iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 30/09/2026

My third novel, HERO COME HOME, officially has a cover! Preorderable from the usual places us.macmillan.com/books/978125...

The cover of my third novel, HERO COME HOME. Four human figures centred, the main image being that of a bearded man looking back over his shoulder (that's Oro, the protagonist), with a circle of symbols behind him. We can see a swan and a key. In the foreground are three people: two women, one with a mysterious marking? scar? who knows!? on her cheek and the other carrying a sword, flanking an older, balding man holding up a pistol. The possibly-scarred woman looks ever so slightly amused, and that is certainly very like her. Everybody else is not happy to be here, or indeed, anywhere

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 1h

I've been inverting that question because I think it's perhaps even more illuminating: what is fantasy? What distinction, what departure, are we describing by this word?

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 21h

Congrats BFA winners and finalists!!!

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Jake Casella Brookins @casella.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Personal hobbyhorse, but thinking about AI in publishing is really making me want criticism to go harder on discussing the actual style & substance of books. If we just talk about plot & vibes, we're leaving the door totally open, & missing out on the good stuff besides. "It's just words on a page."

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buy my book @nmamatas.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

When MRM goes bankrupt, which magazine will you buy for three thousand dollars? I'm thinking Hitchcock's, which I would reorient toward more historical movie features and 4-5 stories per issue.

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Daisy Rockwell @shreedaisy.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

After 12 years of seeming invincibility, the Modi regime is showing cracks due to widespread youth protests. This is the story to watch!

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Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

Not in India at the moment, but ✊ Queasy to watch the massive and all-encompassing state repression, but all strength to everyone pouring out onto the streets right now.

x.com

Hemant Rajaura (@hemantrajora_) on X

🚨 Breaking: Fresh protests erupt at a flyover near Safdarjung Airport in Delhi.

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Scroll @scroll.in · 10/10/2026

"We were dragged on the city streets. Multiple women have sustained bruises. This shows that the Modi government is completely scared," says a protestor detained in Pune. Divya Aslesha reports

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Helen Rosner @hels.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

If gretchen’s stunning coinage of “babyproofing” here doesn’t become regular critical jargon I’ll kms

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Eddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

11 very good to excellent debut fantasies in this thread that I read as part of my 3rd & final year as a Crawford Award judge (no necessary relationship with what ends up on the shortlist - still more to read, and other judges don't necessarily have the same tastes).

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 10/10/2026

It's a weird sort of larping … like, if any of this breathless prepper masturbation were actually true IRL, there would be a mass rush to shoot everyone working on AI as soon as possible, whoever can get to them first. But no one is actually bothered, because it's all obviously wank. Just eyerolls

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Anton Hur @antonhur.com · 10/10/2026

As translators we really don't nakedly hate Europa Editions *enough*. They shouldn't get a cookie for publishing translations. Fcuk this publisher.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 10/10/2026

This is pure bad faith from MRM—they are not new to this business and are perfectly aware this is all bullshit. These magazines essentially no longer exist: they were bought simply to use their reputations as a trap to suck IP out of writers and artists who don't know any better.

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Agita Publishing @agitapublishing.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Somehow the new publisher of Analog, Asimov's, etc., has discovered that magazine publishers have been doing cover contracts wrong for the past hundred years, and it's... somehow the writers' fault?

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R.S.A. Garcia (BUY THE NIGHTWARD) @rsagarcia.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

1. By your logic, every artist working in publishing is violating copyright with their portfolio (they're not). 3. You can strip moral rights w/o using those words. 4. I'd love to know who that attorney is because... 5. Writers & artists weren't born yesterday. Stop trying to exploit us, my god.

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Drew Broussard @drewsof.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Very grateful to see these publishers getting named and shamed. If this stuff is going to happen, and we all know it is, I'd rather see it happen with bright shining klieg lights instead of in darkness and secrecy. We should know that it's happening, and act accordingly.

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Jenny with a Green Ribbon Around Her Neck @readingtheend.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

oh my God. this is all so fucking dystopian. this bit in particular really got me:

screencap from the article I'm quote-posting:

In August, Michael Reynolds, executive publisher at Europa Editions, an independent press in New York best known for publishing Elena Ferrante’s Neapolitan Quartet of novels, told a room full of booksellers at the New Voices New Rooms conference in Baltimore he was excited about the possibilities for AI in translation and “seemed baffled by critiques of it,” according to attendees. Europa Editions is already controversial among literary circles for leaving the names of its human (for now) translators off the covers of its books.

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LemonCurb @lemoncurdmatcha.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

So this is the shit the LeGuin bot was vague posting about

Ursula K. Le Guin Bot

Commodified fantasy takes no risks: it invents nothing, but imitates and trivializes.
It proceeds by depriving the old stories of their intellectual and ethical complexity, turning their truth-telling to sentimental platitude.

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K.C. Clyburn, Author @kccomplainsalot.blacksky.app · 09/10/2026

it's STILL BUY A BOOK FRIDAY! Have you bought your book yet??

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 09/10/2026

“Loeschenkohl added that he has never had "anything to do with the artificial insemination (AI) side of things before" during his career.” dicaprio-pointing.gif

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 09/10/2026

My favourite Annie Dillard quote, from THE WRITING LIFE

Who will teach me to write? a reader wanted to know.

The page, the page, that eternal blankness, the blankness of eternity which you cover slowly, affirming time’s scrawl as a right and your daring as necessity; the page, which you cover woodenly, ruining it, but asserting your freedom and power to act, acknowledging that you ruin everything you touch but touching it nevertheless, because acting is better than being here in mere opacity; the page, which you cover slowly with the crabbed thread of your gut; the page in the purity of its possibilities; the page of your death, against which you pit such flawed excellences as you can muster with all your life’s strength: that page will teach you to write.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 09/10/2026

On Sivarasa Anojan, the 24 year old Tamil migrant worker from Sri Lanka currently sentenced to death in Saudi Arabia for a "blasphemous" Facebook comment during an online argument www.tamilguardian.com/content/expl...

tamilguardian.com

Explainer: Sivarasa Anojan, the Facebook comment and the death sentence in Saudi Arabia | Tamil Guardian

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The Lexorcist @lexidarlingxoxo.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

I’m at the Pizza Hut. I’m at the house of leaves. I’m at the combi s n e a v t a i e o l n fo esuoh & tuh azzip

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eḻuttukkiṉiyavaṉ / எழுத்துக்கினியவன் @ezi.asokan.org · 08/10/2026

Canadian friends: On Saturday, Oct 24 at 5 pm, we will introduce our translated short story collection 'kaṭalōṭikaḷ'. We invite you to join us. கனடா நண்பர்களுக்கு: ஓக்டோபர் 24 (சனி) மாலை 5 மணிக்கு எங்களது 'கடலோடிகள்' சிறுகதைத் தொகுப்பு அறிமுக விழா நடாத்துகிறோம். இணைந்து கொள்ளுங்கள். @vajra.me @sugi.bsky.social ezi.asokan.org/2026/10/08/k...

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John Picacio @johnpicacio.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

🧵 Attention, Fellow SFF Artists and Authors -- here is my response to Must Read Magazines, after they presented an Asimov's art contract expecting me to waive all Moral Rights and Copyright to my art. And, I would strongly advise the following to my fellow pros…. 1/

John Picacio’s response to Must Read Magazine’s request for his waiver of all Moral Rights and Copyright of his commissioned art for an ASIMOV’S assignment. Short version — Picacio says a resounding NOPE.

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EMILY WILSON @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Many congratulations to Anne Carson for the well-deserved Nobel Prize! This is also great news for Translation, Classics, Poetry, the breaking of generic and disciplinary boundaries, and the fact that you don't have to fit a pre-existing mould to have a brilliant, successful career.

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Matthew Cheney @melikhovo.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

A valuable short thread on why thoughtful critical discourse is essential for creating a landscape in which certain types of writing can thrive (and maybe even be possible at all).

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P.A. Cornell (She/Her) @cornellwriter.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Why does this not surprise me? Artists (and authors), your work has value. Don’t be afraid to walk away from exploitative deals like this. I did, and I haven’t regretted it once.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 19/11/2025

Absolutely egregious from the people who bought the three oldest magazines in SFF and are attempting to convert them into a giant funnel of monetizable IP

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Phoebe Barton 🚀🇺🇳 @phoebebarton.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

this is absolutely dire horses, and more evidence to me that Must Read is running Analog, Asimov's, and F&SF as IP lobster traps. I was glad to be at Analog's 90th anniversary a few years ago, but at this rate MRM will hollow it out to an Edgar suit before it hits 100

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 08/10/2026

I share this because sometimes a jolt of pure rage is quite invigorating and it will cleanse out your lymphatic vessels … anyway here is a slopmonger selling a "translation" of WUTHERING HEIGHTS into "modern English" to make it "actually readable."

Wuthering Heights: In Modern English (The Actually Readable Classics)
by Emily Brontë (Author), Avery Frost (Translator) Format: Kindle Edition
4.0 4.0 out of 5 stars (1,151)
3.9 on Goodreads
2,301,922 ratings
See all formats and editions

WUTHERING HEIGHTS IN MODERN ENGLISH

Yes, it’s that book. The one everyone says you should read. The original toxic love story that spawned entire genres of dark romance.

Here’s the thing: Wuthering Heights is unhinged, devastating, and has been absolutely wrecking readers for 175 years. It’s a masterpiece.

The Victorian prose, though? That’s the part that makes it feel like homework.

This edition fixes that.

Same gothic moors. Same obsessive passion. Same “wait, did that just happen?” moments. Just in language that doesn’t require you to stop and decode every other sentence.

What’s different: The prose. That’s it.

No scenes cut. No plot watered down. No study guide summary. Every chapter, every character, every devastating moment, just written so you can actually experience why this book has been breaking hearts since 1847.

You get the full story without “hitherto,” “countenance,” and sentences that take three reads to figure out. You get Brontë’s genius without the barrier.

Still Wuthering Heights. Just readable.

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Wm Henry Morris @wmhenrymorris.com · 07/10/2026

Also: podcasts I’ve read or re-read books because of @mealofthorns.bsky.social, @deathsentencepod.bsky.social, @strangehorizons.bsky.social, and @nochorus.bsky.social (SF Ultra) episodes.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 07/10/2026

IKR I'd absorbed it long before I started writing books myself, that the kind of books I wanted to read would simply never be discoverable via ratings-based bookish platforms—they represent a mode of collective reading out of scope for these apps

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Ancillary Review of Books @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · 06/10/2026

If you're interested, it's @bookshop.org's anti-prime days today and tomorrow, so free shipping! You can support ARB & AMOT by picking up any titles we've talked about through our Bookshop:

bookshop.org

ARB's Coverage

Check out this list on Bookshop

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E. Catherine Octobler @ecatherine.com · 06/10/2026

Buy my books as I am presently without income and royalties could really help me get through. Woo cancer!! Free shipping at Bookshop, anti-Prime days. share.google/hLyufbIZeBVR...

share.google

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headfallsoff @headfallsoff.com · 06/10/2026

sorry. unfollowing now. i just wanted to support queer poc authors. i didn't know he committed seppuku after a failed coup to restore the emperor of japan.

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Usman T. Malik @usmantm.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

Elise Tobler, editor of the fabled SHIMMER magazine and now THE DEADLANDS is hospitalized after cancer and an infection. She made SFF an inclusive, interesting place and broke out many authors. Help if u can gofund.me/6ea1bf7a4

gofund.me

Donate to Help Support Elise While She Recovers, organized by Sean Markey

hello. friends if you're reading this, you're likely a Friend of The Deadl… Sean Markey needs your support for Help Support Elise While She Recovers

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Alex de Campi @alexdecampi.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

new book! new book!

A paperback book with a bold, junji ito-esque red, yellow, and black cover, titled “A Compendium of Supernatural Entities Found in the Government Girls Higher Secondary School”, by Kuzhali Manickavel

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The Deadlands @thedeadlands.com · 07/10/2026

this october instead of donating to us, THE DEADLANDS we're asking you to please considering donating to help our #1 editor in chief @ecatherine.com with the bills stemming from her ongoing hospital stay. no coin fundraiser only fundraising Elise 🖤🖤 pls join us + spread the word

gofundme.com

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Wm Henry Morris @wmhenrymorris.com · 06/10/2026

A thing I like about this essay is that it acknowledges both the messiness and usefulness of genre (and the pleasures)

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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

They're saying there's an anti-prime day sale. They're saying you might pick up a short story collection for the anti-prime day sale. Is that true bookshop.org/p/books/unce...

bookshop.org

Uncertain Sons and Other Stories

LOCUS AWARD WINNERWORLD FANTASY AWARD FINALISTNEBULA AWARD WINNER ("Uncertain Sons" Novelette)PHILIP K. DICK AWARD SPECIAL CITATIONBRAM STOKER AWARD(R) NOMINEE ("Uncertain Sons" Novelette)BRITISH SCIE...

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 06/10/2026

"It has no place in my world" is a god-tier fuckoff line

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Isaac Fellman @isaac-fellman.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Still so proud to be on this incredible shortlist. The winner will be announced on Ursula's birthday in just a couple of weeks!

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Indrapramit Das @indrapramitdas.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Bookshop.org is having an anti-amazon-prime sale, & you can get THE DEVOURERS slightly discounted there. A mythic realist, queer dark fantasy about love, sex, violence, & shapeshifting set in contemporary India & the Mughal Empire. It won a Lambda Award.

bookshop.org

The Devourers: A Novel

For readers of Margaret Atwood, China Miéville, and David Mitchell comes a striking debut novel by a storyteller of keen insight and captivating imagination.LAMBDA LITERARY AWARD WINNER • NAMED ONE OF...

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 06/10/2026

yay literary/genre discourse (unironically yay, I love that stuff)

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