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A Meal of Thorns

@mealofthorns.bsky.social
2.9K followers 164 following 252 posts

A speculative book club, where critics, writers, and scholars join us to talk about thorny, interesting titles. A podcast from the Ancillary Review of Books. ancillaryreviewofbooks.org/amealoft…

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David Naimon @davidnaimon.bsky.social · 12/10/2026
Pete of @chillsatwillpod.bsky.social generously interviewed 3 podcast hosts for his show—Traci (@bitracial.bsky.social) of The Stacks, Brad (@bradlisti.bsky.social) of OtherPpl Pod, and myself. He then created this omnibus edition of our 3 consecutive hours: Audio: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/s...
podcasts.apple.com
Special Episode: Paragons of the Literary Podcast with Traci Thomas from The Stacks Podcast, David Naimon from Between the Covers, and Brad Listi from Otherppl Podcast
Podcast Episode · The Chills at Will Podcast · October 6 · 2h 51m
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Wm Henry Morris @wmhenrymorris.com · 05/10/2026
to misquote @casella.bsky.social, all my faves are literary weirdos and so are my friends
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Christine D. Baker @klaxoncomms.com · 08/10/2026
Link to the episode: sites.libsyn.com/586395/a-his...
sites.libsyn.com
Hugo History: A History of SFF Fandom: The Way the Future Was by Frederick Pohl
Another episode that's a bit different this month, but we'll be back to Hugo winners in November with Heinlein's final Hugo-winning novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.   I asked Olav Rockney, wh...
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Ancillary Review of Books @ancillaryreviewofbooks.org · 05/10/2026
Shortlist discussion time! @chloroformtea.bsky.social returns for the 2026 Le Guin Prize list: 9 of the most interesting speculative fiction books from last year. Lots of opinions, comparisons, and thoughts on what constitutes "Le Guin-y-ness". Listen before the winner is announced Oct. 21!
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 60- 2026 UKLG List with Roseanna Pendlebury
Only in its 5th year of operation, the Le Guin Fiction prize has already become something of a critical darling, with very interesting shortlists and winners that rarely overlap with other genre aw…
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Gerry Canavan @gerrycanavan.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
"My opinion of God has never been lower," "Christopher Tolkien is Morgoth," and "Dragons are boats" are each, in their own way, the most each of our hosts have ever cooked
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Porter Square Books in Cambridge & Boston @portersqbooks.bsky.social · 09/10/2026
They read 'em so you don't have to! Tonight in Boston at 630 we host the Worst Bestselles Podcast with Meredith Goldstein portersquarebooks.com/event/2026-1...
portersquarebooks.com
Worst Bestsellers Podcast, in conversation with Meredith Goldstein
Porter Square Books is excited to welcome The Worst Bestseller Podcast!
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Roseanna Pendlebury @chloroformtea.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Had a really great time chatting (and chatting, and chatting some more) with Casella about the Le Guin Prize shortlist. Honestly I could easily have gone on longer; it’s a list with a lot to discuss, in a great way.
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Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
Also, do you like Roseanna Pendlebury? Do you like Roseanna Pendlebury on podcasts? Do you like Roseanna Pendlebury on podcasts talking about award shortlists? Do you like Roseanna Pendlebury on podcasts talking about award shortlists that skew literary? Do ya? Man, is it Christmas for you today.
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 60- 2026 UKLG List with Roseanna Pendlebury
Only in its 5th year of operation, the Le Guin Fiction prize has already become something of a critical darling, with very interesting shortlists and winners that rarely overlap with other genre aw…
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Jon @thelitcritguy.bsky.social · 07/10/2026
Had an amazing evening at @blackwellsmcr.bsky.social talking with @ceciliarikap.bsky.social and Eleanor Drage about AI, political economy and the political imagination necessary for a better tech future to a packed out audience
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Jess @rocketjessie.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Such an amazing episode, but now I want to read all of these books!
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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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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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Karlo Yeager Rodríguez @kjy1066.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
It's out in the world! Order to your heart's content!
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Aha, good correction! And looking back through, it looks like the Crawford & the UKLG shortlists *have* overlapped by at least one title, except for the first UKLG list in 2022.
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Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
📚 NEW PODCAST EP 📚 In the wake of the @thebookerprizes.com shortlisting both M John Harrison and Rebecca Perry, is it time to ask (again) what relationship exists between the literary and the speculative? Yes. Yes, it is time. @chloroformtea.bsky.social and Ryan Elliott join me to do that (again).
strangehorizons.com
Critical Friends Episode 28: On Literary SFF
In this episode of Critical Friends, the Strange Horizons criticism podcast, Dan Hartland is joined by Ryan Elliot and Rosanna Pendlebury, to ask questions about literary SFF. What is it? How do we…
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
A little longer episode for a little longer shortlist: @chloroformtea.bsky.social & @casella.bsky.social talk through the 9 books on the @ursulakleguin.com Fiction Prize shortlist!
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 60- 2026 UKLG List with Roseanna Pendlebury
Only in its 5th year of operation, the Le Guin Fiction prize has already become something of a critical darling, with very interesting shortlists and winners that rarely overlap with other genre aw…
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sean guynes @guynes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
This year is the 35th anniversary of Timothy Zahn's HEIR TO THE EMPIRE, which touched off a wave of Star Wars novels that has never abated. So naturally I had to write about it.
seanguynes.com
Star Wars: Reading “Heir to the Empire” by Timothy Zahn (Thrawn 1)
On Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire, the first novel in his acclaimed Thrawn trilogy, which relaunched Star Wars franchise fiction after a half-decade hiatus.
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Liz Bourke @hawkwinglb.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'll be at @octocon.bsky.social this weekend. Here's my schedule. prog.octocon.com/people/Z0084 Anyone who's going, please feel free to say hi.
prog.octocon.com
ConClár Program Guide
ConClár Programme Guide
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Ranged Touch @rangedtouch.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
We've got an episode on Colson Whitehead's HARLEM SHUFFLE up on the Patreon for FREE in order to improve your Tuesday! Join @ckunzelman.bsky.social and @kearse.bsky.social as they chat about the first book (and come back for the next two eps on the next two books!) www.patreon.com/rangedtouch/...
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Jake Casella Brookins @casella.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
bring back the corn lady you cowards
the really quite lovely new cover of Ursula Le Guin's "Changing Planes", a sort of clean slightly abstract thing that could be looking out of an airplane window at a mountain range, with swoopy shooting stars with trailing yellow lines across the image, lots of blues.
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Matthew Leggatt @matthewleggatt.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
Had a lot of fun talking to @lucatrenta.bsky.social on NBN for the impending paperback release of Wastelands and Wonderlands. You can listen to the interview here: newbooksnetwork.com/wastelands-a...
newbooksnetwork.com
Wastelands and Wonderlands: Utopias and Dystopias in Film and Literature with Matthew Leggatt (SUNY Press, 2026) - New Books Network
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David Naimon @davidnaimon.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
Tin House is sending me on a mini-regional tour for the gorgeous reissue of Ursula K Le Guin: Conversations on Writing. Portland-Seattle-Bay Area friends I hope to see you. Come say hi and celebrate Ursula's legacy with me! @tinhouse.bsky.social @ursulakleguin.com @ebbooksellers.bsky.social
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Rico Charges @nochorus.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Years ago, I did a search for books signed by arch hepcat James Ellroy because I realised the inscriptions would be nuts. Here they are. (Reheating this from Twitter as it's been 18 months or so since I've really posted/scrolled on there, I'll probably delete it soon and want these to live on.)
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Workers’ Lit Podcast @workerslit.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
People ask: "Does being a writer and niche left podcaster pay well?" Yes, if you're counting the currency of impressing weird gay guys with cool tattoos.
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Roseanna Pendlebury @chloroformtea.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
Listening to this interview is fascinating. Two main thoughts: 1) The blessing that is an interviewer so well informed, so thoughtful as Armfield is here. 2) Listening to M John Harrison talk about his books makes me feel very stupid and also that I do very much actually want to read them all now
londonreviewbookshop.co.uk
M. John Harrison & Julia Armfield: The End of Everything | London Review Bookshop
The great M. John Harrison – ‘The closest thing we have to a present-day Wyndham or Ballard’ according to the New Statesman – returned to the shop to present…
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Classic SF with Andy Johnson @andyjohnson.xyz · 24/09/2026
The prolific, sometimes brilliant, British SF writer John Brunner (1934 - 1995) was born on this day. I've covered his work fairly extensively, most recently his fourth and final "tract novel", The Shockwave Rider (1975). As a prediction of an online society, it is by turns prescient and naive.
andyjohnson.xyz
Computer fugitive: The Shockwave Rider (1975) by John Brunner
On the run in the networked society
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AimEEK!! Ogden @aimeeogdenwrites.com · 24/09/2026
“Zee Nu” by Eva Meijer. Picked this up at the library after hearing the recommendation on @mealofthorns.bsky.social - it’s the first novel I’ve successfully finished in Dutch (that wasn’t abridged into easier language) and I’m so glad I did
Book cover: dark blue with the imprints of pale sea plants
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Molly Templeton @mollytempleton.com · 23/09/2026
Absolutely love that we have the one and only @maris.bsky.social reading one of Ursula's tart and satirical and pointed publishing posts this week
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
New episode! OF ONE BLOOD is a fun, strange book, out of time but full of sympathetic resonance. @jgbridgergilmore.bsky.social returns to talk us through it:
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 59- OF ONE BLOOD with Garrett Bridger Gimore
Out of print for the greater part of the 20th century, Hopkins’ Of One Blood looks a lot like Afro-futurism, using ancient Ethiopian technology and the new science of mesmerism to think about…
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Ursula K. Le Guin @ursulakleguin.com · 18/09/2026
We'd like your help with something. The one hundredth anniversary of Ursula's birth will take place in 2029. This may seem a long time away, but we’re already starting to think about how to celebrate Ursula’s life and art. We’d love to add your ideas to the mix—there's a brief survey here:
form.jotform.com
Centenary event planning
Please click the link to complete this form.
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University of Alberta Press @ualbertapress.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Premee Mohamed gave a vivacious, informative, and thought-provoking keynote at the Book Publisher Association of Alberta this morning. We are off to a great start! Her newest book is Wickhills. #authors @abbookpub.bsky.social
Young woman wearing glasses showing the cover of her new book.
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Gareth Watkins @garethwatkins.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Babe, wake up, new Volodin just dropped. (five minutes later) Babe, wake up- www.thetimes.com/culture/book...
thetimes.com
Cult writer’s 11 books in a week: ego trip or literary milestone?
The cryptic French author Antoine Volodin has convinced 11 publishers to simultaneously release what may be the culmination of his ‘post-exoticism’ project
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
More Guynes/Casella commentary on the way, but in the meantime:
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 37 – THE HISTORIAN with Sean Guynes
Vampire scholar, science fiction studies editor, and ARB co-founder Sean Guynes joins to discuss Kostova’s 2005 historical vampire thriller. We both have fairly negative opinions of the book, but i…
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Thomas Ha @thomasha.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
One year ago(!), UNCERTAIN SONS AND OTHER STORIES was published. My thanks to the @undertow.bsky.social team for making it possible. Such a wonderful experience to have this first collection out in the world. Thanks for reading, talking about it, voting for it, and supporting the book. What a ride.
copy of Uncertain Sons next to a sleeping tortie shrimp baby
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Hugo, Girl! the podcast @hugogirlpodcast.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Here's our Worldcon Report! Including musical performances! And a review of Nando's! And a dog report that also includes us trying to pronounce things! This episode has everything - it's guaranteed to include something you don't want to hear! hugogirl.libsyn.com/worldcon-rep...
hugogirl.libsyn.com
Hugo, Girl!: Worldcon Report: LAcon V
We went to Worldcon and came home with a Hugo! Here's our (silly, rambling) report.  LINKS: Want to make your own ? Get yourself some ! (If you're in the UK, they have it at )
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HELL WIZARD @pyramidmaster.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
this place is home to the work I’m proudest of. I’ve been writing art criticism for a good while now and the level of both writerly freedom as well as brilliant editing is a fucking treasure. especially since our bread and butter is lots and LOTS of pieces on contemporary work
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
Weekend crowd, icymi: the LA Worldcon podcast report! Featuring interviews with authors, critics, & conrunners, really good coffee, and clips from the "Many Mics" mash-up with Octothorpe, Worldbuilding for Masochosts, and Hugo, Girl!
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 58- LACON V
Worldcon episode time: we’ve got interviews, we’ve got a coffee report, we’ve got an only-mildly chaotic group podcast attempt! Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at …
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Sunny Moraine @dynamicsymmetry.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Again, I feel shitty even asking given the state of the world in general, but this is going to eat about $10,000 all told, and while I think we can get some help from relatives, I’d just. Super appreciate any help anyone has to spare ko-fi.com/dynamicsymme...
ko-fi.com
Buy Sunny Moraine a Coffee
Become a supporter of Sunny Moraine today!
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
A Meal of Thorn's (much briefer) take with @tallesteden.bsky.social was a good time btw:
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 18 – THE SILMARILLION with Eden Kupermintz
Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books.Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon!Credits:Guest: Eden KupermintzTitle: The Silmarillion by J.R.R. TolkienHost…
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Extremely excited for these three to go through the Silmarillion. I may have snuck in a re-read
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Juan Martinez @fulmerford.com · 11/09/2026
So freaking excited for this October 1 event for SOMETHING FOLLOWED US HOME. If you're in Chicago or anywhere near or if you just want to drive a million miles to come to this, please do! It's with the amazing @cynthiapelayo.bsky.social & @anandalima.bsky.social
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Molly Templeton @mollytempleton.com · 07/09/2026
did dinner take forever to make? well, yes, but that just means I got to listen to this entire delightful episode whilst being stuck in the kitchen! yes I do now want to reread Cloud Atlas AND read every book mentioned
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Octothorpe @octothorpecast.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Octothorpe 168 is here! We discuss @laworldcon.bsky.social in all its finery, including the very excellent program and the very excellent Hugo Award winners. And before anyone asks: yes, Alison has a backing track for part of the episode. Listen here! octothorpe.podbean.com/e/168-it-s-a...
A photograph of John and Duncan MacGregor taken at an IHOP near the Hilton Anaheim. They are turned to look at each other in a booth. Their facial expressions are difficult to read, but hearts overlay the picture and so we surmise they are in love. Faces of bystanders are pixellated for privacy purposes. Words above the photo read “Octothorpe 168” and below read “Love is in the air at LAcon V”.
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Jake Casella Brookins @casella.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
offhand comment that I've been unable to get out of my head
Black and white picture of Ursula K. Le Guin and J.R.R. Tolkien with a barbed wire fence behind them, labelled "Only Hard Gs".
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Dan Hartland @danhartland.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I don’t say this to minimise the excellent work Casella does elsewhere in these con report episodes, but does anyone else listen to his travelogues primarily for the coffee talk? Because if you do, this one’s an all-timer. Come for the scepticism of fandom, but stay for the pink bourbon.
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Amal El-Mohtar @amalelmohtar.com · 09/09/2026
Just learned that Category Is Books, a lovely queer bookshop in Glasgow, has been targeted by transphobic violence, & is fundraising to cover the costs of a smashed window & roller shutters. I hate that they have to do this & would love to see them meet their goal.
gofundme.com
Donate to Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!, organized by Category Is Books
For the past eight years, Category Is Books has been able to comfortably oper… Category Is Books needs your support for Help Category Is Books Get Shutters!
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
pondering some new graphics for the show: if only there were a way to present a camel as cool and stylish...wait...
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Rebecca Fraimow @rebeccafraimow.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
I started a podcast 😔
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A Meal of Thorns @mealofthorns.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Good episode! And if your Dan Hartland/Timothy Zahn appetite has not been sated, well:
ancillaryreviewofbooks.org
A Meal of Thorns 19 – HEIR TO THE EMPIRE with Dan Hartland
Podcasts, reviews, interviews, essays, and more at the Ancillary Review of Books.Please consider supporting ARB’s Patreon!Credits:Guest: Dan HartlandTitle: Heir to the Empire by Timothy ZahnHost: J…
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Chris M. Barkley (He/Him) @cmzhang42.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
file770.com/fancast-pane...
file770.com
Fancast Panel at LAcon V
By Mike Glyer: The “Many Mics, One Stage: Hugo Fancast Mashup” panel at LAcon V arrayed many of this year’s Hugo-nominated podcasters in one place. Jake Casella Brookins of A Meal of Thorns; Lori A…
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