iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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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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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 30/09/2026

Read it! One of no less than three 2026 Tchaikovskys featuring a plot central female character who is, in some more or less literal way, a mustelid. (See also Pretenders to the Throne of God & Children of Strife.)

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 30/09/2026

I think novellas are a good way back into reading when your attention span is suffering! There's also Nghi Vo's Singing Hills series, and I really enjoyed Kill All Wizards by Jedediah Berry.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 30/09/2026

I started by rereading the Murderbot series, which starts with four fun and quick novellas to get you hooked before it hits you with the first novel.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 30/09/2026

it has now been two months of suddenly having my reading mojo back. I have read or reread twenty-nine books. I can now share such revelations as 'it's been 13 years but Ancillary Justice is still a perfect book' and 'has anyone else heard of this Tchaikovsky chap?'

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 29/09/2026

a 20k story and a 40k story are such different beasts. to me.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 29/09/2026

the two lengths of SFF novella are 'ok fine I'll make it just long enough to be hugo eligible' and 'ok fine I'll make it just short enough to be hugo eligible'

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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

i should clarify, when i write people doing bad things, it's because i am bad. they are me. more importantly, when you read about those bad things, they also become you. that's how story works. in fact, you are going to think about murder before this skeet ends. how's that feel, sicko.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 22/09/2026

it's simply impossible to write a book. there's no way. it can't be done. stop trying to trick me into - [eats lunch] turns out books are made of scrambled eggs.

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Vajra Chandrasekera @vajra.me · 21/09/2026

apart from the known standard model of novels, novellas, and novellettes, we are yet to find evidence of the hypothesized novelino, noveletto, noveluccio, noveluzzo, or noveluolo. a great deal of work remains to be done

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 21/09/2026

I'm done with September. I think three weeks is long enough for one month.

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Elliott Kay @elliottkaybooks.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

SORCERER OF THE WILDEEPS by Kai Ashante Wilson is a fantasy novella with awesome worldbuilding, a queer love story, and beautiful writing. If you ever wanted to see dialects like African American Vernacular done well in a fantasy setting, this is your book. It's so good.

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Gretchen McCulloch @gretchenmcculloch.com · 20/09/2026

I have been reading the Anne McCaffrey Pern novels for the first time yeah I don't know why I hadn't read them before and I don't know why I'm inhaling them so fast now BUT importantly I know they're not trying to actually do linguistic worldbuilding but BOY do I have linguistics thoughts anyway

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Tom Ewing @tomewing.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Narnia books as Isekai Manga

1. My Sweet Tooth Made Me The Villainess’ Slave
2. In Another World, The Dwarves Picked Me To Lead The Revolution
3. All At Sea With My Level 0 Sailing Skills
4. On A Mission In Another World And I Can’t Remember The Cheat Codes
5. That Time I Got Reincarnated As A Horse
6. Help! My Uncle’s In Love With The Demon Queen!
7. Reincarnated In Another World Just As The Game’s Ending

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Macey Levington @macey.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

THE UNSPOKEN NAME by AK Larkwood. gorgeously written adventure fantasy of an orc sacrifice turned warrior fighting free of the terrible wizard mentor who saved her, takes Tombs of Atuan & blossoms open at Planeswalker scale. doomed by its Feb '20 release 😭 dead planets! fighter/mage f/f! butch mc!!

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 16/09/2026

all overworked burnt-out thirty-something millennial overachievers with poor social skills should know... there's hope. someone out there is into it.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 16/09/2026

look I know I shouldn't look at goodreads but then I would miss things like this

goodreads screenshot:

Hottest main character omg I want Dr Walden to step on me

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Freya Marske @freyamarske.bsky.social · 16/01/2026

BODIES OF MAGIC, out Sept 2026: Grey's Anatomy meets A Deadly Education, a mystery set during the final exam week of a magical medical school. (Or: five queer nerds solve a murder and have some feelings.) Cover design by Jamie Stafford-Hill. Preorder US: bit.ly/BoM-US Preorder UK: bit.ly/BoM-UK

A book cover for Bodies of Magic by Freya Markse. A deep blue building with a quadrangle, spires and cloisters fills the lower half of the cover with the title text in gold across it. Behind that, the upper background is grey and stormy with a prominent twisting white design that could be a bare tree rising up from the main tower OR an anatomical diagram of the lungs. Centered above the lung-tree are the words DO NO HARM in stark white. Honestly: a complete banger of a cover. Doesn't it make you want to preorder? Yes, yes it does.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 10/09/2026

It's good to memorise a bunch of shakespeare as a teen so that when you're trying to make yourself do chores you can mutter 'if it were done, when 'tis done, were well 'twere done quickly' at the cleaning cupboard.

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Rebecca Fraimow @rebeccafraimow.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

I started a podcast 😔

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C. W. Maurer @cwmaurerwrites.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Finished @emilytesh.net 's The Incandescent, and don't think I've ever seen the experience of being a teacher of teens put into words so well. I lost track of how many times I chuckled or sighed resignedly or teared up a bit while thinking "Yup. That's exactly how that goes." 10/10. Very good book.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 07/09/2026

(new books for September that I did know about but still appreciate the reminder: Freya Marske, Adrian Tchaikovsky, T. Kingfisher, Premee Mohamed, Ken Liu, Emily St. John Mandel, Garth Nix)

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 07/09/2026

authors I did NOT know had books out this month: Tananarive Due, Micaiah Johnson, Frances Hardinge, and a Madeline Miller short

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 07/09/2026

I hope whoever runs the Reactor new releases lists knows that they are saving my life every month.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 05/09/2026

ooo good shout, I will add it to the list!

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 02/09/2026

vindolanda is outrageously good. strong recommend.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 01/09/2026

also in the last few weeks I binged all the murderbots (they are VERY bingeable) and then gulped down the tyrant philosophers series by Adrian Tchaikovsky, which was so unbelievably good I had to send him a fan letter.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 01/09/2026

finally catching up on my lost decade like hey guys did you know there are more imperial radch books now? yeah and they’re good!

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 01/09/2026

from 2014 to 2023 when I worked in education, I more or less stopped reading for pleasure. when you get a passion job, it eats your passions. it’s only this year it’s really started to come back.

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Eddie Clark @dreddieclark.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

23) The Fall of Elvenesse by Kai Ashante Wilson (Mar) If there is a single book on here I'm most excited for it's this. Kai Ashante Wilson is one of the best writers in contemporary SFF & this is his first novel and I cannot wait to read it.

barnesandnoble.com

The Fall of Elvenesse

Barnes & Noble’s online bookstore for books, NOOK ebooks & magazines. Shop music, movies, toys & games, too. Receive free shipping with your Barnes & Noble Membership.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 31/08/2026

That’s not me, it’s Alix Harrow! Who does indeed deserve all possible congratulations, what a wonderful win!

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Series goes to Old Man’s War by John Scalzi (Tor US; Tor UK).

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Short Story goes to “In My Country” by Thomas Ha (Clarkesworld, Issue 223).

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novelette goes to “Never Eaten Vegetables” by H.H. Pak (Clarkesworld, Issue 220).

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novella goes to The River Has Roots by Amal El-Mohtar (Tordotcom; Arcadia UK).

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Astounding Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by Must Read Books Publishing) is Antonia Hodgson (1st year of eligibility).

Astounding Award for Best New Writer (sponsored by Must Read Books Publishing)

Antonia Hodgson (1st year of eligibility)

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Los Angeles Worldcon @laworldcon.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

The 2026 Hugo Award for Best Novel goes to The Everlasting by Alix E. Harrow (Tor US; Tor UK).

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

anyway this is why it's always good to do an Ancillary Justice reread, because that book fully understands that 'we worked together back in the day and I didn't even like her very much' is a meaningful and important and extremely funny connection to have with another person.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

many books I read have Protagonists and Antagonists (including Rivals, Nemeses, Avatars of Evil, etc) as well as Party Members, Love Interests, sometimes even Friends and Family. but coworkers and in-laws are mysteriously absent from the universe. they don't exist even in passing.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

life is full of coworkers and in-laws (sweeping claim) (but I'm right) people whom you would not necessarily have chosen, who are still sharing a significant part of your life with you. & whose experience of the world is as full and complex as yours.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

a thing I sometimes think about when I'm reading these days: does this book know about Coworkers and In-Laws?

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

what I'm saying here is that the opening of Ancillary Justice is still really, really good.

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 28/08/2026

you find a body in the snow! it's your secret work nemesis from a thousand years ago. this bitch who never refilled the photocopier when it ran out of paper 😒 (in this scenario you are the photocopier)

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Rebecca Fraimow @rebeccafraimow.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

fair warning, our reading lists more or less doubled while we were going through the questions to address in this episode, so brace yourselves

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Eight Days of Diana Wynne Jones @eightdaysofdiana.bsky.social · 22/08/2026

Thank you all so much for the reams and reams of great questions and comments you sent in to us for this season, which has resulted in a full THREE HOUR final bonus episode for S3! zencastr.com/z/QO_WfPUL

zencastr.com

S3 Bonus Episode 3 - Q&A · Zencastr Video

This ae nighte, this ae nighte, Every nighte and alle, Fire and fleet and candle-lighte, And Christe receive thy saule. In our final S3 bonus episode, we spend either three hours (from your perspecti

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Emily Tesh @emilytesh.net · 20/08/2026

I'm so glad you enjoyed it! I wrote this one for the teachers and I hoped it would resonate. Thanks for reading!

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