@abigailnussbaum
Blogger, critic, 2017 and 2025 best fan writer Hugo winner. Blogs at wrongquestions.blogspot.com and www.lawyersgunsmoneyblog.com Review collection TRACK CHANGES available at briardenebooks.uk/shop/
The Great Tolkien Reread takes a swerve into shlock horror with "Fog on the Barrow-Downs", a chapter that wouldn't feel out of place in a pulp magazine, but which is also a major turning point for Frodo in his relationship to danger.
The Great Tolkien Reread takes a swerve into shlock horror with "Fog on the Barrow-Downs", a chapter that wouldn't feel out of place in a pulp magazine, but which is also a major turning point for Frodo in his relationship to danger.
The Great Tolkien Reread takes a swerve into shlock horror today with "Fog on the Barrow-Downs", a chapter that wouldn't feel out of place in a pulp magazine, but which is also a major turning point for Frodo in his relationship to danger. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-...
I think it might be my favorite too, but the Herring suited my theme of shlock too well not to use it as the essay illustration.
As always, all entries in the Great Tolkien Reread can be found at: wrongquestions.blogspot.com/search/label...
"Under the Spell of the Barrow-Wight" by Ted Nasmith
"The Barrow-Wight" by Matthew Stewart
Here is the same scene, illustrated by Ted Nasmith, and by Matthew Stewart. Sound off in the replies with your own favorite versions!
The illustration for this chapter is by Michael Herring, and depicts Frodo fighting off the barrow wight who has captured and enchanted his friends. Unsurprisingly, this evocative scene has received many artistic renditions.
The Great Tolkien Reread takes a swerve into shlock horror today with "Fog on the Barrow-Downs", a chapter that wouldn't feel out of place in a pulp magazine, but which is also a major turning point for Frodo in his relationship to danger. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/03/the-...
In what way is adding fruit or sweetener to yogurt "ultra-processing" it? We already have a term for that sort of food - high in sugar - and we have actual science about why it's bad for you. There's no need for another term that doesn't actually apply to the food itself, or its effects.
This is clearly about actor availability, though. Page has made it clear heβs not interested in being a supporting character, and Bailey is being gracious by doing one episode a season. Thereβs only so much the show can do with that.
ΧΧ, ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧ’ΧͺΧ ΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ. ΧΧΧ ΧΧ€ΧΧΧ§Χ‘Χ ΧΧΧ’ΧΧΧ A Meal of Thorns Χ’Χ©Χ Χ€Χ¨Χ§ ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ¨ΧΧΧ.
My review of Rie Qudan's Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood) appeared in the September issue of Locus. After some back and forth, I was informed that the review would not run on the magazine website, so I am reprinting it on my blog.
ΧΧ Χ ΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧΧ Χ Χ’Χ ΧΧͺΧ§Χ Χ ΧΧΧͺΧ€ΧΧ (ΧΧΧ ΧΧ ΧͺΧΧ ΧΧͺ ΧΧΧ, ΧΧͺΧ ΧΧΧ§ΧΧ§ ΧΧΧΧ³) Χ ΧΧ¦ΧΧͺ ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧ‘ΧΧ¨Χ ΧΧ’ΧΧΧ€ΧΧΧΧͺ Χ©Χ ΧΧ’Χ¨ΧΧͺ ΧΧΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧ¨Χ¦ΧΧͺ. ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ Χ©Χ§Χ¦Χͺ ΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧͺ ΧΧΧ€Χ¨Χ₯ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ© ΧΧ’Χ¨ΧΧΧͺ ΧΧΧΧ.
On the latest installment in the Great Tolkien Reread, we arrive in the house of Tom Bombadil, Tolkien's most divisive character. Despite my best efforts, I'm afraid I come down on the hater side, and I try to express why in this essay.
ΧΧΧͺΧ€ΧͺΧΧΧͺ Χ©ΧΧ£ ΧΧΧ* ΧΧ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧͺ ΧΧΧͺΧ, ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ’ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ Χ©Χ’Χ ΧΧΧ© ΧΧ Χ¨ΧΧͺΧ Χ ΧΧ¦Χ Χ’Χ ΧΧΧΧΧ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧ¨Χ ΧΧ’ΧΧΧΧ.
* ΧΧ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ
ΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧ©ΧΧͺ Χ©ΧΧ©ΧΧΧ Χ¦Χ¨ΧΧΧ ΧΧ€Χ ΧΧͺ ΧΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧ©Χ Χ: ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧΧ€Χ ΧΧΧͺΧ Χ ΧΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ¨ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧͺΧ ΧΧ‘ΧͺΧΧΧΧͺ? ΧΧ¨Χ ΧΧΧΧ€Χͺ ΧΧ©ΧΧΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧ Χ€Χ ΧΧΧΧ, ΧΧΧΧ ΧͺΧΧΧ ΧΧ ΧΧ§ ΧΧΧΧΧΧ ΧΧ¦ΧΧΧ¨ ΧΧΧΧ€Χ ΧΧͺ ΧΧ¦ΧΧΧΧ¨ ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ§Χ Χ Χ ΧΧΧ Χ. ΧΧ ΧΧ ΧΧ Χ ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧ©ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧ Χ©ΧΧ§ΧΧΧ ΧΧͺ ΧΧΧΧΧ Χ ΧΧ ΧΧ©Χ¨ΧΧ?
I also love how people are bringing up the jobs of the ship's passengers as though this is a thing that an enemy captain can know just by looking at it.
My review of Rie Qudan's Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood) appeared in the September issue of Locus. After some back and forth, I was informed that the review would not run on the magazine website, so I am reprinting it on my blog.
I was surprised that AI didnβt come up in the episode, especially as a counter to the notion that capitalism is deliberately creating bullshit jobs.
On the latest installment in the Great Tolkien Reread, we arrive in the house of Tom Bombadil, Tolkien's most divisive character. Despite my best efforts, I'm afraid I come down on the hater side, and I try to express why in this essay.
My review of Rie Qudan's Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood) appeared in the September issue of Locus. After some back and forth, I was informed that the review would not run on the magazine website, so I am reprinting it today on my blog. wrongquestions.blogspot.com/2026/03/symp...
My review of Rie Qudan's Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood) appeared in the September issue of Locus. After some back and forth, I was informed that the review would not run on the magazine website, so I am reprinting it on my blog.
My review of Rie Qudan's Sympathy Tower Tokyo (trans. Jesse Kirkwood) appeared in the September issue of Locus. After some back and forth, I was informed that the review would not run on the magazine website, so I am reprinting it on my blog.
I havenβt read that one, actually, though Iβve heard good things.
The minute I saw that JD and Elliot were broken up, I was out. Felt like a very obvious indication that the show wants to put them back on the will-they-wonβt-they merry-go-round instead of moving forward with their story.
I find that whole project bizarre. Feels like the only interesting thing about them is that the very qualities that made him Americaβs most eligible bachelor are also the reason he ended up killing her and himself, and I donβt get the sense the show is tending that way.
Χ©ΧΧ’Χ, ΧΧ Χ ΧΧ‘Χ Χ- ΧΧΧ ΧΧ©Χ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧΧ€Χ ΧͺΧΧΧ£ ΧΧΧ€ΧΧΧ ΧΧ¦ΧΧ Χ ΧΧͺΧ ΧΧΧΧͺ ΧΧΧ Χ’Χ ΧΧΧΧ‘ ΧΧ Χ Χ€ΧΧ¦Χ. ΧΧ Χ§ΧΧ¨Χ Χ©Χ ΧΧΧ¨ΧΧ΄Χ Χ©Χ¦Χ¨ΧΧ ΧΧΧ ΧΧΧ?
I respect the choice of bodies like the Nebula to exclude work that contains AI-generated text. Sympathy Tower Tokyo would have been a worthy Nebula nominee, but I accept that it can't be. But that doesn't mean we shouldn't engage critically with novels like this, which give us so much to chew on.
AI takes that process to its ultimate conclusion, producing language with no meaning, and no intent behind it, that is nevertheless allowed to infest people's minds and worldviews. Far from an AI-written novel, this is one of the most serious, critical engagements with AI writing in recent fiction.
Sympathy Tower Tokyo begins as a story about prison reform - its alternate Japan reclassifies "criminals" as "those deserving of sympathy" - but what it's really interested in is how words can be used as tokens without meaning, a way of avoiding uncomfortable subjects rather than engaging with them.