The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

I don't know, guys. Is it perhaps possible that an author with no academic credentials, writing thirty years ago about a pseudo-Victorian fantasy world, did not articulate an immutable, unassailable truth about our present-day economic situation?

I liked it overall, but I wish the Brand New Day writers had taken another look at how the entire movie is downstream of the world learning Spider-Man's identity, which becomes unbearable, and then the film ends with an entire hospital learning what Spider-Man looks like, which is apparently fine.

It's well seeded, but I wish the career Carmy pivots to at the end of The Bear was not architecture. There's probably no profession with a higher ratio of romantic perception to mundane reality. You think you're going to be designing museums and instead you're drafting bathrooms and parking lots.

At some point, AI boosters are going to have to engage with the fact that the people who have most fully and prominently bought into this product are also the stupidest, most evil people on the planet.

PBS News@pbsnews.org · 6d ago

The State Department said ​it takes "full responsibility" for "hastily" altering and then presenting a map of Africa at a global AIDS conference that mislabeled every single country it highlighted. An analysis by Reuters found a watermark in the map image that suggests it was made with OpenAI.

I haven't decided how I feel about the last season of The Bear yet, but some of the things that Richie does to handle an overfull restaurant and too-empty larder, if they did them to me at a restaurant, I'd walk out without paying the bill.

🎛️ Crank up the volume, it's Critical Friends! 🏆 Uh-oh, it's some more awards chat. @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social and @amritesh.bsky.social talk to me about the Clarke, the Hugo, the Booker, the Le Guin ... ⁉️ What relationship between critic and award, award and reader? 🤔 Also: marketing. Again.

Critical Friends Episode 26: On Awards

In this episode of Critical Friends, the Strange Horizons SFF criticism podcast, Amritesh Mukherjee and Abigail Nussbaum join Dan Hartland to talk about literary awards.

strangehorizons.com

I had the now-traditional Clarke Award discussion at NoaF again this year, and (possibly as is clear from the length) had a great time chatting to Dan about all of it. Come for the jokes, stay for the book opinions.

Nerds of a Feather@nerdsofafeather.bsky.social · 2d ago

The Arthur C. Clarke Award 2026: A Shortlist Discussion Dan Hartland ( @danhartland.bsky.social ), who is Reviews Editor at Strange Horizons, joins our @chloroformtea.bsky.social for a meaty discussion of the shortlist: www.nerds-feather.com/2026/08/the-... #blueskybooks #booksky

Being on an award jury has been a dream of mine for years, and in 2026 I am getting my wish, as a member of the jury for the Otherwise Award, which recognizes work in the fantastic genres that explores and expands our understanding of gender. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-...

The 2026 Otherwise Award: Jury Announcement

Being on an award jury has been a dream of mine for years. I suppose it's only to be expected; I spend so much time telling people which boo...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

Shocked at multiple Spider-movie rankings on my feed that do not put Spider-Verse 1/2 first. If anything, I'd have expected people to keep them out of their rankings entirely, because they're so obviously better than any of the live-action movies that it's not fair to consider them side by side.

Per latest Locus, the Feminist Press will be publishing the Collected Stories of Joanna Russ. I am so delighted.

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

This ongoing series of analytical readings continues to be excellent.

Abigail Nussbaum@abigailnussbaum.bsky.social · 5d ago

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

The last of my June 2026 @locusmag.bsky.social reviews is now online: The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do, tr. by Anton Hur. This is an intriguing, wide-ranging epic fantasy that is at once familiar in its tropes, and very surprising in its specifics. locusmag.com/review/the-h...

The Heart of the Nhaga by Lee Young-do, tr. Anton Hur: Review by Abigail Nussbaum

The Heart of the Nhaga, Lee Young-do, tr. Anton Hur (Harper Voyager US 978-0-06334-989-6, $32.00, 448pp, hc) June 2026. The promotional materials provided by Lee Young-do’s English-language publish…

locusmag.com

Americans elected a warmongering, mush-brained fool who hates Muslims and loves bombing people as their president, and are looking for anyone but themselves to blame now that he's dragged them into a pointless, unwinnable war.

Michelle@michelleroy78.bsky.social · last wk.

He's not wrong.

The fundamental, delicious paradox of studying history is that: 1. These people are radically different from me, and I may never properly understand them. 2. These people are exactly like me.

Olúfẹ́mi O. Táíwò@olufemiotaiwo.bsky.social · last wk.

one tendency that comes out about period films is the insistence that XYZ moral thought would not have occurred to anyone in the ancient world. to be sure there are moral innovations and changes but the existence of thorough dissatisfaction with the present moral order is not a modern phenomenon

It’s the 72nd anniversary of The Fellowship of the Ring, and the first thing I read today is Abigail’s thoughtful essay on ‘magic’ as an interaction with religion and the world I feel slightly ashamed, as I mainly remember Galadriel’s gift-giving as bringing Gimli out of himself because…

Abigail Nussbaum@abigailnussbaum.bsky.social · last wk.

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien" today, giving me an excuse to talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and how both are rooted in religion in a way that most fantasy readers are not accustomed to. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...

This is bad, but also a useful reminder that an obsessive fixation with AIPAC as a socially acceptable way of hinting at a global Jewish conspiracy is both a red flag and a stepping stone to other regressive beliefs.

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien". In this essay we talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and about how both are rooted in religion in a way that modern fantasy readers are not accustomed to.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien" today, giving me an excuse to talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and how both are rooted in religion in a way that most fantasy readers are not accustomed to. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

I don't want to tell anyone what to do, but I highly recommend the #GreatTolkienReread by @abigailnussbaum.bsky.social to anyone who enjoyed the Lord of the Rings trilogy, or who saw the movie and is curious about the books.

Lawyers, Guns and Money@lawgunsmoney.bsky.social · last wk.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

The Great Tolkien Reread says "Farewell to Lórien" today, giving me an excuse to talk about how LOTR treats magic, and specifically the power of the Ring, and how both are rooted in religion in a way that most fantasy readers are not accustomed to. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-...

The Great Tolkien Reread: Farewell to Lórien

Illustration by Morgan Rogers , 2020 'Are these magic cloaks?' asked Pippin, looking at them with wonder. 'I do not know what you mean by ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

There's only one reason why you'd crowdsource a registry of where Jews and/or Israelis congregate in Europe, and it would eventually have involved bombs, small arms, or a weaponized truck. www.fodors.com/world/europe...

Italy Shuts Down Site Tracking Jewish Tourists

Fodor's provides expert travel content worth exploring so you can dream up your next trip. The world is a weird and wonderful place—we want to show you around.

fodors.com

There really needs to be more discussion of how bad the dialogue in The Odyssey is. "Our age of bronze is collapsing" should be a meme on the same level as "Somehow, Palpatine returns"

em@foremphasis.bsky.social · last wk.

I thought it was really funny in The Odyssey when Odysseus looked at the camera and said "Our bronze age is collapsing"

The Great Tolkien Reread discusses "Lothlórien" and "The Mirror of Galadriel". In which a woman appears! This is the series's first (but by no means last) discussion of the extremely thorny subject of female rep in Tolkien's writing.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Lothlórien, The Mirror of Galadriel

"Caras Galadhon" by Ray Shield , 2025 'I know what it was that you last saw,' she said; 'for that is also in my mind. Do not be afraid! But ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com

Me reading the LOTR appendices: man, there's a really great "young Aragorn chronicles" series to be made from this material Me imagining the sort of floppy-haired, daddy-issues-ridden, callow fuckboy any such series would make of Aragorn:

Ki Hong Lee Throws Laptop

Alt: Ki Hong Lee Throws Laptop

static.klipy.com

Masters of the Universe: rarely have I seen so blatant an example of a movie forgetting to demonstrate why the main character deserves to be the main character

The Great Tolkien Reread discusses "Lothlórien" and "The Mirror of Galadriel". In which a woman appears! This is the series's first (but by no means last) discussion of the extremely thorny subject of female rep in Tolkien's writing.

The Great Tolkien Reread: Lothlórien, The Mirror of Galadriel

"Caras Galadhon" by Ray Shield , 2025 'I know what it was that you last saw,' she said; 'for that is also in my mind. Do not be afraid! But ...

wrongquestions.blogspot.com