There's a few aspects that I wish had been developed more, but...
I won't say the details here cuz there's no way to hide spoilers, alas.
I do want to highlight that I'm critical of those points only because the book is REALLY good.
This was originally a short story by the author, which I hadn't read first, so I went in fairly blind. There were a number of startling moments and the ending is abrupt but also strangely perfect for the story that is being told.
Book cover. Text: Sister, Maiden, Monster Lucy A. Snyder Bram Stoker Award-Winning Author Image: A clouded dark background of swirling grey haze. In front of it, a naked brain is nestled among orange tentacles. A bloodied machete rests against them in the lower image, and black feathered wings sprout near the top. Wrapping around brain and tentacles is a black bead rosary with a golden cross with a cloaked and golden figure.
I read "Sister Maiden Monster" by Lucy A. Snyder. Audiobook narrated in dual style by Katherine Littrell, Lindsay Dorcus, and Arielle DeLisle.
This is a pandemic zombiepocalypse novel which takes a sharp turn into cosmic horror, using close-in stories of three women experiencing these events.
I'd watch it.
Three people in California have been sentenced for insurance fraud involving a person in a bear costume damaging high-end cars.
Most of them don't even want to rely on wealth - they want a woman to pay half or more of the bills while also doing all of the cleaning and childcare and being completely subservient.
I'm glad I played it, but for me personally it did drag on at times. I refer back to "I don't usually play farming sims and resource management games". But it did have a cool story and I'm glad I played it!
Not everything is warm happy acceptance. Some characters want to move on to the next world because they've realized they're too unhappy and want to get it over with. Some characters have unaddressed trauma, or aren't likeable. Some characters deserved better than they got.
The game is cute and it's easy, it explores some themes around processing death. Both for yourself, and for those leaving you behind. Sometimes what it deals with is... rough. It's honest and handled with care, but sometimes is ROUGH.
I can't say how long I spent playing it, because you have to exit out of two separate screens when quitting the game and I repeatedly would forget to click the second one and it would run all night/day without me realizing it - so my "hours played on steam" count is wildly inaccurate. Oops.
I completed a playthrough of Spiritfarer on PC (developer/producer: Thunder Lotus)!
Resource management games and similar farming-esque sims are not usually my vibe, but I liked the whole "this game is about dying" angle it had going on, so I gave it a whirl.
NYC, Tuesday, April 21st:
I will be talking about my books "On Tyranny" and "On Freedom" with Jessica Pisano.
Hosted by the New School for Social Research Festival of Ideas. 12pm noon ET. Register here:
event.newschool.edu/timothysnyde...
This should be a bigger story.
Another Jan. 6 rioter pardoned by Donald Trump is now pleading guilty in a separate case involving the sexual exploitation of minors.
There's a review of @premeemohamed.com's One Message Remains in today's Sower.
Libby, the reviewer, found the fantasy story collection to be a hopeful look into how all of us, no matter whether we're inside or outside the imperial core, have the power to resist colonialism and its lack of empathy.
Oh:
A 2022 study found that children in households that used voice commands with tools like Siri and Alexa became curt when speaking with humans, often calling out “Hey, do X” and expecting obedience, especially from anyone whose voice resembled the default-female electronic voices.
Loved this novella! And, well, now I think I know some people who might have goblin ancestry...
This would help me SO MUCH.
5...4...3...2...1...IGNITION! Hugo Finalist announcement launches April 21 10 a.m. PT
Tune in right here on April 21 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time to find out who the finalists are for the 2026 Hugo Awards for Science Fiction.
We found out several things during the wait. 1) target uses AI for theft prevention which often falsely targets people. 2) they purposly don't notify you if you don't scan all items in a self checkout lane. 3) if u hit the ok button on the self checkout and you miss an item they say thats stealing
The Trump administration fired four Justice Department prosecutors involved in cases against anti-abortion activists, the latest wave of terminations of employees involved in cases criticized by conservatives or because they were perceived as insufficiently loyal to President Trump’s agenda.
In a world where superheroes exist but things are otherwise much the same, something new appears: a social media website called The Dare. What will you do for attention? What should you be doing anyway? And who acts even if no one is watching?
John Wiswell's short story "Welcome to Heroism" Is available for free online from Uncanny Magazine, and I think everyone ought to read it. There's some messaging that hits hard given what is going on in the world.
www.uncannymagazine.com/article/welc...
When I was a child, teachers sat the best girl students next to disruptive boy students. The girls were responsible for keeping the boys calm so that the teacher could continue teaching.
This sort of emotional regulation by proxy, using girls and women to calm boys and men, still happens.
This short story is up for a Locus award. I read it last year and thought it was excellent. So delighted to see it getting recognized. Read it here!
We still have so much to offer at https://twp.ai/9OV8So this is your last chance to claim it!
Our fundraiser is 63% funded and will close on Tuesday 4/14 at 11AM PDT.
Visit the link in our bio to donate and claim your perk before time runs out! Thank you all!
2026 Locus Awards Top Ten Finalists locusmag.com/2026/04...
this is why there’s been mass revolt and opposition to data centers being built in communities. it is genuinely a health hazard to live this close to something emitting this much sound. these need to stop being built
I love everything this author has written.
Butcher of the Forest and These Lifeless Things were both so amazing that I bought shelf trophies after having read them via the library. Hyped about the blurb for this one.
Eeeee I somehow missed the first post about this a couple days ago!!
Are there chances of an audiobook?
(I'm pre-ordering it regardless, that just determines whether I order it on Bookshop now or wait for the audiobook on LibroFM.)
Slow paced but enthralling story that asks the question "Which is worse: to be a dog, or to be a damaged girl?"
