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Max Gladstone

@maxgladstone.bsky.social
7.9K followers 216 following 2.7K posts

NYT bestselling writer. Newsletter and updates at maxgladstone.com. More or less updates-only on here.

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Reposted by Max Gladstone
Sam Bergman @violanorth.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
I def don't have all the answers as to why there is such a persistent crisis/lull cycle in US orchestras, but one thing I do know from my 25 years at the high end of that business is that WAY too many execs and board leaders are convinced there is a magic sustainability formula hiding somewhere.
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Ada Palmer @adapalmer.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Mexico’s overwintering monarch population grew 64% this winter, with butterflies covering their largest area of forest since 2018. The recovery remains fragile, but suggests there’s been a positive impact from conservation efforts in the butterflies’ core habitat. buff.ly/XoPKQ9d #ShareGoodNewsToo
buff.ly
Mexico’s monarch butterfly population jumps 64%, offering hope for at-risk species
The insects covered its largest area since 2018, despite threats from habitat loss, climate crisis and pesticides
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
follow your bliss!
at last we have created the cliff of human-shaped holes from renowned manga, don’t go into the human-shaped holes in the mysterious cliff (aka Junji Ito’s The Enigma of Amigara Fault)
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Doctora Malka Older @older.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
we fucking loved it, even when there was basically nothing on it, and let me tell you something else: we loved it because of human connection, human diversity, human creativity. WE DON'T NEED A SINGLE THING ANY OF THESE COMEMIERDAS HAVE MADE AND TRIED TO SELL US IN ORDER TO HAVE A GREAT INTERNET.
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pmamtraveller.bsky.social @pmamtraveller.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
By Zdzisław Beksiński
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Hanayoyo @hanayoyo-art.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
#inktober Day 2: Relic (ft. Abelard, Saint of Kos, from @maxgladstone.bsky.social's Craft sequence novels)
An image of a man with a shaved tonsure and monk's habit smoking a cigarette and holding a flame, with a halo of analog measuring, drafting and repair tools around his head.
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Serena Malyon 🌞🌛 @serenamalyon.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Disciplined Duelist - for Magic: The Gathering's Streets of New Capenna AD: Sarah Wassell The first painting I completed for Magic and still one of my favourites.
A man strides across a dimly lit hallway, brandishing magical gauntlets. He rolls up a sleeve in anticipation of a fight to come. The shapes of the composition are angular and art-deco-inspired.
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Luke Ontario @coolhand.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I have no idea if this is true but the collage kills me
A black lemur in a leafy tree with its mouth open as if singing, beside an inset photo of Pavarotti striking a similar pose. Text reads: “New research shows lemurs use operatic techniques when they sing, to reach high notes.” Classic FM.
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Patch Zircher @patrickzircher.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Meiko Kaji (star of Lady Snowblood) struttin' through the subway in the 1970s.
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
It doesn't even help you convince the two year old to do something they, the two year old, ACTIVELY WANT TO DO
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
To give it credit, I guess, it's like the poor grammar in old scam emails: the *point* is that you don't want to reach people who think about what they're reading, those people won't give you their bank account information
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Many very, very strange and disappointing features of our current reality but that fanfic being the point of reference it is, for the people in question, keeps hitting me
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A friend sent me HPMOR about ten years back. The first couple chapters were a fun skim (little Harry having the least-10-year-old freakout ever about silver, gold & exchange rates was cute) before the accumulated curdled funk of the debate-club shut-in really got to me.
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Clearly "intelligence is infinitely persuasive" is the reason we are here in the year two thousand and twenty six
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
or, as often, "i am so much smarter than other people that *i* can make them do anything" Obvious cult-leader thought? Like the only way for this reasoning to survive contact with real humans is to unperson any humans you can't convince
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I think more than I should about what a person is really saying when they claim "a person sufficiently smarter than me could make me do anything"
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John Scalzi @scalzi.com · 29/09/2026
Today in "absolutely not"
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robert j bennett, ceo, results omega @robertjbennett.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I react very poorly when any proposed policy or plan is met with "but what if someone like Trump gets hold of it?? then it would be not good, but very bad" because there really is no law or institution that can work when a population is willing to elect the stupidest, worst asshole alive
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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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Ryan Van Loan @ryanvanloan.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Motherfucker, the rural blue collar workers here can't AFFORD to stay at home. Both parents work, they lose a huge chunk of one paycheck to daycare, but the small remainder keeps them floating from paycheck to paycheck. Get out of your fucking bubble. Honestly.
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
I have read this and it is excellent
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Stephen Blackmoore @stephenblackmoore.com · 29/09/2026
THE ONLY WAY OUT IS UP by @djangowexler.bsky.social www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/djang...
hachettebookgroup.com
The Only Way Out Is Up
“One of the most imaginative and hilarious writers I've ever read.”—Matt Dinniman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Dungeon Crawler CarlA small-...
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Solaris Books @solarisbooks.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We're so excited to see that @rebeccaroanhorse.bsky.social 's Hugo Award-winning BETWEEN EARTH AND SKY trilogy - an indigenous epic inspired by the pre-Colombian Americas -has an RPG launching soon from @montecookgames.com ! Buy the Books: geni.us/betweeneands Click the link below to learn more!
backerkit.com
Between Earth and Sky: the Roleplaying Game
Get notified when Between Earth and Sky: the Roleplaying Game launches on BackerKit!
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
They’re in Arthur’s bosom
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Surrealist existentialist comedy / romance starring Tybalt and Mercutio -> “R+J Are Dead” (is this anything)
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
there’s an issue of Al Ewing’s Immortal Hulk featuring Ben that runs for a whole fight and THEN hits us with this title card, I almost screamed
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Will "scifantasy" Frank @scifantasy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
static.klipy.com
The Thing: Fantastic Four First Steps
Alt: The Thing: Fantastic Four First Steps
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
alt text for the second, a little yoda showing up like, “hi friend”
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
alt text for the first one should have been inigo montoya saying “now that it’s over, i have no idea what to do with the rest of my life”
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
static.klipy.com
Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride
ALT: Inigo Montoya from Princess Bride
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
and then five minutes later, an idea for a new Thing
static.klipy.com
Grogu Says Hi Friend
ALT: Grogu Says Hi Friend
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
me after finishing a Thing
static.klipy.com
Inigo Montoya: Now That It's Over
ALT: Inigo Montoya: Now That It's Over
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“market can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent” & all that
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Those are the 2 scenes that I copied into my book
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
out of the blue sky, perhaps
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Also, perhaps, a book that hits particularly hard in 2026
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
they warned me that having children would change my emotional reaction to books and they were right but that scene with Camille and his boy, just, i am done, ended, over and then his father's letter, and
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
"I will be very very nice to you", jesus christ
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Finally forced myself to read the last 30 pages of A PLACE OF GREATER SAFETY, dammit I thought I went into this with eyes open, "don't get attached to these beautiful passionate murdery kids, they're gonna get their heads chopped off," but NO, here I am, choked up thinking about Camille's son
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I've heard something about that! I didn't know they'd be "good enough" for coding but my sense has been that they're "good enough" for most of the stuff the general population uses AI for now. If they're good enough for coding... that does seem like a problem, yeah
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
It seems to be genuinely transforming code which would transform the code economy but is that enough to pay off the X trillion dollar USD capital spend required to keep even the current state of the art up and running? idk
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
By all reports it seems to be much better at being an early-to-mid-career software dev than it is at anything else, the particulars of early 21st C employment have allowed these people to persist in the illusion that coding skills are the only skills that matter, so here we are
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Sun Wukong and Tang Xuanzang in line for jianbing near Sanlitunr at 3:30
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Stately, plump Zhu Bajie
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I do think a lot of the SV fear / overwhelm response to AI comes down to "they've built a machine that's very good at eating their jobs *specifically*"
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
as someone who dearly misses early-oughts Beijing, I can smell the cigarettes and erguotou coming off this title
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Max Gladstone @maxgladstone.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
ow ow ow ow ow ow my brain
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Jeff Drake @hatethedrake.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I slept on this book for TOO LONG. It is SO GOOD! Beautifully written and intricate like a puzzle box. @amalelmohtar.com & @maxgladstone.bsky.social knocked it out of the park with this one.
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Ann Leckie @annleckie.com · 25/09/2026
Y'all know there's a new book by Yoon Ha Lee coming soon, right?? www.simonandschuster.com/books/Code-a...
simonandschuster.com
Code and Codex
Three-time Hugo Award finalist Yoon Ha Lee returns to science fiction with a swashbuckling space opera fighting against an evil empire trying to er...
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