Oliver Arditi
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paracyclops.bsky.social
Oliver Arditi
@paracyclops.bsky.social
250 followers 380 following 63 posts
Writer, librarian, worldbuilder, conlanger, lapsed musician. I like fantasy, science-fiction and horror, books, records, comics, games, cats, food, and holding inexplicable opinions.
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paracyclops.bsky.social
'Quantum Radio' by A.G. Riddle is a fast, entertaining SF thriller, but I couldn't buy into its plot, characters, or SF elements, and the prose is so pedestrian it kept booting me out of the story.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/73e5...

#sf #sciencefiction #agriddle #quantumradio #books #booksky
A white male hand holding up a copy of A.G. Riddle's 'Quantum Radio' in front of a messy living room.
November 16, 2025 at 3:26 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Michael Moorcock's 'Earl Aubec' is a bulky grab-bag of his short fiction, written over several decades, and although the standard is patchy, it contains some real gems.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1825...

#eternalchampion #michaelmoorcock #earlaubec #fantasy #sf #sff #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Michael Moorcock's 'Earl Aubec' in an airport.
November 15, 2025 at 12:43 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I loved @emilymandel.bsky.social 's 'Sea of Tranquility' so much I'll just sound gushy if I try to say why. Hard recommend.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/03e8...

#sf #scifi #sciencefiction #seaoftranquility
A white male hand holding a copy of Emily St. John Mandel's 'Sea of Tranquility' in front of a dirty cottage window and some flowers.
October 20, 2025 at 11:37 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Le Guin's 'The Eye of the Heron' is a beautiful fable, that uses SF mechanics to explore some political ideas, through her usual beautiful prose and heartrending character portraits.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/ed71...

#sf #sciencefiction @ursulakleguin.com #theeyeoftheheron #books #booksky
A copy of Ursula K. Le Guin's 'The Eye of the Heron' held by a white male hand in front of a bookcase bearing some other Le Guin books.
October 16, 2025 at 2:32 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
'The City We Became' is a contemporary urban fantasy which concludes @nkjemisin.bsky.social 's duology mapping good vs. evil onto tolerance vs. the alt right. It's a lot of fun!

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/422a...

#fantasy #urbanfantasy #theworldwemake #books #booksky @nkjemisin.bsky.social
A copy of 'The World We Make' by N.K. Jemisin, on a table, partially shadowed.
October 12, 2025 at 5:13 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I absolutely loved 'Under The Moon', a short, beautifully written SFFH story collection by E.M. Faulds. Small in size, enormous (sublunary) in scope, and frequently moving.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/71eb...

#fantasy #sf #horror #sffh #UnderTheMoonEMF #books @bethkesh.bsky.social
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Under The Moon' by E.M. Faulds in front of some stringed instruments.
October 5, 2025 at 11:59 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
'The City We Became' is a wonderfully written contemporary urban fantasy that redraws the map of good vs. evil to reflect the state of early 21st century politics.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/623b...

#fantasy #urbanfantasy #nkjemisin #thecitywebecame #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'The City We Became' by N.K. Jemisin
September 27, 2025 at 1:57 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I enjoyed @annaleen.bsky.social ’s latest column in @newscientist.com It reminded me how weird it was to go out into the real world in the 1990s, after my upbringing in a feminist bubble, to discover that the battle for gender equality wasn’t completely done and dusted!

#wheresmyjetpack #feminism
September 19, 2025 at 9:01 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I was underwhelmed by 'Earthsong', final book in Suzette Haden Elgin's 'Native Tongue' 3logy. No sign of the first book's radicalism. I enjoyed it, but I doubt I'll remember it.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/8a33...

#sf #sciencefiction #suzettehadenelgin #earthsong #nativetongue #books #booksky
A white male hand holding an iPad displaying the cover of the ebook of 'Earthsong' by Suzette Haden Elgin.
September 16, 2025 at 8:13 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I was knocked-out by Marlon James's 'Moon Witch Spider King'—a stonking follow-up to the first book in the series. Dense, intricate language, wonderful worldbuilding, and no holds barred.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/4a40...

#fantasy #marlonjames #darkstar #moonwitchspiderking #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'Moon Witch Spider King' by Marlon James in front of a messy sitting room.
September 10, 2025 at 11:18 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Just finished Michael Moorcock's 1993 'Stormbringer' omnibus. Much fun, occasionally profound—best story was the 1991 'Revenge of the Rose'.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/a883...

#michaelmoorcock #elric #eternalchampion #chaos #stormbringer #fantasy #swordandsorcery #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Michael Moorcock's 1993 omnibus 'Stormbringer' in front of a shelf bearing other titles from the 1990s 'Tale of the Eternal Champion' omnibus series.
September 1, 2025 at 1:30 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I've got a new favourite book! 'Black Leopard Red Wolf' by Marlon James is one of the best novels I've read, and the most accomplished contemporary fantasy book I've encountered.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/1af4...

#fantasy #marlonjames #blackleopardredwolf #books #booksky
A copy of ‘Black Leopard Red Wolf’ by Marlon James resting on a black cat in a cardboard box
July 30, 2025 at 7:26 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
This is today’s office.
July 30, 2025 at 3:52 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I found 'The Kingdom of Gods' by N.K. Jemisin a beautifully crafted, thematically complex work of grown-up fantasy fiction.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/b401...

#fantasy #fantasyfiction #books #nkjemisin #theinheritancetrilogy #thekingdomofgods
A copy of N.K. Jemisin's 'The Kingdom of Gods' lying on a fireplace.
July 18, 2025 at 3:56 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I loved this sumptuous English language re-launch of Metal Hurlant, jam-packed with a mix of classics and new stories. Favourites were Moebius's 'Is Man Good?', James Stokoe's 'Red Planet Tomatoes', and Yuri Campos's 'Lacuna'.

#comics #metalhurlant #bandedessinée #humanoids #moebius #comicsky
A white male hand holding up a copy of 'Metal Hurlant: Old Dreams, Young Visions' in front of some wet foliage.
July 2, 2025 at 12:05 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I'm making my way through Tad Williams's 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn'. 'To Green Angel Tower: Siege' contains some good writing, and was really enjoyable to read, but for me it's a LOT longer than it needs to be.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/e433...

#fantasy #epicfantasy #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of 'To Green Angel Tower: Siege' by Tad Williams, by a widow with foliage visible through it.
June 24, 2025 at 6:21 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Ursula K. Le Guin's 'Steering The Craft' is both a creative writing manual, and a manifesto for the importance of good writing. It's as beautifully written as her fiction.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/bb4c...

#creativewriting #ursulakleguin #steeringthecraft #books #booksky
A white male hand holding a copy of Ursula K. Le Guin’s ‘Steering the Craft’ in front of a shed.
June 11, 2025 at 4:42 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I was quietly but powerfully moved by Ursula K. Le Guin's 'Orsinia', a beautifully crafted cross between Realist historical fiction and Ruritarian romance.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/3c91...

#fiction #ruritarianromance #shortstories #ursulakleguin #orsinia #books #booksky
A while male hand holding up 'Orsinia' by Ursula K. Le Guin in front of a shelf of Le Guin's other books.
May 21, 2025 at 4:24 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Just read @interzone.press #298 (about a year late). Loved every story, but Mame Bougouma Dieme’s ‘Perpetual Motion Sickness’ in particular was utterly devastating.

#sf #sciencefiction #fantasy #sff #specfic #interzone #shortfiction #shortstories #books
The cover of Interzone #298 held by a white male hand in front of some red geraniums
May 11, 2025 at 7:16 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
I had Lord Dunsany on my TBR 4 a long time. I found 'Time & The Gods' very enjoyable & was amazed at how much of Dunsany's influence I could detect in some of my favourite writers.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/0e38...

#fiction #fantasy #lorddunsany #timeandthegods #thegodsofpegana #books #booksky
A white male hand holding up a copy of Lord Dunsany's 'Time And The Gods' in front of some cosy domestic mess.
May 7, 2025 at 1:38 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Latest read: 'The Book of Gold' by Ruth Frances Long—an entertaining fantasy heist story. I especially enjoyed the world, closely based on Renaissance Europe, and the focus on books, libraries and scholarship.
#fantasy #fantasyfiction #romantasy #books #thebookofgold @rflong.bsky.social #booksky
April 24, 2025 at 11:59 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
James S.A. Corey's 'Cibola Burn' is another gripping, fast-paced entry in their SF-adventure 'Expanse' series. I enjoyed it enormously.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/5435...

#sf #sciencefiction #jamessacorey #theexpanse #cibolaburn #books
A white male hand holding 'Cibola Burn' by James S.A. Corey in front of a garden path.
April 13, 2025 at 11:50 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Volume 2 of Ed Piskor's 'Hip Hop Family Tree' continues his enthusiastic, wonderfully drawn account of the music's early years.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/d657...

#comics #hiphop #edpiskor #hiphopfamilytree #books #booksky
April 7, 2025 at 3:09 PM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Impossibly abundant blossom on this blackthorn bush!

#flowers #blackthorn #spring #blossom
April 7, 2025 at 8:52 AM
paracyclops.bsky.social
Alex Pheby's 'Mordew' is an epic fantasy exploration of Neoplatonism and a wonderful, baroque successor to the works of Mervyn Peake. Beautifully written and unfeasibly thought-provoking.

app.thestorygraph.com/reviews/27a0...

#fantasy #epicfantasy #neoplatonism #alexpheby #malarkoi #books #booksky
April 6, 2025 at 2:53 PM