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Zach (Prose & Context)

@proseandcontext.bsky.social

120 followers 110 following 140 posts

I read speculative fiction and write articles about it at: medium.com/@proseandcontext proseandcontext.substack.com 🏳️‍🌈📚🌌 they/them

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Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Mar 13

My new piece today is mainly a Master List of all of my previous work (82 articles so far!!) but also gave me a chance to reiterate my promise to readers. Consider taking a look!

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/welcome-ma...

#whyiwrite #booksky #blog #writer #speculativefiction #masterlist #index

Welcome! Master List of Posts & My Promise to Readers

Why I write and what I’ve written

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 20h

R.F. Kuang's Katabasis was one of my most anticipated reads this year, promising a fascinating look at hell & academia.

Upon reading it, I can't help but having mixed feelings. Should you read it? I go into it in my review & analysis:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/katabasis-...

#booksky #sff

Katabasis by R.F. Kuang: Review & Analysis

A hellish journey in more ways than one

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 7d

What would it look like to live in a world without gender? Ursula K Le Guin and Ann Leckie have written books about it, so let's take a look!

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/worlds-wit...

#sff #gender #nonbinary

Worlds Without Gender

As imagined by Ursula K. Le Guin and Ann Leckie

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 14d

On this #NationalDayofTruthandReconciliation, I wanted to look at Cherie Dimaline's "The Marrow Thieves" and discuss the important lessons we can all take from it:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/learning-f...

#books #sff #NDTR #Canada

Learning From 'The Marrow Thieves' by Cherie Dimaline

On Canada's National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 15d

Oooh can't wait!

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 21d

The Salmon Run is happening now in Toronto, which made me want to write about the lifecycle of serpents in Robin Hobb's wonderful Realm of the Elderlings series.

Join me in taking my mind off of for a few moments?

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-salmon...

#books #ecology #sff

The Salmon Run & Robin Hobb's Sea Serpents

Seeing fantasy come alive in nature

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 23d

Why in the name of god did i read this as good looking canines

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 27d

Hi Ella, I just wanted to check in as to whether this process is still ongoing, as I haven't heard back about my submission yet. Thanks and all the best!

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · 28d

A horror novel about society's willingness to discard women after menopause? Written by a cis man of all things?

Mary: An Awakening of Terror is pretty great! I review and discuss here:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/mary-an-aw...

#horror #bookreview #storytelling #phobias

‘Mary: An Awakening of Terror’ Review & Analysis

Internalized phobias // who can tell what stories

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Sep 9

It's sometimes hard to remember that before the multi-billion dollar franchise, A Song of Ice and Fire was just a series of books exploring the human condition.

In this week's post, I return to the source to find and share what insights I may:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-value-...

The Value of A Song of Ice and Fire

Reflecting our fraught humanity

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Sep 2

Why does the internet – ok, mostly Reddit – hate R.F. Kuang? What can we learn from it?

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-rf-kua...

#katabasis #2025news #author

The R.F. Kuang Hate is Ridiculous

Celebrity culture is holding us back

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Aug 28

This week I had one of my short stories, 'Litany of Renewal', published for the first time!

Find it here in the debut issue of Vellum Mortis by Memento Mori Ink Mag and Crystal Lake Publishing!

www.mementomoriinkmag.com/vellummortis...

#writer #shortfiction #weirdfiction #godsofthegutter

www.mementomoriinkmag.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Aug 26

Today I wrote about Ghost's "Satanized" and ever-harmful false dichotomies.

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/ghosts-sat...

#ghost #music #analysis

Ghost's Satanized: Obey or be Damned

Themes of Skeletá and the evil of false dichotomies

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Aug 19

I love #Dimension20 and wanted to share some of the storytelling lessons I've learned from these hilarious, talented folks!

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/dimension-...

Dimension 20: A Storytelling Masterclass

One of my many passions & the lessons I take from it

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Aug 12

The ending of Paul Murray's #TheBeeSting hit me like a truck – much the same as B.R. Yeager's #NegativeSpace.

Perspective plays a big role in the tragedy of these novels and the important lessons we can learn from them:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/perspectiv...

#BookSky #Life #Lessons

Perspective in ‘The Bee Sting’ & ‘Negative Space’

The most fearsome killer and greatest hope

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Aug 5

The Tyrant Philosophers series is truly incredible, possibly in part because Tchaikovsky seems to have been inspired by Sanderson's Stormlight.

I explore many of my favourite elements in the series and their parallels.

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-tyrant...

#booksky #sff #fantasy #book #new

The Tyrant Philosophers: Worldbuilding & Stormlight Parallels

My favourite Adrian Tchaikovsky series to date, with a dash of Brandon Sanderson

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jul 29

@aptshadow.bsky.social's "City of Last Chances" and "House of Open Wounds" utterly devoured my weekend and inspired me to write about ideas of fantastical tyranny and the complexity of meaningful societal change. Also discussed #Babel & The Masquerade:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-spark-...

The Spark of Revolution

Insights into the complexities of enacting societal change

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jul 22

How the Serenity Prayer has helped me with crippling social anxiety and ADHD paralysis, with reference to Midnight Mass and (of course) the Stormlight Archive.

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/anxiety-ad...

#booksky #mentalhealth #acceptance

Anxiety, ADHD & The Serenity Prayer [Journey Before Destination II]

Existence and mental health reflections

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jul 15

The Ghostie People of 'The Shining' and 'Doctor Sleep' may be a little spooky, but they have nothing on the deep issues of trauma and addiction that Stephen King explores.

I wrote about the masterful generational story in my latest piece:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-all-to...

#BookSky

The All-Too-Real Horrors of 'The Shining'

Ghosts are the least of anyone's problems in Stephen King's landmark novel

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jul 7

More #TheBlackCompany discussion about the many things I love in this series, plus about the way Cook transplants aspects of Indian, Vietnamese and other cultures without a ton of care.

Are you more excited or nervous for the series' return, #BookSky?

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-wonder...

The Wonders and Terrors of “The Black Company” [Part II]

Demons and shadows, religions and sorcerers, the Company and the worlds

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 30

Glen Cook's The Black Company series returns later this year with a sequel 25 years in the making.

I really like this series. I also deeply hate parts of it, namely the sexual violence it depicts.

I wrestle with this in today's piece:
proseandcontext.substack.com/p/why-i-love...

#booksky #sff #cw

Why I Love and Hate "The Black Company" Series [Part I]

The Foundational Grimdark Series Returns Later This Year

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 23

#ThisIsHowYouLoseTheTimeWar is the rare speculative fiction novel that manages to be both incredibly rich with meaning and remarkably brief in page count.

I wrote a little about what goes into making this book such a masterpiece:

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/the-making...

#booksky #lesbian #sff

The Makings of a Masterpiece

Why you’ll love This Is How You Lose the Time War

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 17

Forever scarred

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 17

Fredrik Backman's "A Man Called Ove", "Grandmother Sends Her Regards and Apologizes" and "Britt-Marie Was Here" each broke me with an acute mixture of the good and bad; he's great at capturing very human feelings

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 16

Character spotlight for one of the most badass & terrifying women ever depicted in speculative fiction, Tain Shir from Seth Dickinson's #Masquerade novels.

Precursor and foil to #BaruCormorant, uniquely unmastered, this woman's got it all.

proseandcontext.substack.com/p/tain-shir-...

#booksky

Tain Shir, Bane of Wives [Einherjar]

A juggernaut in more ways than one, from Seth Dickinson's Masquerade novels

proseandcontext.substack.com

Zach (Prose & Context) @proseandcontext.bsky.social · Jun 14

First guess ONION is peak wordle optimization, who even needs the other 23 letters