Ice by Jacek Dukaj: Review by Niall Harrison locusmag.com/review/...