iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

If you see this, recommend a short book. Invisible Cities by Calvino

CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

Rereading #TheExpanse, I'm on Nemesis Games. Because I'm a geek, I look things up now and again. I wondered whether Lake Winnipesaukee existed. It does. Peaches, Amos, and Erich steal a ride to Luna on Rattlesnake Island. But, what's that to the left? 👀 Laconia?! #Sci-fi #BookSky

Google Maps image of Lake Winnipesaukee, Rattlesnake Island. To the left, a little place called Laconia.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Just reread last night's pages from the new #sci-fi #horror novel. I'm 10k into Act 1, and I already have a strong sense of the characters. This is definitely an ecophagy narrative, popularized in the 80s and 90s by books like Engines of Creation, though I also draw on cybernetics... #AmWriting

Cover of Cybernetics, featuring a black and white photo of Norbert Wiener.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 27/09/2026

Just finished rereading book four of #TheExpanse, Cibola Burn. I forgot that Orbit included this selection at the end. Hell yeah, you'd better look out for Ancillary Justice. #BookSky #Sci-fi

Title page for Ancillary Justice selection in Cibola Burn.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

Rereading #TheExpanse, I'm nearly finished with book three, Abaddon's Gate. Great character work, especially Melba/Clarissa. The passage below gave me pause. Hegel's known for the expression, "freedom is the recognition of necessity." #Sci-fi #BookSky

Corey potentially weaving in some Hegel. Abaddon’s Gate, Melba.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 13/09/2026

Happy Sunday, y'all. Rereading #TheExpanse series, there're so many crackling lines, but one in particular takes the prize at the end of Caliban's War. Bobbie on losing her armor: "At this point, it was mostly a metaphor anyway" #BookSky #Sci-fi

Cover of Caliban’s War from The Expanse series.

Page 565 of Caliban’s War from the Expanse Series, Chapter Fifty-One, Prax’s POV. He apologizes to Bobbie about her lost armor.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

I've a #sci-fi horror story cooking right now. Despite my untidy King collection, I still wonder about the cardinal rule of thumb for writing horror. What makes a horror story click for you? #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #SFFH #Horror

A shelf untidily stacked with Stephen King books.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Cowboy Bebop. Netflix cancelled this show in a blink. Director of the original anime series, Shinichirō Watanabe, stopped watching after the first episode's heavy-handed opening scene. For anyone who braved the live action show, what went wrong? Any redeeming qualities? #Sci-fi #CowboyBebop

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Just finished Leviathan Wakes from #TheExpanse series. I've many thoughts on the second go, though I wonder about Miller as an unreliable narrator... One fav is the interview. I wish more authors would do this. The zinger: Q: So how does the Epstein drive work? A: Very well. Efficient. #Sci-fi

Cover of Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/09/2026

I finally watched the new Lone Wolf & Cub...sorry... The Mandalorian & Grogu. An organic extension of the series, the film's a kicky, kick-ass adventure about self-determination. Five stars. Any #StarWars fan who whines about this film needs to find a hobby or a therapist. Maybe both. #Sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

While I finish edits on Ikigai Outlaws, I've been cobbling ideas for a new, far future #sci-fi novel inspired by Marlowe's adaptation of the Faustus legend. Make a deal with the devil for infinite power, only for a short period of time. But I'm missing a piece to the narrative puzzle... #WriteSky

Title page for Marlowe’s The Tragicall History of the Life and Death of Doctor Faustus

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

Rather than rewatch the series, I decided to reread The Expanse instead. All nine novels. I'm truly enjoying this epic all over again. #TheExpanse #BookSky #Sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 30/08/2026

I just finished writing a #sci-fi novel, The Harakiri Code. The year's 2185. The woman known as Yuki-Onna duels the Shōgun no Daihyō's right hand, Jin Murakami, on the beach at Sodus Point to avoid a war. That body of water pictured below? #LakeOntario. What no longer exists in 2185? America.

Google Maps image depicting Sodus Point, NY.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Well, I'm back to editing Ikigai Outlaws, a #sci-fi novel like Cowboy Bebop+Flowers for Algernon. Humanity's fate is on the line, but ship captain Kit Akimbo couldn't give a rat's wag—unless you're hunting the enhanced chimp aboard her boat. She’ll shoot you deader than Christmas on Ceres.

Cowboy Bebop poster, Spike having a smoke.

Cover of Flowers for Algernon, featuring a white mouse.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Name your favourite Disney princess (wrong answers only)

Chrisjen Avasarala from The Expanse, draped in amber and crimson, marching through the snow.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

I finally finished editing the new #sci-fi novel, The Harakiri Code. I have two other projects, both sci-fi, the first of which I #amquerying. But I'm particularly proud of Harakiri. Drawing upon Japanese period dramas, this story takes more than one risk. I hope to have done right by Kurosawa.

Kikuchiyo in Seven Samurai, giving his hot-tempered monologue about the deceptions of farmers.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Still #editing the new #sci-fi novel... I added a narrative flashforward into a flashback scene, telling the reader, "Oi, heads up! This is how Okira earned the name Yuki-Onna," the #yokai from Japanese folklore. Interesting to play w/the knowledge triangle between author, reader, and character.

Image of a spirit-like woman holding a katana. Painting by Uemura Shoen.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 14/08/2026

Huh. I forgot this one existed. Timely, perhaps… #Poetry #WritingCommunity

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 08/08/2026

Editing the #sci-fi novel one last time. Current mood:

Still from the third Musashi film, depicting Musashi at the water’s edge, Sun behind him, lifting a hewn oar as a weapon.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

Thinking about Clark Coolidge's lecture "Arrangement" today and how it applies to prose: "In other words, you're in the cave and you've got your stick, but you know all about art, you've been to the Louvre." He begins with a #sci-fi story by Lewis Padgett... #WritingCommunity #WriteSky #Poetry

Cover of Talking Poetics From Naropa Institute, Vol. 1 (1978).

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

My word of the day 🎯 Thank you @merriam-webster.com for teaching me that I can use "bull" as a verb. #WritingCommunity #AmEditing

Mirriam-Webster entry on “bull” as a verb: to advance forcefully, or as a transitive verb, to act on with violence.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 01/08/2026

I watched Red Sonja on a whim. 100% a fan now. Sonja is such a well-drawn character. The film's an origin story that follows a displaced indigenous woman whose people commune with nature. She must survive enslavement to be reborn and champion freedom. Did I mention Vihur?! 🐎 #SFF #RedSonja

Sonja and Vihur, her horse, have a confab.

Sonja gets bloody, death-howling with dog’s teeth bared.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 25/07/2026

Rewatching #Ahsoka right now. This show goes hard. I can't wait for the next season. #StarWars #Sci-fi

Ahsoka training with an even meaner look.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

These are real pics that I nicked from the net, btw. No AI shenanigans. Here’s another for scale. The reach is tremendous. The robotic #sci-fi version features interlocked chevrons that comprise the blade, whipping out along a gossamer-thin chain. The blade also retracts into the handle…

A man holds out a full-sized nagamaki sword with tremendous reach.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

When reading #sci-fi, I prefer character-driven over pure action, though I'm lured by tech. What's one interesting technology you've either written or read about? I #amwriting a character who wields a kusarihebi, the name I coined for her whip-sword, based on the Japanese nagamaki. Fun to write.

Japanese nagamaki sword with a long-wrapped white handle.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Some recommended reading, for no reason at all… #BookSky #TheOdyssey

Stack of books on orality in Ancient Greece atop Charles Stein’s translation of the Odyssey.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 16/07/2026

“He must needs go that the devil drives” —Kit Marlowe 666 posts?! 👹

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

The synth emancipation war is won. Veteran Okira Nishi abandons Earth to find anshin. Her peace. But on a backwater asteroid, she finds refugee synths exploited and a teen sentenced to hang for romancing the magistrate's daughter. The war is not over...for Yuki-Onna 将軍の筆頭大将 #BluePit #SF #Sci-fi

Painting of a ghostly woman holding a katana, titled “Ghost with Sword” by Uemura Shoen.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Ho, this book still holds up, thank you very much. No vibes necessary. #science #sci-fi

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

What happens when an aging, samurai-like atier questions the Code that guides her actions? Like the film Harakiri, The Last Contract of Isako by @fondalee.bsky.social asks the cost of freedom in a society of control. The central mystery's uncanny and the prose breathtaking. A #sci-fi masterwork.

Cover for The Last Contract of Isako. A crimson-coated woman brandishing a longknife strides across a wintered landscape.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Holborn’s brilliant. The Factus Sequence that begins with Ten Low is absolute fire. A must-read for #sci-fi fans. I plan to devour these Triggernometry books. Maybe something other than mathematics makes Frege tremble…

Three stacked novels by Stark Holborn: Ten Low, Hel’s Eight, and Ninth Life.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 13/06/2026

I’m drafting the #amquerying letter for the #sci-fi novel: "My research for Ananya entailed an eye-rounding delve into laboratory testing on chimpanzees. What I found chilled my blood to slurry. I stared into the abyss, frankly, and the abyss had a few hard words to say." A devastating read 👇

Cover for The Chimps of Fauna Sanctuary. One chimp hugs another for comfort.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 07/06/2026

Yes, a #sci-fi novel titled The Harakiri Code, a homage to Akira Kurosawa and Japanese period dramas. The story's finished and edited, though I never found suitable comps and, in turn, gave up on selling the project. Fonda Lee's new novel, The Last Contract of Isako, has me wondering however…

Poster for the film Harakiri, featuring a samurai in silhouette behind a splash of blood.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Hello there, #BookSky. For #sci-fi lovers, I'd thought to post about this recent duology by M.R. Carey, which explores the question of selfhood across a multiverse of infinite Earths. The prose is breathtaking, the characters diverse, and the scope immense. Highly recommended reading.

Covers for Infinity Gate and Echo of Worlds, both featuring multiple, multi-colored Earths.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/06/2026

“Cheese thieves” 🧀

Miller explains heisted cheese to the Roci crew on The Expanse.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

Lucky enough to have a home office. I’ve this folio facsimile splayed on a bookstand beside the door. I swear, his eyes follow you. Admonishingly, most often.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 19/05/2026

I’ve meant to shout about the two most recent #Sci-fi novels by @garethlpowell.bsky.social for a while now. They’re brilliant. His knack for threading together heart-clutching action and thematic acuity impresses me the most. Fun adventures? Sure. But they also reward a close read, akin to Le Guin.

Two books by Gareth L. Powell. Future’s Edge features a yellow alien sky and ancient ruins. Jitterbug features a rocket against a red background, an astronaut training behind.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 16/05/2026

Imagine an infinite multiverse where great apes don’t always win the sentience sweepstakes… Gritty, engaging, and fantastically imaginative, this here’s the story of Dog-Bitch Bess and her shiny gun Wakeful Slim. A must-read for #Sci-fi fans. M.R. Carey outdid himself with this one. 🤠

A shadowy lone gunslinger traverses a red wasteland.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 10/05/2026

Hey-o, #booksky! I just finished this debut #sci-fi novel, Judgement, by @rikohare.com. What a compelling read. A character driven, cinematic story that draws you into its central mystery masterfully. In the end, the only thing sharper than the stakes is O'Hare's prose. Highly recommended.

Cover of Judgement by Rik O’Hare featuring the interior of an O’Neill Cylinder.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 09/05/2026

More research for my #sci-fi WIP that I thought to share. 360 Bononia is a blocky, outer-edge asteroid. Its orbital path takes it even farther out than Ismene or Thule. Perfect spot for a way station used by pirates and smugglers. 🏴‍☠️ #amwriting #writesky #exoplanets

Orbital paths for asteroid Bononia and planets in white against a black background.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/05/2026

#Sci-fi often explores the divide between subjective experience and objective reality. The novel I #amquerying falls in line, but… Remember the physicist cat guy? I’m on team Schrödinger: “Subject and object are only one.” The barrier between them “does not exist” in the physical sciences.

Cover of Schrödinger’s What is Life? Featuring a colorful sketch of cells.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 25/04/2026

Fantastic interview, folks. Give a look-see. #sci-fi #booksky

Daniel: A lot of it was pulling ideas about superorganisms…That’s ants. That’s termites. But it’s termites that are capable of complaining on Yelp.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

The new #sci-fi novel is partially set on an outer-rim asteroid, 190 Ismene. I did a little research yesterday and thought to share this NASA model of our solar system. That stippled blue-green taurus? That's the Belt. On average, those dots are millions of kilometers from one another. #amwriting

NASA graphic of the solar system consisting of concentric colored circles that represent celestial objects and their orbital revolutions from a top-down angle.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 14/03/2026

My current #sci-fi WIP dramatizes a thought experiment by Nietzsche that he called Eternal Recurrence. Would you relive your life innumerable times, experiencing all the same joy and suffering, if you could? His answer's telling: "I do not want life again. How did I endure it? Creating."

Cover of Nietzsche's Thus Spoke Zarathustra, the text overlaying black and white sky between clouds. Translated by Walter Kaufmann.

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 03/03/2026

Snagged the last copy at my local B&N! 🔥 @garethlpowell.bsky.social

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CB @virtualsynth.bsky.social · 24/02/2026

I recently reread Shroud by @aptshadow.bsky.social. While he's known for stellar worldbuilding—and this book is no exception—the character work truly struck me on the second go. Taken together, the physical and psychological terrors draw the narrative as taut as a garrote. Just brilliant. #sci-fi

Cover of the novel Shroud, depicting a yellow pod crashing on a dark alien moon.

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