Speculative Insight journal
@speculativeinsight.bsky.social
A journal that explores the breadth and depth of the themes, ideas, and issues of science fiction and fantasy. Ed. Alexandra Pierce.
https://www.speculativeinsight.com/
https://www.speculativeinsight.com/
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Speculative Insight
A journal for exploring the ideas and themes that stand behind, inform, and develop out of, speculative fiction.
www.speculativeinsight.com
Hi new folks! Speculative Insight publishes nonfiction essays about science fiction and fantasy.
First Saturday of the month is a free essay; third Saturday of the month is for subscribers (and subscribing is AUD30/year: ~15GBP, 18 euro, and USD20... ish)
www.speculativeinsight.com
First Saturday of the month is a free essay; third Saturday of the month is for subscribers (and subscribing is AUD30/year: ~15GBP, 18 euro, and USD20... ish)
www.speculativeinsight.com
I’m developing a theory re: people who ask questions vs people who present long discursive comments, in the context of panels/papers.
I think it’s about perceptions of professionalism vs expectations of community. Something something hierarchy & power, perhaps.
And then there’s the blowhards.
I think it’s about perceptions of professionalism vs expectations of community. Something something hierarchy & power, perhaps.
And then there’s the blowhards.
November 27, 2025 at 8:33 PM
I’m developing a theory re: people who ask questions vs people who present long discursive comments, in the context of panels/papers.
I think it’s about perceptions of professionalism vs expectations of community. Something something hierarchy & power, perhaps.
And then there’s the blowhards.
I think it’s about perceptions of professionalism vs expectations of community. Something something hierarchy & power, perhaps.
And then there’s the blowhards.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
This was a fun first novel, and I think that view is mostly independent of the fact that it's the only novel I'm aware of whose climactic set piece takes place ten minutes from my front door: locusmag.com/review/its-n...
It’s Not a Cult by Joey Batey: Review by Niall Harrison
It’s Not a Cult, Joey Batey (Raven Books 978-1-52667-681-8, £16.99, 320pp, hc) October 2025. It’s rare that I get a chance to review novels set where I live, and perhaps given the infinite canvas a…
locusmag.com
November 27, 2025 at 7:03 PM
This was a fun first novel, and I think that view is mostly independent of the fact that it's the only novel I'm aware of whose climactic set piece takes place ten minutes from my front door: locusmag.com/review/its-n...
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Coming VERY SOON (tuesday)! WE WILL RISE AGAIN, an anthology of speculative fiction, essays, and interviews about activism that @cxorlando.bsky.social called "An incredibly important book" - pre-order now!
We Will Rise Again
From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transfor...
www.simonandschuster.com
November 26, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Coming VERY SOON (tuesday)! WE WILL RISE AGAIN, an anthology of speculative fiction, essays, and interviews about activism that @cxorlando.bsky.social called "An incredibly important book" - pre-order now!
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
we are just over a week out from publication of WE WILL RISE AGAIN, the anthology of speculative fiction, essays, and interviews about collective action I co-edited with @annaleen.bsky.social and @drkarenlord.bsky.social which means THERE'S STILL TIME TO PREORDER!
We Will Rise Again
From genre luminaries, esteemed organizers, and exciting new voices in fiction, an anthology of stories, essays, and interviews that offer transfor...
www.simonandschuster.com
November 24, 2025 at 9:12 PM
we are just over a week out from publication of WE WILL RISE AGAIN, the anthology of speculative fiction, essays, and interviews about collective action I co-edited with @annaleen.bsky.social and @drkarenlord.bsky.social which means THERE'S STILL TIME TO PREORDER!
ICYMI
In this (free!) essay, Freyja Stokes discusses the connection between the histories of sex work and witchcraft, and how Terry Pratchett uses that in the character of Mrs Palm.
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
November 24, 2025 at 7:31 PM
ICYMI
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Priya Sridhar introduced me to Kelly Link stories I didn't know, and then challenged the way I read them.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) for an extra essay/month, & 6-month compilations with exclusive content! www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) for an extra essay/month, & 6-month compilations with exclusive content! www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
November 16, 2025 at 6:30 PM
Priya Sridhar introduced me to Kelly Link stories I didn't know, and then challenged the way I read them.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) for an extra essay/month, & 6-month compilations with exclusive content! www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) for an extra essay/month, & 6-month compilations with exclusive content! www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
This essay from Priya Sridhar introduced me to two Kelly Link stories I didn't know, and then challenged the way I read them...
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 17, 2025 at 9:12 AM
This essay from Priya Sridhar introduced me to two Kelly Link stories I didn't know, and then challenged the way I read them...
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Priya Sridhar examines two Kelly Link short stories with many narratives layers in this new essay.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay/ month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay/ month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
November 17, 2025 at 8:02 PM
Priya Sridhar examines two Kelly Link short stories with many narratives layers in this new essay.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay/ month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay/ month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Tag @priyajsridhar.bsky.social
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
NEW REVIEW! You can see the thinking behind Doctor Who's 2011 Christmas special, but it simply fails to come together.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/23/t...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/23/t...
TV REVIEW: Doctor Who (2005), “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”
First broadcast 25 December 2011. One can clearly see the intentions behind “The Doctor, the Widow and the Wardrobe”, but despite some clever ideas from writer/producer Steven Moffat an…
fictionmachine.com
November 23, 2025 at 1:18 AM
NEW REVIEW! You can see the thinking behind Doctor Who's 2011 Christmas special, but it simply fails to come together.
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/23/t...
fictionmachine.com/2025/11/23/t...
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Alexandra Pierce reviews THE YEAR’S TOP TALES OF SPACE AND TIME 5 edited by @infinivoxsf.bsky.social and calls it: “some of the best stories exploring aspects of space and time, as science fiction has always done.”
The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 5 edited by Allan Kaster: Review by Alexandra Pierce
The Year’s Top Tales of Space and Time 5, Allan Kaster, ed. (Infinivox $19.99, 297pp, tp). September 2025. Cover by Maurizio Manzieri. As with Infinivox and Allan Kaster’s other anthologies, the …
locusmag.com
November 23, 2025 at 2:00 AM
Alexandra Pierce reviews THE YEAR’S TOP TALES OF SPACE AND TIME 5 edited by @infinivoxsf.bsky.social and calls it: “some of the best stories exploring aspects of space and time, as science fiction has always done.”
Finally getting around to this. Two chapters in and I think I’m hooked.
November 22, 2025 at 10:48 PM
Finally getting around to this. Two chapters in and I think I’m hooked.
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Priya Sridhar examines two Kelly Link short stories with many layers to their narratives in this new essay.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 18, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Priya Sridhar examines two Kelly Link short stories with many layers to their narratives in this new essay.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
@priyajsridhar.bsky.social explains her essay about Kelly Link's short stories in this short video.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 18, 2025 at 6:04 PM
@priyajsridhar.bsky.social explains her essay about Kelly Link's short stories in this short video.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
In this (free!) essay, Freyja Stokes discusses the connection between the histories of sex work and witchcraft, and how Terry Pratchett uses that in the character of Mrs Palm.
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In this (free!) essay, Freyja Stokes discusses the connection between the histories of sex work and witchcraft, and how Terry Pratchett uses that in the character of Mrs Palm.
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Aha, my review of Sea Now is online! Fabulist disaster novel, witty and cutting: locusmag.com/review/sea-n...
Sea Now by Eva Meijer: Review by Niall Harrison
Sea Now, Eva Meijer (Two Lines 978-1-94964-185-1, $18.00, 180pp, tp) October 2025. One of the few Northern European countries not visited in Yoko Tawada’s trilogy is the Netherlands, so it was brie…
locusmag.com
November 21, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Aha, my review of Sea Now is online! Fabulist disaster novel, witty and cutting: locusmag.com/review/sea-n...
In this (free!) essay, Freyja Stokes discusses the connection between the histories of sex work and witchcraft, and how Terry Pratchett uses that in the character of Mrs Palm.
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
November 21, 2025 at 8:23 PM
In this (free!) essay, Freyja Stokes discusses the connection between the histories of sex work and witchcraft, and how Terry Pratchett uses that in the character of Mrs Palm.
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Read it now!
www.speculativeinsigh.com
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
Subscribe now to read this new essay from Priya Sridhar, going deep into the weeds on two fabulous Kelly Link short stories...
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Subscribe now to read this new essay from Priya Sridhar, going deep into the weeds on two fabulous Kelly Link short stories...
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read this new essay from Priya Sridhar, going deep into the weeds on two fabulous Kelly Link short stories...
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 21, 2025 at 8:42 AM
Subscribe now to read this new essay from Priya Sridhar, going deep into the weeds on two fabulous Kelly Link short stories...
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
AUD30/year (~GBP15 or USD19) gets you an extra essay each month, plus 6-month compilations with exclusive content!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
@priyajsridhar.bsky.social explains her essay about Kelly Link's short stories in this short video.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 19, 2025 at 10:49 AM
@priyajsridhar.bsky.social explains her essay about Kelly Link's short stories in this short video.
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe to read: AUD30/yr gets you an extra essay per month! (About USD19 / GBP15.)
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
I used to teach a first-year English Lit course themed around “the best” and we read James Joyce’s The Dead and Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners in the short story module
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 20, 2025 at 8:59 PM
I used to teach a first-year English Lit course themed around “the best” and we read James Joyce’s The Dead and Kelly Link’s Magic For Beginners in the short story module
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 AM
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
November 20, 2025 at 9:40 AM
In this new subscriber essay, Priya Sridhar looks at two Kelly Link short stories, and what makes them so utterly intriguing on a re-read.
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Subscribe now to read: AUD30/yr (~USD19 or GBP15) - an extra essay a month and an exclusive-to-book essay every six months!
www.speculativeinsight.com/subs
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
New review! Of New Philippine Speculative Fiction! c/ @charlesatan.bsky.social!
randomalex.net/2025/11/19/n...
randomalex.net/2025/11/19/n...
New Philippine Speculative Fiction 1
And another book sent by Charles! You can buy it from the publisher. This anthology is both a mixed bag and a diverse collection – ah English, you are hilarious. Some of the stories brought t…
randomalex.net
November 19, 2025 at 10:13 PM
New review! Of New Philippine Speculative Fiction! c/ @charlesatan.bsky.social!
randomalex.net/2025/11/19/n...
randomalex.net/2025/11/19/n...
Reposted by Speculative Insight journal
A friend is one of the editors of this project and they take previously published work too!
🌱 WE BUILD A HOME: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
We're looking for existing or new illustrations and short comics (max 3 pages) for a digital fundraiser zine to support East African LGBTQIA+ refugees build a home in South Sudan.
More about the project here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
We're looking for existing or new illustrations and short comics (max 3 pages) for a digital fundraiser zine to support East African LGBTQIA+ refugees build a home in South Sudan.
More about the project here: docs.google.com/document/d/1...
We Build a Home - call for submissions
We Build a Home - call for submissions Call for submissions for illustrations and short comics of max. 3 pages* about stories of what a home might mean to someone in the context of being queer. > SU...
docs.google.com
November 19, 2025 at 7:50 PM
A friend is one of the editors of this project and they take previously published work too!