Books read, early July
Jul. 16th, 2025 02:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mrissaA. S. Byatt, Still Life. Reread. I freely acknowledge that "4, 1, 2, 3" is an eccentric reread order for this series. (This is 2. Stay tuned for 3 in the next fortnight's book list.) It's also the one that, in my opinion, stands least well alone, mostly because of the ending. The ending is very cogent about the initial blurred, horrible phases of grief, but what it does not do is move through them to the next phases, to what happens after the first shock--which is an odd balancing for one book but fine for part of a larger story. I also find it fascinating that Byatt exists in this book as an authorial "I" in ways that she does not for the other books. "I wrote this word because of that," she will say, and it seems that if the I is not Antonia, it's someone quite close, it's not anything near to a character and not really much like an in-book narrator. It's just...our neighbor Antonia, who makes choices while writing, as one does, as we all do.
Linda Legarde Grover, Onigamiising: Seasons of an Ojibwe Year. If you have a relative who is a person of goodwill but has been paying absolutely no attention to Native/First Nations culture, this might be a good thing to give them. It's lots of very short (newspaper column or newsletter length) essays about personal memories and cultural memories through the turning of the year, nothing particularly deep and nothing that assumes that you know literally the first thing about Onigamiising (Duluth) or Ojibwe life or anything at all really. Not probably going to be very memorable if you do, but not offensive.
Alix E. Harrow, The Everlasting. Discussed elsewhere.
Reginald Hill, Death Comes for the Fat Man, Midnight Fugue, and The Price of Butcher's Meat. Rereads. And here we're at the end of the series, and as always I wish there was more and am glad there's this much. I don't think I'll need to return to The Price of Butcher's Meat; the email format conceit ("this is a person who doesn't use apostrophes, that means it's informal!" Reg stop) does not improve with time, and the rest of the book isn't really worth it to me. But the others are still quite solid mysteries, hurrah for Dalziel interiority.
Grady Hillhouse, Engineering in Plain Sight: An Illustrated Field Guide to the Constructed Environment. I picked this up because it was already in the house, and because I'm writing a thing about a city planner, and I thought it might spark ideas. It did not: it's very focused on the immediate 21st century American largely urban constructed environment. But what a neat book to be able to give a bright 10yo, or really anyone who can read full text but likes careful pictures of what there is and how it works.
Naomi Mitchison, Among You Taking Notes: The Wartime Diary of Naomi Mitchison. Kindle. I found this to be a heartening read because Mitchison is clearly a person like us, someone who values art and human rights and a number of good things like that, a person who is doing the best she can in an internationally stressful time--and also she's flat-out wrong a number of times in this book. A few times she's morally wrong, several times she's wrong in her predictions...and the Allies still won WWII and Mitchison herself still wrote a great many things worth reading. It is simultaneously a very friendly and domestic diary from someone Getting Through It All and a reminder that perfection is not required for progress.
Malka Older, The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses. More Mossa and Pleiti mystery adventures. The two spend a large chunk of the book in different locations. Don't start with this one, start with the first one, but also: events continue to ramify and unfold, hurrah events.
Deanna Raybourn, Kills Well With Others. The sequel to the previous "older women assassins attempting with not a great deal of success to be retired from killin' folks" book, it has similar appeal. It could be that you're ready to be done after one, which is valid, but if you weren't, this is more of that, and reasonably enjoyable. There's less of the dual timeline narrative here, about which I have mixed feelings: on the one hand it's often good for authors to let go of that kind of device when it has served its purpose, and on the other I liked the contrast. Ah well.
Cameron Reed, What We Are Seeking. Discussed elsewhere.
Tom Sancton, Sweet Land of Liberty: America in the Mind of the French Left, 1848-1871. This is not just about what people thought of the US at the time but also how they used images and references to it in their own internal propaganda, which is kind of cool. A lot of it was not particularly deep thought, and that is of itself interesting--in what ways do people react to large dramatic events for which they have limited context (but no small amount of possible personal use). If you like this sort of thing this is the sort of thing you'll like. A few eccentric views of, for example, Susan B. Anthony, or the Buchanan presidency, but within the scope of what one would expect for a few lines from someone whose main expertise is not those things.
Leonie Swann, Big Bad Wool. This is the sequel to Three Bags Full, and it is another sheep-centered mystery novel that stays in semi-realistic sheep perspective (except in the places where it goes into goat perspective this time! there are goats!). If you had fun with the first one, this will also be fun; if not, probably start with the first one, because it does have references to prior events. I really appreciate the sheep having sheep-centered theories, it's a good exercise in perspective.
Nghi Vo, A Mouthful of Dust. Discussed elsewhere.
Faith Wallis, ed., Medieval Medicine: A Reader. This is a compendium of translated documents from the period, with very small amounts of commentary between for context. If you want to know how to examine a patient's urine or what humors linen enhances, this is the book for you. Also if you want a window into how people thought of bodies and health over this long and diverse period. I think it's probably going to be more useful to have as a reference than to read straight through, but I did in fact read the whole thing this once (which I hope will help with my sense of what to check back on when using it as a reference).
Martha Wells, Queen Demon. Discussed elsewhere.
Old-timey regency romances
Jul. 16th, 2025 10:23 amsartorias"Old-timey" seems to be an emerging term for stuff either set or written before the 21st Century. Here we get an amusing confusion: Old-Timey regency romances, I noted when scanning reviews by what appears to be younger-than-me readers, refers to the regency romances written in the sixties-eighties, even the nineties.
I used to collect these in my late teens, once I'd gone through everything the library had. They were sold by the bunch in used book stores, fifty cents for ten, which suited my babysitting budget--I could read one a night once the kids were asleep.
I did a cull of these beat-up, yellowing volumes with godawful covers 25-30 years ago, donating the real stinkers* and keeping a slew of others because my teenage daughter had by then discovered them.
But she left them all behind--she stopped reading fiction altogether around 2000--and I always meant to do a more severe cull, perhaps dump the entirety. But thought I oughht to at least check them out first, yet kept putting it off until recently. While I was recovering from that nasty dose of flu seemed the perfect time.
I finished last night.
Of course most of them are heavily influenced by Georgette Heyer, or at least in conversation with. Some were written when Heyer was still going strong. Authors from UK, USA, Australia, etc. For the most part you could tell the UK ones not only because the language was closer to early nineteenth century--these writers surely had grown up reading old books, as had Heyer--but their depictions of small towns in GB were way more authentic than those written by writers who'd never seen the islands.
But there were common threads. Good things, as one reviewer trumpeted: they wrote in complete sentences! They knew the difference between "lie" and "lay"! In the best of them, characters had actual conversations. Even witty ones! (There's an entire chapter in Austen's Emma, when we meet Mrs. Elton, which demonstrates what was and what wasn't "good conversation." I can imagine readers back then chuckling all the way through at Mrs. Elton's egregious vigor in bad conversational manners.)
But those are the superficials. What about the plots? Here were common tropes shared with contemporary romances of sixties and seventies. A bunch of these tropes have long since worn out their welcome. I didn't know why I hadn't culled some of the books containing the most egregious examples--maybe they were just so common that they were invisible, and there was some other aspect of a given book that had made me chuckle fifty years ago.
Dunno. But in this cull, as soon as I hit the evil aging mistress who will do anything to hang onto the (total jerk) hero, including setting the young and pure heroine up for rape and ruin (which she always j-u-s-t escapes), out it went, the rest of the novel unread: the plot-armored heroine will get her HEA. my sympathy lies with the mistress, whose grim situation veers closer to historical accuracy. Ditto I dumped unfinished the ones where the hero, who can't seem to control his raging hormones (or you know, talk like an adult) mistakes the pure and innocent heroine for a lightskirt and corners her at every opportunity for "can't-say-no" making out, while she castigates herself afterward, moaning, "Whatever is wrong with me?" Basically, while these heroines (and their readers) did not want to be raped, they did want to be ravished. And they weren't guilty of being bad girls if they were overpowered, right?
That was a VERY common trope in the early contemporary romances, the ones read by my mom by the literal sackful, and traded with other women at the local shop. In the seventies, Mom and her buddies organized themselves. None had the budgets to read everything coming out, so one woman would buy the new books from the Dell line, and another the Kensington line, and so on, then they'd trade them back and forth. Mom saved a sackful for my visits--she thought they were something we had in common, and I never disabused her of this, though I was fast getting sick of the "virginity" plotline. I read them all, noting patterns.
I could say a lot about why I think Mom and her buddies couldn't get enough of that plotline, but I'm trying to get through these regencies. In which the authors did understand the social cost of straying. But the heroine gets her reward at the (abrupt, usually) end, a ring from the guy who'd been cornering her for bruising kisses two chapters ago, and wedding bells in the distance. As I got older, I wondered if those marriages would make it much past the wedding trip. As a teen, I read uncritically for the Cinderella story--as I recollect all the weirdness about the heroines and their main commodity, their virginity (and their beauty) whizzed right over my head.
That said. Every so often you'd get a storyline that was a real comedy of manners, and while the research/worldbuilding was never as period-consistent as Heyer's secondary universe, they'd be fun stories. Like Joan Smith's Endure My Heart, which I'd remembered fondly for the battle of wits between hero and heroine--she the secret leader of a smuggling ring, and he the inspector sent to nab whoever was running that successful venture. Now, on rereading it, there were plenty of warts, but I remember the fun of the early read--and the only two attempted rape scenes were done by a villain, not the hero.
The regency romance has staying power, but it's evolved over the decades since these "old-timey" regencies for the 21st C reader who wants on-page sex, without real consequences. And only vague vestiges of the manners of the time. Few, or no, conversations or even awareness of the dynamics of salon socializing. Basically modern women in sexy silk gowns, and guys in tight pants and colorful jackets and rakish hats, with all the cool trappings--country houses, carriages, balls, and the elegant fantasy of the haut monde.
In the donation box the old ones go.
*I'll never forget the one that had to have been written in the mid-seventies, which had the pouting heroine stating on the first page that she was bored, bored, bored with Almack's and why did she have to participate in the marriage mart anyway? She wanted, and I quote from memory, "actualize her personhood!" Then there was the one that featured the hero, leader of fashion, sporting a crew cut and a "suit of flowing silk of lime green"--I think the author meant a leisure suit.
Then there was Barbara Cartland. Whether or not she hired a stable of writers to churn these out once a month under her name or not, she boiled the story down to the barest skeleton of tropes, padded out mostly by ellipses. Except for one early one, published in the thirties or early forties that lifted huge chunks of a Heyer, stuffed into a really weird plot...
I used to collect these in my late teens, once I'd gone through everything the library had. They were sold by the bunch in used book stores, fifty cents for ten, which suited my babysitting budget--I could read one a night once the kids were asleep.
I did a cull of these beat-up, yellowing volumes with godawful covers 25-30 years ago, donating the real stinkers* and keeping a slew of others because my teenage daughter had by then discovered them.
But she left them all behind--she stopped reading fiction altogether around 2000--and I always meant to do a more severe cull, perhaps dump the entirety. But thought I oughht to at least check them out first, yet kept putting it off until recently. While I was recovering from that nasty dose of flu seemed the perfect time.
I finished last night.
Of course most of them are heavily influenced by Georgette Heyer, or at least in conversation with. Some were written when Heyer was still going strong. Authors from UK, USA, Australia, etc. For the most part you could tell the UK ones not only because the language was closer to early nineteenth century--these writers surely had grown up reading old books, as had Heyer--but their depictions of small towns in GB were way more authentic than those written by writers who'd never seen the islands.
But there were common threads. Good things, as one reviewer trumpeted: they wrote in complete sentences! They knew the difference between "lie" and "lay"! In the best of them, characters had actual conversations. Even witty ones! (There's an entire chapter in Austen's Emma, when we meet Mrs. Elton, which demonstrates what was and what wasn't "good conversation." I can imagine readers back then chuckling all the way through at Mrs. Elton's egregious vigor in bad conversational manners.)
But those are the superficials. What about the plots? Here were common tropes shared with contemporary romances of sixties and seventies. A bunch of these tropes have long since worn out their welcome. I didn't know why I hadn't culled some of the books containing the most egregious examples--maybe they were just so common that they were invisible, and there was some other aspect of a given book that had made me chuckle fifty years ago.
Dunno. But in this cull, as soon as I hit the evil aging mistress who will do anything to hang onto the (total jerk) hero, including setting the young and pure heroine up for rape and ruin (which she always j-u-s-t escapes), out it went, the rest of the novel unread: the plot-armored heroine will get her HEA. my sympathy lies with the mistress, whose grim situation veers closer to historical accuracy. Ditto I dumped unfinished the ones where the hero, who can't seem to control his raging hormones (or you know, talk like an adult) mistakes the pure and innocent heroine for a lightskirt and corners her at every opportunity for "can't-say-no" making out, while she castigates herself afterward, moaning, "Whatever is wrong with me?" Basically, while these heroines (and their readers) did not want to be raped, they did want to be ravished. And they weren't guilty of being bad girls if they were overpowered, right?
That was a VERY common trope in the early contemporary romances, the ones read by my mom by the literal sackful, and traded with other women at the local shop. In the seventies, Mom and her buddies organized themselves. None had the budgets to read everything coming out, so one woman would buy the new books from the Dell line, and another the Kensington line, and so on, then they'd trade them back and forth. Mom saved a sackful for my visits--she thought they were something we had in common, and I never disabused her of this, though I was fast getting sick of the "virginity" plotline. I read them all, noting patterns.
I could say a lot about why I think Mom and her buddies couldn't get enough of that plotline, but I'm trying to get through these regencies. In which the authors did understand the social cost of straying. But the heroine gets her reward at the (abrupt, usually) end, a ring from the guy who'd been cornering her for bruising kisses two chapters ago, and wedding bells in the distance. As I got older, I wondered if those marriages would make it much past the wedding trip. As a teen, I read uncritically for the Cinderella story--as I recollect all the weirdness about the heroines and their main commodity, their virginity (and their beauty) whizzed right over my head.
That said. Every so often you'd get a storyline that was a real comedy of manners, and while the research/worldbuilding was never as period-consistent as Heyer's secondary universe, they'd be fun stories. Like Joan Smith's Endure My Heart, which I'd remembered fondly for the battle of wits between hero and heroine--she the secret leader of a smuggling ring, and he the inspector sent to nab whoever was running that successful venture. Now, on rereading it, there were plenty of warts, but I remember the fun of the early read--and the only two attempted rape scenes were done by a villain, not the hero.
The regency romance has staying power, but it's evolved over the decades since these "old-timey" regencies for the 21st C reader who wants on-page sex, without real consequences. And only vague vestiges of the manners of the time. Few, or no, conversations or even awareness of the dynamics of salon socializing. Basically modern women in sexy silk gowns, and guys in tight pants and colorful jackets and rakish hats, with all the cool trappings--country houses, carriages, balls, and the elegant fantasy of the haut monde.
In the donation box the old ones go.
*I'll never forget the one that had to have been written in the mid-seventies, which had the pouting heroine stating on the first page that she was bored, bored, bored with Almack's and why did she have to participate in the marriage mart anyway? She wanted, and I quote from memory, "actualize her personhood!" Then there was the one that featured the hero, leader of fashion, sporting a crew cut and a "suit of flowing silk of lime green"--I think the author meant a leisure suit.
Then there was Barbara Cartland. Whether or not she hired a stable of writers to churn these out once a month under her name or not, she boiled the story down to the barest skeleton of tropes, padded out mostly by ellipses. Except for one early one, published in the thirties or early forties that lifted huge chunks of a Heyer, stuffed into a really weird plot...
Wednesday has socialised enjoyably
Jul. 16th, 2025 07:35 pmoursinWhat I read
Finished Long Island Compromise, and okay, didn't quite go where I was expecting but didn't pull a really amazing twist either.
Alison Espach, The Wedding People (2024), which somebody seemed enthusiastic about somewhere on social media while mentioning it was at 99p. Well, I am always there for Women's Midlife Narratives but this struck me as a bit over-confected plotwise and I was not entirely there for that ending.
Latest Literary Review (with, I may as well repeat, My Letter About Rebecca West).
Simon Brett, Major Bricket and the Circus Corpse (The Major Bricket Mysteries #1) - Simon Brett is definitely hit and miss for me and some of his more recent series have been on the 'miss' side, come back Charles Paris or the ladies of Fethering. But this one, if not quite in the Paris class, was at least readable.
On the go
I have got a fair way in to Jonny Sweet, The Kellerby Code (2024) but I'm really bogging down. It's an old old story (didn't R Rendell as B Vine do a version of this) and for someone who cites the lineage Sweet does, his prose is horribly overwrought.
I started Rev Richard Coles, Murder at the Monastery (Canon Clement #3) (2024) but found the first few chapter v clunky somehow.
Finally picked up Selina Hastings, Sybille Bedford: An Appetite for Life (2020), which is on the whole v good. Okay, blooper over whether Sybille could have become a barrister: hello, the date is post Sex Disqualification Removal Act and I suspect Helena Normanton had already been called to the bar. However, the actual practicalities might well have presented difficulties. And wow, weren't her circles seething with lady-loving-ladies? And such emotional complications and partner changes! there's no 'quiet spinster couple keeping chickens/breeding dachshunds' about what was going on. Okay, usually conducted with a fair amount of discretion and probably lack of visibility, though even so.
Helen Garner, This House of Grief (2014), which I actually started a couple of weeks ago at least, and picked up again for train reading today, as the Bedford bio is a large hardback.
Up next
I am very much in anticipation of the arrival of Sally Smith, A Case of Life and Limb (The Trials of Gabriel Ward Book 2)
Jo Walton’s Reading List: June 2025
Jul. 16th, 2025 06:00 pm![[syndicated profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/feed.png){kind=small}
tordotcom_feedJo Walton’s Reading List: June 2025
From world-changing revolutions to comforting bath books…
Published on July 16, 2025
June was a terrific month, I started at home in Montreal for Scintillation, then towards the end of the month flew to Sweden to take a boat to the Åland islands in Finland for Archipelacon 2, this year’s Eurocon. I saw lots of friends and was on a bunch of interesting panels, and it was just terrific. I read thirteen very assorted books, and they were mostly great too.
The Space Between Worlds — Micaiah Johnson (2020)
This is a very odd book. It’s SF set after an apocalypse and it’s about people who can travel to alternate universes, but only those where their alternate selves are dead. You know how some books are vast sweeps of epic and others are intricate miniatures painted with a tiny brush? This is the latter. It’s interested in only two towns (the rest of the post-apocalyptic future world essentially doesn’t exist) and in a very small number of people, though in multiple versions of all of them. It’s very, very good, at the scale it’s working on, but it’s an intimate scale that’s unusual for SF, and which sometimes runs into oddities with genre expectations. It’s slightly claustrophobic, but memorable and effective and very compellingly written. I won’t be reading the sequel, I’ve definitely had enough of this world and these people, but I will be looking out for what Johnson does next.
Olive in Italy — Moray Dalton (1909)
I’m familiar with Dalton as a writer of cosy mysteries, but this is a book about a girl without family going to Italy and, to my surprise, having a thoroughly bad time. This is free on Gutenberg but I can’t recommend it, it’s depressing and just not very interesting.
The Secret of Chimneys — Agatha Christie (1925)
Technically a re-read because I read all of these when I was a kid, but I didn’t remember it at all. A country house, love letters used for blackmail, any number of murdered bodies… it’s all nonsense of course, full of the ridiculous implausibility Christie does so well, and this early in her career she took it more seriously and doesn’t leave any dangling loose ends. Not a good book, but a fun read.
Ragged Maps — Ian R. MacLeod (2023)
Another stellar collection of short stories from Ian MacLeod, who is a terrific writer with the enviable ability to take an SF idea, work out the secondary and tertiary implications, and apply it to real characters living in the interesting world he’s come up with. I’d read some of these before but read them again with pleasure, and others were new to me and very good. MacLeod is one of our best writers, and we should pay attention to him.
Bath Tangle — Georgette Heyer (1925)
Re-read, bath book, and also a Bath book, so that amused me. This is a piece of froth, in which people move to Bath, take the waters, and get engaged to the wrong people. It all comes out in the end like a well-done sudoku. Not Heyer’s very best, but readable and fun, and the characters have very sympathetic problems.
What You Are Looking For Is in the Library — Michiko Aoyama (2021, English translation by Alison Watts published 2023)
A Japanese light novel which is technically genre, but only just. This is a short collection of charming stories about people who have problems that are solved by a (possibly) magical librarian giving them a book they didn’t know they wanted along with a felted creature that she’s made. This sounds more simplistic than it is—it’s actually a lovely window into another culture’s expectations about everyday life. The term “light novel” can be a bit vague, but the books are generally aimed at a younger audience, and many are originally published in frequently used kanji, and thus easier to read. I enjoyed this a lot and I think others might too.
Too Much to Know: Managing Scholarly Information Before the Modern Age — Ann M. Blair (2010)
Before 1550, it was possible to read everything if you worked at it; after that, there was just too much, and people started to write books about what to read and making books of extracts and encyclopedias, and there was a lot of anxiety around all of this. Fascinating book about the different systems people tried in an attempt to keep track of all the knowledge. They invented things we still use like footnotes and tabs and indexes, and also weird things like patent cabinets in which you put extracts on different layers with mnemonics for finding them again. Nobody now would think they could know everything, though there was a time in the recent past when I thought we knew how to find everything. I hadn’t really thought there was ever a time when you could read all the books—and in fact you couldn’t, because they weren’t counting things in languages other than Latin; they were barely thinking about Arabic, never mind Chinese. Blair has a chapter on the world outside Europe that’s very interesting, but her focus here is Europe and the changing perspectives on what a person can know. Great book, readable and interesting and does not require any prior knowledge of anything.
The Husbands — Holly Gramazio (2024)
Re-read, book club, and we had a really great book club discussing it. I hadn’t meant to re-read it, as I’d read it fairly recently, but after opening it up to remind myself, I found I was halfway through it before I noticed. Extremely readable book about a woman who isn’t married in her original life but finds husbands she might have married in alternate worlds coming down out of her attic, and vanishing again to be replaced by another if she sends them back up. The book rings the changes on this theme extremely well, in a thoughtful and excellent way. It’s an interesting contrast to The Space Between Worlds because that too is about alternate worlds and just a few characters, but here we have a very wide cast of husbands, and the wider world isn’t affected at all.
The Humble Administrator’s Garden — Vikram Seth (1985)
An early book of poems by Seth, finally available as an ebook, and just as delightful and unexpected as all his poetry. Highly recommended if you enjoy poetry at all.
Harvard Classics Volume 33: Voyages and Travel — edited by Charles W. Eliot (1909)
I’ve been reading my way through the Harvard classics volume for a long time now, and this one is odd. It’s the part of Herodotus about Egypt, part of Tacitus’ Germania, and bits of voyages of Drake and Raleigh. All of it was enjoyable, none of it was a whole book, it did not feel connected in any rational way. I guess the theme was like the Le Guin story where aliens ask to be told about Earth and the ambassador just tells them about Venice—there is a whole planet, humans have been on it for a while, you can’t see all of it at once, but here are some angles.
Camp Concentration — Thomas M. Disch (1967)
Re-read, for book club. This is a grim book, and it didn’t feel any less grim on this re-read. The theme of increasing intelligence must have been in the air, as Flowers for Algernon came out the year before in novel form. Perhaps this was a response to the novella? A vain poet and conscientious objector in a future war finds himself part of an intelligence increasing experiment. Brilliantly written in full New Wave style, and not very long. None of the characters is sympathetic, and it has aged oddly, some of it feeling more relevant than when it was written, other parts being things nobody would write now. Read it, but brace yourself. Again, this led to a very good book club discussion.
Mrs Tim of the Regiment — D.E. Stevenson (1932)
I’d previously read the second book in this series. This is much less good. Hester is married to Tim, he’s in a regiment, she has to move around because of his job, they have two children, and servants, and have to move to Scotland… and then in the second half, Hester is staying with a friend in the Highlands and two men are in love with her and she doesn’t notice. The resolution—or what would be the resolution in the love story the book keeps threatening to turn into—is averted. Hester herself, whose diary the book purports to be, is a good point of view for understanding some things and not others, and the story is not without charm, but the whole book is unbalanced and doesn’t quite work. Stevenson has written much better.
Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight for a New World, 1848-1849 — Christopher Clark (2023)
This is a very long and detailed book about the revolutionary uprisings of 1848 and why they both did and didn’t change the world. They didn’t become the revolution people expected, but they changed regimes in many places, and had long-lasting effects. This is a book full of details that also constantly pulls back to look at the big picture, with the effect of speedy communications meaning that, for instance, events in Paris affected those in Hungary and vice versa, even when the people weren’t in touch at all except by reading newspapers about what was going on. It’s a really fascinating time, and this is an excellent account and reflection.
[end-mark]
The post Jo Walton’s Reading List: June 2025 appeared first on Reactor.
Hacking Trains
Jul. 16th, 2025 04:57 pmbruce_schneier_feedSeems like an old system system that predates any care about security:
The flaw has to do with the protocol used in a train system known as the End-of-Train and Head-of-Train. A Flashing Rear End Device (FRED), also known as an End-of-Train (EOT) device, is attached to the back of a train and sends data via radio signals to a corresponding device in the locomotive called the Head-of-Train (HOT). Commands can also be sent to the FRED to apply the brakes at the rear of the train.
These devices were first installed in the 1980s as a replacement for caboose cars, and unfortunately, they lack encryption and authentication protocols. Instead, the current system uses data packets sent between the front and back of a train that include a simple BCH checksum to detect errors or interference. But now, the CISA is warning that someone using a software-defined radio could potentially send fake data packets and interfere with train operations.
tordotcom_feedDon’t Put That Thing in Your Mouth, Either: Ben Peek’s “Edgar Addison, the Author of Dévorer (1862-1933)”
Strange desires and willing prey…
Published on July 16, 2025
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] h-[15px]">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/">https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818375">https://reactormag.com/?p=818375</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/books/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Books 0">
Books
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/reading-the-weird/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Reading the Weird 1">
Reading the Weird
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Don’t Put That Thing in Your Mouth, Either: Ben Peek’s “Edgar Addison, the Author of <i>Dévorer</i> (1862-1933)”</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Strange desires and willing prey…</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/ruthanna-emrys/" title="Posts by Ruthanna Emrys" class="author url fn" rel="author">Ruthanna Emrys</a>, <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/anne-m-pillsworth/" title="Posts by Anne M. Pillsworth" class="author url fn" rel="author">Anne M. Pillsworth</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Donât Put That Thing in Your Mouth, Either: Ben Peekâs âEdgar Addison, the Author of <i>Dévorer</i> (1862-1933)â&url=https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/&media=&description=Donât Put That Thing in Your Mouth, Either: Ben Peekâs âEdgar Addison, the Author of <i>Dévorer</i> (1862-1933)â” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="407" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Nightmare-Magazine-June-2025-header-740x407.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Cover of Nightmare Magazine, Issue 153" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Nightmare-Magazine-June-2025-header-740x407.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Nightmare-Magazine-June-2025-header-1100x605.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Nightmare-Magazine-June-2025-header-768x422.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Nightmare-Magazine-June-2025-header.png 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Welcome back to <a href="http://reactormag.com/columns/reading-the-weird">Reading the Weird</a>, in which we get girl cooties all over weird fiction, cosmic horror, and Lovecraftiana—from its historical roots through its most recent branches. This week, we cover Ben Peek’s “<a href="https://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Edgar Addison, the Author of <em>Dévorer</em> (1862-1933)</a>,” first published in June 2025 in <em>Nightmare Magazine</em>. Spoilers ahead!</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<p>Edgar Addison was born in Nottingham, England. His father, Lord William, was heir to a title gained in 1713 through bribes and “near treasonous promises.” A violent man, he outlived two wives (whom he beat) and murdered two servant mistresses. Lord William’s third wife, Lady June, was thirty years his junior. She had three children, Edgar being the oldest. While Edgar was still young, William fell from his horse and broke his neck. The death was suspicious, but no one (including Edgar) troubled to investigate it.</p>
<p>Edgar took after his mother. He was an unremarkable student who loved the adventure tales of Dumas and Verne. The aspiring novelist wrote stories about boys who fell into mysteries by chance and a “certain lack of parental oversight.” Notable, given his later career, is “The Winter Brothers and the Grave Robbers.” The villains sold modern corpses as ancient mummies to be used in the curative mumia. They were foiled when a rich lord ate some “mumia,” only to declare that it tasted not like an Egyptian but like an Irishman.</p>
<p>When Edgar was fourteen, his tutor told him about the 16th-century Hungarian soldier, Gyorgy Dozsa, who led a peasant revolt against the landed nobility. When captured, Dozsa was seated on a red-hot iron throne and fitted with a burning crown. Nine of his followers were forced to either eat their leader’s flesh or be killed themselves. Those who ate were freed to live in lifelong shame. Edgar’s shame started that night, when he dreamt he was Dozsa, watching his soldiers eat. His pleasure awakened him.</p>
<p>The dream, and the pleasure, would recur for many nights. Deeply disturbed, Edgar tried to purge his revolting desire by giving up meat and drinking only water. He grew thin, but he couldn’t bring himself to confide his trouble. When his mother warned him against mimicking his father’s violent temperament, Edgar knew he’d never be like William. At nineteen, following his mother’s remarriage, he left home to pursue his dream of writing. Though he received a generous allowance, he took various jobs for inspiration, ending up as a sailor. His ship was wrecked, with Edgar and a few of his shipmates escaping to a small island. There Edgar’s long-suppressed desires returned. He fantasized about offering himself to his fellow castaways, who’d feast on his raw flesh. However, rescue came before such sacrifice was necessary.</p>
<p>Edgar moved to Paris to pursue writing again. This time he had some success with a novel, <em>Damnation</em>. He also did translations. The most famous was his privately published French translation of Stoker’s <em>Dracula</em>, a novel with which he felt a special bond. The translations earned him a place “on the edge of French literary circles, neither fully embraced nor exiled.” Joris-Karl Huysmans would write of Edgar as “shy and tall and a terrible writer.” He would also introduce him to his future wife, Madeleine Bloy.</p>
<p>The widowed Madeleine was ten years older than Edgar. She had a reputation for being “formidable, passionate, and a lover of absinthe.” She told Edgar she’d never remarry unless her husband “would submit to her love and allow her to consume him.” In earnest of his desire to be that man, Edgar sent her a vial of his blood. Madeleine kept it undrunk on her dressing table. Before long, she and Edgar became lovers, and she found that his willingness to utterly surrender his body was even more thrilling than she’d imagined. She would bite and scratch him, lick his wounds. On their wedding night, as previously planned between them, Edgar tore out his left eye. Madeleine ate it raw while straddling him. This consecration of their love was threatened when she vomited, but laudanum steeled her to lick him clean. He found it a moving act of devotion.</p>
<p>The consumption of flesh became mandatory for the couple’s sex life. Edgar would carefully excise bits of himself and present them to Madeleine on special plates. She’d eat the flesh raw, as Edgar believed fire would “tarnish” its purity. Before long, Madeleine relied on laudanum to continue pleasing him. Depressed, Edgar withdrew from public life to write his translations and work on his magnum opus, <em>Dévorer. </em>This collection of confessional essays would obsess him for years. By 1919, Madeleine’s friends noticed her growing unhappiness and assumed Edgar was the problem. In fact, her health was failing, and in 1921, she was diagnosed with cancer.</p>
<p>As the disease consumed her, Edgar grew desperate. Convinced that his healthy flesh would heal her, he fed her the fingers of his left hand, finally cutting off the entire hand, a wound that nearly killed him. Madeleine continued to decline. A week before her death, she converted to Catholicism and refused to eat Edgar’s final “sacrifice” of his right pinky. She told him she loved him, but regretted what they’d done. This admission devastated Edgar, who felt she was abandoning him, repudiating their special intimacy as perversion.</p>
<p>Edgar became reclusive. He stopped translating, nor would he leave any other writing behind when he died a decade after Madeleine. The original edition of <em>Dévorer</em>, a clothbound volume of 147 pages, Edgar published privately. Not until 1967 did a small press called Beurre Fragile republish the book. Before long, it became an underground cult sensation. Many more editions, including translations from the original French, would follow.</p>
<p>The author of Addison’s brief biography is sure he’d have been horrified by his posthumous “popularity” and wouldn’t have agreed to its wider publication. <em>Dévorer</em>, the biographer writes, is “at its very core, an account of [Addison’s] struggles, and his failure to attend to them.”</p>
<p><strong>Weirdbuilding:</strong> Addison’s story fits well with the tangle of Lovecraft, Crowley, and other artists and cult leaders around at the same time.</p>
<p><strong>Libronomicon:</strong><em> </em>Addison translates <em>Dracula</em>, and feels a special bond with the tale.</p>
<p><strong>Madness Takes Its Toll:</strong> …to the tune of an eye, a hand, and a finger, as well as any number of pounds of flesh.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p class="has-lg-font-size"><strong>Anne’s Commentary</strong></p>
<p>Edgar Addison’s biographer describes his juvenile story in which a man eats mumia, a supposed cure-all originally prepared from a resinous bitumen. When “mineral pitch” became hard to acquire, mumia might be compounded from a resinous exudate scraped from mummies, also a rare substance. Eventually apothecaries might simply label desiccated mummy flesh as mumia, while fraudsters like young Edgar’s grave robbers might pass off the desiccated and powdered flesh of any old corpse as this panacea. To ingest it was an act of medical cannibalism. Edgar had cannibalism on his mind at quite a tender age, kind of. However, it wasn’t until he was fourteen that Edgar had “his first real experience with the cannibalism that came to define his life.”</p>
<p>For some reason, Edgar’s tutor decided to tell him about Hungarian rebel Gyorgy Dozsa’s nasty execution and its nastier aftermath, surely not part of your average British gentleman’s education. Maybe the tutor was a fan of Hungarian history or of secular martyrdom in general, but whatever his motivation, the story strongly triggered Edgar and set him on the dark path of vorarephilia. Yes, human fetishes really do include the erotic desire to consume another person, or to be so consumed oneself, which was Edgar’s specific kink. In “vore play,” the consumed is called the <em>prey</em> of the consuming <em>predator</em>, but Edgar apparently considered himself a willing martyr, sacrificing himself for the good of his consumer—a Christ (or Dozsa) figure rather than a rabbit.</p>
<p>Dozsa’s horrific ending triggered me, too, in a weirdly nostalgic way. We, the good Irish and Italian Catholics of South Troy, largely patronized St. Mary’s Church. St. Mary’s had a splendid marble set of the Stations of the Cross, which hyperrealistically depicted Christ’s last day and crucifixion, so I was early on acquainted with sacred gore. Our Stations booklets featured similarly hyperrealistic etchings of each stop on the way to Golgotha. What we lacked at St. Mary’s was living color; the marble carvings were white, the etchings black and white. I guess that tempered the horror enough so I didn’t really mind it.</p>
<p>But one Sunday, I can’t remember why, we attended mass at St. Lawrence’s. A prominent feature of this church was a life-size mural of Lawrence’s execution, in livid living color. Smack in the center was the saint himself, naked but for the obligatory loincloth, and chained supine to what looked like one of the giant grills on which our local fireman staged their yearly chicken barbeque. The coals under the mural grill were so hot they spurted blue-edged flames that licked Lawrence’s back and legs. I remembered how bad it hurt just to inadvertently brush against a grill, so the most terrible thing about this painting was the saint’s face, serene but for a certain wry twist to his lips. My mother whispered that the saint was probably about to deliver his famous last words, which were: “Turn me over. This side is done well enough.”</p>
<p>And so the legend indeed goes. Lawrence is the patron saint of librarians and archivists, tanners and cooks—and comedians. Well earned, that last patronage, though I didn’t find Lawrence’s farewell at all funny as a kid. His death gave me more nightmares than all the other saints’ grisly martyrdoms combined. It’s a good thing nobody told me about Dozsa’s red-hot throne and crown, and that when <em>he</em> was broiled enough, the executioners started handing out hunks of his flesh like the firemen handed out well-crisped breasts and drumsticks. At least, as far as I know, no one lunched on Lawrence.</p>
<p>If this is wrong, don’t tell me. It was bad enough that my jovial Aunt Madeleine (yes, really, Madeleine) jested after mass that it was too bad they overcooked Lawrence. Any good chef knows that saint is best served medium-rare.</p>
<p>Edgar’s Madeleine ends up being a sympathetic character, in that she realizes her domination fetish doesn’t mesh long-term with her husband’s extreme vorarephilia, prey (or sacrifice) variety. We’re not told what type of cancer she died of, but how wretched if it was a neoplasm of the digestive tract!</p>
<p>I can believe that even a confessional as grotesque as Edgar’s little magnum opus would over time accumulate a considerable underground readership. But if I ever come across <em>Dévorer </em>while prowling the stacks at Miskatonic or my favorite arcane bookshops, I am not borrowing or buying it.</p>
<p>Okay, so I might peek at his little instructional drawings. Sometimes you’re masochistic enough to consume something spiced too hot for your stomach, though knowing you’ll regret it later. In the night, in the dark… augh.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p class="has-lg-font-size"><strong>Ruthanna’s Commentary</strong></p>
<p>There was a period in ’60s and ’70s specfic when authors seriously explored which familiar taboos were necessary for civilization, and which were optional. A lot of this work centered around their newfound ability to get stories published with sex in, but a surprising number went after the real forbidden fruit—that is to say, the forbidden meat. Donald Kingsbury’s <em>Courtship Rites</em> offers cannibalism as a solution to a resource-poor environment; Heinlein’s <em>Stranger in a Strange Land</em> assures us that mortuary cannibalism is fine if you’re sufficiently enlightened. The trend has died down in recent years, but there are still plenty of books on the shelves that share more than I, personally, want to know about the myriad flavors of humanity.</p>
<p>Most of these stories focus on the <em>eating</em> side of the equation. Many readers are likely to find this more comfortable. Humans are scavengers and predators. It’s not a big leap to imagine new things on your plate. And, well, if <em>you</em> were stuck in the Donner Pass, what would you do?</p>
<p>On the prey side, there are also plenty of stories where cannibalism is a threat due to post-apocalyptic biker gangs, or colonialist blood libel. But stories focused on the willingly vivicannibalized… there are only a couple of subgenres where you’re likely to find that. Vampires are the genteel version: victims/donors get pale and exhausted, but you fundamentally maintain your bodily integrity until and unless you turn into a bat. When it comes to actually serving up one’s own eyes and fingers, there are certainly stories for people who share Edgar Addison’s tastes (so to speak). For those of us shuddering in a frenzy of Your Kink Is Really Not My Kink, what remains is serious body horror.</p>
<p>This is, in fact, the sort of body horror that gives me screaming heeby jeebies. You all saw me cringe at <a href="https://reactormag.com/for-want-of-a-fingernail-hildur-knutsdottirs-the-night-guest-part-5/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the thing with the fingernails</a> in <em>The Night Guest</em>, which was partly leftover cringe from that one scene in <em>Firestarter</em>. King also has another scene with a garbage disposal that I would be just as glad to have never read, but which sticks vividly in my mind almost forty years later. To these I can now add my desperate attempts to <em>not</em> consider the logistics of wedding night eye-pluckery.</p>
<p>Wrenching my mind to other topics, Addison’s obsession seems not merely the whim of the god who bestows fetishes, but a reaction to his father’s violence. He assures his mother that he will “never become such a man.” And what could be more different from a man who destroys others, than a man who destroys himself <em>for</em> others? Even if those others must drug themselves in order to properly appreciate his sacrifices?</p>
<p>Given the trends described above, it’s probably not coincidence that <em>Dévorer</em> goes cult-viral in the ’60s. But what does it mean that it becomes a ritual “for those who had just become adults”? Or that people are still writing about it and giving it “modern recognition” in the 21<sup>st</sup> century?</p>
<p>Maybe that, too, is something I would prefer <em>not</em> to consider.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots" />
<p>Next week, we hope nothing bad happens to anyone’s fingers in Chapters 47-59 of <em>The Night Guest</em>.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/">Don’t Put That Thing in Your Mouth, Either: Ben Peek’s “Edgar Addison, the Author of <i>Dévorer</i> (1862-1933)”</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/">https://reactormag.com/dont-put-that-thing-in-your-mouth-either-ben-peeks-edgar-addison-the-author-of-devorer-1862-1933/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818375">https://reactormag.com/?p=818375</a></p>
The Ambiguous Realism of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lost Trilogy
Jul. 16th, 2025 04:00 pmtordotcom_feedThe Ambiguous Realism of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lost Trilogy
It’s time to reconsider one of Le Guin’s most vitally important works.
Published on July 16, 2025
Something fascists and poets have in common is their awareness that a single sentence can change a person’s mind completely. How does a sentence do that? Poetry and political action are everywhere one looks in Ursula K. Le Guin’s many books, most famously in novels like The Dispossessed and Always Coming Home, but her most radical and covert storytelling hides in a trilogy from the 2000s that largely got lost in the shuffle: The Annals of the Western Shore.
2000-2010 was Le Guin’s busiest publishing decade, and it was from 2000-2002 that she (for the most part) wrapped things up with Earthsea and the Hainish Cycle. Nine other books would come out before the end of the decade. Here’s the rundown.
Since it originally appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction in 2002, I’ll put the novella The Wild Girls first on the list, even though the PM Press edition came out much later. After that, a collection called Changing Planes appeared. Then came the three novels of this lost trilogy; then the monumental essay collection The Wave in the Mind; then Le Guin’s sixth poetry collection, Incredible Good Fortune; then her final novel, Lavinia; and lastly the charming and acerbic Cheek by Jowl, another essay collection brought out by Aqueduct Press.
The 2000s was that very special time in YA publishing that gave us the great Harry Potter book heist. If there are a few reasons for the trilogy’s relative obscurity then as now, the shadow cast by the Boy Who Lived certainly looms large among them. How could an entirely new fictional universe created by one of SF’s most beloved authors possibly compete with this pop culture juggernaut? Without going too deep into the marketing involved, it will suffice to say that the novels Gifts, Voices, and Powers did win some praise and awards, but did not make the splash one might have expected. Yes, Powers earned Le Guin her sixth Nebula Award (and to give a sense of just how long ago this was, the Ray Bradbury Award that year went to Joss Whedon), but after that, as Le Guin herself later pointed out, the novels were largely ignored. Back in 2009, Jo Walton wrote about the Annals on this very website, covering just about everything that would encourage long-time fans and new readers alike to pick up the books. Like many other long-time Le Guin fans I’ve talked to, I was always curious about these novels, but they languished on my TBR pile for nine years before I finally got them. I had no idea how engrossing and powerful they would be; how relevant, how necessary for the current moment, how truly Le Guinian their telling and knowing.
Unlike the tales of Earthsea and the cosmos of the Hainish cycle—both written over the course of several decades and undergoing along the way a lot of ontological shapeshifting in response to the author’s own growth—the Western Shore, the little coastal realm that is the world of the novels, was hatched and brought into view over the course of just a few years. Its orogenies had no time to spare, didn’t undergo any shattering conceptual reimagination, and so in this sense, as a world, it’s a little less complicated than Earthsea or Hain—and Le Guin wanted it that way.
She was starting fresh, and she tells us that in Powers directly, through its protagonist Gavir:
“Are there more tales like that, Gav?”
“There are a lot of tales,” I said cautiously. I wasn’t eager to start another epic. I felt myself becoming the prisoner of my audience.”
It could be that she was eager. With The Telling, Tales of Earthsea, The Other Wind, and The Birthday of the World all hot off the press by 2001, it isn’t hard to see what this moment in Gavir’s storytelling life meant to the author. In a way, it’s one of the bigger what-ifs of her career: What if I left what I have made, and what has made me, behind? The three protagonists of the trilogy, Orrec in Gifts, Memer in Voices, and Gavir in Powers, all play their part in answering this question. Beneath Earthsea and Hain—and Orsinia and all the rest—is an underlying Le Guinian physics; on the Western Shore, which is unburdened by archmages and NAFAL ships, this physics is plain to see. What you learn becomes what you know and what you know becomes what you do. The rest is either the path of least resistance, or, in some cases, of most resistance.
Before we dive into discussing the novels themselves in detail, we need to start by talking about what we talk about when we talk about YA. Right from the jump it is both relevant and irrelevant to say that these novels, marketed fiercely as YA fiction when they were published, are as much about adults and adulthood as they are young adults and young adulthood. They show us—as Le Guin does so well—that the boundaries between these constructs aren’t often useful or meaningful. Remember Herman Hesse’s YA novels: Peter Camenzind, Gertrude, Beneath the Wheel, Demien? The Annals of the Western Shore are like those, but better.
In 2004, right before Gifts appeared, Le Guin wrote a rather mordant recipe for YA fantasy literature in Time Out New York Kids. “All you need,” she insisted not long before all those copies of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix were stolen from that warehouse, “is a map with weird names.” This indictment of the Fantasy Industrial Complex is not limited to this expansive reductionism, and her feelings about Harry are well enough known that we needn’t get into it too much, but neither can we turn away from it. It stands to reason that some combination of competition and audience perception about YA, both in terms of genre and age group, buried the Annals. Le Guin had spent almost fifty years writing about genre and audience in her essays and talks, and yet the YA fence was just too high for the grownups to climb over.
Some OAs (Old Adults) read YA fiction to chase questions about themselves and the paths they’ve found, or that have found them. Some want writing that is searching and, like themselves at times, reaching. It has been sixteen years since Jo Walton’s article and some of her remarks back then are echoed in today’s discourse about YA: just read a review of Karen Russell’s The Antidote; the persistence of the same set of questions and anxieties is striking.Are Young Adults and Old Adults all that different, the discourse wonders year after year, story after story? Can Young Adults handle tough subjects like death, sex, justice, reality? Can Old Adults? We have learned to call this uncanny proving ground Omelas.
One more thing. Everyone—every person I have talked to about these books who has seen them says the same disparaging thing about the covers, has judged them on that basis. I want to state for the record that it did take a while (I got the books in 2016 and read them in 2025), but I now believe the Graphia/Harcourt covers are perfect. They demand that we see ourselves, our enduring young selves, in the stories and as other people; through that anachronism and embodiment—the reader’s Reading—is liberation, freedom, and, at last, the land of the Sunrise.
Ok, here goes nothing:
Annals of the Western Shore is a tale of three estates: that of Caspromant, that of Galvamand, and that of Arcamand. These estates are far flung across the Western Shore; they are culturally distinct, they are geographically distinct, they are very far away from each other, but they have a lot in common. Born to these estates are the three remarkable young people mentioned above. All three stories are about how the self is discovered, the surprises that come along with the discovery, and what those surprises feel like and mean to ourselves and to our families. All three are about how literacy is an intellectual, spiritual, and political tool, an initiation, that connects people. All three tell the stories of apprentices and masters, mentees and mentors, finish lines and beginning places.
Gifts takes place in the remote Uplands of the Western Shore, in the northeast, and the reader doesn’t come down from them much in the course of the novel. Only through the protagonist’s mother do we hear about Derris Water, the small town closer (though not by much) to what might be called the region’s imperial core. It’s time for young Orrec to come of age, to come into his power, to harness his gift. But there’s a problem. It never happens. In interviews around the time the books were published Le Guin frequently claimed that her inspiration for the giftless child came from an image she had in her mind of a Musicless Bach, a virtuoso with no prowess, no ear. This is a classic Le Guinian thought experiment. The novel tells how Orrec and his family and neighbors navigate the shame and guilt and frustration that surrounds the missing gift—but shows us in the end that he has a different gift: literacy, and specifically the gift of the poet. It is literacy, the gift given to him by his mother’s tutelage, that empowers Orrec to change the Western Shore.
One of the most engrossing aspects of Le Guin’s worldbuilding in the trilogy is the Western Shore’s literature, both classical and contemporary, and the way it shapes social and political life. Le Guin has imagined for this realm its own Horaces and Catulluses, its own Diodoruses, its own Diane di Primas. Perhaps the most famous poet of the Western Shore is Orrec Caspro himself, who famously writes, at some point between Gifts and Voices, “Belief in the lie is the life of the lie.” That’s a powerful sentence, a radicalizing sentence. Characters so intimate with their culture’s literature and stories, like Orrec and Memer and Gavir—for whom literature and poetry are reality—prefigure the conceptual framework of Lavinia, with its main character who is aware of Virgil and its Latium that is Napa.
From the Kesh of Always Coming Home, to the Hernes family in Searoad, the West Coast has for many years been an enduring preoccupation of what might be called Le Guin’s naming-driven autofiction (or autofantasy, really) a Californication of one’s own. As inventive and indeed as alien as her words for these worlds can be, there is also a side—to some of it—that is deeply personal, plain almost, and tied to her upbringing in California, her roots there, her parents. The Western Shore, like the Kargad Lands of The Tombs of Atuan, and like the Klatsand of Searoad, is an imagined West Coast borne of the one the author grew up on and the one that existed before the arrival of white settlers, before the Gold Rush, before Napa Valley, before Joan Didion, and before Hollywood basement science fiction as we know it.
Le Guin has been experimenting with science fiction as we know it and with alternate realities for a long time. Before The Lathe of Heaven, there was her story “Imaginary Countries,” a plainspoken thesis positioned, adroitly, right at the end of Orsinian Tales, behind a fourth wall. As with much of her other work throughout her career, these alternate realities can be traced back to Le Guin’s interest in Austin Tappan Wright’s Islandia and, perhaps as significantly, to the novel’s sequels written by Mark Saxton at a time when conversations about universes and IP were less codified than they are today (those sequels always call to mind Alan Dean Foster’s Dinotopia novels to me).
In Voices, Memer finds herself living across from a holy mountain in a city by the sea that has been either under siege or occupied by an enemy, the Alds, for her entire life. She is in the midst of discovering the true nature of her faith, and she is also in the midst of a succession crisis—right at the moment, in fact, that the enemy is embroiled in a succession crisis of their own. She is surrounded by authority figures: men. Witnessing the power plays of these men on one occasion, she “stood stewing in [her] resentment and not listening to what [they] said, Ioratth and Orrec, the two princes, the tyrant and the poet.” It had been, and would continue to be, the sentences spoken by the two men that decided the fate of the city. One speaks sentences of oppression, the other the sentences of uprising. You will have to read the book to learn what Memer’s sentences do and decide for yourself what they mean. Just as the Delphic epigram twists fate, so too does the call to arms.
Memer also faces misgivings in the course of her own initiation. When the story begins she has recently come to understand that she is part of a mysterious religious group—an ancient one—whose estate in the city hides a secret library that is built over a sacred cave. Some of the voices of Voices are heard in this cave, which is a lot like the caves in The Tombs of Atuan (more on that later). When she first learns to read, an initiation unto itself, she wants books about “fighting the enemies of your people, driving them out of your land.” Living under the oppressive regime of the Alds, in a society where books are forbidden and liberty is only whispered of, literacy swiftly fast-tracks her search for faith and belonging to the mysteries of the cave. It also fast-tracks her understanding of her own oppression, her life as a “siege brat.”
Initiation is an interesting word: it comes from a cluster of Latin words meaning “the beginning,” “to originate,” and “to enter.” It also has a proto-Indo-European root meaning simply “to go” or “going”—an idea at the core of the Tao. The initiation in Voices is pretty different from the ones in the other books, but they are all very much of the Tao. Take a look at this piece of Le Guin’s rendering of Hexagram #15 from her version of the Tao Te Ching:
Who can by stillness, little by little
make what is troubled grow clear?
Who can by movement, little by little
make what is still grow quick?
Very Gavir. It is also, come to think of it, very Orrec and Memer. The protagonists of the Western Shore follow the Way.
At the beginning of Voices a slightly older Orrec finds his way to Memer’s estate and, through the way he chooses to involve and not involve himself in the conflict with the Alds, eventually plays a critical role in the city’s liberation. His arrival is that of a celebrity. At his public performances and at those that he gives in the court of the city’s occupying power, he recites classics and original work and is able to engender by turns the revolutionary spirit in the people of the city and patriotic sentimentality in the Alds. He even—and this happens in all three novels quite symmetrically—successfully endears himself to the city’s sitting authoritarian and sets the collapse of his power in motion, recalling Hexagram #17 of Le Guin’s Tao Te Ching. About an invisible leader, she called this one “Acting Simply.” The last stanza reads:
When the work’s done right,
with no fuss or boasting,
ordinary people say,
Oh, we did it.
Something that might be magical happens in the first scene of Voices; an ambiguously magical gesture; a word written on a wall with the tip of the index finger. It’s a kind of key or password Memer uses to enter the secret library: tracing a word in the air. Curiously, this gesture and its power are unique in the novel; nowhere else are gestures of this kind made or used. It’s almost like a little piece of magical bait Le Guin uses to get us to listen, to trust that traditional magic is part of the story. Elsewhere in the novel we do encounter moments of the fantastical, but none so traditionally “magical” as the key to the library. In fact, other elements of the story that depart from realism could just as easily register as paranormal or supernatural. Since these kinds of experiences and phenomena are reported so ubiquitously in reality, it could be argued that the novel is more or less delivered in a realist mode, the “green country” kind of fantasy Le Guin discussins in Cheek by Jowl, akin to the setting of stories like “Gwilan’s Harp.” Not swords and sandals, exactly; a green country, an imaginary country, an ambiguous realism, a version of her beloved West Coast—a kind of autofantasy borne of the same love of landscape that, as she also notes in Cheek by Jowl, also gave her The Tombs of Atuan:
“[The book] came from a three-day trip to eastern Oregon: the high desert, the high, dry, bony, stony, sagebrush and juniper country… I knew I was in love and had a book. The landscape gave it to me. It gave me Tenar and where she lived.”
As we know, Tenar came with more than sagebrush and juniper. She came with death and those voices of death that are, mostly but not absolutely, issued from a terrestrial (debatable) and subterranean mouth. We meet another Tenar figure and listen to another mouth in Voices. This mouth has a supernatural inflection, but it is a realist mouth. Hexagram 58, “Living With Change,” reads:
The normal changes into the monstrous,
the fortunate into the unfortunate,
and our bewilderment
goes on and on.
On the map Le Guin drew of the Western Shore, between the Morr River and the Bay of Bendile, lie the Marshes and their finger lakes, where, in Powers, Gavir and his sister were born and kidnapped. The echo of the Awhari people and the historic marshlands of southern Iraq is unmistakable here and has a certain resonance with a question Le Guin was often asked in interviews about the Annals: were these stories inspired by the war in Iraq? She always said no. It’s hard not to think of Tolkien while reading this section, recalling the textures of the world he knew instantiated in Middle-earth—and the discourse that surrounds such gestures. Curiously, at the very end of Voices, we learn—is it some kind of Easter egg?—that the voice in the cave is called “The Lord of the Springs.”
Gavir’s story is about the awakening of class consciousness and a quest for trusting relationships—how’s that for fantasy? He learns the hard way, as so many of us have, that the road to liberation is paved with aggrandizers. “The pace of oppression outstrips our ability to understand it,” Karis Nemik tells us in Season 1 of Andor. What do those things mean to our professions, vocations, avocations, families, chosen families, and selves? There is too vast a cast of characters to talk about it all here, but from the unmistakably Gollum-esque Cuga (whose mind-changing sentence was a joke well played), to the charismatic aggrandizer Barna, himself a kind of dark Tom Bombadil, we get a little bit of everything Le Guin has always loved and warned us against. Our ambiguous utopia is The Heart of the Forest. A sinister avatar follows the protagonist like a ringwraith. In another echo of Tolkien this wraith is thwarted by a rushing river. Self-styled radicals roam wooded glens, backwoods patriarchs compete for the most life-threatening alcohol poisoning—and the women add the real world to their baskets of leeks and do all the heavy lifting that goes unseen, indeed unconceived of by hero (if they exist) and villain (if they exist) alike. The Alehouse Chronicles. The Annals of a Failed Planned Community.
“Annal” and “chronicle” are fantasy-coded terms; recall how some editions of Searoad have the subtitle “Chronicles of Klatsand.” The Annals’ ambiguous fantasy in fact very purposefully avoids fantasy, subverts it. In a short essay about John Galt’s Annals of the Parish, Le Guin explains that “small-town novels are intensely grounded; rich in satire, humor, and character, human affectations and affections. Intimate knowledge of one small community may yield psychological and anthropological insights of universal value.” As the characters of the trilogy rove and wander across the Western Shore, from its Uplands to its City States to its Marshes, Le Guin puts this small-town novel framework to the test, and in so doing creates a deeply real, familiar and human realm out of a map with weird names. One scene from Parish Le Guin wrote about having enjoyed finds its way into Powers in a scene about Gavir eating dinner with the man he’s just found out is his uncle. After a day—a lifetime—of soul-searching, grief, and existential dilemmas, some fishcakes and ricegrass wine will cure what ails you, make fantasy reality, or reality fantasy, whichever one gets the point across if there is one.
So at the center of fantasy is magic but there is no magic on the Western Shore—perhaps—and the word is almost never used. Enchantments are not woven, spells are not cast, curses are not visited upon nor lifted from victims. There are no dragons or oliphaunts or Lambs of Tartary, no Greek fire, and no wands. The closest thing we get to a mythical beast is a “halflion,” a very apt symbol for the kind of fantasy we’re dealing with; a realism-inflected, terrestrial, domesticated, behaviorally sentient and certainly compliant hybrid organism. Her name, of course, is Shetar.
Instead of magic, the word “gift” and the word “power” are used more or less interchangeably, and the one is used to describe the other, depending on who’s talking or thinking. Gift, strictly speaking, is an Uplander word for one of a variety of special abilities, for example the calling, or the twisting, or the undoing. These are hereditary. Both words are also used to describe a person’s craft, their talents and special skills—and can also be hereditary (“he gets it from his mother”). For example, Gavir’s gifts (or are they powers?) are the gift of the angler—here we are, firmly rooted in reality—and the gift of the oracle. He also has what sounds like an eidetic memory.
Here we enter rather thorny territory: the function of magic in literature versus the function of magic in reality. Oracles, such as the famous one at Delphi, are factually real, since they exist and are part of history. Ordinary people claim to see the future, the past, beyond the veil, every day; the world has plenty of these traditions, woven into the fabric of myriad ancient and modern cultures. On the other hand, some people win Jeopardy! night after night without aid, and the existence of eidetic memory itself is still doubted by some. It is curious, since so many share the word, that definitions of magic tend toward the ideological, away from consensus.
So, is being able to see the future a gift, a power, “magical” at all? Is it not real? Characters sometimes talk of spells, witches, and wizardry but always in the context of superstition. And this is all to say that magic may not be what we are dealing with on the Western Shore. The gifts and powers we encounter—of the supernatural kind—aren’t so extraordinary that they couldn’t be explained away by Dana Scully, and in fact the Western Shore has its own Agent Scully, Venne, in Powers. “A whip and a couple of big dogs can do about as well as a spell of magic to destroy a man,” he states—a prosaic if grim explanation. Venne would agree that giftless, unmagical people kill others quickly and slowly, set fires, and devise cunning means of attracting prey. Giftless, unmagical people do not need magic to kill expeditiously, to make fire, or spread disease; we see the evidence every day on our phones; their imaginations and technologies aid in the perpetration of those harms well enough without the supernatural. That being said, the people of the Uplands and the wider Western Shore generally talk about the gifts in terms of use—value and social power: so it’s practical magic to them and breathing air to us, a matter of realist talent, the magic of the virtuoso or the savant. But not everyone on the Western Shore thinks that way, to say nothing of the schisms here on Earth.
By the time we’ve travelled from The Uplands, to Ansul, to the Daneran Forest, to the Marshes, a certain universal local exceptionalism amongst communities becomes apparent. These gifts we keep hearing about aren’t unique to the strange hill people, or the strange city people, or the strange marsh people. The gifts, whatever they are and whatever their differences, are everywhere. They are, in fact, quite commonplace. Traits, perhaps.
So one person’s magic is another person’s garden-variety psychokinesis. One person’s incorporeal non-human intelligence in a cave that exerts authority and influence over a small group of believers is another person’s Ancestor. One person’s prognostication aided at one point, ceremonially, by entheogens, is another person’s educated guess. The magic word written on the wall: it’s a doorcode. It’s your conscience speaking, it’s your intellect speaking. Sometimes, as our heroes all learn, the solution you synthesize is smarter than you are and makes you smarter than you were. It’s a leap, a revelation, a eureka moment. That’s not magic, or a literal ancestor literally speaking through you—but the throughline of thought is close to being literal because it’s brought about by pedagogy, tutelage, and apprenticeship: learning.
Stories and claims about the paranormal abound on Earth, but we don’t live in a fantasy-reality do we? On Earth, ancestors are real, the mind is real, and the will endows cause and effect with the narrative verve we see and feel all around us. In this sense the Annals of the Western Shore is solemnly realist, not debatably fabulist—not that Le Guin would give a halflion shit what we call it beyond the plain fact that it is made up of three novels. In Cheek by Jowl, she defines novels as “stories about starting and sustaining chain reactions of mistakes”—mistakes, their ramifications, and how those ramifications are managed by the people involved. Recall that a ramification in the broadest sense is a branched structure. Le Guin has often warned that rationality cannot always help us. Rationality is a pretty fraught concept because of its tendency to fail us right when we need it most. It doesn’t make sense, but, as we hear so often, “I know what I saw.”
These problems recall another novel that appeared just before Annals: The Telling. The Telling is telling. It’s a Hainish novel, but a few little changes would make it a standalone…or a Western Shore novel for that matter. The story itself is standard-issue Le Guin: struggle, oppression, regime, an old world in a state of elegy, a hidden library. And at the center of it is something that can’t be explained that looks an awful lot like magic, or the supernatural, or the paranormal, but we don’t ever find out what it is. All we know is it can’t be made sense of empirically or rationally. Or can it?
So if rationality can’t help, and more broadly that which is scientific and empirical, and if magic and metaphysics and other weird stuff also can’t help us, what exactly is left in our quiver? What remote reach of fantasy are we working with here? Where—she would probably roll her eyes—did this fantasy framework come from? To answer that, we need to talk more about the history of California and her mother’s famous and controversial book, Ishi in Two Worlds. And her father a little bit, as well.
The easiest way into this is through Le Guin’s essay “Indian Uncles,” which Le Guin originally wrote as a talk in 1991, and then revised in 2001, a few years before Gifts was published. She included the essay in her 2004 collection The Wave in the Mind, and “Indian Uncles” very well may have been a wave in the mind splashing on the Western Shore. In this essay, Le Guin talks about growing up in California, and her parents, Alfred and Theodora Kroeber. She tries to dispel some misconceptions about her own connection to members of California Indigenous groups, and to elaborate on friendships and experiences not widely known. This is important because Indigenous California is part of the fabric of Le Guin’s California. This is certainly overtly expressed through Always Coming Home; it’s a big part of the Annals, too. “Indian Uncles” reminds us that many of Le Guin’s early impressions of Indigenous people, culture, and stories were those of a young child who found herself in the midst of a very specific intellectual milieu. Of course she was not doing then what we call “worldbuilding” now, but bits and pieces of what she learned do seem to have made their way into the concepts and perspectives she would later work with in her fiction.
American anthropologists like Le Guin’s father referred to the once culturally diverse region of Northern California as a “shatter zone,” a populous and intricate mosaic of peoples and languages tightly fitted into a relatively small territory. The uniqueness of this zone has been researched and commented on extensively in recent years, notably by David Graeber and David Wengrow in The Dawn of Everything, and in more granularity by Brian Hayden in The Power of Ritual in Prehistory. With dozens of distinct groups and subgroups, languages and dialects, the region was also of particular interest, famously, to Alfred Kroeber, and much of Theodora’s telling of it in her book Ishi in Two Worlds is devoted to exposing the atrocities committed there by outsiders. The unattainability of total obliteration and assimilation is a common colonial failure, a phenomenon keenly observed, known, felt, and ultimately exploited by Memer and her friends in their resistance to the Alds in Voices, but it is mostly in Powers that we hear echoes of pre-colonial California, and mostly in Gifts that we hear echoes of Theodora’s work.
Growing up with Kroeber as a father, whose work has come to be the subject of much debate, and was done in proximity to other legendary ethnographers like Jaime de Angulo, Le Guin’s early existence was redolent with information and ideas about the history of the region that would take decades to reach the wider public. She tells us in “Indian Uncles” and elsewhere that the person who helped contextualize this history early on was her mother. Theodora wrote a number of books based on California Indigenous groups and their stories. As with de Angulo and his Pacifica Radio program “Old Time Stories,” Theodora’s interest in Indigenous culture and history centered story and storytelling for her audience. Ishi in Two Worlds, The Inland Whale, and Almost Ancestors (this last title published by the Sierra Club) saw Theodora Kroeber tell and retell a variety of native histories and stories, bringing them not only to the attention of a largely ignorant American public, but to her young daughter, our beloved UKL.
Ishi in Two Worlds was published in 1961. The book is about the last remaining member of the Yahi, and his emergence from the hills of central California into the world of Berkeley Academia on August 29th, 1911. Ishi, and the other books, as with her husband’s work, are part of a vast corpus of anthropological and ethnographic literature produced in the 20th century that is always being reevaluated by scholars and historians. Despite being an explicit indictment of white settler colonialism in California and its attendant genocide (“extermination” is the word the author uses), and despite, perhaps, her best efforts, the book, for some, fails to meaningfully tell the whole story of Ishi’s fate.
Where it succeeds, however, is in providing a model for Le Guin’s later speculative enterprises; from the storytelling itself to the hand-drawn maps and illustrations, the leap from Indigenous California to the Western Shore is every bit as clear as the one that landed on the Kesh in Always Coming Home—but there are, of course, big differences, too.
In Ishi in Two Worlds Theodora tells us that the Yana in California “apparently enjoyed recounting their dreams to one another sometimes…They might read a predictive significance in dreams after the fact, but the act of dreaming and recalling of dreams was not systematic with them, nor did it attach to mystic belief except for those dreams in which they got power: the vision dreams. Those were something apart, and private.” This framework is perhaps one or two thought experiments away from Gavir’s narrative arc.
In 1965 Theodora created a version of Ishi for children, which was published by Parnassus Press—the same Parnassus Press that would later commission Ursula to write A Wizard of Earthsea. Like her other books, the new Ishi book was one of retellings. A little bit like in Gene Wolfe’s The Book of the New Sun, Annals of the Western Shore contains many tales-within-tales. One of the first ones we hear is from Orrec’s mother, Melle, and resident librarian of Caspromant. One character refers to it as the story about “the girl who was kind to the ants.” It’s a strange story, an old one, about four siblings who embark separately on an identical quest, but only the fourth succeeds because she is Good. Orrec’s mother, forgetting how it ends, improvises a standard comedy wedding ending, which does not go unnoticed. What about the ants? She improvises. Everyone laughs. Improvisation, the story’s versioning, is part of the telling. What does the story mean to different people? Why does it get retold?
Lots of culturally related but distinct groups all living in close proximity to one another in a landscape just as various, on the western shore of a continent, gets us part of the way to Ansul, the Daneran Forest, and the Uplands, but, especially in the case of Powers, it is one specific cultural difference that draws a clear line from the “shatter zone” and the Pacific Northwest to the City States of the trilogy, and that is the institution, in the City States of the Western Shore, of slavery.
In The Dawn of Everything, the Davids explain how the institution of slavery is thought to have functioned amongst some Indigenous groups of the Pacific Northwest, and draw rigorous distinctions between their speculations and what is known about other instances of slavery in history, from antiquity to the Caribbean to the United States. Their analysis, which is rooted in a Chetco tale retold by A.W. Chase in 1873, evinces that “the rejection of slavery among groups in the region between California and the Northwest Coast had strong ethical and political dimensions,” in a way that is especially hard to miss in Powers, but that reverberates through the whole trilogy. Many characters in the book, major and minor, from the Uplands to the Carrantages to Mount Sul, share their own definitions of slavery, captivity, and oppression, and the regions of Western Shore in which the institution of slavery is present, and those where it is not present, are clearly known to everyone.
A key term used in The Dawn of Everything’s breakdown of all this, one that is a bit academic but really useful, is “schismogenesis”: a phenomenon in which cultural groups define themselves by being unlike their neighbors, and this becomes baked into cultural identity as well as value systems. On the Western Shore we see this happening not only between regions and city states, but even on the much smaller scale of the villages that make up the Marshes, the domains of the Uplands, the great Houses of Etra. Shared language, yes, shared customs, yes–but the people on the other side of the lake, across the field or across the street, are not like us. This is all to say that the schismogenesis framework for pre-colonial California maps neatly over the Western Shore.
The Annals of the Western Shore and the lives of its inhabitants are filled with crises, upwellings of isolation, moments of humility and grace, moments of confusion and violence. At the heart of it all is the yearning its people have for trust and the power it takes to secure that trust. There are powers that connect us and powers that can cut us all off from each other. Le Guin called her Hexagram #49 “Trust and Power.” She says of the wise amongst us, for whom “power is trust”:
They mingle their life with the world,
they mix their mind up with the world.
Ordinary people look after them.
Wise souls are children.
Le Guin’s story “Imaginary Countries,” first published by The Harvard Advocate, appeared in 1973, not long after Robert Silverberg first published “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” in New Dimensions 3. In both monumental stories, Le Guin laid down some ground rules that she’d follow in many of her subsequent works. We see them followed thereafter in most of her stuff, from Malafrena to Tehanu, from The Eye of the Heron to the Annals, to her late story “The Jar of Water.”
The story takes place in an estate, too, a summer house called Asgard. The house is situated in an idyllic dell, and family who lives there from June to August all participate in a little mythological make-believe: they visit a giant ersatz Yggdrasil—an ancient oak on the property; the part of Thor is played by the family’s six-year-old daughter. A narrator very much like Gavir does some perceptual time-travelling for us, or perhaps some remote viewing, or perhaps what he does is some good old-fashioned realist thinking—that great gift, that great curse. At the end of the story Le Guin punks us hard—the immediacy we’ve felt has been for the last day of summer in 1935, and its world is gone, if it ever existed at all. What remains of it clings to our cortexes, where it tumbles and metamorphoses, asserting its reality ever more strongly as its details undergo time’s fictionalization. Ragnarok is coming; will the Uprising?
We see this same scenario play out in Powers, when the children of Arcamand build their model of the ancient citadel of Sentas at the family’s summer house, based on a poem they learned in school. The ideal of Sentas and its reconstruction in miniature by the children in Powers, a symbolic place of refuge, ends up being a lot like the Heart of the Forest in that it doesn’t really function, and people can’t really live their lives there. They are both models, proofs of concept, dummy utopias. The children seem to know that, so it’s interesting that the adults in the Forest don’t—or are in denial about it. Of course, we see a lot of denial in these stories, which aspire to realism and relatability in their funny and very successful way. The realism of the poet.
Poets are taught, one way or another, that real power is generated by an economy—of language. Concision and rhetoric cut costs without losing voices. How these currents shape a construction and what it might mean, and how that fits into an attention span, is a matter of conviction—and the differences we’re willing to see between an instrument and a weapon.
Le Guin was more and more outspoken toward the end of her life about values: what they are and why they are lived by and what they are lived for. What is meant by “values”? “Maybe she didn’t know herself, and told the story to find out,” Orrec wonders about Gry early in Gifts. These kinds of intangibles are, after all, what animate our material selves; what lead us into battle and away from our oppressors.
An Old Adult can like and learn from YA, just like a Young Adult can like and learn from OA. It does work both ways in fiction and in life. Comparing the Lexile score of The Dispossessed to Powers (which I did do) is about as useful and generative as comparing the conceptual difficulty—for anyone—of anarchism and grief: not very. No matter how old you are, what year you were born, how precocious you are or how juvenile, you have not and will not master either anarchism or grief. You will die first.
In the meantime, books can help us along the way, especially books like these. How you say something can be a matter of life and death, freedom and oppression, audience and obscurity. Simplicity, compression, the sensation of convincing and of being convinced: there is a rhetorical battle of sentences being fought and it is fortunate that books by writers like Ursula K. Le Guin continue to be discovered and rediscovered, and that their sentences speak on the side of liberty. Read the Annals of the Western Shore—then get out there and write your own.[end-mark]
The post The Ambiguous Realism of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Lost Trilogy appeared first on Reactor.
Aaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggers’ Werwulf
Jul. 16th, 2025 03:58 pmtordotcom_feedAaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggers’ Werwulf
It’s a vampire reunion, but with werewolves. Werwulfs?
Published on July 16, 2025
Screenshot: Sony Pictures
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] w-[18px]>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/">https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818411">https://reactormag.com/?p=818411</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0">
News
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/werwulf/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Werwulf 1">
Werwulf
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Aaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggers’ <i>Werwulf</i></h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">It’s a vampire reunion, but with werewolves. Werwulfs?</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Sony Pictures</p>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Aaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggersâ <i>Werwulf</i>&url=https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/&media=&description=Aaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggersâ <i>Werwulf</i>” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="740" height="306" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-740x306.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Aaron Taylor-Johnson in Kraven the Hunter" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-740x306.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-1100x455.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-768x318.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-1536x636.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/kraven-the-hunter-trailer-2048x848.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Sony Pictures</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Fresh off doing time with zombies in <em>28 Years Later</em>, Aaron Taylor-Johnson is headed into a different kind of monster situation. <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/news/werwulf-aaron-taylor-johnson-lily-rose-depp-robert-eggers-1236461570/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Variety</em> reports</a> that the actor will reteam with his <em>Nosferatu</em> director Robert Eggers for <em>Werwulf</em>, a film about which we know almost nothing (other than that Eggers will write the screenplay with Icelandic novelist and poet Sjón, who was also Eggers’ co-writer on <em>The Northman</em>). </p>
<p>Lily-Rose Depp is also in talks to join <em>Werwulf</em>, potentially making for a double <em>Nosferatu</em> reunion. Can Willem Dafoe and Nicholas Hoult be far behind?</p>
<p>Taylor-Johnson is one of the names often mentioned when people are theorizing about the next James Bond; you could read his casting in this <em>Werwulf</em> to mean he’s going to be busy, or you could take it to mean that a new Bond is further off than we think. (Which is to say: No one really knows anything.) Before <em>28 Years Later</em>, he starred in <em>Kraven the Hunter</em> (pictured above); was in <em>Bullet Train</em> and <em>Tenet</em>; played James Frey in <em>A Million Little Pieces</em>; was the lesser of the two Quicksilvers (sorry, but Evan Peters did it better); and, long ago, starred in <em>Kick-Ass</em>. </p>
<p><em>Werwulf</em> is expected in theaters on December 25, 2026.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/">Aaron Taylor-Johnson Will Star in Robert Eggers’ <i>Werwulf</i></a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/">https://reactormag.com/aaron-taylor-johnson-robert-eggers-werwulf/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818411">https://reactormag.com/?p=818411</a></p>
Delicatessen: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat
Jul. 16th, 2025 03:00 pmtordotcom_feedDelicatessen: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat
Striking visuals, absurd charm, cynicism, and warmth fuel this oddly loveable dark comedy.
Published on July 16, 2025
Credit: UGC
1
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] h-[15px]">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/">https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818297">https://reactormag.com/?p=818297</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/column/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Column 0">
Column
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/science-fiction-film-club/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Science Fiction Film Club 1">
Science Fiction Film Club
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Delicatessen</i>: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Striking visuals, absurd charm, cynicism, and warmth fuel this oddly loveable dark comedy.</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/kali-wallace/" title="Posts by Kali Wallace" class="author url fn" rel="author">Kali Wallace</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: UGC</p>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
1
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=<i>Delicatessen</i>: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat&url=https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/&media=&description=<i>Delicatessen</i>: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="435" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie-740x435.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Louison (Dominique Pinon) in Delicatessen" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie-740x435.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie-1100x647.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie-768x452.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie-1536x904.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/delicatessen-movie.jpg 1700w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: UGC</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p><em>Delicatessen </em>(1991). Directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet and Marc Caro. Written by Gilles Adrien, Marc Caro, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet. Starring Dominique Pinon, Marie-Laure Dougnac, and Jean-Claude Dreyfus.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<p>I had revealed embarrassing gaps in my cinema knowledge in this column before, so I might as well get another confession out of the way: I had no idea that the guy who made <em>Amélie </em>(2001) was the same guy who made <em>Alien: Resurrection </em>(1997). I’ve never seen <em>Alien: Resurrection</em>, nor do I have any particular desire to watch it, but I’m pretty sure that even if I had, I would not have come out of it expecting the director’s next project to be a wildly successful, broadly beloved romantic comedy full of warmth, quirkiness, and charm.</p>
<p>But of course, Jean-Pierre Jeunet’s filmmaking career did not start with either quirky romcoms or blockbuster Hollywood sci fi. He started in a much weirder place with the pair of films he co-directed with Marc Caro: <em>Delicatessen </em>and <em>The City of Lost Children </em>(1995).</p>
<p>We’re going to watch <em>The City of Lost Children </em>in some future month, but it is part of the story of how <em>Delicatessen </em>came to be. That story starts back in the ’70s, when budding filmmaker Jeunet met artist Caro at an animation festival. Caro comes from a French art tradition that will be familiar to regular readers of this column; he spent several years working as an editor on <em>Métal Hurlant</em>, the sci fi comics anthology that counts among its creators Jean Giraud (aka Mœbius), the artist whose work contributed to or inspired <a href="https://reactormag.com/blade-runner-a-future-more-human-than-human/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the</a> <a href="https://reactormag.com/nausicaa-of-the-valley-of-the-wind-living-and-dying-in-the-world-we-create/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">look of</a> <a href="https://reactormag.com/alien-im-chestbursting-with-love-for-this-sci-fi-horror-classic/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">so many</a> <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-fifth-element-saving-the-world-with-weirdness-and-wonder/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">sci fi</a> <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-abyss-the-nuts-and-bolts-approach-to-high-pressure-first-contact/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">films</a>.</p>
<p>The first films Jeunet and Caro made together were stop-motion animated short films. I don’t know if it’s possible to watch the <em>L’évasion</em> (<em>The Escape, </em>1978) anywhere, but there are stills of it <a href="https://www.jpjeunet.com/court-metrages/levasion/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">on Jeunet’s website</a>. Their second film, <em>Le manège </em>(<em>The Carousel, </em>1980), is unofficially <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_inAjU0-Ik" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">uploaded on YouTube</a>. Even in a dialogue-free, ten-minute, stop-motion short, we can already see elements of both the themes and the visual style that show up in the their live-action films. The first of those would be the short film <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FFbyNaAAfZw" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Le Bunker de la dernière rafale</em> (<em>The Bunker of the Last Gunshots</em>)</a> in 1981, a live-action experimental arthouse film that takes place in a grim futuristic setting.</p>
<p>Jeunet and Caro wanted to make feature films next. In <a href="https://www.hammertonail.com/interviews/a-chat-with-jean-pierre-jeunet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a 2016 interview</a>, Jeunet says they wrote the screenplay for <em>The City of Lost Children</em> (<em>La Cité des enfants perdus</em>) first but couldn’t get the funding necessary to make a retro-futurist science fantasy with a ton of visual effects. So they came up with another idea—one that wouldn’t cost quite so much. Jeunet was living above a butcher shop at the time, so when his girlfriend suggested making a film set entirely in a single building, <em>Delicatessen</em> was born.</p>
<p><site-embed id="16042"/></p>
<p><em>Delicatessen </em>takes place in an undefined post-apocalyptic time that sort of suggests a futuristic war but also recalls eras of the past. This is by design, as Jeunet and Caro treated the film as a way of tossing together a hodgepodge of inspirations, which include, but are not limited to the work of <a href="https://www.polygon.com/animation-cartoons/22351826/tex-avery-best-cartoons" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Looney Tunes </em>artist Tex Avery</a>, the films of Buster Keaton, Terry Gilliam’s <em>Brazil </em>(1985), and the work of <a href="https://www.hammertonail.com/interviews/a-chat-with-jean-pierre-jeunet/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">photojournalist Robert Doisneau</a>.</p>
<p>We never see the larger world in which this story takes place; we rarely travel far outside one crumbling apartment building. (That grim exterior was built as a model.) What we know is that there was some sort of cataclysmic war, and nothing will grow anymore, and people are so hungry that many have become cannibals. But society has not completely broken down, as there are still newspapers with want ads, taxis ferrying passengers around the city, postmen delivering packages, and televisions showing entertainment.</p>
<p>A former circus clown by the name of Louison (Dominique Pinon), who is mourning the violent death of his chimpanzee partner (played by Clara the chimpanzee), answers an advertisement for a job as a handyman at a half-collapsed apartment building located about Clapet’s (Jean-Claude Dreyfus) butcher shop. Clapet doesn’t actually want to hire a handyman. He just places the ads to lure unsuspecting strangers to the building so he can kill them and sell their flesh to the hungry apartment residents. He doesn’t kill Louison right away, and Louison strikes up a sweet, awkward romance with Clapet’s daughter, Julie (Marie-Laure Dougnac). Julie wants her father to spare Lousion, the building’s other residents are getting hungry, and everything very quickly spirals out of control in ways that are difficult to explain but utterly captivating to watch.</p>
<p>We’re operating under the flexible rules of dream-like absurdist surrealism flavored with the bleakest black comedy here, not the logical rules of rigorous science fiction, and that’s a vital aspect of what makes the film work. This is a movie that invites the audience along for a funhouse ride through the lives and eccentricities of people who can only really exist in a world this askew: the snail-covered Frog Man (Howard Vernon) in his damp green lair, the old men who spend their time manufacturing toys that <em>baa</em> like lambs (Jacques Mathou and Rufus), the despondent Mrs. Interligator (Silvie Laguna), who keeps building increasingly complex Rube Goldberg devices to attempt suicide. All of the tenants eavesdrop on each other’s conversations through the building’s pipes. A secret force of anti-cannibal vegetarians lives in the sewers. There is a slapstick accidental dismemberment. They eat Grandma.</p>
<p>And it’s all great. I think the whole film is great. I don’t care to interrogate whether it makes sense, because it makes sense the way that the weirdest dreams make sense. The story exists entirely within its own bizarre microcosm, and that place is so vividly rendered that we know at once we wouldn’t ever want to live there, but we’re happy to visit for the length of a movie.</p>
<p>I want to talk for a bit about the look of <em>Delicatessen</em>, because the setting, the color scheme, and the visual style are so very stunning. I’ve already mentioned a few of the inspirations Jeunet and Caro brought to the project, but an equally important element is the work of cinematographer Darius Khondji. You’ve likely seen Khondji’s work before. David Fincher’s <em>Seven </em>(1995) was his Hollywood breakthrough, and he would go on to work as cinematographer on a great many more high-profile films, including Alan Parker’s <em>Evita </em>(1996), several Woody Allen films that I will never watch because I don’t watch Woody Allen films, Danny Boyle’s <em>The Beach </em>(2000), a few Michael Haneke films including <em>Amour </em>(2012), most recently Bong Joon Ho’s <em>Mickey 17 </em>(2025), as well as Ari Aster’s upcoming <em>Eddington</em>. My point is, Khondji’s cinematography is everywhere and has been for more than thirty years; he’s one of the people who has played a major role in defining the look of modern cinema. <em>Delicatessen </em>was not his first feature film, but it was certainly the one that made people sit up and pay attention.</p>
<p><site-embed id="16043"/></p>
<p>Khondji was born in Iran but grew up in France, where he became interested in films and filmmaking at a young age. He moved to the United States to study film at UCLA and NYU, where he realized that he was a great deal <a href="https://www.matthewskala.com/delicatessen-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">more interested in the look of the films than he was in the story</a>. In spite of <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/movies/the-cinematography-of-darius-khondji.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">being encouraged to go into directing</a>, Khondji stuck with cinematography and focused on studying visual arts, photography, editing, and lighting. <a href="https://www.indepthcine.com/videos/darius-khondji" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">He has spoken</a> about how he will imagine the look of the film not from reading the script but from speaking to the director (or directors) to figure out what they want it to <em>feel</em> like.</p>
<p>That approach is apparent in <em>Delicatessen</em>. Jeunet and Caro went into their film with several strong visual ideas. For example, they liked the look of movies that use wide-angle lenses in close scenes to accentuate characters’ features, such as in the films of <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jV8oZeZu4Pc" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Sergio Leone</a> and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Rggypq_b98" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Orson Welles</a>. Khondji incorporated this style into how <em>Delicatessen</em> was shot but added to it his own ideas about color and light and shadow, much of which was inspired by a handful of realist American painters, including <a href="https://winslow-homer.com/the-complete-works.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Winslow Homer</a>, <a href="https://www.edwardhopper.net/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Edward Hopper</a> (a perennial favorite of filmmakers), and <a href="https://whitney.org/collection/works/214" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">George Bellows</a>.</p>
<p>His goal was to keep the colors rich and powerful while maintaining a high contrast between lights and darks. To do that, Khondji adopted a technique developed by cinematographer <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/jul/09/artsfeatures" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Vittorio Storaro</a>, who worked as director of photography on films like Francis Ford Coppola’s <em>Apocalypse Now </em>(1979) and Bernardo Bertolucci’s <em>The Last Emperor </em>(1990). One of the techniques that Storaro pioneered in movies is using a method called “bleach bypass” or “silver retention,” which skips the part of color film processing that bleaches the silver from the film. When the silver is left behind instead of being removed, the result is a black and white image over a color image, which produces much darker blacks overall. It also tends to make the picture a bit more grainy, so it has often been used by filmmakers to achieve the look of old, archival footage. Storaro first used it on the Warren Beatty film <em>Reds </em>(1981) to mimic the look of period film footage, and cinematographer Janusz Kamiński used it on Steven Spielberg’s <em>Saving Private Ryan </em>(1998) for a similar effect.</p>
<p><em>Delicatessen </em>isn’t trying to look like a historical news reel, although the costuming and set design are deliberately vintage, nor is it trying to wash out or desaturate the colors in favor of inky, impenetrable shadows. What Khondji wanted was a clean image with a combination of high contrast <em>and </em>vivid colors, so he overexposed the film slightly while using subtle color filters while filming. That gives the shadows a cool blue-green hue, which is what gives the entire film that unsettling greenish tinge. At the same time, all of the performers’ faces were lit with warm, soft light, so they stand out vibrantly in their many close-focus scenes.</p>
<p>I’m sharing all this nerdy detail (much of it from <a href="https://www.matthewskala.com/delicatessen-2/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">this</a> very thorough blog post) because I adore the look of this movie, and that look is so important to the film’s impact.</p>
<p>The apartment building is surrounded by ruins and enshrouded in sickly fog, but the isolation is more than just physical. This starts right from the beginning, with <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSo5emPa5Zs" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">that excellent credits sequence</a> that has us sweeping over a pile of junk. The characters can and do go elsewhere, but it never matters what they do when they’re out.</p>
<p>What matters is what they do, and who they are, within the building, because that building is their world. The film uses a lot of tracking shots and traveling scenes to usher us through the building to move from character to character, and every stop is eerie in its own way. The greens of the Frog Man’s apartment, the sepia-tinged yellows, the mid-century olives, the occasional splashes of bright red—not in blood but in the women’s dresses or in home décor—it’s all part of the immersive, almost clingy, feeling of the setting. The overall effect is one of discomfort, even disgust, but more than that it’s fascinating, which contributes to the heightened tension that underscores the entire film.</p>
<p>All of these characters exist in a delicate balance where they are complicit in doing something terrible for their survival. The threat of hunger and precariousness of survival means that the act of killing and eating the new tenants occupies a significant part of their lives. They gossip about it, they speculate it about, they harbor petty grievances about it—but they don’t do anything to change it, not until Louison’s arrival disrupts that tense balance.</p>
<p><site-embed id="16044"/></p>
<p>That’s all it takes. This is a quintessential “a stranger comes to town” movie plot, because one unexpected arrival is all it takes to topple the delicate balance in the apartment building. That balance requires everybody to be in agreement about what they are doing and why. They have a system, but Julie’s fondness for Louison disrupts it. They have rules about who is safe and who is food, but those rules break down when the grandmother of the Tapioca family becomes the butcher’s next target. The butcher keeps the tenants desperately hungry, but he hordes food in his cellar and has the resources to buy treats for Julie. There are breathless news articles about the feared Troglodytes terrorizing the city, but it turns out they are bumbling but well-meaning freedom fighters who really just want people to not eat each other.</p>
<p>Right there with the gallows humor and surrealism and weirdness of <em>Delicatessen </em>is that meaty (pun <em>absolutely </em>intended) thematic core: an exploration of all the ways in which morality gives out when people are desperate, and all the ways people will justify terrible choices to themselves. The micro-society within the apartment building was never truly stable or balanced or fair. They were all only pretending for as long as they could, because it was easier and safer than the alternatives. They live in a bizarro funhouse-distorted world, but their choices are just mundane enough to be both understandable and deeply uncomfortable.</p>
<p>The film isn’t really asking the audience to consider what we would do in such a situation. It’s making a statement instead, a wry and cynical statement about how a great many very ordinary people who believe themselves to be making rational and defensible choices can and will do shockingly cruel and dehumanizing things on a daily basis, just as long as all their neighbors are doing it too.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots" />
<p>What do you think of <em>Delicatessen</em>? What’s your favorite part? I have a theory about an unintentional cinematic universe: I think <em>Delicatessen </em>and <em>Eraserhead</em> take place in the same surreal, unsettling, slightly-out-of-time urban world. I just made that theory up and have no support for it, but I am committed to it. </p>
<p>Next week: Let’s go to the waning days of the Soviet Union for <em>Kin-dza-dza!, </em>a parody about space travel and contact with extraterrestrial life. Watch it on <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/0JGQO5ZRVI17EFZ1KPYRSBM2BR" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Amazon</a>, <a href="https://www.hoopladigital.com/title/17735173" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Hoopla</a>, <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/kin-dza-dza" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">several streaming services I’ve never heard of</a>, and <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYHv8eJrW2Y" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">the Mosfilm YouTube channel</a>. (A note about the online sources: I first watched it on Amazon and the subtitles were so out of sync with the picture that it was sometimes hard to follow, but that does not seem to be the case with the YouTube version. I don’t know about the other sources.)[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/"><i>Delicatessen</i>: A Surreal Apocalyptic Romp About Madness, Morality, and Locally-Sourced Meat</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/">https://reactormag.com/delicatessen-a-surreal-apocalyptic-romp-about-madness-morality-and-locally-sourced-meat/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818297">https://reactormag.com/?p=818297</a></p>
The Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of Stranger Things Is Here
Jul. 16th, 2025 02:38 pmtordotcom_feedThe Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of Stranger Things Is Here
Which underappreciated ’80s musical artist will blow up in the wake of THIS season?
Published on July 16, 2025
Image: Netflix © 2025
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] h-[15px]">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/">https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818388">https://reactormag.com/?p=818388</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0">
News
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/stranger-things/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Stranger Things 1">
Stranger Things
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">The Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of <i>Stranger Things</i> Is Here</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Which underappreciated ’80s musical artist will blow up in the wake of THIS season?</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Image: Netflix © 2025</p>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of <i>Stranger Things</i> Is Here&url=https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/&media=&description=The Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of <i>Stranger Things</i> Is Here” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img decoding="async" width="740" height="369" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-740x369.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Natalia Dyer as Nancy Wheeler, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, Charlie Heaton as Jonathan Byers, and Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson in Stranger Things" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-740x369.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-1100x549.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-768x383.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-1536x766.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/StrangerThings_S5_0011-2048x1022.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Image: Netflix © 2025</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>In the wake of <s>Kate Bush Season</s> the fourth season of Stranger Things—which left a beloved character in a coma and the Upside Down intruding into Hawkins—things are more dramatic and metal and bombastic than ever before. At least that’s the case in the first trailer for the final season of the show. </p>
<p><em>Stranger Things</em> has, somehow, been running since 2016—but in Hawkins, it’s still the ’80s. It’s 1987, to be exact (and in case you’d like to predict this season’s epic song choices). Here’s the synopsis for the final season:</p>
<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna. But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before. To end this nightmare, they’ll need everyone — the full party — standing together, one last time.</p></blockquote></figure>
<p>This season stars a lot of now-familiar faces, including Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, David Harbour as Jim Hopper, Millie Bobby Brown as Eleven, Finn Wolfhard as Mike Wheeler, Gaten Matarazzo as Dustin Henderson, Caleb McLaughlin as Lucas Sinclair, Noah Schnapp as Will Byers, Sadie Sink as Max Mayfield, Joe Keery as Steve Harrington, and Maya Hawke as Robin Buckley. This season, Nell Fisher joins as Holly Wheeler, Jake Connelly as Derek Turnbrow, Alex Breaux as Lt. Akers, and Linda Hamilton as “Dr. Kay.”</p>
<p>Hamilton can be briefly seen in this trailer sporting an almost impressively terrible hairstyle. I know it was the ’80s, and everyone made bad choices, but how could you do that to Sarah Connor, show?!?</p>
<p><em>Stranger Things</em> is created by the Duffer Brothers. The fifth and final season begins on Netflix with the four-episode Volume 1 on November 26th. Three-episode Volume 2 arrives on Christmas, and the final, single episode on New Year’s Eve.[end-mark]</p>
<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<site-embed id="16038"/>
</div></figure>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/">The Bombastic Trailer for the Final Season of <i>Stranger Things</i> Is Here</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/">https://reactormag.com/stranger-things-final-season-trailer/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818388">https://reactormag.com/?p=818388</a></p>
The Legend of Zelda Movie Has Found Its Young Stars
Jul. 16th, 2025 02:34 pmtordotcom_feedThe Legend of Zelda Movie Has Found Its Young Stars
Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason are heading to Hyrule.
Published on July 16, 2025
Images: Nintendo
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] w-[18px]>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Molly Templeton</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/">https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818376">https://reactormag.com/?p=818376</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/news/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag News 0">
News
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/the-legend-of-zelda/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Legend of Zelda 1">
The Legend of Zelda
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">The <i>Legend of Zelda</i> Movie Has Found Its Young Stars</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason are heading to Hyrule.</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/molly-templeton/" title="Posts by Molly Templeton" class="author url fn" rel="author">Molly Templeton</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Images: Nintendo</p>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=The <i>Legend of Zelda</i> Movie Has Found Its Young Stars&url=https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/&media=&description=The <i>Legend of Zelda</i> Movie Has Found Its Young Stars” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="491" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zelda-stars-740x491.jpeg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Benjamin Evan Ainsworth and Bo Bragason" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zelda-stars-740x491.jpeg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zelda-stars-1100x730.jpeg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zelda-stars-768x509.jpeg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/zelda-stars.jpeg 1500w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Images: Nintendo</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The hero of time is here, and he’s quite young. The first casting announcement for the live-action <em>Legend of Zelda</em> movie came this morning via Nintendo’s social media presence, where game creator Shigeru Miyamoto <a href="https://x.com/Nintendo/status/1945433161124688335" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a>, “I am pleased to announce that for the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda, Zelda will be played by Bo Bragason-san, and Link by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth-san. I am very much looking forward to seeing both of them on the big screen.”</p>
<p>The post included the photos above, which <a href="https://variety.com/2025/film/global/legend-of-zelda-movie-cast-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth-1236462236" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Variety</em> noted</a> appear to show the actors in costume—or at least clothing meant to evoke their characters’ costumes. Bragason is at wearing the color Zelda often wears, and Ainsworth’s outfit involves something faintly cape-like tied over a henley.</p>
<p>Both actors are English, and both have impressive resumes already: Bragason has been in quite a few TV series, including <em>Renegade Nell</em> and <em>The Radleys</em>. Ainsworth was in <em>The Haunting of Bly Manor</em>, provided the voice of Pinocchio in Disney’s recent film, and starred in 52 episodes of the Canadian series <em>Son of a Critch</em>. </p>
<p>Ainsworth is about 16, which may send into a mild tizzy those fans who have been trying to figure out <em>which</em> Zelda story this movie will tell, and which fantastical setting and era we’ll see on screen. Sometimes Link is quite young in the stories (as in <em>The Wind Waker</em> or the beginning of <em>Ocarina of Time</em>); sometimes he’s a teen; sometimes he sure seems older than that, but his age—as <a href="https://www.polygon.com/23717486/how-old-is-link-in-botw-2-age-legend-zelda-breath-wild-tears-kingdom-totk" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Polygon explains</a>—is complicated.</p>
<p><em>The Legend of Zelda</em> is directed by Wes Ball (<em>The Maze Runner</em>). It’s due in theaters on May 7, 2027.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/">The <i>Legend of Zelda</i> Movie Has Found Its Young Stars</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/">https://reactormag.com/legend-of-zelda-bo-bragason-benjamin-evan-ainsworth/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818376">https://reactormag.com/?p=818376</a></p>
Five Science Fiction Books Told in Epistolary Style
Jul. 16th, 2025 02:00 pmtordotcom_feedFive Science Fiction Books Told in Epistolary Style
Speculative tales unfolding through letters, diary entries, and even an astronaut’s message back to earth…
Published on July 16, 2025
Photo by Sue Hughes [via Unsplash]
Photo by Sue Hughes [via Unsplash]
Stories told in epistolary format—i.e. via letters, journal entries, or any other written document—are essentially the found footage horror films of the literary world. Not only does this format paint a veneer of realism over the entire story, but it can also feel deeply intimate, with characters often sharing their most private thoughts.
On the flip side, readers can sometimes feel a bit detached from moments of suspense in epistolary stories because the fictional writer clearly got out of whatever sticky situation they’re describing since they’ve survived long enough to write it all down. But there are plenty of examples of stories that either find graceful ways of managing this potential pitfall, finding ways of hooking the reader and weaving a compelling narrative in the gap between the past events and the present account.
Here are five excellent sci-fi books that are told either wholly or largely in epistolary style.
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (1993)
Set in a dystopian and post-apocalyptic version of America, Parable of the Sower is composed of the diary entries of teenager Lauren Olamina. Lauren lives in the safety of one of the few remaining gated communities near Los Angeles. Outside the walls is a world that has been ravaged by scarcity. Climate change has led to food and water shortages, unemployment and homelessness are rife, and those in positions of power are dedicated only to increasing their own profits.
When Lauren’s community is destroyed, she heads north with a few other survivors in search of a better life. As well as dealing with the danger posed by roving gangs, Lauren is also attempting to conceal the fact that she has hyperempathy syndrome—meaning that she experiences the pain she sees in others. On top of all of that, she’s also in the process of founding her own religion.
The world Butler crafts in Parable of the Sower is undeniably bleak, but the optimism that pours out onto the pages of Lauren’s diary—she’s certain that things not only can change, but will change for the better—mercifully cuts through some of the misery. The sequel, Parable of the Talents (1998), is also epistolary.
This Is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone (2019)
About half of This is How You Lose the Time War is told through letters, with the other half unfolds as a traditional narrative. The chapters alternate between the POVs of Red and Blue—two agents who are fighting on opposite sides of a war that is conducted via time travel. The story kicks off with Red finding a letter left to her from Blue—essentially bragging about having bested her—and from there, the two enemies strike up an unlikely correspondence as pen pals.
The developing connection between Red and Blue is the core of the novel; any worldbuilding information is essentially drip-fed to readers in tiny bits and pieces, since our two main characters do not need to explain such details to each other. While I found the narrative to be a little confusing to begin with, things soon clicked into place. And from start to finish, the story is crafted in beautifully lyrical language that draws you in, even before the fragments of narrative start forming a satisfying whole.
To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers (2019)
To Be Taught, If Fortunate is written as a direct address to the reader from astronaut Ariadne O’Neill. Along with three other crewmates, Ariadne is on a mission to explore a handful of distant planets that may harbor life. While scientific mission reports have also been sent back to Earth, the words contained within To Be Taught, If Fortunate are the ones that she desperately hopes will be read.
Ariadne essentially tells the tale of their mission. Each planet gets its own section, with Chambers’ wonderfully creative worldbuilding being on full display. But along with the wondrous descriptions of the planets themselves, Ariadne also delves into how she and her fellow astronauts personally react to each new environment—both emotionally and physically, as they terraform themselves to fit the planet, rather than the other way around.
Rather than being an action-packed romp through space, this novella forms a quiet and contemplative travelogue that is imbued with a profound sense of hope.
I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories by Kim Bo-Young (2021)
There are four short stories included in I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories, but it’s only the first and last stories—the interlinked “I’m Waiting for You” and “On My Way”—that are epistolary. Originally written in Korean, the English translation was done by Sophie Bowman and Sung Ryu.
“I’m Waiting for You” is comprised entirely of letters that an eager groom-to-be has written to his space-faring fiancée. While the trip will pass by in just a few months for her (thanks relativity!), he has to wait years on Earth. Wanting to speed things up, he heads into space himself, but he quickly learns that he should never have messed with time dilation. “On My Way” gives us the other side of the story, in the form of the bride-to-be’s letters to him. These letters reveal that relativity has been just as cruel—or perhaps “uncaring” is more accurate—to her.
Both sets of letters are a perfect blend of deeply personal, heart-wrenching longing paired with a widescale look at the fascinating changes in human development over the course of many years.
Ascension by Nicholas Binge (2023)
Ascension starts with a traditionally told foreword from the POV of the brother of main character Harold Tunmore. Harold is a brilliant, but eccentric, scientist who mysteriously vanished nearly three decades earlier. The rest of the book is told via the letters that Harold sent to his niece while on the ill-fated research expedition that led to his disappearance.
Harold’s letters start off by revealing that he was recruited by a secretive organization to climb and research a huge mountain that had suddenly appeared in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. It quickly becomes clear that things are very strange on this snowy mountain, but Harold is driven ever upwards thanks to his scientific curiosity. His letters weave a yarn that is as weird and Lovecraftian as it is action-packed and pulpy.
There are, of course, many more examples of epistolary stories and if you’re after more, check out this list of horror books and this list of short stories told through letters. And, as always, please feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments below![end-mark]
The post Five Science Fiction Books Told in Epistolary Style appeared first on Reactor.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4
Jul. 16th, 2025 01:30 pmtordotcom_feedStar Trek: Strange New Worlds: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4
“There’s so much to look forward to, and we don’t know how the writers come up with their ideas, but they keep thinking way outside the box…”
Published on July 16, 2025
Photo Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] w-[18px]>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Vanessa Armstrong</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/">https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818143">https://reactormag.com/?p=818143</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-horizontal">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/movies-tv/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Movies & TV 0">
Movies & TV
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/star-trek-strange-new-worlds/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag star trek: strange new worlds 1">
star trek: strange new worlds
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1"><i>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds</i>: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">“There’s so much to look forward to, and we don’t know how the writers come up with their ideas, but they keep thinking way outside the box…”</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/vanessa-armstrong/" title="Posts by Vanessa Armstrong" class="author url fn" rel="author">Vanessa Armstrong</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 16, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+</p>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=<i>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds</i>: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4&url=https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/&media=&description=<i>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds</i>: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4″ target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="493" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f-740x493.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Rebecca Romijn as Una in season 3 , Episode 1 of Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+." srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f-740x493.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f-1100x733.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_301_MG_12_12_23_00692_RT_f.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
<div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Photo Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>The third season of <em>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds </em>is upon us, and Rebecca Romijn, who plays Pike’s No. 1, Una, on the show, says that the multitude of genres we saw in season two will continue.</p>
<p>“We really didn’t think we could outdo ourselves after season two, but season three is so strong,” Romijn said during a roundtable with multiple outlets that Reactor took part in. “We just continued to jump from horror, into straight-up comedy, into another genre that I can’t mention.”</p>
<p>The trailers we’ve gotten for season three hint at some of these genres, including a <a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-season-three-trailer/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">zombie episode</a> and <a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-news-worlds-season-three-trailer-summer-2025/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a murder mystery</a> full of the crew wearing some questionable wigs.</p>
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1100" height="734" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f-1100x734.jpg" alt="L to R Babs Olusanmokun as Dr. MíBenga and Jess Bush as Chapel in season 3 , Episode 4 of Strange New Worlds streaming on Paramount+." class="wp-image-818146" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f-1100x734.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f-740x494.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f-768x512.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SNW_304_MAG_0208_0227_RT_f.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Photo Credit: Marni Grossman/Paramount+</figcaption></figure>
<p>Romijn, who along with the rest of the cast is now shooting season four of the show, teased that the genre jumping will continue beyond the season three finale. “We’re just about to wrap up season four, and I have to say it might be my favorite season yet,” she said. “There’s so much to look forward to, and we don’t know how the writers come up with their ideas, but they keep thinking way outside the box, and it’s really fun as an actor to try and tackle it every time.”</p>
<p>She later added that, in season four, “things that I never, ever thought would happen” do, indeed happen.</p>
<p>We’ll soon get to see the genre jumping in season three, at least, when that season’s first two episodes premiere on Paramount+ on July 17, 2025.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/"><i>Star Trek: Strange New Worlds</i>: Rebecca Romijn Teases Genre Jumping Gets Crazier in Seasons 3 & 4</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/">https://reactormag.com/star-trek-strange-new-worlds-rebecca-romijn-teases-genre-jumping-gets-crazier-in-seasons-3-4/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818143">https://reactormag.com/?p=818143</a></p>
Read an Excerpt From Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina
Jul. 15th, 2025 07:00 pmtordotcom_feedRead an Excerpt From Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina
Necromancer Azul del Arroyo only wants one thing: to steal her sister back from Death by reclaiming her sister’s bones…
Published on July 15, 2025
0
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] w-[18px]>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Stefan Raets</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/">https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=817991">https://reactormag.com/?p=817991</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/fictions/excerpts/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Excerpts 0">
Excerpts
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/young-adult/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Young Adult 1">
Young Adult
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Read an Excerpt From <i>Mistress of Bones</i> by Maria Z. Medina</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Necromancer Azul del Arroyo only wants one thing: to steal her sister back from Death by reclaiming her sister’s bones…</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/maria-z-medina/" title="Posts by Maria Z. Medina" class="author url fn" rel="author">Maria Z. Medina</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 15, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
0
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Read an Excerpt From <i>Mistress of Bones</i> by Maria Z. Medina&url=https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/&media=&description=Read an Excerpt From <i>Mistress of Bones</i> by Maria Z. Medina” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="407" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones-header-740x407.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Cover of Mistress of Bones by Maria Z. Medina." srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones-header-740x407.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones-header-1100x605.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones-header-768x422.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones-header.png 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>We’re thrilled to share an excerpt from <em><a href="https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250888242/mistressofbones/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><strong>Mistress of Bones</strong></a></em> by Maria Z. Medina, an epic, multi-POV young adult fantasy publishing with Wednesday Books on August 5<sup>th</sup>.</p>
<div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Necromancer Azul del Arroyo only wants one thing: to steal her sister back from Death by reclaiming her sister’s bones. But the Emissary of the Lord Death will do anything to stop her, no matter how alluring he finds her…<br><br>As their paths collide, they’re drawn into a deadly game of pawns and power with a count who begrudgingly works for a child king, a faceless witch who transforms the bones of gods into dreams she can peddle, and a long-lost half-brother with a secret of his own—and soon realize the fate of the lands is hanging in the balance.<br><br>For long ago the gods raised the continents, binding them with their own bones to keep humanity alive. But in an era when the gods’ sacrifice has been forgotten, Death might not be the only resentful god Azul must defy.</p></blockquote></figure>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" />
<div style="height:20px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p><em>The Lord Death and the Lord Life stared down at the barren land.</em></p>
<p><em>Their creatures would form and rise; they would wriggle and they would try. And then they would die.</em></p>
<p><em>So?</em></p>
<p><em>They raised the continents.</em></p>
<p><em>And the Lord Life thrived and the Lord Death gained meaning, and so did the other gods keeping vigil. Turning their bones into chains, they anchored the continents and seas in place.</em></p>
<p><em>Most agree the gods made the sacrifice willingly. Some believe they regretted it almost immediately.</em></p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p><strong>Nine Years Earlier</strong></p>
<p>Azul del Arroyo didn’t fully know what would happen when she set out to bring her older sister back to life, but since she was ten, she didn’t much care.</p>
<p>It took courage to sneak down to the inn’s cellar, even more so to saw off Isadora’s cold finger. Azul’s dagger was too blunt, Isadora’s rapier of no use, but Azul did it, and she rolled the digit in her handkerchief before hiding it inside the pouch hanging from her neck.</p>
<p>She waited and stayed silent, because she knew her gift was strange and that nobody would thank her for using it. And she prayed to all five gods, but especially to the Lord Death, to allow her sister to come back from his domain just as the chicken had when Azul was seven, and her favorite cat when she was nine, and the couple of mice and the little snake at some point in between.</p>
<p>The Lord Death must’ve listened, because a day after she returned home to the small Sancian town of Agunción, Isadora was at her family’s door, her memories after falling sick with the fever completely gone. The doctor at the inn must’ve made a horrible mistake and sent her straight home, Azul assured everyone as only a ten-year-old could. After all, Isadora was alive and free of illness. And if her sister had walked from the meadow of tall grass behind the house—like the chicken and the cat and the mice and the snake—instead of step- ping out of a traveling carriage, well, Azul wasn’t about to confess it.</p>
<p>Because there was nothing Azul wouldn’t do for Isadora.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p><strong>THE PRESENT</strong></p>
<p>“There’s been a suspicious death, Emissary.”</p>
<p>Virel Enjul, Emissary of the Lord Death, looked up from his sketching—bones, of course, free of flesh and tendons and blood. They were meant to become an armor, and sweat was enough of a stench to carry around.</p>
<p>The messenger at the entrance of the room wore all his corresponding flesh and tendons and blood tucked into snug breeches and a long waistcoat. Sancian fashion, come to intrude into Valanje, as if, unable to conquer its neighboring country across the floating sea, Sancia had decided to invade through clothing instead.</p>
<p>Enjul didn’t care for these fashions, but they didn’t bother him either. They would die, just as this man would, and something else would take their place. The Lord Death was supreme, after all. Nothing escaped his reign.</p>
<p>“Come forth, and speak,” Enjul ordered, abandoning the sketch and focusing his attention on the man. Natural decay had already taken hold of the messenger’s body, death inevitable for everything that was ever born or grown.</p>
<section class="wp-block-shop-the-book shop-the-book">
<h2 class="shop-the-book-headline">Buy the Book</h2>
<div class="shop-the-book-content">
<figure class="shop-the-book-image-desktop image-cover">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="450" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Mistress of Bones" /> </figure>
<div class="grow shrink basis-0">
<div class="flex items-center">
<figure class="shop-the-book-image-mobile image-cover">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="450" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Mistress of Bones" /> </figure>
<div class="grow shrink basis-0">
<h3 class="shop-the-book-title text-h3">Mistress of Bones</h3>
<p class="shop-the-book-author">Maria Z. Medina</p>
</div>
</div>
<button type="button" class="inline-block px-8 py-4 text-center btn tablet:py-3 text-h6 bg-red text-white shop-the-book-button" id="buy_book" data-trigger="modal" data-target="#modal-1752688847" aria-open="false" aria-label="Buy Book">
<span class="inline-flex items-center button-label btn-label">
Buy Book
</span>
</button>
</div>
</div>
<div id="modal-1752688847" class="shop-the-book-modal">
<div class="shop-the-book-modal-inner">
<button class="js-modal-close absolute top-5 right-5 z-10" type="button" aria-label="close modal">
<svg class="w-[19px] h-[19px]" width="18" height="19" viewbox="0 0 18 19" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="close" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M1 17L17 1" stroke="black" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" />
<path d="M1 17L17 1" stroke="black" stroke-opacity="0.2" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" />
<path d="M17 17.0809L1 1.08093" stroke="black" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" />
<path d="M17 17.0809L1 1.08093" stroke="black" stroke-opacity="0.2" stroke-width="2" stroke-linecap="round" />
</svg>
</button>
<div class="shop-the-book-modal-content">
<figure class="shop-the-book-modal-image-desktop image-cover">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="450" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Mistress of Bones" /> </figure>
<div class="grow shrink basis-0">
<div class="flex items-center">
<figure class="shop-the-book-modal-image-mobile image-cover">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="300" height="450" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Mistress-of-Bones.jpg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Mistress of Bones" /> </figure>
<div class="grow shrink basis-0">
<h3 class="shop-the-book-modal-title">Mistress of Bones</h3>
<p class="shop-the-book-modal-author">Maria Z. Medina</p>
</div>
</div>
<p class="shop-the-book-modal-label">Buy this book from:</p>
<ul class="not-prose ebook-links ebook-links-shortcode"><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B0DDJCJH5D?tag=tordotcomgeneral-20" data-book-title="Mistress of Bones" data-book-store="Amazon"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Amazon</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/7992675/type/dlg/sid/tordotcomgeneral/https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/9781250888235" data-book-title="Mistress of Bones" data-book-store="Barnes and Noble"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Barnes and Noble</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="http://itunes.apple.com/us/book/isbn9781250888242" data-book-title="Mistress of Bones" data-book-store="iBooks"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">iBooks</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.indiebound.org/book/9781250888235" data-book-title="Mistress of Bones" data-book-store="IndieBound"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">IndieBound</span></a></li><li><a class="btn" target="_blank" href="https://www.target.com/s?searchTerm=9781250888235" data-book-title="Mistress of Bones" data-book-store="Target"><span class="inline-flex items-center button-label text-h6 text-white font-aktiv">Target</span></a></li></ul>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<p>All Emissary Enjul ever saw was the death surrounding him.</p>
<p>The man approached the emissary’s desk, a sturdy thing used to the weight of thick, unread volumes and ledgers. He met Enjul’s eyes for a heartbeat, then focused on the emissary’s chest. “A suspicious death was reported on the docks at Diel.”</p>
<p>Diel—Valanje’s Pride, Valanje’s Treasure. The country’s southernmost city built on untouched Anchor—the gods’ bones. Another difference with Sancia, where they had no respect for Anchor and wore it on their houses and their persons as if they had the right to own the gods.</p>
<p>But that fashion would never take hold in Valanje—Enjul and others like him would make sure of it. “And?”</p>
<p> “Your… your presence has been requested by Rudel Serunje, Emissary.”</p>
<p>All who entered the Order, the service of the Lord Death, studied death in all its forms—divine, natural, unnatural, premature—but only those with a piece of the Lord Death himself, those blessed to see the decay of death and feel the god’s guidance, became emissaries. And emissaries did not investigate petty sailor scuffles, even if they occurred in great Anchor cities.</p>
<p>Enjul’s thoughts must have shown on his expression, because the messenger hurried to elaborate on the request: “Serunje, Valanje’s Eyes, was in charge of an envoy to Sancia’s capital, to Cienpuentes, and had returned home with the Sancian delegates when the death occurred. An emissary was demanded, sir. You are the closest one.”</p>
<p>“A Valanjian’s death?”</p>
<p>“One of the Sancians, Emissary.”</p>
<p>Sancians, Enjul thought in irritation, bringing their problems and their disrespect of the gods along with their fashions. He stood, slipping his latest drawing into the leather-bound folder holding the rest of his sketches.</p>
<p>Strange manners of death had always appealed to him, but in his experience, what others considered strange and suspicious only ever amounted to trite and mundane. A suspicious stabbing, a suspicious poisoning—the death simple enough, the culprit the only thing suspect. Such things were not his purview but a guard’s.</p>
<p>Rudel Serunje had purposely made his message vague, either out of a need for secrecy or to incite curiosity. Since nobody would think to toy with an emissary of the Lord Death, Enjul would honor the request.</p>
<p>“Did you witness this death?” he asked.</p>
<p>“No, Emissary, but there are rumors.” The messenger swallowed. “I heard strange magic was involved. That the body was there and then not. Reduced to green ashes and dirt, they say.”</p>
<p>And just like that, Virel Enjul, Emissary of the Lord Death, found his heart in a tight grip and a growl in his throat.</p>
<p>“A malady?” he demanded, disgust pulling his mouth into a snarl.</p>
<p>The man backed up to the door. “Yes, perhaps, Emissary, sir.” “Have a mount ready. I leave within the hour.”</p>
<p>Enjul took his sketches and tore through the hallways toward his quarters. Maladies. Rare, so very rare there had been only whispers of one in his lifetime.</p>
<p>Long had Enjul heard the rumors of the malady taking up residence in Cienpuentes; long had he wished to put an end to it. Sancians didn’t seem to care, just like they didn’t care about defiling the gods’ bones on which they’d built their capital, and he wished to correct their mistake. But his emissary duties belonged with Valanje, the land of the Lord Death, not Sancia, where belief in the Blessed Heart and the Lady Dream reigned supreme. Infuriating that they thought these two lesser gods amounted to more than the Lord Death or the Lord Life. Had Death and Life not created the Blessed Heart, the Lady Dream, and the Lord Nightmare? Had they not plucked the moons from Hope and Despair’s remains?</p>
<p>Now this malady might have arrived in Valanje. Now Enjul might have it within his grasp, and he’d see it erased from this world, thrown into the understars and Void beneath the lands. A spark ignited inside him, spreading warmth inside his body and hastening his steps. His god agreed.</p>
<p>The trip to the Anchor city of Diel took two uneventful days, eastward across the low mountains, and no matter how often Enjul traveled here, the sight still dazzled. For how could a city built on the gods’ bones fail to impress?</p>
<p>Diel rose from the land, a wide peak of glittering blue Anchor covered by houses of all colors and sizes. It stood, alone and magnificent, the high point of an enormous valley of farmland extending from the mountains and the thick forests in the far north and south to the sea at Diel’s eastern footstep.</p>
<p>It was a good thing the sea separated the great island of Valanje from Sancia and the continent of Luciente. The gods’ blood limited the reach of Sancia’s rotten beliefs, the maelstroms making passage across impossible but for narrow routes south and north.</p>
<p> The closer he got to Diel, the more magnificent the city became, the blue rock of its base almost too bright for the eye to take. For someone like Enjul, who was always aware of the signs of death on every person crossing his path—every flower, every plant—such a display of rock was a welcome respite from the rot. That the Anchor was Lord Death’s own bones only made it even more magnificent.</p>
<p>Farmers and travelers walked by the roadsides to make space for riders and carts, their clothing a simple, dustier version of what Diel’s citizens wore. No doublets, no cumbersome skirts for them; no velvety plumes attached to their hats and no half capes. No elegant rapiers or long swords.</p>
<p>Soon the dirt path turned into the intricate mosaics of flagstone covering the streets winding up the peak of Diel. Buildings grew in elegance, the glittering blue of the gods’ bones peeking here and there, undisturbed.</p>
<p>Enjul dismounted and walked toward the grand building topping Diel, where the slopes were so steep it was dangerous for horses to traverse. Valanjians hid at his approach, and guards stood at attention. No words were needed to grant him access into the Great Council House. Here in Valanje, in the land of the Lord Death, an emissary needed no permission.</p>
<div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<p class="has-sm-font-size">From <em>Mistress of Bones</em> by Maria Z. Medina. Copyright © 2025 by the author and reprinted with permission of St. Martin’s Publishing Group.</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/">Read an Excerpt From <i>Mistress of Bones</i> by Maria Z. Medina</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/">https://reactormag.com/excerpts-mistress-of-bones-by-maria-z-medina/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=817991">https://reactormag.com/?p=817991</a></p>
Feeling just slightly disingenuous
Jul. 15th, 2025 07:49 pmoursinHave been involved over the last day or so in the discovery and revelation of a hoohah over an esteemed bibliographer having copped to having fabricated a set of letters, of which the transcriptions appear on their website, with, true, a provenance note that might give one to be a tad cautious when citing.
But anyway, someone I know did actually cite something from one of these letters - fortunately not as a major pillar of an argument or anything like that - in their book which is only just published (and copy of which for review I finally received last week). And was informed by the perpetrator.
Cue kerfuffle. The ebook can be readily corrected but not the hardback copies.
But anyway, this led to me (particularly given subject and period) to think upon an instance I had encountered of learning - from the author no less - that a series of supposedly authentic Victorian erotic novels had been knocked up (perhaps that is not the phrase one should employ?) as remunerated hackwork for a paperback publisher in the 1990s.
A few of these are now accessible via the Internet Archive and I discover that they have introductions setting them up as Orfentik Discoveries of the writings of a Private Gents Club.
Anyway, I wrote this all up for my academic blog, and there has been discussion on bluesky about hoaxes and fakes and also I introduced the topic of people being misled by fictional pastiches that were not meant to mislead (or at least, like 'Cleone Knox''s work, have long been known to be made up).
(Ern Malley complicates this like whoa, since it has been claimed that the authors of the hoax actually produced SRS surrealist poetry whether they meant to or not.)
And as a scholar and an archivist I am against hoaxes and fakes and people inserting false documents into archives and so on -
- but I still have the occasional qualm that some naive reader will not read the disclosure of the real origin story right at the back of the volumes and think that the Journals of Mme C-, subsequently Lady B-, actually exist.
Tags:
Apocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mann’s 1491 Rewrote My Brain
Jul. 15th, 2025 06:00 pmtordotcom_feedApocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mann’s 1491 Rewrote My Brain
Exploring how history and other non-fiction works inspire speculative writing.
Published on July 15, 2025
5
Share
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] h-[15px]">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]
<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/">https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818080">https://reactormag.com/?p=818080</a></p><post-hero class="wp-block-post-hero js-post-hero post-hero post-hero-vertical">
<div class="container container-desktop">
<div class="flex flex-col mx-auto post-hero-container">
<div class="post-hero-content">
<div class="post-hero-tags font-aktiv text-xs tracking-[0.5px] font-medium uppercase">
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/articles/books/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Books 0">
Books
</a>
</span>
<span class="mr-3">
<i class="inline-block w-2 h-2 rounded-full mr-[5px] bg-blue"></i>
<a href="https://reactormag.com/tag/seeds-of-story/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag Seeds of Story 1">
Seeds of Story
</a>
</span>
</div>
<h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Apocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mann’s <i>1491</i> Rewrote My Brain</h2>
<div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">Exploring how history and other non-fiction works inspire speculative writing.</div>
<div class="post-hero-wrapper">
<div class="post-hero-inner">
<p class="post-hero-author text-xs font-aktiv uppercase font-medium [&_a]:link-hover">By <a href="https://reactormag.com/author/ruthanna-emrys/" title="Posts by Ruthanna Emrys" class="author url fn" rel="author">Ruthanna Emrys</a></p>
<span class="post-hero-symbol relative top-[-2px] hidden tablet:block">|</span>
<p class="text-xs uppercase post-hero-publish font-aktiv">
Published on July 15, 2025
</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="quick-access post-hero-quick-access mt-[17px] tablet:hidden">
<div class="flex gap-[30px] tablet:gap-6">
<a href="https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/#comments" class="flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase translate-x-[1px] translate-y-[1px]">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 18 18" aria-label="comment" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-comment-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-comment-quick-access-">Comment</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<path fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" d="M6.3 18a.9.9 0 0 1-.9-.9v-2.7H1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 0 12.6V1.8A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 1.8 0h14.4A1.8 1.8 0 0 1 18 1.8v10.8a1.8 1.8 0 0 1-1.8 1.8h-5.49l-3.33 3.339a.917.917 0 0 1-.63.261H6.3Z" />
<path stroke="#000" d="M5.9 14.4v-.5H1.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3-1.3V1.8A1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.8.5h14.4a1.3 1.3 0 0 1 1.3 1.3v10.8a1.3 1.3 0 0 1-1.3 1.3h-5.698l-.146.147-3.324 3.333a.417.417 0 0 1-.282.12H6.3a.4.4 0 0 1-.4-.4v-2.7Z" />
</g>
</svg>
5
</a>
<details class="relative quick-access-details">
<summary class="quick-access-share flex items-center text-sm font-aktiv tracking-[0.6px] font-semibold uppercase">
<svg class="w-[22px] h-[22px] mr-[7px] icon-hover" viewbox="0 0 22 22" aria-label="share" role="img" aria-hidden="true" aria-labelledby="icon-share-new-quick-access-">
<title id="icon-share-new-quick-access-">Share New</title>
<g fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd">
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="11" fill="#FFF" fill-rule="nonzero" />
<circle cx="11" cy="11" r="10.5" stroke="#000" />
<path fill="#FFF" d="M5.993 13.464c.675 0 1.323-.266 1.806-.743l4.11 2.396a2.639 2.639 0 0 0 .368 2.451 2.583 2.583 0 0 0 2.227 1.043 2.59 2.59 0 0 0 2.09-1.3 2.64 2.64 0 0 0 .08-2.477 2.58 2.58 0 0 0-4.292-.54L8.344 11.94c.28-.616.31-1.319.086-1.958l3.952-2.303a2.564 2.564 0 0 0 4.263-.537 2.623 2.623 0 0 0-.078-2.46 2.573 2.573 0 0 0-2.075-1.293 2.566 2.566 0 0 0-2.213 1.033 2.622 2.622 0 0 0-.37 2.433L7.96 9.158a2.573 2.573 0 0 0-4.316.603 2.632 2.632 0 0 0 .172 2.501 2.58 2.58 0 0 0 2.178 1.202Z" />
<path fill="#000" d="M6.936 9.577c.322 0 .631.137.859.383.228.245.355.577.355.924 0 .347-.127.68-.355.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.859.383c-.322 0-.63-.138-.858-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.356-.925c0-.347.129-.679.356-.924.228-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm6.17-3.837c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.924 0 .347-.128.68-.356.925a1.172 1.172 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.924.227-.245.536-.383.858-.383Zm0 7.883c.323 0 .631.138.86.383.227.245.355.578.355.925 0 .346-.128.679-.356.924a1.171 1.171 0 0 1-.858.383c-.322 0-.631-.138-.859-.383a1.36 1.36 0 0 1-.355-.925c0-.346.128-.678.356-.923.227-.245.536-.383.858-.384Zm-6.17-.681c.499 0 .978-.21 1.334-.586l3.036 1.888a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .272 1.93c.385.555 1.003.863 1.645.822.641-.04 1.221-.425 1.544-1.024a2.203 2.203 0 0 0 .059-1.952c-.286-.62-.841-1.044-1.48-1.13-.637-.085-1.272.18-1.69.705l-2.984-1.854c.207-.486.23-1.04.064-1.543l2.92-1.815c.415.522 1.046.784 1.68.7.633-.086 1.184-.507 1.468-1.123a2.188 2.188 0 0 0-.058-1.938c-.32-.595-.895-.977-1.532-1.018-.638-.041-1.251.264-1.635.813a2.179 2.179 0 0 0-.273 1.917L8.389 9.55c-.423-.534-1.07-.798-1.715-.702-.645.096-1.2.54-1.472 1.177a2.194 2.194 0 0 0 .126 1.97c.352.59.958.948 1.61.947Z" />
</g>
</svg>
Share
</summary>
<div class="quick-access-bubble">
<ul class="flex gap-6 text-black list-none">
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Apocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mannâs <i>1491</i> Rewrote My Brain&url=https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/” target=”_blank” title=”Twitter”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[15px]"="h-[15px]"" width="18" height="15" viewbox="0 0 18 15" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="twitter" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M17.7143 2.56767C17.2122 3.28347 16.6053 3.89336 15.8934 4.39734C15.9009 4.4996 15.9046 4.65298 15.9046 4.8575C15.9046 5.80703 15.7623 6.75472 15.4775 7.7006C15.1928 8.64649 14.76 9.55401 14.1793 10.4232C13.5986 11.2924 12.9073 12.0611 12.1055 12.7295C11.3037 13.3978 10.3371 13.931 9.20558 14.329C8.07408 14.7271 6.86392 14.9262 5.57505 14.9262C3.54435 14.9262 1.68601 14.3966 0 13.3375C0.262269 13.3667 0.554506 13.3813 0.876722 13.3813C2.56274 13.3813 4.06514 12.8774 5.38397 11.8694C4.59717 11.8548 3.8928 11.6192 3.27085 11.1627C2.6489 10.7062 2.22178 10.1237 1.98949 9.41523C2.23677 9.45175 2.46531 9.47001 2.67513 9.47001C2.99734 9.47001 3.31581 9.42984 3.63053 9.3495C2.79127 9.1815 2.09627 8.77431 1.5455 8.12789C0.99474 7.48148 0.719362 6.73099 0.719362 5.87641V5.83259C1.22891 6.11015 1.77592 6.25988 2.36041 6.28179C1.86584 5.96041 1.47245 5.54043 1.1802 5.02184C0.887961 4.50325 0.741842 3.94084 0.741842 3.3346C0.741842 2.69184 0.906694 2.09656 1.2364 1.54875C2.1431 2.63707 3.24649 3.50807 4.54659 4.16178C5.84669 4.8155 7.23857 5.17887 8.72226 5.25192C8.66232 4.97436 8.63234 4.70411 8.63234 4.44116C8.63234 3.46241 8.9864 2.62793 9.69452 1.9377C10.4027 1.24746 11.2588 0.902344 12.2629 0.902344C13.3119 0.902344 14.1962 1.27485 14.9155 2.01987C15.7323 1.86648 16.5004 1.58162 17.2197 1.16529C16.9425 2.00526 16.4104 2.65532 15.6236 3.11548C16.3205 3.04244 17.0174 2.85984 17.7143 2.56767Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/" target="_blank" title="Facebook">
<svg class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" fill="currentColor" viewbox="0 0 12 22" width="100%" height="100%" display="block" transitionduration="normal" transitionproperty="none" transitiontimingfunction="ease-out" class="w-[9px] h-[18px]" aria-label="facebook" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M11.558.004L8.677 0C5.44 0 3.349 2.125 3.349 5.416v2.496H.452A.45.45 0 000 8.36v3.618a.45.45 0 00.452.447h2.897v9.127A.45.45 0 003.8 22h3.778c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.448v-9.127h3.387c.25 0 .451-.2.451-.447l.003-3.618a.452.452 0 00-.456-.448h-3.39V5.795c0-1.017.245-1.534 1.582-1.534h1.941c.25 0 .452-.2.452-.447V.457a.45.45 0 00-.452-.448l.01-.005z" fill-rule="nonzero">
</path>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/&media=&description=Apocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mannâs <i>1491</i> Rewrote My Brain” target=”_blank” title=”Pinterest”>
<svg class=" w-[18px]="w-[18px]" h-[18px]"="h-[18px]"" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="pinterest" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M16.4962 4.49458C17.2844 5.84153 17.6786 7.31473 17.6786 8.91423C17.6786 10.5137 17.2844 11.9888 16.4962 13.3396C15.7079 14.6904 14.6384 15.7599 13.2876 16.5482C11.9368 17.3364 10.4617 17.7306 8.86223 17.7306C8.01273 17.7306 7.17856 17.6081 6.35967 17.3632C6.81121 16.6515 7.10967 16.0239 7.25508 15.4806C7.32396 15.2203 7.53059 14.413 7.87498 13.0584C8.02804 13.3568 8.30738 13.6151 8.71299 13.8332C9.1186 14.0513 9.55483 14.1604 10.0217 14.1604C10.9477 14.1604 11.7742 13.8983 12.5013 13.374C13.2283 12.8498 13.7908 12.1285 14.1888 11.2101C14.5867 10.2918 14.7857 9.25862 14.7857 8.11066C14.7857 7.2382 14.558 6.41933 14.1027 5.65402C13.6473 4.88871 12.9872 4.26499 12.1224 3.78285C11.2576 3.3007 10.2819 3.05964 9.19513 3.05964C8.39156 3.05964 7.64157 3.1706 6.94513 3.39254C6.2487 3.61448 5.65751 3.90912 5.17154 4.27647C4.68556 4.64382 4.26848 5.06665 3.92026 5.54497C3.57205 6.02329 3.31567 6.51882 3.15113 7.03157C2.98659 7.54433 2.90432 8.05708 2.90432 8.56984C2.90432 9.36576 3.05738 10.066 3.3635 10.6706C3.66962 11.2752 4.11732 11.6999 4.70661 11.9448C4.93621 12.0367 5.08161 11.9601 5.14284 11.7152C5.15814 11.6617 5.18876 11.5431 5.23467 11.3594C5.28059 11.1757 5.3112 11.0609 5.32651 11.015C5.37243 10.839 5.33034 10.6744 5.20024 10.5214C4.80993 10.0545 4.61478 9.47673 4.61478 8.78795C4.61478 7.63233 5.01464 6.63936 5.81439 5.809C6.61414 4.97864 7.66069 4.56346 8.95406 4.56346C10.1097 4.56346 11.0108 4.87723 11.6575 5.50479C12.3042 6.13234 12.6275 6.94739 12.6275 7.94994C12.6275 9.25097 12.3654 10.3568 11.8412 11.2675C11.3169 12.1783 10.6454 12.6336 9.82651 12.6336C9.35967 12.6336 8.98468 12.4672 8.70151 12.1343C8.41835 11.8013 8.33034 11.4015 8.43748 10.9346C8.49871 10.6668 8.60011 10.309 8.74169 9.86129C8.88327 9.41359 8.99807 9.01946 9.08608 8.67889C9.17409 8.33833 9.21809 8.04943 9.21809 7.81219C9.21809 7.42953 9.11478 7.11193 8.90814 6.85938C8.70151 6.60683 8.40687 6.48055 8.02422 6.48055C7.54972 6.48055 7.14794 6.69866 6.81886 7.13489C6.48977 7.57112 6.32524 8.11448 6.32524 8.76499C6.32524 9.32367 6.4209 9.7905 6.61223 10.1655L5.47575 14.964C5.34564 15.4997 5.2959 16.177 5.32651 16.9959C3.74997 16.2994 2.47575 15.2242 1.50381 13.7701C0.531863 12.316 0.0458984 10.6974 0.0458984 8.91423C0.0458984 7.31473 0.440027 5.83962 1.2283 4.48884C2.01657 3.13807 3.08607 2.06857 4.43684 1.2803C5.78761 0.492029 7.26273 0.0979004 8.86223 0.0979004C10.4617 0.0979004 11.9368 0.492029 13.2876 1.2803C14.6384 2.06857 15.7079 3.13999 16.4962 4.49458Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</svg>
</a>
</li>
<li class="flex">
<a class="flex items-center hover:text-red" href="https://reactormag.com/feed/" target="_blank" title="RSS Feed">
<svg class="w-[17px] h-[17px]" width="18" height="18" viewbox="0 0 18 18" fill="none" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" aria-label="rss feed" role="img" aria-hidden="true">
<g clip-path="url(#clip0_1051_121783)">
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" />
<path d="M2.67871 17.4143C2.12871 17.4143 1.65771 17.2183 1.26571 16.8263C0.873713 16.4343 0.678046 15.9636 0.678713 15.4143C0.678713 14.8643 0.874713 14.3933 1.26671 14.0013C1.65871 13.6093 2.12938 13.4136 2.67871 13.4143C3.22871 13.4143 3.69971 13.6103 4.09171 14.0023C4.48371 14.3943 4.67938 14.865 4.67871 15.4143C4.67871 15.9643 4.48271 16.4353 4.09071 16.8273C3.69871 17.2193 3.22805 17.415 2.67871 17.4143ZM14.6787 17.4143C14.6787 15.481 14.312 13.6683 13.5787 11.9763C12.8454 10.2843 11.841 8.80097 10.5657 7.52631C9.29171 6.25164 7.80871 5.24764 6.11671 4.51431C4.42471 3.78097 2.61205 3.41431 0.678713 3.41431V0.414307C3.02871 0.414307 5.23705 0.860306 7.30371 1.75231C9.37038 2.64431 11.1704 3.85664 12.7037 5.38931C14.237 6.92264 15.4497 8.72264 16.3417 10.7893C17.2337 12.856 17.6794 15.0643 17.6787 17.4143H14.6787ZM8.67871 17.4143C8.67871 15.1976 7.89971 13.31 6.34171 11.7513C4.78371 10.1926 2.89605 9.41364 0.678713 9.41431V6.41431C2.21205 6.41431 3.64538 6.70197 4.97871 7.27731C6.31205 7.85264 7.47471 8.63597 8.46671 9.62731C9.45805 10.6186 10.2414 11.781 10.8167 13.1143C11.392 14.4476 11.6794 15.881 11.6787 17.4143H8.67871Z" fill="currentColor" fill-opacity="0.2" />
</g>
<defs>
<clippath id="clip0_1051_121783">
<rect width="17" height="17" fill="white" transform="translate(0.678711 0.414307)" />
</clippath>
</defs>
</svg>
</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</details>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="post-hero-media ">
<figure class="w-full h-auto post-hero-image">
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="407" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Seeds-of-Story-1491-header-740x407.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Cover of 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C Mann" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Seeds-of-Story-1491-header-740x407.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Seeds-of-Story-1491-header-1100x605.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Seeds-of-Story-1491-header-768x422.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/Seeds-of-Story-1491-header.png 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</post-hero>
<div class="wp-block-more-from-category">
<div>
</div>
</div>
<p>Welcome to <a href="http://reactormag.com/tag/seeds-of-story" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Seeds of Story</a>, a new column where I explore the non-fiction that inspires—or should inspire—speculative fiction. Every couple weeks, we’ll dive into a book, article, or other source of ideas that are sparking current stories, or that have untapped potential to do so. Each article will include an overview of the source(s), a review of its readability and plausibility, and highlights of the best two or three “seeds” found there.</p>
<p>I’m starting with <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/1491-second-edition-new-revelations-of-the-americas-before-columbus-charles-c-mann/7828628?ean=9781400032051&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Charles C. Mann’s <em>1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus</em></a>. Twenty years ago, this book rewrote my brain. It changed how I think about the continent where I live and the range of possible societies. While numerous more recent books examine North American history from an Indigenous perspective, Mann’s provided many non-Indigenous folks’ introduction to the field, and its success opened the door to a stream of popular publications.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>What It’s About</strong></h3>
<p>U.S. education notoriously treats Native American nations as part of the country’s origin story: a small group who helped the colonies survive and were then destroyed by them. Lucky students may learn more detail about the Aztec empire, the Haudenosaunee’s role as a model for democracy, or the occasional battle won on an inevitable road to loss. Things have improved marginally since I was a kid in the ’80s, but I’ve still had to explain to my own children that, for example, native nations still exist and have their own governments.</p>
<p>Mann’s book uses demographic and anthropological research to show that native pre-contact populations were far larger than popularly supposed. This is the common thread binding the book together, but is merely a central spine for a history of wildly diverse cultures, governance structures, ecological management approaches, and technologies. Despite the title, Mann also spends plenty of time on how pre-contact dynamics affected contact itself and the years following.</p>
<p>The increased estimates of pre-Columbian population force readers to confront the sheer scale and horror of post-contact plagues. Earlier estimates were based on settler reports of community sizes, failure to recognize non-European indicators of human activity, and the general conviction that <em>it couldn’t have been that bad</em>. Also, plain wishful thinking by people who don’t want to imagine that plagues can get worse than the Black Death. Studies now place the population collapse upwards of 90%, and place modern North Americans in a post-apocalyptic landscape where we wander among half-buried monuments and half-remembered names. And this collapse was prior to more deliberate genocidal projects like biological warfare, massacre, and residential schools.</p>
<p>Despite that, this is primarily a book about survival and creativity. Another key thread covers the anthropocene project by which native peoples dramatically shaped their environment. Colonists wondered at forests full of food, with easy paths meandering through a veritable cornucopia. Obviously, they concluded, this is a gift from the divine: Manifest destiny, Q.E.D. It can’t possibly be a manmade landscape, because we know what that looks like: neat monocropped rows and orchards. These sections will make you want to slap the Pilgrims, even more than you presumably already do, but also make you think about how we recognize—or fail to recognize—technology when we find it. There’s terraforming hidden in Northeastern forests, the engineered soil of the Amazon, and corn.</p>
<p>Did I mention the corn? The wild version of this now near-universal staple crop is teosinte, a slender grass with a few tiny kernels sprouting sporadically up its length. Breeding teosinte into all the diverse and delicious strains of cob corn is now understood as a multigenerational breeding project, one of humanity’s first and most successful genetic engineering efforts.</p>
<p>In among these longer threads, Mann shares stories that illustrate the drama and variability of native experiences. Many, like Tisquantum’s intercontinental adventures and the Borgia-esque tale of 8-Deer Jaguar Claw, have inexplicably not been turned into blockbuster adventure series. (It’s explicable; the explanation is racism.) Tisquantum was kidnapped twice, wrangled incompetent European sailors, survived war and mutiny, and became a vital diplomatic go-between due to his familiarity with multiple cultures and languages. I want the web serial ASAP.</p>
<p class="has-text-align-center">* * *</p>
<p>This book changed the way I see the world, and the way I write. It made me understand, at a gut level, the possibility of humans acting as functional parts of our ecosystems—a very different thing from stereotypes about native harmony with nature. When I worldbuild future or alien technologies now, I think about flexibility versus hardness, and the difference between working iron tools and creating extraordinarily thin metal plates. I was once napping at an all-night gathering, vaguely heard someone discussing their refusal to eat genetically-engineered crops, woke up to ask if they’d brought teosinte to the potluck, and promptly fell back asleep.</p>
<p><em>1491</em> is extraordinarily readable and extraordinarily memorable. It’s full of things you’ll want to talk about at parties (even when awake). It writes human agency back into the landscape of the Americas. And by doing this, it made it easier for more people, including Indigenous authors, to get published on all these topics. The failure mode for a non-Indigenous author can be to miss cultural context and shape stories to their own expectations—while I’m obviously not in a position to speak to this directly, I haven’t encountered the same sorts of native critiques of <em>1491</em> that I have, for example, of <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/guns-germs-and-steel-the-fates-of-human-societies-jared-diamond/7364118?ean=9780393354324&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jared Diamond’s <em>Guns, Germs, and Steel</em></a> or <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/indigenous-continent-the-epic-contest-for-north-america-pekka-hamalainen/19670277?ean=9781324094067&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Pekka Hämäläinen’s <em>Indigenous Continent</em></a>. Mann is careful about the limits of his evidence, avoids broad generalizations, and makes events accessible without turning them into neat or familiar narratives.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Best Seeds for Speculative Stories</strong></h3>
<p><strong><em>Alternate Plagues</em></strong>. Several years ago, an alternate history book posited Americas full of megafauna, but never populated by Pleistocene humans—thus making a conveniently guilt-free new frontier. It was unusual in the arguments that followed, but not in the ease with which it considered mammals more central to the continent than humans. I’m not sure anyone could read this book and <em>not</em> have the first branch point on their minds be, “Could we have avoided the worst plague in human history?” The number of options is vast. For example, there’s a relatively brief period between Eurasians evolving minimal resilience to smallpox et al. and developing vaccines. Earlier contact would’ve led to, at least, more symmetrical effects across continents; later contact would’ve involved less exposure. It could have also involved better treatments and cures—you can’t count on genocidal empires to share their medical acumen, but imagine someone like Tisquantum fitting a little medical tech espionage in amid all his hairbreadth escapes. Or what if native nations managed to domesticate more local megafauna, thus developing their own set of zoonotic diseases to share—and perhaps earlier protective options?</p>
<p>The oddest method of mitigating the plagues, in a surprising number of books, has been dragons. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/his-majesty-s-dragon-book-one-of-the-temeraire/17287916?ean=9780593359549&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Naomi Novik’s <em>Temeraire </em>series</a>, for example, shows a North America in which plague decimated the human population, but less-affected draconic symbionts have managed to protect against invaders while humans slowly recover their numbers. And while the dragons in <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/to-shape-a-dragon-s-breath-the-first-book-of-nampeshiweisit-moniquill-blackgoose/18731992?ean=9780593498286&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Moniquill Blackgoose’s <em>To Shape a Dragon’s Breath</em></a> haven’t prevented invasion, they’re helping hold the line on the western side of the continent—and are perhaps helping change the dynamic in the east.</p>
<p><strong><em>A Different Sort of City</em></strong><em>.</em> Most people—unless I’m having a <a href="https://xkcd.com/2501/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Feldspar problem</a>—know something about Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital on the current site of Mexico City. Mann lays out exactly how impressive it was, and even before it became commonplace to <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crmznzkly3go" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">trip over ancient cities</a> in the region, pointed out that it was far from unique. What’s surprising is that cities north of the Rio Grande were almost unheard of, with one exception. Cahokia Mounds was, at its peak in the 11<sup>th</sup>-12<sup>th</sup> centuries CE, bigger than any city in the eventual U.S. would be again until the late 1700s. It was a center for religion, leadership, and trade—and we know relatively little about it. The name comes from later locals who may not be related to its builders, and unlike Mayan cultures, they didn’t leave written records. Cahokia’s fall has been attributed to authoritarian overreach, ecological collapse, sanitation failures, and/or a gradual cultural rejection of city life. It’s full of untapped story ideas. Though not entirely untapped: <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/people-of-the-morning-star-people-of-cahokia-kathleen-o-neal-gear/18403354?ean=9781250856814&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">W. Michael and Kathleen O’Neal Gear’s <em>People of the Morning Star</em></a> builds on the real history, while <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/cahokia-jazz-francis-spufford/20165424?ean=9781668025451&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Francis Spufford’s <em>Cahokia Jazz</em></a><em> </em>plays with a version of the city that survives into the 1920s.</p>
<p><strong><em>Flexible Technologies</em></strong>. Split up a sapient species at the hunter-gatherer stage, and wildly different routes of technological development result. While Andean settled agriculture has recognizable similarities to Mesopotamian settled agriculture, the Americas by 1492 saw a wider spectrum of possible land management strategies than Eurasia and Africa. Food forests were human-shaped, but did not require intensive tending or harvesting. Controlled burns maintained ecosystems from grassland to salmon runs. In the Amazon, rich <a href="https://www.science.org/content/article/ancient-amazonians-created-mysterious-dark-earth-purpose" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>terra preta</em></a> incorporated charcoal and broken pottery to increase fertility; we’re still trying to replicate its methods.</p>
<p>Many native technologies also emphasized flexibility and tensile strength over the advances in hardness preferred by Europeans. European houses were brick and stone; northern American houses tended toward tight weaving and easy revision. The rule doesn’t generalize everywhere—a Mayan pyramid is plenty hard and the English did complicated things with wool—but is a good guide to central tendencies. </p>
<p>One vivid speculative depiction of this kind of technology is most certainly <em>not</em> influenced by Mann—but Mann’s book does change how I watch the work of noted non-deep cross-cultural thinker George Lucas. Take a look at that Ewok village, and tell me it’s actually low-tech, as opposed to tech-unrecognizable-to-spaceship-people. For that matter, take a look at how quickly Ewoks figure out hoverbikes, and how well arrows work against mass-produced helmets. Lucas was working with stereotypes, but accidentally got something right.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1056201.Hellspark" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Janet Kagan’s <em>Hellspark</em></a> is a first contact novel that, more deliberately, depicts the common failure to recognize technology that doesn’t look like ours. The book is built around the question of how we figure out that other people are people, and whether that might be something we can get better at. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-actual-star-monica-byrne/17059176?ean=9780063002906&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Monica Byrne’s <em>The Actual Star</em></a> braids three timelines: ancient Mayan, modern-day, and a future culture. The latter draws on Mayan heritage and technology for a flexible and portable lifestyle, one that bears more resemblance to post-contact northern nomadism than settled cities. It does an impressive job of depicting how dramatic societal changes can be over time. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/a-memory-called-empire-arkady-martine/6986710?ean=9781250186447&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Arkady Martine’s <em>A Memory Called Empire</em></a> draws on the same history, as well as on Martine’s scholarly background in Byzantine history, combining rigid and flexible aspects of technology with fascinating results.</p>
<div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div>
<h3 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>New Growth: What Else to Read</strong></h3>
<p><em>1491</em> opened the way for books such as <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186872416-native-nations?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_14" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Kathleen DuVal’s <em>Native Nations</em></a>, <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-rediscovery-of-america-native-peoples-and-the-unmaking-of-u-s-history-ned-blackhawk/18722854?ean=9780300276671&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Ned Blackhawk’s <em>The Rediscovery of America</em></a>, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/49921.Robin_Wall_Kimmerer" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Robin Wall Kimmerer</a>’s books on native ecological management and philosophy, and numerous more tightly-focused histories and biographies. Mann’s own sequel, <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/1493-uncovering-the-new-world-columbus-created-charles-c-mann/8721736?ean=9780307278241&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">1493</a></em>, isn’t quite as groundbreaking as <em>1491</em>; however, it remains a fascinating overview of the Columbian Exchange that altered foodways and ecologies around the world. <a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/four-lost-cities-a-secret-history-of-the-urban-age-annalee-newitz/16712885?ean=9780393882452&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Annalee Newitz’s <em>Four Lost Cities</em></a> goes in-depth on what we know about four ancient, abandoned cities, including Cahokia. And David Graeber and David Wengrow’s recent <em><a href="https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-dawn-of-everything-a-new-history-of-humanity-david-graeber/15873078?ean=9781250858801&next=t" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity</a></em> dives into the diversity of governance options explored on all continents prior to written records and settled agriculture. It makes some dubious assumptions, but also points out assumptions that other researchers are making, and will probably show up in this column at some point—if “seasonally-variable government” sounds like a tempting plot bunny, you want to read it.</p>
<hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots" />
<p>Have you read <em>1491</em>, and if so what did you think? Share your thoughts, and recommendations for both fiction and non-fiction playing with and expanding on these ideas, in the comments section.[end-mark]</p>
<p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/">Apocalyptic Plagues and Anthropocene Forests: How Charles C. Mann’s <i>1491</i> Rewrote My Brain</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/">https://reactormag.com/seeds-of-story-how-charles-c-mann-1491-rewrote-my-brain/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=818080">https://reactormag.com/?p=818080</a></p>