Niall Harrison's avatar

Niall Harrison

@niallharrison.bsky.social

394 followers 427 following 209 posts

reader, critic, fan, he/him

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Dan Hartland's avatar Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social
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Very glad to see this piece in the wild for the LARB, on the career of Christopher Priest via his - alas - final novel: "Airside is so compelling because ... it somehow captures profound comprehension alongside complete confusion."

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Jen Donohue's avatar Jen Donohue @authorizedmusings.bsky.social
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AND might I remind you, that's only their first stretch goal! There's a lot of rad stuff that they want to do for 2025! We don't want to miss out on these!

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Con+Reform this time is less than Con+Brexit in 2019 for what that's worth

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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But yes, I'm definitely keeping an eye out for more by Min now. (And if memory serves she also did the cover/interior art for WP.)

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Something about your phrasing there made me imagine an Amazon subcategory for BODY SHIFTING ALIEN CANNIBALISM, which made me laugh

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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(But this is not a part of the world or a period of history about which I am particularly knowledgeable.)

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Will be interested in your thoughts. It's not a politics-forward novel, but I felt the author had at least thought things through in the background. (As opposed to, say, The Mars House, which I thought ran aground on rocks of conflicting political metaphors.)

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Hmm. Yes, with caveats? I'm pretty sure the timing is not coincidental, and certainly the general thrust of the story is, well, let's say "Wasteland" is a contested term. But it is a very alternate world, and therefore light on specific dialogue with our history (that I spotted, anyway).

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SF Encyclopedia's avatar SF Encyclopedia @sfencyclopedia.bsky.social
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Johanna Sinisalo [SFE entry: sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/sinisa... ] was born on this day, so here are some of her book covers (Artist: [couldn't identify], Yoshitomo Nara, Markku Laakso & Markko Taina and Hannu Maenttaeri):

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Small Angry Planet, Goblin Emperor, Legends & Lattes

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Read and rate four of those, so the obvious question is ... which Marie NDiaye book should I get?

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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I am definitely better at buying Fitzcarraldo books than reading them, but I have high hopes for Living Things by Munir Hachemi

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Strange Horizons's avatar Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social
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We are only $5k away from our base goal! We're so thrilled and thankful for all your support so far!

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Farah Mendlesohn 's avatar Farah Mendlesohn @effjayem.bsky.social
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I'm going to run a one day convention in Perth, Scotland in 2025.

PictCon1: 18th October, Guest of Honour, Francesca Barbini. Tickets: £30/£20/ dealer tables £10.

If you are fan based in Scotland or anywhere it's easy to get to us from, please do come!

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pictcon1-t...

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Some reviews are easy, some you have to fight for every word. Today was one of the latter, I'm exhausted.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Interesting - for me the Le Guin echo is with Omelas, the (inevitable?) compromises made to maintain a society.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Not sure there is anywhere else on the SF internet that would have given this piece (which is excellent even though I disagree with it) the space and length it needed, which should be reason enough to support the @strangehorizons.bsky.social fundraiser.

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Dan Hartland's avatar Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social
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For the @strangehorizons.bsky.social fund drive $5000 tier, here I am on Cahokia Jazz, a hardboiled detective yarn set in an alternate history where Cahokia neither fell nor gave way to St Louis.

"Let’s talk about this grafting of the noir aesthetic onto an Indigenous context: what is the benefit?"

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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I think the most interesting result in a way is the expected seat results, which are a long way from what the polls are currently predicting. Only two-thirds expecting a Labour win? And seat predictions way off from what the polls are suggesting. Suggests not much complacency, which is good.

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Strange Horizons's avatar Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social
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And! We've already hit our first milestone of $1K (thank you!), and so, we can now unlock the first piece in our fund-drive special issue!

"The Roots of the Genre" - an interview by Will Shaw, of WFA winner Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, about translated Bengali SF: strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/...

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Strange Horizons's avatar Strange Horizons @strangehorizons.bsky.social
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It's THAT time of the year again! The annual STRANGE HORIZONS FUND DRIVE is now live. To donate: www.kickstarter.com/projects/str... Over the next 36 days, we're looking to raise $13,500 to stay alive through 2025, and beyond for some very special special issues!

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Gautam Bhatia's avatar Gautam Bhatia @gautambhatia88.bsky.social
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Strange Horizons’ annual fund-drive now live! A host of special issues ( such as Afro-surrealist SF) if we get funded, and some amazing rewards on offer.

Click to find out more and to donate:

www.kickstarter.com/projects/str...

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Dinner with three younger colleagues yesterday evening, not really paying much attention to the election, but two of them had a general feeling that Sunak is a bit useless and one of them actively dislikes him. Of course that's still a bubble of sorts.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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The calendar year 2023 was quite strong - Hopeland, The Mountain in the Sea, The Terraformers, Perilous Times, Mother Sea, etc - and outside genre, things like In Ascension - but all in the first half of the year.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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I guess an interesting test case is Orbital by Samantha Harvey - which I would say should absolutely be on the shortlist, and is a potential winner - but has, essentially, no plot. I would think it gets in under the 'engagement with / implications of' criterion though.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Finding it harder than I would like to think of genre sf novels, published in the UK after 1 Sept 2023, that would be strong shortlist contenders. Any suggestions?

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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(I'm glad that the blurb on the main page about "the most inspiring novels" isn't in the official guidelines, and they just say "in the opinion of the judges ... the best full-length novel")

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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I wouldn't have been sad to see a criterion about, for instance, use of language that helps us think through/conceptualise climate, but they are explicitly a narrative-focused organisation. We'll see what the shortlist turns up, I guess.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Eligibility period is almost identical to that of the Booker (but a much shorter window to get submissions in for this year)

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Oh what fun I can't wait 'til the future gets here

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Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures's avatar Glasgow 2024, A Worldcon For Our Futures @glasgow2024.bsky.social
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We are incredibly excited to announce that our Hugo Packet is now available! Everyone with a WSFS membership will have received an email with instructions on how to access this! (1/6)

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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I was on holiday in the US in August 2016, and it definitely penetrated US consciousness more than I am used to for UK news. Very odd moment when the Brexit vote was actual and Trump still potential; got a mix of "at least you don't have a Trump" and "hope we don't follow your example" comments.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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It's not quite out yet, but I suspect The Cautious Traveller's Guide to the Wastelands by Sarah Brooks might fit the bill

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Strong agreement with this - as you say, full thoughts too long for bsky, but in the last few years the ecosystem has definitely shifted (is shifting) on both sides of the genre/litfic line, in my view.

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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You know that wasn't a dig at you, more a comment on the fragmentation of the social-media-o-sphere!

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Niall Harrison's avatar Niall Harrison @niallharrison.bsky.social
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Also a shift in what lands on the litfic or genre side of the publishing line, I think. I can't shake the feeling that twenty years ago, maybe even ten, MacInnes would have been a Gollancz author alongside Priest/Harrison...

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