iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 28/09/2026

as for Control Resonant, there's a big portion of game that's a little like a spiderman game but then...then it goes hard and gets both weird and very, very beautiful.

A dancer holding two batons in the air. Plus the title Control Resonant. The dancer's legs are covered in blood but her torso is stark, crisp white.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 25/09/2026

Control Resonant has such attention to detail it’s incredible

An image in an art gallery jn Control Resonant. Incredible attention to detail.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 06/09/2026

Oooh. What’s this? New space opera maybe? Who can say…

A blank white page showing the title of a new book: The Stars Go Here by Stewart Hotston.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 02/09/2026

Now WorldCon is done you should turn your attention to FantasyCon 2026. In Glasgow this year it will have an incredible program as well as being an inclusive international celebration of all things SFFH. britishfantasysociety.org/events-2/fan...

FantasyCon poster for 2026. Dates are 9-11th October at the Glasgow Crowne Plaza and hosted by the British Fantasy Society

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 25/08/2026

Mage Against The Machine is a comedy portal fantasy featuring an act now think never security guard, Shaun, and the middle aged lab tech, Ava who end up in a world where all our myths are real and logic is a forbidden magic. They're accompanied by a very angry octopus and a seriously uptight fae.

The cover of Mage against the Machine featuring Ava Shah using Logic like magic against a horde of angry undead goats.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 21/08/2026

@laworldcon.bsky.social just a reminder for folks that I'm doing two virtual sessions on LARP at WorldCon next week. The first is about what we've learned as writers from 30years of a persistent world about story, agency and what players are looking for. Hope to see you there.

Showing times for my two sessions on LARP, game design and story telling. One on Friday 28th at midday LA time on what worldbuilding for a huge LARP tells us about storytelling.

The other is on Sat 29th at midday (LA Time) and is about how we rebuilt our LARP to be more inclusive

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 31/07/2026

My @laworldcon.bsky.social schedule is here! Virtual so available from anywhere in the world. Would love to see you there as I talk about Larp, Race, Romance and storytelling. The virtual program is pretty great and worth signing up for.

My schedule for LA WorldCon. I'm doing two sessions on LARP - one on Larp and storytelling. The second on race and writing inclusive stories. The first is at 12 noon on the 28th August and the second at 12 noon on the 29th August.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 28/07/2026

Me reading every take in the alt text.

Me screaming as I'm forced to read every take on The Odyssey. What started out as delicious ends up being the thing I didn't want to want, the knowledge of all the stupidity held by men and the innocence I've lost when I willfully gave up my ignorance for the chance to see every take.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 26/06/2026

After the brutally good Hex House by @amyjanestewart.bsky.social Next up is The Dream Hotel by @lailalalami.com. Loving the premise of this one.

Cover of the book, The Dream Hotel by Laila Lalami. Design by David Man. Published by Bloomsbury

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 04/06/2026

The london underground can say it. Why can’t the Labour party or the BBC??? There is no anti-white racism. There are no legitimate concerns. There’s just racism wearing middle class clothes.

A poster at tottenham court road that says ‘hate crime has consequences’.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 02/06/2026

Ah today, in fact the last few days have been hard but then there's this - written because a good friend of mine does just this for a living and insisted I described them thusly:

‘You should speak to our gamers,’ said Greenleaf.
Ava thought she’d misheard.
‘The council won’t meet at the great bowl until tomorrow evening. You have time. They’re as close as we come to Logic in this place. They play games of war, playing our fights and skirmishes, raids and battles before we actually have them.’
‘You’ll need it,’ said Crusher knowingly.
‘Let me guess,’ said Ava. ‘If they’re single minded, rabbit brained, unsocialised nerds then you’re probably right.’
‘Assuming a nerd is someone who doesn’t know when to stop but can’t actually finish anything before starting on something else then, yes. That’s them,’ said Greenleaf. ‘Have you met them before?’
‘Let’s just say they’re my people,’ said Ava.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 07/05/2026

While I’m here it’s time to shame this appliance. My shit toaster that can’t toast a whole piece if bread upright but can’t fir two in sideways. Not to mention the slider of doom that either underdoes it or incinerates it. More in alt text.

My toaster. Which should be more ashamed of itself than it is. Look at it with its shiny sides thinking it’s all that.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 17/04/2026

Not saying I’m special but…this analysis explains A LOT.

Says there’s 100 or fewer britons like me. I’d love to fucking find them. But explains a lot.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 12/04/2026

The boy has worked very hard - procuring beeswax even - to make these canele.

A tray of hot canele fresh out of the oven

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 08/04/2026

Hobbes enjoying the first hot day of the year. #petsky

A golden retriever enjoying the sun even though he’s too hot.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 07/04/2026

Got an email from the entire country today:

An email summary showing me and England in a chat

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 07/04/2026

This is happening. Would love to see you there! #booksky

Advert showing an event about space opera featuring Claire North, Stew Hotston and Ren Hutchings. On weds 6th May at Reading Waterstones!!

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 18/03/2026

I have a busier @easterconuk.bsky.social than I anticipated! I am very excited to be there and the inevitable fatigue the following week will be worth it :-/ See below (or the alt text) for where I'll be and when!

Iridescence Schedule
Saturday:
10:30 - I’ll be introducing The BSFA Lecture: From Reel to Real - Film Locations Beyond the Screen

Midday - I’ll be giving my own talk called World building for thousands - what LARP tells us about storytelling, agency and romance

15:00 - Introduction to Fantasy Kingdoms with Annabel Campbell, RJ Barker and Anna Stephens

16:30 - Everything you want to know about LARP but were too afraid to ask with John Ely, Emma Newman, Sandra Bond and Max Harden
Sunday:
15:00 - Class and the Future with Ali Baker, RJ Barker, Russell Smith and Eleanor Roberts

18:00 – The BFSA Awards where I’ll be on hosting duties

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 14/03/2026

@ursulakleguin.com Hi I'm trying to submit a novel for the prize but the captcha isn't working and so I cannot complete the nomination. I've tried twice now to no avail.

an error on a captcha routine that forbids progess

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 13/03/2026

Always delightful to see Your book in your local store :-) @waterstones.bsky.social

A photo of a bookshelf at Waterstones with Project Hanuman face out.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 12/03/2026

finished Between Two Fires last night by Christopher Buehlman. Outstanding work. Review coming for Parsec magazine.

a red cover with white writing of the title and the author's name. A yellow tagline - an epic tale of medieval horror. Across all of this is a black drawing of a skeletal knight in the style of a medieval manuscript

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 15/02/2026

Should finish both if these and then not sure what’s next

The books: one day everyone will always have been against this and Revenge by El Akkad and Ogawa respectively.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 14/02/2026

Baked swiss meringue courtesy of the teenage son. Soon to have creme pat and fruit.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 07/02/2026

Exciting book post from authors I love.

Two books on a wooden surface. Anti-state by Allen Stroud and Mortedant’s Peril by RJ Barker.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 06/02/2026

There’s a special level of hell for people who pass on jigsaws with a missing piece.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 03/02/2026

My tbr shelves. They are burgeoning. Show me yours!

Four shelves of books. - a mix of fiction and non-fiction and paperbacks and hardbacks. None of these books are read yet.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 09/01/2026

It's been out almost two months but I wanted to re-up my timeline with some Project Hanuman love. You can find it at all your bookstores and in audio too. I'll leave you with what @gavingsmith.bsky.social thought of it. #SFF #spaceopera #scifi

A quote from Gavin Smith that reads: Project Hanuman does that rarest of things in science fiction, it uses cutting edge ideas from technology and sociology and projects them into and original and very real feeling far future, whilst telling a very 'human' story.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 07/01/2026

Inspector Clouseau will return in Avengers Doomsday

Peter Sellars playing Inspector Clouseau with black gloves, a magnifying glads and a silly moustache.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 25/12/2025

The Mark by Fríða Ísberg Set in Iceland on the eve of a vote as to whether to stratify society by those who can pass an 'empathy test' and those who can't Ísberg's novel is translated from the Icelandic by Larissa Kyzer and seeks to… stewarthotston.com/2025/12/25/the-m…

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 24/12/2025

It is time. Merry Christmas you filthy animals.

Muppet’s Christmas carol. Rooftops with snow and michael Caine as Scrooge - you can’t hear the music though. Nor our singing

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 21/12/2025

My review of Néro which is, honestly, a lot of fun. stewarthotston.com/2025/12/21/n...

A poster for the Netflix show, Néro, with a picture of the eponymous assassin against a sunset with a city in the background and a strapline that says 'not all heroes are saints'

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 16/12/2025

Wake Up Dead Man review I had lots of plans for this review but then this one hit and honestly it says a lot of what I had in my head and does it fluently and with passion, so go and read this when you're done here. I'm not going to… stewarthotston.com/2025/12/16/wake-…

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 11/12/2025

Just finished reading an arc of the fabulous, rich and politically dense Republic of Memory by @mahmudelsayed.bsky.social. You're going to want to add this to your 2026 TBR now.

A winged figure stands in front of a futuristic Egyptian city.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 10/12/2025

The Project Hanuman audio book is out next week on the 16th. It's narrated by the really very excellent Zehra Jane Naqvi who hit the tone perfectly I'm very excited, so here's a preview from the first chapter. Available wherever you get your audiobooks #audiobook #scifi @angryrobotbooks.bsky.social

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 10/12/2025

Today is mostly Amnesiac by Radiohead. This album is still a mood that reflects me a lot of the time.

The cover of amnesiac by Radiohead which is a red notebook covering the bottom 2/3 of the image with a doodle of a person covering their eyes plus a black background with the name of the album in small white letters in the top right corner.

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Dr Stew Hotston (he/him) @stewarthotston.com · 27/11/2025

My favourite audio drama of all time: Midst. Read my review and then get it in your ears. stewarthotston.com/2025/11/27/m... @midstpodcast.bsky.social @criticalrole.bsky.social #scifi #spacewesterns

The title, Midst, in block capital orange and green letters and against a shard of shattering mica from the Un, the world of the drama.

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