iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Haha well the cheapness does help, but you inevitably always see why it ends up being so cheap when they arrive!

Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Oof, that's a wild algorithm pull to trot out front and centre. If it helps, I would recommend against buying anything from World of Books, just because they lie about book conditions. One too many "very good" condition books have arrived in near-unreadable states.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

Fourth or fifth reread of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy down, first time via audio. Still the greatest. Really enjoyed Simon Russell Beale's narration. Re-familiarising myself with the Smiley-verse as I gear up to finally read A Legacy of Spies and the new Karla novels written by Nick Harkaway.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 15/10/2026

I really need to finally read it. Bought it years ago when you were talking about it but still, to my shame, have left it unread.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

Had no idea this existed! I will be listening to this all day tomorrow.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 14/10/2026

The one album where I'd consider the lyrics on par with any of my favourite literature. I'd kill for him to make a follow-up but it would need to be just as inspired. I'm not sure if it would be possible but it would be momentous if it happened.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

And there's a weird way that people tend to talk about "classics", and genre fandoms wanting to claim someone like Mary Shelley as a token for a side in a debate that exists just to prop up commercialist modern fiction. Like sci-fi has Mary Shelley on its side as a legitimising factor.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I think that's partly where I'm coming from. I just see it said a lot of Frankstenstein but in a way it just feels reductive of what that novel is in totality, and what Mary Shelley's role in lit was. It feels too definitive of a statement to make when genre is influence is so many blurred lines.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

I have seen that one brought up a few times. I've also heard people see The Epic of Gilgamesh as a sort of pre-cursor to sci-fi, but I don't know how much stock to put in that either (I don't know enough about the culture it comes from but it smacks a little of people calling Homer "fantasy")

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

True, I hadn't considered Jekyl and Hyde, that makes sense. And I can see parallels in Wells. Maybe it makes more sense than I have previously given it credit for. I am truly not well-versed in early modern sci-fi.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 13/10/2026

Another one of these. Music has always been my first love above all else, and I could truly pick over 100 albums that all deserve an equal spot among this list, but alas, these will have to do.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Just seems like a thing people on the internet just started saying a few years ago. But I could be entirely wrong. Haven't looked into it seriously.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

I haven't studied sci-fi history, but is there much credit to the claim that Mary Shelley "invented modern sci-fi" or whatever? Because she most certainly didn't invent sci-fi, and sure Frankenstein vaguely merges both science and fiction, but were sci-fi writers after her writing from her?

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 10/10/2026

No idea when mine might arrive...I hope soon.

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Reposted by Micah S. Vernon

Saudamini Deo @saudaminideo.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

"Whose deviation from the standard is art, and whose is error?" Super happy about the Carson win but I discussed in this essay last year the double standards of who gets accepted into the canon of unconventionality and who doesn't. wordswithoutborders.org/read/article...

wordswithoutborders.org

Postcolonial Translations and the Reception of Indian Literature in the West - Words Without Borders

From Anne Carson’s groundbreaking translations to Geetanjali Shree’s Booker-winning work, Deo explores the complex dynamics of translation, cultural appropriation, and the reception of non-Western lit...

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

See, I'm intrigued because I also like Matthew Lilliard, but Flanagan is probably the worst writer / director in the business right now, so I'm torn.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Happy to expound on any you're interested in but you won't be shocked to hear I recommend all of them. As for Homer, Iliad chronologically comes first so is the most suitable to reading first, though it's not strictly necessary—both are very different.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

A very very good novella, I highly recommend reading it in one sitting.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

I have two copies of that but have yet to read it. Could be an idea for a potential readalong among Bluesky literati in the future? (I'm really into readalongs recently)

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Read it for the first time this year—my first read of the year, actually—and I knew I was reading an all-timer. Really masterful stuff, turned me instantly into a Mathiessen fanboy.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Yeah quite annoyingly the database just draws from whatever the top search on Amazon is.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 09/10/2026

Did one of those little trendy things for "9 books I'll never forget", though I felt restricted limiting it to nine. Here are eighteen of them:

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

I'm afraid I don't know those words, and I don't care to learn.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Thank god for this translation, I was having a lot of difficulty with the sentence "This is certainly a beautiful country!", but this has really cleared things up for me.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Definitely not what I would consider a particularly difficult read but it is what it is. If it is difficult for someone, I'd encourage them to keep reading to adjust to it, as it would undoubtedly help them read more difficult texts in the future. That's how you get better.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

The insistence from so many readers lacking strong literacy skills that "prose" is somehow separable from the other elements of a story (the characters, plot, atmosphere, feelings) is probably one of the most damaging myths for greater literacy in general.

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Reposted by Micah S. Vernon

The Deadlands @thedeadlands.com · 07/10/2026

this october instead of donating to us, THE DEADLANDS we're asking you to please considering donating to help our #1 editor in chief @ecatherine.com with the bills stemming from her ongoing hospital stay. no coin fundraiser only fundraising Elise 🖤🖤 pls join us + spread the word

gofundme.com

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Reposted by Micah S. Vernon

Hodag @bretttharp.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Wish this news had come out this morning but better late than never. New cassette runs for the Cynocephalus demo and the tracks from the Philomela split in remastered form up for preorder at Iconoclasm Conquest, mid month release. TOTAL HELLENIC WAR METAL ONSLAUGHT

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Sad to hear of the loss of Cronos. Only 63. Welcome to Hell still sounds as fresh today as it did in 1981. www.youtube.com/watch?v=4e0V...

youtube.com

Venom - Welcome to Hell

YouTube video by DeathIsYourSaviour

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I'll be starting another long readalong next week, of Péter Nádas's Parallel Stories. Hopefully it will continue this streak of great reads. If you are interested in reading this very hefty 1,200-page novel at the pace of 10p per day, let me know, and I'll add you to the Discord.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

The Rouse is, maybe, everything I've ever wanted out of a novel, though I'm only 10% into its 1,200 pages. Miéville's writing has come a long way since PSS, and his prose dense with strangeness and feeling. There's an uncanny dread behind it all and the structure is a stroke of genius.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

I'm only 60 pages into East of Eden, doing roughly ~20-30 pages a day. It is already one of the most tenderly sad novels I've ever read. Steinbeck has a way of describing people and their actions in such unique but strangely understandable ways. It is truly a masterclass in economical storytelling.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Moby-Dick continues to be a profound and joyful experience. The way Melville writes about to world within a whaling ship is incredible beyond compare. It is, perhaps, tied with Ulysses for my favourite novel of all time at this point.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Having just about the best reading streak of my life right now. Currently reading: - Moby-Dick (in the home stretch now, it's been a deliberately slow but sublime re-read) - East of Eden (a month-long readalong started yesterday) - The Rouse by China Miéville

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Reposted by Micah S. Vernon

Jayaprakash has a mastertape @jayaprakash777.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

Fellow Bangaloreans Nihilus (we share a drummer but they're tech death) have a new album out (their first full-length). Show them some love? nihilusmetal.bandcamp.com/album/borealis

nihilusmetal.bandcamp.com

Borealis, by Nihilus

9 track album

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 01/10/2026

Why do I feel so compelled to buy this when I already own two copies of Warlock

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

I think everyone who criticised Gary Oldman's casting as Smiley needs to write me, personally, a letter of apology, because look where we are now.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

The funniest part of people complaining about Wilson's modernisation while praising Fagles' "poetic" translation is that the Fagles has FAR more egregious and out of place modernisations than Wilson's translation. All translations have their strengths and weaknesses but Wilson's is still my fave.

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

My copy hasn't arrived yet, what do I do?

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

That's how I felt with Tomorrow's Harvest, took me a little while to really acclimatise to it

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Micah S. Vernon @micahsvernon.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

You've reminded me I still need to listen to this

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