Asking the Wrong Questions

It's been a very long time since I've posted one of these roundups, which I suppose is related to my pandemic-altered moviegoing habits. I watch more movies on streaming these days, and rarely very soon after their release, so talking about them feels less urgent. By chance, however, I've managed to watch three movies that, while not all still in theaters, are definitely still being talked about. And as it happens my conclusion about all three is broadly similar. They each have profound faults that are made up for (to greater and lesser degrees) with storytelling verve and a strong sense of the writer/director's personality and vision. Not all of them are good movies, but all are worth a look. The Substance - Coralie Fargeat's buzzy horror-comedy, winner of the best screenplay award at this year's Cannes festival, wastes little time in establishing its conceit. Former Hollywood star turned fitness guru Elisabeth Sparkle (Demi Moore) is informed, by her odious, ...

Jeff VanderMeer's Southern Reach trilogy, in which a stretch of Florida coastland is transformed into a weird, otherworldly space, leading to repeated attempts to comprehend and control it, is a fascinating instance of mid-career breakout, in which a writer who had seemed like a well-kept secret suddenly became a household name and public intellectual. In the decade since, VanderMeer has gone from strength to strength, and so his decision to return to Area X with a new novel is an additional, unexpected twist in the tale. I review Absolution at the Guardian . Much of what made the original Southern Reach books powerful and disturbing can be found in this new volume. Once again, VanderMeer produces a near-seamless shading between the weirdness and danger of Area X, and the natural environment that preceded it. Old Jim is rattled by a stand of trees left dead by the inland incursion of seawater, seeing in it a hint of the unearthly, while a superintelligent alligator who is the Ro...

Oh, how the tables have turned. Now it is the reviewer who is reviewed! Happily, the reviews for Track Changes so far have been very positive, and perhaps none more so than Ian Mond's in the August issue of Locus . I mentioned this review already in my appearance on the most recent episode of Critical Friends , and I'm glad to be able to share it in full online . In her introduction, Nussbaum explains that the title, Track Changes, captures the book's intent – to not only "track changes in the world – in the fields of science fiction and fantasy, [but also] my own growth as a writer and critic." To achieve this, the book is structured into five sections – "Space", "Systems", "Places", "Bodies", and "Tales" – with the reviews in each section placed in chronological order. I want to say that I saw significant shifts in Nussbaum's style and concerns across the decade and a half these pieces cover. But the realit...

Most recent reading roundup are a grab-bag without much of a unifying theme. This batch of novels, on the other hand, seem to share a certain sense of the unheimlich. They are stories about apocalypse, war, environmental collapse, or just people who are struggling to find their place in a hostile world. I suppose there are conclusions to be drawn from that—about the kinds of books I'm reading, or the kinds of books that inspire me to write about them. Either way, this means that alongside my recommendations—and this is a particularly strong group of books—I also have to issue a warning. If you're particularly worried about the state of the world right now, these might not be the books for you; if you're looking for something weird and disturbing, however, you might find your next read here. The Invisible Hotel by Yeji Y. Ham - For most of its length, Ham's debut novel keeps you guessing about its genre. Is it a horror story, or a naturalistic one? Another way of puttin...

After staking out such a staunch position in favor of negative reviews on my last appearance , it's perhaps a little surprising that Dan Hartland and Aishwarya Subramanian decided to invite me back for a guest stint on the Strange Horizons reviews department's podcast, Critical Friends . This time around, our conversation took a more positive approach. We talked about the role of critics in the fannish conversation, the process of putting together my book, Track Changes , and the process of "canon-building", especially in the context of the New York Times's recent project to compile a list of the best books published in the 21st century . The podcast can be found on all podcasting platforms as well as the Strange Horizons site , where you will also find a transcript. Track Changes can be purchased at the Briardene Books shop , or on Amazon ( US , UK ).

I wrote this on a train on my way to London, and am posting it from home. My Worldcon adventure has decisively concluded. This was my sixth time attending a Worldcon (the first was Montreal in 2009), and as ever I find that they are dizzying, overwhelming experiences, incredibly intense and yet seemingly over in a minute. I thought I'd round up some thoughts on the con, my events, and of course, the Hugos. First up, Glasgow 2024 hosted the launch of my book , Track Changes: Selected Reviews . This was my first opportunity to see the book as a completed object (Briardene Books publisher Niall Harrison trucked boxes and boxes of it from his home in Newcastle) and I can confirm that, even beyond the satisfaction of seeing a work you've labored over for more than a year take physical form, it is a beautiful object. We held a launch event for the book on Friday, and despite the fact that nearly everyone I spoke to about it seemed to have another event to go to (more on that in a mom...