Jake Casella Brookins
@casella.bsky.social
Appalachian in the big city. Editor at Ancillary Review, host of A Meal of Thorns, bookseller, coffee pro, SF reviewer & scholar. He/him.
https://linktr.ee/jakecasellabrookins
https://linktr.ee/jakecasellabrookins
You might have already listened, but this was a theme of my 2025 wrap-up with Dan Hartland on A Meal of Thorns, also:
A Meal of Thorns 40- 2025 Wrap-Up with Dan Hartland
We’re closing out this strange year with a “big-picture” episode: editor & critic Dan Hartland is on to talk about trends and directions—or lack thereof—in recent …
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
January 18, 2026 at 3:31 AM
You might have already listened, but this was a theme of my 2025 wrap-up with Dan Hartland on A Meal of Thorns, also:
Reposted by Jake Casella Brookins
this is all to say that reading books is fun and peeling through contexts is fun and sometimes i think leaning into Tolkien being a one-of-one language weirdo is good but also sometimes bending all of reality around one guy takes us down a road that I think is less fruitful than some other roads
January 17, 2026 at 8:09 PM
this is all to say that reading books is fun and peeling through contexts is fun and sometimes i think leaning into Tolkien being a one-of-one language weirdo is good but also sometimes bending all of reality around one guy takes us down a road that I think is less fruitful than some other roads
Lots linked here, quotes and responses & blog posts. Contracts use is *big* red flag; a lot of trying to conflate eg spellcheck w/genAI to wedge the door open. Just kinda gross overall, not shocking it's an AI-written piece itself.
Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community on AI
file770.com/erin-underwo...
Erin's core thesis is "There are responsible ways to use AI that support creators without replacing creative labor."
file770.com/erin-underwo...
Erin's core thesis is "There are responsible ways to use AI that support creators without replacing creative labor."
Erin Underwood: Open Letter to the Science Fiction Writers Association and Community
Hi Friends, Erin Underwood After writing the letter below, I thought rather than sending it to SFWA only, I’d share it with Mike at File 770 along with a note that read: “Am I crazy? Will this blow…
file770.com
January 17, 2026 at 3:22 PM
Lots linked here, quotes and responses & blog posts. Contracts use is *big* red flag; a lot of trying to conflate eg spellcheck w/genAI to wedge the door open. Just kinda gross overall, not shocking it's an AI-written piece itself.
Quite bad & bad-faith imo. Might be worth reading some of the responses to that piece.
January 17, 2026 at 12:18 PM
Quite bad & bad-faith imo. Might be worth reading some of the responses to that piece.
I mean this is *purely* my impression, no data whatsoever, but I don't really feel like this was spread by authorities to parents, it just feels like most everyone steadily increased their child-oversight expectations until we got here (& increased authoritarian/carceral state complements it)
January 16, 2026 at 3:32 PM
I mean this is *purely* my impression, no data whatsoever, but I don't really feel like this was spread by authorities to parents, it just feels like most everyone steadily increased their child-oversight expectations until we got here (& increased authoritarian/carceral state complements it)
that whole thread & responses: not good
January 16, 2026 at 2:26 PM
that whole thread & responses: not good
You might skim Speculative Whiteness for examples; struggling to think of others, I know there's some good ones rattling around
January 16, 2026 at 2:29 AM
You might skim Speculative Whiteness for examples; struggling to think of others, I know there's some good ones rattling around
"Don't SI for me, Argentina", I believe the tune goes
January 15, 2026 at 11:34 PM
"Don't SI for me, Argentina", I believe the tune goes