iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 17/08/2026

AI RANT (cont’d) Originality AI also offered me some “helpful” suggestions on how I could “improve” my style. These suggestions, along with my response to them as a two-time Nebula and one-time Compton Crook nominee, are displayed below. 🧵3/5

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 17/08/2026

AI RANT Following the cancellation of three major debut book deals over AI suspicions, I decided to put my own (needless to say, 100% human-written) prose to the test. My detector of choice was Originality AI, and the results proved to be jarring, to say the least. 🧵1/5

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration): POETRY “The World To Come” @jenniferhudak.bsky.social MIDDLE GRADE AJ Torres and the Treasure of Captain Grayshark @labyrinthrat.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration) STORIES “When You Think No One Can See You” @lettie-prell.bsky.social “The Basilisk Painting” @anthonyeichenlaub.com “Artful Felicitations” @darusha.ca “So Deep, So Wide” by Michelle Muenzler “Last Dam Standing” @historyneverwas.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

Loved in 2025 (for awards) STORIES “Jimmy. Fucking. Bang.” @mynachang.bsky.social “Terraforming: An Unearthly Earth” @aliciahilton.bsky.social “Five Things You Can See” @nadiaradovich.bsky.social “The Dance of Narcissus and Echo” @rajivmote.bsky.social “The Walled Garden” @drfionamoore.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for awards) STORIES “Through the Machine” @cornellwriter.bsky.social “Different Flames” @bethcato.bsky.social “The Mermaid Who Declined…” @aphowell.com “The Midwife in the Palace of the Forest King” @jelenawrites.bsky.social “The Cold Burning Light of Her” @swpisciotta.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration): NOVELLAS The Deaths of Mountains @jordankurella.com We Who Hunt Alexanders @jasonsanford.bsky.social Disgraced Return of the Kap's Needle @renanbernardo.com

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration): NOVELETTES “The Librarian and the Pirate” @schoen.bsky.social “Finding Tiggly” @schoen.bsky.social “The Soundtrack of My Afterlife” @cornellwriter.bsky.social “Uncertain Sons” @thomasha.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2026

I loved in 2025 (for your awards consideration): NOVELS The War Beyond @andreagstewart.bsky.social The Tower of the Tyrant @jeremyteg.bsky.social Unworthy @lmariewood.bsky.social Sea Swept @leahcypess.bsky.social The Shadow Minister @lrb.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 25/02/2026

Shea Ashcroft & Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory have been shortlisted for the Compton Crook Award for best first novel! Compton Crook can only happen once in life, so I'm incredibly honored and happy. Thank you so much to @balticon.bsky.social & everyone who keeps supporting the book. I love y'all.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 15/12/2025

So ... Sleeping Worlds was selected by Kirkus as one of their Best Books of 2025! I’m incredibly honored, to say the least. Great thanks to everybody who supported me & the novel!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 23/08/2025

I wish more people understood Gen“AI” is not AI.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 05/06/2025

A fact that feels like something straight out of an alternate reality: turns out that before Star Wars, Hayden “Anakin Skywalker” Christensen starred in a TV show called … Higher Ground.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/03/2025

Amazing. That's why I’m subscribed to @publisherslunch.bsky.social, to find out how Hunger Games are doing. Honestly now 😂

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 23/03/2025

If you see this, quote with the energy you bring to BlueSky.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 14/03/2025

Both the e-book and the hardcover versions (did you know there was a hardcover version?) of #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory are trending again—many, many thanks to you all!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 13/03/2025

So this happened. I love y’all, and I can't thank you enough! Huge congratulations to my fellow finalists—and I’ll post more once I get myself together :) Here's the obligatory Sir Mick GIF for you :) #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 07/03/2025

post your favourite pokémon, wrong answers only

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 01/03/2025

Nebula Award nominations close in 9 hours! To all who enjoyed #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory: I would be honored if you stood together with me and extended the tower-shaped middle finger to all the dictators around the world.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2025

Nebula and BSFA nominations close tomorrow. HAVE YOU NOMINATED? I HAVE! We live in difficult times, but you and your words have made them better. Here’s to the writers!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/02/2025

@jonficke.bsky.social’s beautiful “At the Ravenstone.” “I swept through the priest and reached out to touch my brother. My hand slipped through his shoulder to touch the rough granite of the Ravenstone …” So full of pain & life—even though one character is a ghost. For your Nebula consideration!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 26/02/2025

@bmorrisallen.com’s “For This Rich Earth” is deep and beautiful. “Paradise before the fall. Or maybe after. Whichever it was, he’d see what the planet had to say.” You do NOT know where this one is going. Each time, I was happy to come back to it. I cried at the end. For your Nebula consideration.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 24/02/2025

“Sunrise was a muted thing, a bit of pink visible through the canopy.” Poetically named “Adamere in Swan” is a beautiful novelette by @aphowell.com about the pull of the past, the things you secretly hate, and a made-up constellation that favors travelers. For your Nebula consideration, folks.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 23/02/2025

Hehe, I had no console at all, and my first computer was a ZX Spectrum home-built from components people brought back from UK business trips. 48K RAM, a 5-inch floppy drive, a tiny black-and-white monitor :D

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 23/02/2025

“As the capitalist reality spread, the pirates arrived in the publishing industry. From 1991 to 1997, the only Star Wars books to be published in Russia were pirated. Take a look at this 1997 edition I owned … The Russian title reads “Death Star.” Wait a second. That’s not the Death Star …”

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 09/02/2025

Locus voting is open, but I won’t ask you to write me in; the magazine doesn’t have a good record when it comes to smaller publishers 🙃 BUT if you’ve read & loved my little BSFA-longlisted, FFA-shortlisted novel, pls consider thumbing it up on the Nebula Reading List: www.sfwa.org/forum/readin...

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 06/02/2025

Excited about meeting @electricsheepsf.bsky.social this Saturday! This is going to be absolutely fantastic. Practicing my Harrison Ford impression right now.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 31/01/2025

BSFA longlist just dropped, and #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory is a nominee for Best Novel!! Absolutely thrilled, incredibly humbled, and deeply grateful for your support on this wild journey, friends! Thank you! #BSFAAwards2024 bsfa.co.uk/bsfa-awards-...

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/01/2025

#SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory is trending on the Nebula Reading List—I wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to everyone who liked/upvoted the book; you made one life bearable. Thank you. Despite despots sprouting in every corner, we have our beautiful writing community. www.sfwa.org/forum/readin...

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 17/01/2025

One of the most magical experiences of 2024 was my trip to Mount Gorsk. For a day, I remembered how it felt to watch The Fellowship in 2021, remembered the wide-eyed kid I used to be. You need this trip, too. Because the world is f**ked right now. @schoen.bsky.social’s The Runemaster’s Daughter:

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 30/12/2024

Realized something yesterday: #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory & “Tower of Mud and Straw” take place in separate realities. I’ve always said that Shea’s fate at the end of “Tower” depends on whether I get the chance to write the full novel. In a way, Shea is Schrödinger’s Cat. 🧵1/3

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 22/12/2024

Name a non-LOTR character that could resist the One Ring.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 18/12/2024

As much as I like the current cover of #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory, I feel the rejected one embodied the novel much better. If the sales are good enough, the publisher *could* release a special edition with that cover. What do you think? In the meantime, pls boost ... www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGJ3ZR4B/

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 14/12/2024

#SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory has just received a blurb from none other than @andreagstewart.bsky.social!! “A surreal and ambitious undertaking, surprising at every turn, with a steady sense of dread and wonder … that may just change the way you think.” Yesss! The link is in the comments 😎

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 13/12/2024

#SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory is science fantasy noir inspired by the Nebula-nominated “Tower of Mud & Straw.” Towers, politics, alternate worlds. Kirkus called it “mind-expanding” in a starred review; Daily Mail, “a towering achievement & a genre-busting tour de force.” www.amazon.com/dp/B0DGJ3ZR4B/

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 11/12/2024

“I got up to check on you, and the hallway was like the lonely corridor of a hospital at night.” “House of the Hidden Moon,” @swpisciotta.bsky.social’s beautiful & tragic story of an abduction & the endless liminality in its wake. It’ll break your heart. www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/hous...

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 10/12/2024

#SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory makes an appearance on @BeforeWeGoBlog, as part of @plstuart-author.bsky.social’s Top Indie & Trad Pub Books For 2024! beforewegoblog.com/p-l-s-top-in...

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 07/12/2024

Indiana Jones + witches & amber magic + feral armored vehicles = #ECAmbrose ’s “A Snake in the Grass.” The voice & style shine, as you would expect from the author. Magical realism against the gritty backdrop of WWII. I know a novel with the same main character is planned—and I need it NOW, please.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 03/12/2024

Friends, I would appreciate a boost :) Awards season is upon us! Please don’t forget my science-fantasy-noir novel #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory is eligible for: Nebulas BSFAs BFAs WFAs Locus Hugos SFWA members can download a copy here: www.sfwa.org/forum/topic/... THANK YOU ALL FOR YOUR SUPPORT!!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 29/11/2024

@drfionamoore.bsky.social’s “The Portmeirion Road” is beautiful, wistful, sublime, and so Le Guin. These little things next to us, four-legged, six-legged, are they really self-aware? Perhaps the question is less important than how we ourselves perceive them. clarkesworldmagazine.com/moore_05_24/

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 28/11/2024

What do you get when you put together a partially aware (due to a glitch) prosthetic leg, some nasty body horror, and a Harrison Ford-style narration (if Ford were a woman)? You get the deliciously creepy “Metalloid Blues” by @mynachang.bsky.social!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 27/11/2024

In the Top 10 now :) Thank you so much, everyone!

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 23/11/2024

“She ran better than anyone in the whole world. The text doesn’t even tell us if she liked running.” WOW, simply WOW. “Another Old Country” by @nadiaradovich.bsky.social is a meditation on the names we give ourselves and the names others try to force on us; a beautiful medley of synesthesia.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 21/11/2024

“We Will Teach You How to Read” by @carolinemyoachim.bsky.social BRILLIANT “Our lives are short compared to yours, but you fail to comprehend the magnitude of the difference. We read 3 times in the course of our lifespan…” I got it! I understand, do you hear? …only there’s no one left to listen.

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 17/11/2024

A woman trapped in an abusive relationship starts seeing ghostly centaurs as a deadly comet approaches Earth. “The Sky Unseen” by Michelle Muenzler is poetry in prose. THIS is what fiction’s all about. This is Bradbury & Le Guin—grief & hope through a speculative lens. @morningtransport.bsky.social

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Yaroslav Barsukov #NoToWar #НетВойне @barsukov.com · 16/11/2024

The great @petrikleo.bsky.social with #SleepingWorldsHaveNoMemory. Petrik doesn’t know anything about the book, but seems to like the cover! As usual, please spread the word, friends! Link to the Booktube video in the comments. www.amazon.com/Sleeping-Wor...

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