Eddie Clark
@dreddieclark.bsky.social
Personal account so expect eclecticism. Law, politics, SFF books, anime, gaming, music. Queer stuff.
Day job = Administrative law and public law theory.
Day job = Administrative law and public law theory.
Husband has been in Canada, I asked him to bring me back some coffee crisps (basically coffee flavoured kitkat; only available on Canada). He may have been slightly excessive.
November 28, 2025 at 2:54 AM
Husband has been in Canada, I asked him to bring me back some coffee crisps (basically coffee flavoured kitkat; only available on Canada). He may have been slightly excessive.
Post your warning label (yes, I do own this t-shirt)
November 26, 2025 at 2:14 AM
Post your warning label (yes, I do own this t-shirt)
Took a day's either side of the weekend; at Zealandia today. Relatively slim pickings but got a few good shots. Particularly pleased with the teeny friends posing obligingly. The pōpokotea; mid-snack!
November 24, 2025 at 8:32 AM
Took a day's either side of the weekend; at Zealandia today. Relatively slim pickings but got a few good shots. Particularly pleased with the teeny friends posing obligingly. The pōpokotea; mid-snack!
Absolutely none of my doing - I do nothing special to it - but the rose in my back yard is blooming *spectacularly*.
November 23, 2025 at 2:08 AM
Absolutely none of my doing - I do nothing special to it - but the rose in my back yard is blooming *spectacularly*.
42) Jeff VanderMeer - Shriek: An Afterword (2006). Best known now for Southern Reach, JV's Ambergris books hit like a ton of bricks when I was in my early 20s. Fantasy influenced by Borges & Nabokov, playing with narration, genre, perspective, this remains 1 of my favourite novels 20 yrs later.
November 22, 2025 at 10:07 PM
42) Jeff VanderMeer - Shriek: An Afterword (2006). Best known now for Southern Reach, JV's Ambergris books hit like a ton of bricks when I was in my early 20s. Fantasy influenced by Borges & Nabokov, playing with narration, genre, perspective, this remains 1 of my favourite novels 20 yrs later.
41) Doris Egan: The Complete Ivory (2001). Chonky mass market pb Omnibus of 3 supremely good 90s planetary romances, in both senses of the word. Like Robert Silverberg's Majipoor if Silverberg could write characters. Sadly OOP; would slot *right* into the top tier of the current romantasy zeitgesit.
November 22, 2025 at 9:56 PM
41) Doris Egan: The Complete Ivory (2001). Chonky mass market pb Omnibus of 3 supremely good 90s planetary romances, in both senses of the word. Like Robert Silverberg's Majipoor if Silverberg could write characters. Sadly OOP; would slot *right* into the top tier of the current romantasy zeitgesit.
40) The Magus (2024). Solo journaling RPG. Comes with an oracle deck for further prompts. Backed this on kickstarter because the concept and art were both great, but must admit I haven't had a chance to sit down and play it yet.
November 22, 2025 at 9:44 PM
40) The Magus (2024). Solo journaling RPG. Comes with an oracle deck for further prompts. Backed this on kickstarter because the concept and art were both great, but must admit I haven't had a chance to sit down and play it yet.
39) Jorge Luis Borges: Collected Fictions. Was introduced to Borges during my English Lit degree by the late Brian Opie. A foundational text for me ever since. The playfulness with language and story and worlds in such short word counts is something virtually no one has managed since.
November 22, 2025 at 8:53 PM
39) Jorge Luis Borges: Collected Fictions. Was introduced to Borges during my English Lit degree by the late Brian Opie. A foundational text for me ever since. The playfulness with language and story and worlds in such short word counts is something virtually no one has managed since.
38) Robin Sloan: Moonbound (2024). A science fantasy take on Arthuriana; narrator is a sentient yeast symbiote inhabiting our lead char. A quest, a reflection on the nature of personhood, a fable (complete with talking animals). Another Arthur fantasy got the attention last year; this is better.
November 22, 2025 at 8:46 PM
38) Robin Sloan: Moonbound (2024). A science fantasy take on Arthuriana; narrator is a sentient yeast symbiote inhabiting our lead char. A quest, a reflection on the nature of personhood, a fable (complete with talking animals). Another Arthur fantasy got the attention last year; this is better.
37) Samuel R Delany: Through The Valley of The Nest Of Spiders. Simple core story - an interracial gay couple live & love & die of old age - surrounded by a philosophical, profane, earthy, pornographic & sometimes revolting genre mashup. A moving work of real genius. Also *entirely* unrecommendable.
November 22, 2025 at 8:40 PM
37) Samuel R Delany: Through The Valley of The Nest Of Spiders. Simple core story - an interracial gay couple live & love & die of old age - surrounded by a philosophical, profane, earthy, pornographic & sometimes revolting genre mashup. A moving work of real genius. Also *entirely* unrecommendable.
36) Melissa Scott: Water Horse (2021). Classic 80s fantasy trope updated for modern eyes: what if queer-coded evil sorcerer king was a) queer, forget coded and b) the goodie? Different tone & sensibility to most modern epic fantasy, this deserved & deserves way more attention.
November 22, 2025 at 8:16 PM
36) Melissa Scott: Water Horse (2021). Classic 80s fantasy trope updated for modern eyes: what if queer-coded evil sorcerer king was a) queer, forget coded and b) the goodie? Different tone & sensibility to most modern epic fantasy, this deserved & deserves way more attention.
Grim enough that the Guardian OBO is deploying Swans songs.
November 22, 2025 at 9:35 AM
Grim enough that the Guardian OBO is deploying Swans songs.
35) Ursula K Leguin: The Books of Earthsea (Illustrated Omnibus; 2018). I (or my family) have owned a number of editions of the Earthsea books over the year. This was gorgeous enough that I needed to buy it.
November 22, 2025 at 9:17 AM
35) Ursula K Leguin: The Books of Earthsea (Illustrated Omnibus; 2018). I (or my family) have owned a number of editions of the Earthsea books over the year. This was gorgeous enough that I needed to buy it.
34) Gengoroh Tagame: Our Colors (2022). Tagame in general audience mode (do NOT google his name at work; his primary career is a...rather different genre). Subtle, moving look at a teenager in Japan coming to terms w being gay; his (platonic) relationship with an older gay man & his female friend.
November 22, 2025 at 9:11 AM
34) Gengoroh Tagame: Our Colors (2022). Tagame in general audience mode (do NOT google his name at work; his primary career is a...rather different genre). Subtle, moving look at a teenager in Japan coming to terms w being gay; his (platonic) relationship with an older gay man & his female friend.
33) Alistair MacLeod: Island (2000). MacLeod has two volumes of work across his career; this collection and a single novel. And all of it is perfect. Decent case for the best small ouvre of the past 50 years, I think.
November 22, 2025 at 9:04 AM
33) Alistair MacLeod: Island (2000). MacLeod has two volumes of work across his career; this collection and a single novel. And all of it is perfect. Decent case for the best small ouvre of the past 50 years, I think.
32) The Sentence by Gautam Bhatia. Most SFF is both ignorant of, and incurious about, plausible speculation about the law. The solution seems to be: get an excellent constitutional law scholar to write a very good SFF book centring the law. This is the Indian edition; coming out more widely in 2027.
November 22, 2025 at 8:56 AM
32) The Sentence by Gautam Bhatia. Most SFF is both ignorant of, and incurious about, plausible speculation about the law. The solution seems to be: get an excellent constitutional law scholar to write a very good SFF book centring the law. This is the Indian edition; coming out more widely in 2027.
31) Hal Duncan: Susurrus on Mars. A collection of science-fantasy-greek myth on mars-philosophical... tales? idylls (as Duncan calls them)? Odd, queer, fierce & tender, a self-consciously ornate brio to the writing, there's very little like this out there, & 90% that comes close is also by Duncan.
November 22, 2025 at 8:45 AM
31) Hal Duncan: Susurrus on Mars. A collection of science-fantasy-greek myth on mars-philosophical... tales? idylls (as Duncan calls them)? Odd, queer, fierce & tender, a self-consciously ornate brio to the writing, there's very little like this out there, & 90% that comes close is also by Duncan.
30) Leena Krohn: Tainaron - Mail from another city (1985 in Finnish; 2005 in English). A traveller sends letters to a friend from a city populated entirely by insects. Gorgeously written, strange, and affecting.
November 22, 2025 at 1:25 AM
30) Leena Krohn: Tainaron - Mail from another city (1985 in Finnish; 2005 in English). A traveller sends letters to a friend from a city populated entirely by insects. Gorgeously written, strange, and affecting.
29) Iris Marion Young: Inclusion & Democracy. Young is essential reading, I think, for anyone attempting to understand the limits and potentials of liberalism broadly defined. Takes seriously difference & inequality and what that means for organising society. Genuine tragedy she died of cancer at 57
November 22, 2025 at 1:21 AM
29) Iris Marion Young: Inclusion & Democracy. Young is essential reading, I think, for anyone attempting to understand the limits and potentials of liberalism broadly defined. Takes seriously difference & inequality and what that means for organising society. Genuine tragedy she died of cancer at 57
28) Steve Kluger: Almost Like Being In Love (2004). The intersection of obsession with baseball and broadway musical, in epistolary romance form (2 relationships; the main one gay, the other straight). Laugh out loud funny, hugely warm hearted. An idiosyncratic hug of a book.
November 22, 2025 at 1:16 AM
28) Steve Kluger: Almost Like Being In Love (2004). The intersection of obsession with baseball and broadway musical, in epistolary romance form (2 relationships; the main one gay, the other straight). Laugh out loud funny, hugely warm hearted. An idiosyncratic hug of a book.
27) Jon Ingold: Heaven's Vault - The Loop (2021). Almost unprecedented for video game novelisations to be this good. Works if you've played the game. An excellent, lyrical story of SF archaeology and linguistics even if you haven't. Should be much more widely read.
November 22, 2025 at 1:12 AM
27) Jon Ingold: Heaven's Vault - The Loop (2021). Almost unprecedented for video game novelisations to be this good. Works if you've played the game. An excellent, lyrical story of SF archaeology and linguistics even if you haven't. Should be much more widely read.
26) Frank M Robinson: The Dark Beyond the Stars (1991). Entertainingly bonkers far-future generation ship SF by 50s-70s SF writer (and author of the Towering Inferno, *and* Harvey Milk speechwriter). Vibe is v 70s; unusual and distinct from pretty much everything else out there in the 90s.
November 22, 2025 at 1:07 AM
26) Frank M Robinson: The Dark Beyond the Stars (1991). Entertainingly bonkers far-future generation ship SF by 50s-70s SF writer (and author of the Towering Inferno, *and* Harvey Milk speechwriter). Vibe is v 70s; unusual and distinct from pretty much everything else out there in the 90s.
25) Charmaine Solomon: The Complete Asian Cookbook. This is a classic for a reason; I cook out of here more than all the rest of my cookbooks combined. Sensibly curated, good balance between authenticity & ingredient availability. Better on S & SE Asia than East Asia, but that's a quibble.
November 21, 2025 at 9:54 PM
25) Charmaine Solomon: The Complete Asian Cookbook. This is a classic for a reason; I cook out of here more than all the rest of my cookbooks combined. Sensibly curated, good balance between authenticity & ingredient availability. Better on S & SE Asia than East Asia, but that's a quibble.
24) Katie Waitman: The Divided (1999). Waitman is one of the most puzzling authors I've seen sink without trace. Her excellent first novel, The Merro Tree (odd space opera with a queer sensibility) got some buzz; this was also good and... that's it for her publishing career. Both OOP, too.
November 21, 2025 at 9:33 PM
24) Katie Waitman: The Divided (1999). Waitman is one of the most puzzling authors I've seen sink without trace. Her excellent first novel, The Merro Tree (odd space opera with a queer sensibility) got some buzz; this was also good and... that's it for her publishing career. Both OOP, too.
23) Megan Whalen Turner: Moira's Pen (2022). Collection of shorts & errata in the world of Turner's The Queen's Thief, which is one of THE towering achievements in YA literature in the past 30 years. Includes a short which I choose to read as Kostis & Kamet living happily & homosocially together.
November 21, 2025 at 9:04 PM
23) Megan Whalen Turner: Moira's Pen (2022). Collection of shorts & errata in the world of Turner's The Queen's Thief, which is one of THE towering achievements in YA literature in the past 30 years. Includes a short which I choose to read as Kostis & Kamet living happily & homosocially together.