Speculative Insight journal
@speculativeinsight.bsky.social
A journal that explores the breadth and depth of the themes, ideas, and issues of science fiction and fantasy. Ed. Alexandra Pierce.
https://www.speculativeinsight.com/
https://www.speculativeinsight.com/
Pinned
Speculative Insight
A journal for exploring the ideas and themes that stand behind, inform, and develop out of, speculative fiction.
www.speculativeinsight.com
Hi new folks! Speculative Insight publishes nonfiction essays about science fiction and fantasy.
First Saturday of the month is a free essay; third Saturday of the month is for subscribers (and subscribing is AUD30/year: ~15GBP, 18 euro, and USD20... ish)
www.speculativeinsight.com
First Saturday of the month is a free essay; third Saturday of the month is for subscribers (and subscribing is AUD30/year: ~15GBP, 18 euro, and USD20... ish)
www.speculativeinsight.com
Moby Muppet.
(I really wanted to go the other way around buuuuuuuut it sounded so wrong even to my ears.)
(I really wanted to go the other way around buuuuuuuut it sounded so wrong even to my ears.)
The Muppet Pimpernel
The Muppet Vanishes
February 19, 2026 at 12:40 AM
Moby Muppet.
(I really wanted to go the other way around buuuuuuuut it sounded so wrong even to my ears.)
(I really wanted to go the other way around buuuuuuuut it sounded so wrong even to my ears.)
Tomorrow brings the last of @tanyrr's essays about how Pratchett's men relate to the Lancre witches, and given that means it's Maskerade and Carpe Jugulum, the answer is largely "with disrespect" and eventually "by getting their comeuppance."
Subscriber-only; get it for AUD30/yr (~GBP15, USD21).
Subscriber-only; get it for AUD30/yr (~GBP15, USD21).
February 19, 2026 at 12:37 AM
Tomorrow brings the last of @tanyrr's essays about how Pratchett's men relate to the Lancre witches, and given that means it's Maskerade and Carpe Jugulum, the answer is largely "with disrespect" and eventually "by getting their comeuppance."
Subscriber-only; get it for AUD30/yr (~GBP15, USD21).
Subscriber-only; get it for AUD30/yr (~GBP15, USD21).
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
As it's Hugo time, I wanted to talk about a category I care about, and which I think could do with a bit of extra love when it comes to nomination time - it's best fan writer!
(this is gonna be a thread of me doing hype, which I'm bad at, but that is much deserved by all here linked, pls be nice)
(this is gonna be a thread of me doing hype, which I'm bad at, but that is much deserved by all here linked, pls be nice)
February 18, 2026 at 9:02 PM
As it's Hugo time, I wanted to talk about a category I care about, and which I think could do with a bit of extra love when it comes to nomination time - it's best fan writer!
(this is gonna be a thread of me doing hype, which I'm bad at, but that is much deserved by all here linked, pls be nice)
(this is gonna be a thread of me doing hype, which I'm bad at, but that is much deserved by all here linked, pls be nice)
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Hey folks -- Signal Boost time for this week's #TheFullLid. If you have a creative project to promote, leave the details in a reply. Include the title and a link please, so folks can find it. For pre-launch crowdfunders let us know about 2 weeks in advance.
February 18, 2026 at 9:55 AM
Hey folks -- Signal Boost time for this week's #TheFullLid. If you have a creative project to promote, leave the details in a reply. Include the title and a link please, so folks can find it. For pre-launch crowdfunders let us know about 2 weeks in advance.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Bumping this because award eligibility stuff is going around! A lot of free online reads in this one, too -
and more instalments of Jobs for Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military)
and more instalments of Jobs for Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military)
Here is my award eligibility for 2025! Now in a tidier version and one that hopefully has everything: stories, poems, a book, some miscellanea...
www.patreon.com/posts/2025-a...
www.patreon.com/posts/2025-a...
2025 award eligibility post! | Bogi Takács
Get more from Bogi Takács on Patreon
www.patreon.com
February 18, 2026 at 12:36 AM
Bumping this because award eligibility stuff is going around! A lot of free online reads in this one, too -
and more instalments of Jobs for Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military)
and more instalments of Jobs for Magical People (That Do Not Involve the Military)
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Science fictional parenting: quiet moments, guiding through adversity, chosen families - this essay explores a wide range of examples, looking at how parents have been imagined particularly through cinema.
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
February 5, 2026 at 9:01 PM
Science fictional parenting: quiet moments, guiding through adversity, chosen families - this essay explores a wide range of examples, looking at how parents have been imagined particularly through cinema.
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Science fictional parenting: quiet moments, guiding through adversity, chosen families - this essay explores a wide range of examples, looking at how parents have been imagined particularly through cinema.
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
February 6, 2026 at 8:42 AM
Science fictional parenting: quiet moments, guiding through adversity, chosen families - this essay explores a wide range of examples, looking at how parents have been imagined particularly through cinema.
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
One year ago, we published Ng Yi-Sheng's excellent "The SEA is Whose?" - about the Southeast Asian authors who have made it big, and what it might mean that many are of Chinese ethnicity...
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
The SEA Is Whose? — Speculative Insight
For years now, I’ve been a passionate champion for Southeast Asian speculative fiction—just check out my Strange Horizons essay, “A Spicepunk Manifesto”,i in which I praise its creation as a decolon...
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:22 AM
One year ago, we published Ng Yi-Sheng's excellent "The SEA is Whose?" - about the Southeast Asian authors who have made it big, and what it might mean that many are of Chinese ethnicity...
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
TWO years ago we published @kashinggiwa.bsky.social's essay "Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis" about the place of tea in science fiction.
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis — Speculative Insight
Kemi Ashing-Giwa discusses the history of tea and its connection with imperialism and colonialism, and then connects that to the role of tea in her first novel.
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:25 AM
TWO years ago we published @kashinggiwa.bsky.social's essay "Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis" about the place of tea in science fiction.
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
A new review - Hav by Jan Morris.
I covered it in brief in my round up of books from while I was away, but there was more to it than a brief overview could encompass (shock twist, Booker judges knew what they were on about), and plenty more I suspect I'm not even spotting.
I covered it in brief in my round up of books from while I was away, but there was more to it than a brief overview could encompass (shock twist, Booker judges knew what they were on about), and plenty more I suspect I'm not even spotting.
Hav – Jan Morris
Did I write a whole ass essay on genre for Strange Horizons? Perhaps. But that hasn’t stopped me thinking about it. And only more so since I read Hav by Jan Morris, for which any decisions I make a…
readerofelse.wordpress.com
February 14, 2026 at 12:20 PM
A new review - Hav by Jan Morris.
I covered it in brief in my round up of books from while I was away, but there was more to it than a brief overview could encompass (shock twist, Booker judges knew what they were on about), and plenty more I suspect I'm not even spotting.
I covered it in brief in my round up of books from while I was away, but there was more to it than a brief overview could encompass (shock twist, Booker judges knew what they were on about), and plenty more I suspect I'm not even spotting.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
I feel like this is pointing at some of the same issues as the anti-LLM conversations - whether it's parenting or craftsmanship, caring is the truly human thing, it's what we need to grow & to thrive. Labour & relationships rooted in forms of intimacy, not hierarchical rules or black box code.
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family...
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
February 14, 2026 at 9:51 AM
I feel like this is pointing at some of the same issues as the anti-LLM conversations - whether it's parenting or craftsmanship, caring is the truly human thing, it's what we need to grow & to thrive. Labour & relationships rooted in forms of intimacy, not hierarchical rules or black box code.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
ICYM this too.
Three essays from Speculative Insight are on the #BSFA longlist: read Val Nolan's (on the Dublin Portal) and Abby Roberts' (nationalism in LOTR) here:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And you can read Nick Hubble's here: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras
(about Galadriel taking the ring).
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And you can read Nick Hubble's here: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras
(about Galadriel taking the ring).
Essays — Speculative Insight
Monthly essays about the ideas and themes in speculative fiction. Free to read.
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:40 PM
ICYM this too.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
ICYMI
My essay 'Should Galadriel have taken the Ring?' has been nominated for the #BSFA Award for Best Short Non Fiction and @speculativeinsight.bsky.social have very kindly made it free to read for the voting period. So please read to find out about the significance of #Galadriel being the Fairy Queen.
Should Galadriel have taken the Ring? — Speculative Insight
The Fourth Age under the dominion of men isn’t going too well, is it? Did the free peoples of Middle-earth really combine to overthrow Sauron so that the world would be delivered on a plate to the lik...
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:40 PM
ICYMI
ICYM this too.
Three essays from Speculative Insight are on the #BSFA longlist: read Val Nolan's (on the Dublin Portal) and Abby Roberts' (nationalism in LOTR) here:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And you can read Nick Hubble's here: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras
(about Galadriel taking the ring).
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And you can read Nick Hubble's here: www.speculativeinsight.com/extras
(about Galadriel taking the ring).
Essays — Speculative Insight
Monthly essays about the ideas and themes in speculative fiction. Free to read.
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:40 PM
ICYM this too.
ICYMI
My essay 'Should Galadriel have taken the Ring?' has been nominated for the #BSFA Award for Best Short Non Fiction and @speculativeinsight.bsky.social have very kindly made it free to read for the voting period. So please read to find out about the significance of #Galadriel being the Fairy Queen.
Should Galadriel have taken the Ring? — Speculative Insight
The Fourth Age under the dominion of men isn’t going too well, is it? Did the free peoples of Middle-earth really combine to overthrow Sauron so that the world would be delivered on a plate to the lik...
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:40 PM
ICYMI
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
These things are also true.
If you like this essay and you are a BSFA member please consider voting for it (and also consider taking out a sub to Speculative Insight which is incredible value at about £15 per year.) You might also like my ongoing blog post series in which I'm doing a 50-year reread of #LOTR #Tolkien
50-Year Reread of The Lord of the Rings – 1: A Sequel to The Hobbit
In my introductory post to this series, I promised that this next post would be about how by reading LOTR as a sequel to The Hobbit, we find a very different novel to the hierarchical one loved by …
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:50 PM
These things are also true.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Sooooo not long left to vote for the BSFA, and that means not long left to read this excellent essay for free!
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
February 12, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Sooooo not long left to vote for the BSFA, and that means not long left to read this excellent essay for free!
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
These things are also true.
If you like this essay and you are a BSFA member please consider voting for it (and also consider taking out a sub to Speculative Insight which is incredible value at about £15 per year.) You might also like my ongoing blog post series in which I'm doing a 50-year reread of #LOTR #Tolkien
50-Year Reread of The Lord of the Rings – 1: A Sequel to The Hobbit
In my introductory post to this series, I promised that this next post would be about how by reading LOTR as a sequel to The Hobbit, we find a very different novel to the hierarchical one loved by …
prospectiveculture.wordpress.com
February 12, 2026 at 8:50 PM
These things are also true.
Sooooo not long left to vote for the BSFA, and that means not long left to read this excellent essay for free!
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
February 12, 2026 at 8:50 PM
Sooooo not long left to vote for the BSFA, and that means not long left to read this excellent essay for free!
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
You should also check out Val Nolan’s and Abby Roberts’ essays at www.speculativeinsight.com/essays
And, like, all the other essays, while you’re at it.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family...
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
February 6, 2026 at 7:30 PM
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family...
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
TWO years ago we published @kashinggiwa.bsky.social's essay "Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis" about the place of tea in science fiction.
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis — Speculative Insight
Kemi Ashing-Giwa discusses the history of tea and its connection with imperialism and colonialism, and then connects that to the role of tea in her first novel.
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:25 AM
TWO years ago we published @kashinggiwa.bsky.social's essay "Ceremony, Subjugation, Sacrifice, and Camellia sinensis" about the place of tea in science fiction.
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
You can read it here - also for free!
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/ceremony
One year ago, we published Ng Yi-Sheng's excellent "The SEA is Whose?" - about the Southeast Asian authors who have made it big, and what it might mean that many are of Chinese ethnicity...
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
The SEA Is Whose? — Speculative Insight
For years now, I’ve been a passionate champion for Southeast Asian speculative fiction—just check out my Strange Horizons essay, “A Spicepunk Manifesto”,i in which I praise its creation as a decolon...
www.speculativeinsight.com
February 12, 2026 at 9:22 AM
One year ago, we published Ng Yi-Sheng's excellent "The SEA is Whose?" - about the Southeast Asian authors who have made it big, and what it might mean that many are of Chinese ethnicity...
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Read it here for free:
www.speculativeinsight.com/essays/sea-is-whose
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Any time is a good time to subscribe to Speculative Insight - AUD30/year gets you an extra dozen essays, AND the 6-monthly ebooks with exclusive content!
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
February 11, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Any time is a good time to subscribe to Speculative Insight - AUD30/year gets you an extra dozen essays, AND the 6-monthly ebooks with exclusive content!
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Any time is a good time to subscribe to Speculative Insight - AUD30/year gets you an extra dozen essays, AND the 6-monthly ebooks with exclusive content!
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
February 11, 2026 at 9:04 PM
Any time is a good time to subscribe to Speculative Insight - AUD30/year gets you an extra dozen essays, AND the 6-monthly ebooks with exclusive content!
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
It's just over USD21, and GBP15!
Subscribe now and get the Dec 2025 ebook as a bonus...
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family...
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
February 7, 2026 at 8:00 AM
How has science fiction cinema and tv presented parenting? This essay from Koneru Hanmantharao explores a wide range of examples - human and machine parents; clones and aliens and chosen family...
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com
Read now for free! www.speculativeinsight.com