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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 11/10/2026

#Review of Shadow Games by Glen Cook A storyline focused on Croaker, the new leader of the Company, bringing them south. Prose is the best in the series so far. Focused narrative, believably awkward romance, slightly awkward pacing. Character takes priority, for the better. 4.5 #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Shadow Games" by Glen Cook. Depicts two panthers in the foreground. In the background is an armored figure sitting on a horse with a crow landing on the figure's hand, raised up to the sky. The figure is carrying a shield and has a helm with two bat wings on the top of the helm.

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Fur Affinity 🏳️‍⚧️ @furaffinity.net · 02/10/2026

GONDOR CALLS FOR AID FA Announcement: Support Fur Affinity’s Community Funding www.furaffinity.net/journal/1143... gofund.me/8126f11cb

Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

#Review of The Silver Spike by Glen Cook Divided up into three plotlines, unfortunately Case's time with the rebels flounders. Smeds is the standout, a disgusting man that nevertheless becomes the underdog to root for and who has the best growth and writing. Finale felt under-baked 3.5/5 #booksky 📚🪐

Cover to "The Silver Spike" by Glen Cook. Depicts a monstrous dog with a visible spine under the skin and an oversized jaw turning his head to face the viewer, sitting between two stones. In the background sits a tree with a spike embedded in the middle. The tree's branches are shooting lightning around it.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

#Review of Vacated Landscape by Jean Lahougue A surreal novel about a publisher who gets obsessed with discovering the author Desiderio's identity. Writing style is the highlight, constant interjections in the narration, sometimes nested. Unreliable narrator makes your head spin. 4/5 #Booksky 📚🖋️

Cover of "Vacated Landscape" by Jean Lahougue. Depicts the front of an ornate purposefully nonsensical building made out of stone, with ornate statuary and stone carvings on the facade. In front is a pillar covered in statues of human figures.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

#Review of Silent Dances by A.C. Crispin & Kathleen O'Malley A great disappointment. A bunch of humans that are aggravating to read, an extremely preachy lead, a plot that's so stock it was stale back when this came out. O'Malley's short fiction delivered but this was painful, skip 1.5/5 #booksky 🪐📚

Cover to "Silent Dances" by A. C. Crispin & Kathleen O'Malley. Depicts an eagle mid-shriek in the bottom right. Above is the head of a black-haired Native American woman. Behind her is a large alien that looks like a crane (the type of bird). All are in front of a starry background.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

#Review of Journey to Fusang by William Sanders An alt-history romp at first, a con artist gets into hijinks in a Muslim/Chinese-centered New World. Comedy is broad but amusing. Only significant woman is cardboard-thin. Takes a wild swing into war and death 2/3 in, for the worse. 2.5/5 #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Journey to Fusang" by William Sanders. Depicts a square-jawed man in buckskin clothing and a red-haired woman with a cape and bikini, both riding on a camel. They are racing away from a group of other camels ridden by stereotypical Arab and Native American men in the background. Behind them are rock formations with round "Islamic" and tiled "Chinese" roofed-houses on them.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

#Review of Three Days to Never by Tim Powers A solid action story with some bonkers occult elements. The characters are likeable but the pacing gets bogged-down in the middle and the book gets lost in the weeds of its own metaphysics, the 3rd act falls apart. Ends up being just fine 3/5 #Booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Three Days to Never" by Tim Powers. Depicts the top of an observatory tower with half of a skull superimposed on it.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 11/05/2026

#Review of Folk by Zoe Gilbert Mismarketed as a novel, in-reality a linked collection of short stories. The mood is quiet, with moments of deep melancholy or tragedy. Her writing is beautiful without being florid, evocative like a fire-eyed storyteller. I was left utterly enchanted 5/5 #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Folk" by Zoe Gilbert. Depicts two birds amidst several flowers in a woodcut style, one bird with a berry in its beak. A bee is in the top right corner.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 14/04/2026

#Review of The Paradox Twins by Joshua Chaplinsky Not sci-fi, despite the spacesuit. Twins reunite after their father dies; told in a collage of fictional documents, collected by a made-up webmaster obsessed with them. Intelligent, excellent use of character conveyed through inference. 4/5 #booksky

Cover of "The Paradox Twins" by Joshua Chaplinsky. Displays an astronaut's spacesuit, surrounded by concentric circles in various shades of pink

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vanoreo @vanoreo.bsky.social · 04/04/2026

the only way to have a coherent pluralistic society is if its government operates under the assumption of atheism

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 06/01/2026

#Review of Moon of the Turning Leaves by Waubgeshig Rice 4/5 The journey is the heart of this; pacing's pretty flawless for what it's aiming for. The mood is surprisingly peaceful with moments of tension. I wish it went into more detail on some things, but it was satisfying nonetheless. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Moon of the Turning Leaves" by Waubgeshig Rice. Depicts a forested, hilly landscape, with two trees having orange fabric wrapped around them

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 03/01/2026

#Review of Turning Darkness Into Light by Marie Brennan 3.5/5 The first 2/3 is an excellent look into translating, how new context can shape ancient art and our knowledge of our ancestors. But moral complexities get sanded away, bold ideas discarded, all for a bland, simple happy ending. #booksky 🪐📚

Cover of "Turning Darkness Into Light" by Marie Brennan. Depicts 4 small dragons of different colours emerging from the broken remnants of a single egg shell on a stony ground.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 31/12/2025

#Review of The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories by Susanna Clarke 4/5 A collection of historical fantasy stories, plenty of wit and sly humour, if somewhat insubstantial. "Mrs Mabb", "Tom Brightwind", "John Uskglass and the Cumbrian..." stood out the most with their style. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "The Ladies of Grace Adieu and other stories" by Susanna Clarke. Depicts a solitary flower in front of a blank red background.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 16/12/2025

#Review of The Indifferent Stars Above by Daniel James Brown 4.5/5 A nonfiction book recounting the history of the infamous Donner Party. Interspersed are snippets providing context, like trends and events from the time, along with scientific details found out later. Haunting, bleak, tragic #Booksky

Cover of "The Indifferent Stars Above" by Daniel James Brown. Depicts a snowy landscape, with snow-covered mountains blending into a starry night-sky above. There is a single crow flying in the air.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 10/12/2025

#Review of Galilee by Clive Barker 5/5 A captivating read, heavy with meaning and emotion, a grand tale of archetypes, of big loves and tragic flaws. Having a wide-open ending didn't detract too much, as you still get plenty of catharsis and satisfying payoffs. A real rich and heady brew #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of Galilee by Clive Barker. Depicts a man looking through slats in between wooden planks as light from offscreen bathes his face.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 17/11/2025

#Review of Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff 2/5 What an entertaining mess this turned into. The first 2/3rds do a good job at portraying an unreliable narrator. The last 3rd jumps the shark, piling on too many reversals in short order that undermine the rest of the novel. An ambitious failure. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Bad Monkeys" by Matt Ruff. Depicts four mandrill faces made off splotchy ink blots in front of a bright background.

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onion person @junlper.beer · 21/09/2025

i think everyone needs to get a lot less religious

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 07/11/2025

#Review of Bury Your Gays, edited by Sofia Ajram 4/5 One of the strongest anthologies I've read in a while, there's only one story that I'd call "bad", and the rest are enjoyable to amazing. No frills on this, just several well-chosen bangers all trying to be "tragic queer horror". #booksky 🩸📚🪐

Cover of "Bury Your Gays" edited by Sofia Ajram. Depicts a picture of a young man holding a switchblade pressed against their outstretched tongue, the picture is turned upside-down.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 06/11/2025

#Review of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield 3/5 A strange, tragic relationship drama, a meditation on grief and loss. When it focuses on that, it's at its strongest, but too often it gets distracted. I do appreciate the intent, but am left thinking that something has gone awry. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Our Wives Under the Sea" by Julia Armfield. Depicts a pink sky behind the title, and below the title are orange-shaded waves

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 30/10/2025

#Review of The Book of Queer Saints Volume 2, edited by Mae Murray 3.5/5 An improvement on the first volume, more daring and visceral in terms of subject matter. A tad larger as well, and there are a few what I'd call "filler" stories, but these don't overstay their welcome. #booksky 🪐📚🩸

The cover of "The Book of Queer Saints Volume 2" edited by Mae Murray. Depicts two androgynous figures naked except for leather bondage straps, leather stockings, long-fingered leather gloves, and black high heels, slumped together. The figures have snake skeletons emerging from their necks instead of heads, which intertwine. They are in front of a green wood-cut illustration of trees and fire.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 26/10/2025

#Review of Tell Me I'm Worthless by Alison Rumfitt 4.5/5 An extremely ambitious novel. The tone is bleak, loaded with very real horror, look up triggers. The narrative voice challenges the reader, is blunt but sophisticated, panic inducing. Looks into a festering wound in the UK's heart. #boosky 🩸📚

Cover of "Tell Me I'm Worthless" by Alison Rumfitt. Depicts a woman's face with only the eyes and hair exposed, the rest bleeding in a dark brown background. On her head her hair blends into a run-down, decrepit gothic wooden house.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 19/10/2025

#Review of The Book of Queer Saints, edited by Mae Murray 3.5/5 A horror anthology featuring queer villains, or at least antiheroes. Fairly good. A lot of experimentation with prose styles and narrative voices that don't always land. "Morta" and "The Last Disgrace" are the highlights. #booksky 🩸📚🪐

The cover of "The Book of Queer Saints, Volume 1" edited by Mae Murray. Depicts two naked red human figures, heads replaced with snarling dog heads, reaching through each others' chests and pushing each others' hearts out the back. Entwined around them are two red serpents, ready to strike. Behind them is a black-and-white woodcut-style illustration of a fire.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 15/10/2025

#Review of Red X by David Demchuk 5/5 A novel of queer horror, a community dealing with predators both real and ethereal. When the horror shows itself it is folkloric and grotesque, the perfect blend of alluring and creeping dread. Recommended if a looser structure isn't a problem. #booksky 🩸📚🪐

Cover of Red X by David Demchuk. Displays a large Red X over-top of a mostly black background textured to look like the cover of a distressed book, with white crinkles and bits of paper texture showing at the edges

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 03/10/2025

#Review of SS-GB by Len Deighton 9/10. SS-GB executes a ruthlessly clever plot, half espionage thriller and murder mystery. The men are varied, the women are doting ladies or tragic victims. A thoroughly fulfilling read, it's a shame the author never really tapped into this vein again. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "SS-GB" by Len Deighton. Depicts a collage of Nazi officers from historical pictures in front of the silhouette of Westminster and Big Ben

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 21/09/2025

#Review of Children of Dune by Frank Herbert 4/5 Herbert's writing continues to be at his height. The first 70% feels gradual, a bit self-indulgent, mind-game focused. Then the pace picks up a lot, brings in a Deus Ex Machina. Still an enthralling read, ruminations remain ever-relevant. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. Depicts the main title in between two purple and orange canyon walls, one human figure on each side, with the outlines of a futuristic city and two moons in the background.

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🎃GHOULLIKEHELLMACHINE🎃 @golikehellmachine.com · 12/09/2025

[norman rockwell guy] i think GFM should be reinstated for this comment so that she may be permabanned for one of the many other better examples to permaban a person she has provided

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 06/09/2025

#Review of Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert 4/5 Compared to the original, this entry is smaller, which keeps things moving along at a steady pace. Herbert's prose is stellar, the antagonists are well-developed, but the plot verges close to convolution. Brings a welcome perspective on Dune. #booksky 📚🪐

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 30/08/2025

#Review of The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities 3/5 This is noticeably weaker than the disease guide, although the stories are stronger and are given more space. Each section of the book has its own artist, which brings variety at the expense of stylistic cohesion. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover to "The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities" edited by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. Displays a list of the contributing authors, and surrounding that and the title are black-and-white photos of medical devices, jars and odds-and-ends.

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William B. Fuckley @opinionhaver.bsky.social · 06/08/2025

I am going to be a massive humorless asshole about woo-woo shit, no matter how seemingly harmless, for the rest of my life due to this. astrology, homeopathic medicine, etc etc it's all bullshit and it's not fucking harmless. there are people who will die due to this who would have otherwise lived.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 24/08/2025

#Review of The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric & Discredited Diseases 4/5 Theming and Coulthart's art sew up an ambitious anthology. Entries aim for a wide variety, mostly succeed outside of comedy. Leaves on a sour note, putting AIDS deaths down to a cooky fake disease. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of The Thackery T. Lambshead Pocket Guide to Eccentric and Discredited Diseases, an anthology edited by Jeff Vandermeer & Mark Roberts. Displays a beige cover, featuring a woodcut-style picture of a woman sticking her face into a bowel that is resting on a small table. Around the edges of the frame are anatomical depictions and medical instruments.

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Spooky Coochie @captainnikko.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

art and stories should be personal to the creator's experiences. sexuality should not be subdued. interests should not be tailored to people other than yourself. make what you want to make. the furry panopticon aren't paying your bills. twitter teens aren't paying your bills.

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Spooky Coochie @captainnikko.bsky.social · 22/08/2025

the puritanical attitude from younger people in the fandom/in general is extremely disheartening. it's not just whiplash from how hypersexual teen culture was in the 2000s, it's a profound gap in understanding and experiences. i implore everyone who has an issue with what i'm saying to go outside.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 31/07/2025

#Review of Rediscovery: Volume 2 4/5 The second anthology in the Rediscovery series, with stories from 1953-1957. An increase in quality, Griffith's being the standout. "Science fiction by women" is coming under a bit of strain, as almost a third of the stories are unequivocally fantasy. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover to "Rediscovery: Science Fiction By Women Volume 2 (1953-1957). Depicts a red-haired woman wearing a black leather catsuit and black heels with spurs, bending one knee on the floor, raising one hand and placing the other on the floor, both making arcane hand gestures. In front of her is a pentagon surrounding a star, both drawn in red, surrounding a green Klein bottle stoppered with red wax. Beside the woman is the list of authors included in the anthology.

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hexplaceholder.bsky.social @hexplaceholder.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Note: The people responsible for this, Collective Shout, list the names and faces of their leadership and board of directors on their own website. www.collectiveshout.org/our_team

collectiveshout.org

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Dale DiPietro @shotgungunshot.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

Also to note… VISA is an accredited Better Business Bureau company. From firsthand experience, companies do take those complaints relatively seriously. May as well add another Avenue of complaints, even if BBB is just Boomer Yelp

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Chris Franklin @errant-signal.com · 24/07/2025

And to be clear, this isn't (just) about access to smut - the literal stated targets here are marginalized queer folk. That's the play. And everyone in positions of power - from itch and Valve to Zombie Waypoint - are folding because bigots are fucking with the money.

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Chris Franklin @errant-signal.com · 24/07/2025

The fact that right now I can take my Visa card and buy something from Barely Legal Boobies Dot Com or whatever, but I can't take that same Visa card and buy an erotic visual novel on itch because Visa themselves told the platform to censor adult content is just outrageous, and they need to be told.

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Chris Franklin @errant-signal.com · 24/07/2025

The (ridiculously) long term answer is decentralizing as much of the internet as possible, including payment processors. But in the short term I think we need to figure out how to apply very strong pressure on payment processors to reverse course on this flagrant bullshit.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 24/07/2025

#Review of Rediscovery Volume 1 4/5 A collection of old sci-fi stories from the late fifties to early sixties. Quality is good for an anthology, with the expected couple of duds here and there, but there's still something of interest even then. Scyoc's entry is grim, but mature, holds up #booksky 📚🪐

Coveer of "Rediscovery Volume 1: Science Fiction by Women (1958-1963). Cover depicts a woman in a jacket in front of a desk covered with books, and beside her head the contributing authors are listed.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 17/07/2025

#Review of A Death at the Dionysus Club by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold 4.5/5 Fulfills every missed opportunity from the first. The mystery is more intricate, has more personal stakes, allows for more magical lore. Only one big bit of convenience mars this. A shame that this was the last #booksky 🪐📚

Cover of "A Death at the Dionysus Club" by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold. The cover depicts two men in tuxedos with black bowties, one sitting down on an ornate green Victorian chair, the other standing beside and behind it.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 09/07/2025

#Review of Death by Silver, by Melissa Scot & Amy Griswold 3.5/5 This is a gay historical fantasy Victorian mystery. There's not much wrong with this, the mystery compels, the characters are interesting. Problems include dangling thematic elements and magic feeling underutilized. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover to "Death by Silver" by Melissa Scott & Amy Griswold. Depicts two white men, one in a top hat, the other in a bowler hat, wearing victorian three-piece suits, jackets, pants and black shoes. On the floor beside them is a candlestick laying on its side.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 03/07/2025

#Review of Furnace by Livia Llewellyn 4/5 A collection of Dark Fantasy and horror, high-quality, only a couple lesser stories. Themes of civilization meeting an otherworldly nature, or in modernity itself seeming to deform. I also really like the cover, it lends a folk aesthetic. #booksky 🪐📚🩸

A cover to the Book "Furnace" by Livia Llewellyn. The covers is a photographer of a woman in a dress sitting on a field with apartments in the background. Th woman is holding a rope attached to a goat-headed creature covered by a blanket and several nick-knacks, statues and other items.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 24/06/2025

#Review of Cyteen by C. J. Cherryh Reseune attempts to recreate a brilliant monster after her death; her last victim is still haunted, politics can never be escaped. Compelling ideas, frequent infodumps. Has one of the best gay protags ever. Chewy, sophisticated, like a perfect steak. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Cyteen" by C. J. Cherryh. It shows a baby covered in electrodes and held in a technological egg-shaped device while being instructed by the image of a stern, brown-haired woman.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 09/06/2025

#Review of The Dark Descent, edited by David G. Hartwell The Dark Descent edited by David G. Hartwell An 80s anthology that's a retrospective look at horror. Plenty of hits, focusing on the eerie and atmospheric. Definition of horror is a bit too broad. Shame about the dearth of women. 🪐📚🩸 #booksky

Cover to "The Dark Descent", listing the authors Clive Barker, Ray Bradbury, John Collier, Shirley Jackson, Stephen King and Joyce Carol Oates in white text, over darker blue versions of their names in cursive. Below is an open, toothed maw.

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Seg'Urus @segremores.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

If you live in the US, now is the time to act: KOSA is back in congress for the third time. Another bill is being put forth that would effectively criminalize all adult material creators overnight. Call your reps; email them; fax them; send them snail mail letters and let them know what you think

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

#Review of From Day One: A Year 47 Omnibus by Bo Chappell et al. 3/10 This was a heartbreaker. The short stories range from awful to decent. Year 47 is a disappointment; mostly well-worn apocalypse tropes attached to a familiar arc. Then in the final chapters the plot careens off a cliff #booksky 📚🪐

Cover to From Day One: A Year 47 Omnibus by Bo Chappell et al. It shows a gold-coloured symbol made up of an angular 4 and 7 combined, with the middle point of the 4 connecting to the end of the top arm of the 7. The background is black with grey splotches.

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 30/04/2025

#Review of The Autumn Republic by Brian McClellan 7/10 While this is a satisfying read, this is where the author leans on convenience to tie up some threads while leaving others loose. The characters remain compelling to the end, even if the overall package is more ragged than the others #booksky 📚🪐

The cover to "The Autumn Republic" by Brian McClellan. It shows a middle-aged man with brown hair holding a waving red flag, wearing a blue military jacket with a sword on his belt. Behind him a cannon is firing into the background and muskets are being lowered

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 16/04/2025

#Review of The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan 8/10 This expands the scope and ups the stakes while not falling into typical middle-book pitfalls. No sense of filler, and it doesn't go off the rails. The only hiccups are a romance that falls flat and some less conclusive arc endings. #booksky 📚🪐

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Mike The Speculative Page @conumbra.bsky.social · 08/04/2025

#Review of Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan 3.5/5 The perfect example of a 7/10 book. The plot is engaging and while some of the characters draw on familiar archetypes none feel cookie-cutter. While the lore around it is hazy, Powder Magic's combat effects were thought through well. #booksky 📚🪐

Cover of "Promise of Blood" by Brian McClellan. Shows a grizzled military man holding a musket with bayonet attached, sitting on a wooden throne with the light streaming in behind him.

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