reactor_feed

Posted by Leah Schnelbach

https://reactormag.com/how-a-stephen-king-character-becomes-an-unlikely-source-of-hope/

https://reactormag.com/?p=838988

Featured Essays Stephen King

How a Stephen King Character Becomes an Unlikely Source of Hope

Holly Gibney embodies the ethos of “do no harm but take no shit.”

By Zack Budryk

Published on February 11, 2026

Photo credit: Bob Mahoney

Cynthia Erivo as Holly Gibney in The Outsider

Photo credit: Bob Mahoney

A lot of Stephen King’s most iconic characters feel all too relevant to our current moment, be they the toxic fan who escalates to far worse, the entity that feeds on a community’s fear and prejudice or the frustrated family man who lets his demons turn him into a monster. His 1977 school-shooter novel Rage, written under his pulpier nom de plume Richard Bachman, was found in the personal effects of so many real shooters that King had his publisher take it out of print.

It seems far rarer for a King character to provide us with a guide to navigate this terrible American moment. His protagonists tend to be varying shades of admirable or sympathetic, but they’re often stuck reacting to the horror with which they’re confronted. This is blessedly not the case, however, with one of his newer creations, the neurodivergent private investigator Holly Gibney.

Holly made her debut as a supporting character in King’s 2014 mystery Mr. Mercedes, enlisted as an assistant to retired cop Bill Hodges as he hunts the titular killer who, in another bit of ominous resonance, killed eight people in a car attack at a job fair. Since then, she’s appeared in the rest of the Hodges trilogy (End of Watch and Finders Keepers) as well as the novels The Outsider, Holly, and Never Flinch and the novella If It Bleeds. Holly is introduced in a position far too many autistic and neurodivergent people will recognize: despite her latent skills at the kind of observation and deduction a detective needs, she’s borderline reclusive and under the thumb of her mother Charlotte, who has conditioned Holly to believe she can’t function in the world or offer it anything. However, under Bill’s guidance, and later through her friendship with her neighbors, siblings Jerome and Barbara Robinson, Holly comes to understand her own strength and capability and starts an investigatory career in her own right.

To see yourself in a fictional character often comes with the corollary of wishing you had more of their strengths and fewer of your weaknesses. Generations of teens have been captivated by Spider-Man, for instance, because he shares their frustrations and struggles but also has superhuman powers. Holly is aspirational in subtler ways—her detective skills aren’t presented as the trope of disability as a superpower or clairvoyance, which even King himself has not been immune to. Holly doesn’t have Will Graham-esque visions that help her get to the bottom of things, she’s just astute, patient, and smart enough to let people underestimate her.

Holly is also, not incidentally, perhaps the single kindest character King has created. Much of modern fiction runs on the assumption, often by male writers, that a strong female character must be relentlessly snarky, violent, and antisocial. Holly is the exact opposite—her friendships with the Robinsons and Bill are a major part of her characterization, and her fierce loyalty and gratitude for them is instantly recognizable to any neurodivergent person who’s worried they might never find their people. She’s got a spirit of bruised but indefatigable optimism that gets her through what she experiences, referred to as “Holly hope” by both her and her friends.

That’s not to say she can’t scrap, of course—every King book featuring Holly has climaxed with her dispatching the antagonist in self-defense, including El Cuco, a murderous, shapeshifting supernatural entity, in The Outsider. She embodies the ethos of “do no harm but take no shit.”

One of my single favorite Holly moments comes in 2023’s Holly, in which she finds herself investigating a string of disappearances that ultimately lead to two elderly married academics who believe in the restorative power of cannibalism (it’s still Stephen King, after all). What ultimately leads Holly to realize the victims have all been snatched up against their will is that all of them had a community, something to live for, loved ones that they wouldn’t have left behind: a college professor who loves his job and boyfriend, a woman who has nominally returned to her family in Georgia despite their having disowned her for being a lesbian, the son of an alcoholic mother who’d been making real progress in getting her drinking under control. Holly has known a life with these ties and without them, and her empathy and gratitude are what make her realize what doesn’t add up.

I’ve loved Holly since I first encountered her, only compounded by Cynthia Erivo’s and Justine Lupe’s performances in the TV adaptations of The Outsider and Mr. Mercedes, respectively. King himself admits to an infatuation with writing the character, saying “I wish she were a real person.” But after the last few weeks, when the news has been wall-to-wall images of a campaign of state terror in Minnesota and its targets standing in solidarity, I appreciate her even more. The streets of the Twin Cities have been filled with Fargo-accented moms and the “helpers” Fred Rogers famously spoke of, not just protesting on the front lines but providing more low-key, behind the scenes mutual aid. Like Holly, they’re not action heroes or revolutionaries–they’re people who love and dare defend their community with whatever talents they have. The state has already extra-judicially murdered two of them, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, and it hasn’t made their neighbors more violent, it’s only made them braver.

To draw on fiction for solace against real evil can become a crutch—witness the popularity of Harry Potter analogies in the first Trump presidency, made awkward by Trump and Harry’s creator having identical views on trans rights. But at their best, fictional heroes can be not just power fantasies but something like secular saints, figures we use as a sort of lantern in the dark to help find a path through uncharted territory. I don’t know if anyone protecting their community in the Twin Cities, or Chicago, or Los Angeles, or Iran, is a fan of Holly Gibney, but seeing those communities has reminded me that everything I love about Holly exists in millions of real people too.[end-mark]

The post How a Stephen King Character Becomes an Unlikely Source of Hope appeared first on Reactor.

https://reactormag.com/how-a-stephen-king-character-becomes-an-unlikely-source-of-hope/

https://reactormag.com/?p=838988

ravelryfriendsursule_feed

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/no-flakes-headphone-covers

Sarah1235 favorited No Flakes Headphone Covers by William Hou

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/no-flakes-headphone-covers

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Amanda

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/02/mary-balogh-a-boxed-set-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=166282

Give Me a Reason

RECOMMENDED: Give Me a Reason by Jayci Lee is $2.99! Guest reviewer Lisa gave this an A-:

Give Me a Reason is absolutely packed with restrained passion and yearning. There’s too much hurt between Frederic and Anne for them to initially approach each other, and yet they still want to be together.

An instant USA Today bestseller!

In this modern retelling of Jane Austen’s PERSUASION, a K-drama actress gets her second chance at love with the man she left to save her family, if only she can work up the courage to risk her heart on forever…one last time.

For ten years, Anne Lee told herself that Frederick Nam was her past. To save her father from bankruptcy, she dropped out of UC San Diego to pursue an acting career in Korea. Anne had to stop Frederick from following her and ruining his future. Breaking up with him was the best way she could love him.

After Anne left him, Frederick spent years loving her, missing her, and hating her until he decided to live his life for himself. He followed his dream and became a firefighter in Culver City. He didn’t need romance. He had his work and his friends.

When she returns to Los Angeles, Anne and Frederick find themselves in the same wedding—she as her cousin’s bridesmaid and he as his friend’s groomsman. Even though he is cold and distant with her, Anne can no longer deny that she never got over him. Not even close. As for Frederick, needing to take care of Anne is a habit he can’t seem to kick, but that doesn’t mean he has to forgive her.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Someone to Honor

Someone to Honor by Mary Balogh is $1.99! This is the sixth book in the Westcott historical romance series. Balogh is a favorite at SBTB, especially if you’re looking for tender romances and comfort reading.

First appearances deceive in the newest charming and heartwarming Regency romance in the Westcott series from beloved New York Times bestselling author Mary Balogh.

Abigail Westcott’s dreams for her future were lost when her father died and she discovered her parents were not legally married. But now, six years later, she enjoys the independence a life without expectation provides a wealthy single woman. Indeed, she’s grown confident enough to scold the careless servant chopping wood outside without his shirt on in the proximity of ladies.

But the man is not a servant. He is Gilbert Bennington, the lieutenant colonel and superior officer who has escorted her wounded brother, Harry, home from the wars with Napoleon. Gil has come to help his friend and junior officer recover, and he doesn’t take lightly to being condescended to–secretly because of his own humble beginnings.

If at first Gil and Abigail seem to embody what the other most despises, each will soon discover how wrong first impressions can be. For behind the appearances of the once-grand lady and the once-humble man are two people who share an understanding of what true honor means, and how only with it can one find love.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

A Seditious Affair

READER RECOMMENDED: A Seditious Affair by KJ Charles is $1.99! This is a gay historical romance and was the subject of one of our very first Squee from the Keeper Shelf was about this book:

Many congratulations to K.J. Charles proving that it can be done. Romance can incorporate meaty socio-economic and political context into the story-telling. And the resulting tale can be riveting and most definitely hot.

K. J. Charles turns up the heat in her new Society of Gentlemen novel, as two lovers face off in a sensual duel that challenges their deepest beliefs.

Silas Mason has no illusions about himself. He’s not lovable, or even likable. He’s an overbearing idealist, a Radical bookseller and pamphleteer who lives for revolution . . . and for Wednesday nights. Every week he meets anonymously with the same man, in whom Silas has discovered the ideal meld of intellectual companionship and absolute obedience to his sexual commands. But unbeknownst to Silas, his closest friend is also his greatest enemy, with the power to see him hanged—or spare his life.

A loyal, well-born gentleman official, Dominic Frey is torn apart by his affair with Silas. By the light of day, he cannot fathom the intoxicating lust that drives him to meet with the Radical week after week. In the bedroom, everything else falls away. Their needs match, and they are united by sympathy for each other’s deepest vulnerabilities. But when Silas’s politics earn him a death sentence, desire clashes with duty, and Dominic finds himself doing everything he can to save the man who stole his heart.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

New Zealand Ever After

New Zealand Ever After by Rosalind James is $1.99 at Amazon! This set features three full-length contemporary romances with rugby players. Are you a James fan?

Escape to New Zealand once again with the new series from bestselling author Rosalind James.

Over 1,300 pages of funny, heartwarming, heart-pounding, steam-inducing entertainment, starting with combat of both the military and the more metaphorical sort and ending with an escape from a religious cult, with plenty of stops along the way.

Meet a rich-lister ex-model home from Afghanistan minus a leg, Debbie the Boy Duck, a retired rugby player with a yurt and a strong desire not to be a hero, a four-year-old who is convinced that she can lay an egg if she just tries hard enough, and a whole lot more.

Includes Book 1, KIWI RULES, Book 2, STONE COLD KIWI, and Book 3, KIWI STRONG.

Add to Goodreads To-Read List →

You can find ordering info for this book here.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/02/mary-balogh-a-boxed-set-more/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=166282

reactor_feed

Posted by Molly Templeton

https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/

https://reactormag.com/?p=839363

News The Mummy

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to The Mummy in 2028

One more reason to count the days until 2028

By Molly Templeton

Published on February 11, 2026

Screenshot: Universal

[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/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/">https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839363">https://reactormag.com/?p=839363</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-mummy/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag The Mummy 1"> The Mummy </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to <i>The Mummy</i> in 2028</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">One more reason to count the days until 2028</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 February 11, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Universal</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/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/#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=Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to <i>The Mummy</i> in 2028&url=https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/” 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/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/" 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/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/&media=&description=Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to <i>The Mummy</i> in 2028″ 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="356" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Nose-boop-740x356.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Evie (Rachel Weisz) and Rick (Brendan Fraser) in The Mummy" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Nose-boop-740x356.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Nose-boop-1100x530.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Nose-boop-768x370.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Nose-boop.jpg 1400w" sizes="(max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Screenshot: Universal</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p>Sometimes, getting your hopes up works out. Back in November, <em>The Mummy</em> stars Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz were <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-mummy-returns-brendan-fraser-and-rachel-weisz/">in talks</a> to return to the beloved franchise with a new film. Now, it’s official: <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/the-mummy-4-release-date-may-2028-brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-1236658527/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Variety</em> brings word</a> that Universal Pictures has sealed the deals and dated the movie for a 2028 release.</p> <p>At present, 2028 does not feel like a real year, but I’m sure it’ll be here sooner than any of us are ready for it. </p> <p>The as-yet-untitled fourth <em>Mummy</em> film will be directed by Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, who work under the name Radio Silence and are also the directors of <em>Ready or Not</em> and the upcoming <em>Ready or Not 2: Here I Come</em>. The screenplay is by David Coggeshall, which seems like an odd choice. Coggeshall is the writer of the films <em>The Family Plan</em> and its sequel, the horror films <em>Orphan: First Kill</em> and <em>The Deliverance</em>, and 65 episodes of the 2000s TV series <em>Watch Over Me</em>.</p> <p>The plot of the new film is being kept under wraps (sorry, but one must make at least one mummy joke when writing about <em>The Mummy</em>). </p> <p><em>The Mummy</em>, as I surely don’t need to tell you, is a widely adored bisexual awakening film that swept into theaters in 1999 and almost certainly led to more than one person emulating Rachel Weisz’s character’s move of tipsily standing up and announcing “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/shorts/v11yXGKHtOA" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">I am a <em>librarian</em></a>.” Weisz plays Evelyn, who along with her brother Jonathan (John Hannah) travels with treasure hunter Rick O’Connell (Fraser) on a quest to find the Book of Amun-Ra. It is all a lot more complicated than that, and many scary things happen, including booby traps and biblical plagues. Oded Fehr also stars as Ardeth Bay.</p> <p>Much of the cast returned for <em>The Mummy Returns</em>, which marked The Rock’s movie debut (he was still The Rock back then; now he’s Dwayne Johnson). A third film, <em>The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor</em>, lacked Weisz and was generally <a href="https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-what-went-wrong-with-the-mummy-tomb-of-the-dragon-emperor/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">somewhat less beloved</a>. But this new film is being referred to as the fourth <em>Mummy</em> film, so it’s not like they’re trying to pretend it doesn’t exist.</p> <p>We’ll learn more before <em>The Mummy</em> returns again on May 19, 2028.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/">Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to <i>The Mummy</i> in 2028</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/">https://reactormag.com/brendan-fraser-rachel-weisz-the-mummy-2028/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839363">https://reactormag.com/?p=839363</a></p>

reactor_feed

Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/

https://reactormag.com/?p=839118

Column Science Fiction Film Club

The Man Who Fell to Earth: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair

David Bowie stars in a beautifully filmed tale of alienation, misery, and failure.

By Kali Wallace

Published on February 11, 2026

Credit: British Lion Films

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] w-[18px]>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Sarah</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/">https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839118">https://reactormag.com/?p=839118</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>The Man Who Fell to Earth</i>: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair</h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">David Bowie stars in a beautifully filmed tale of alienation, misery, and failure.</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 February 11, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: British Lion Films</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/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/#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>The Man Who Fell to Earth</i>: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair&url=https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/” 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/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/" 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/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/&media=&description=<i>The Man Who Fell to Earth</i>: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair” 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="423" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-bowie-740x423.jpg" class="w-full object-cover" alt="David Bowie as Thomas Jerome Newton in The Man Who Fell to Earth" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-bowie-740x423.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-bowie-1100x629.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-bowie-768x439.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-bowie.jpg 1400w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Credit: British Lion Films</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p><em>The Man Who Fell to Earth </em>(1976) Directed by Nicolas Roeg. Written by Paul Mayersberg based on the novel of the same name by Walter Nevis. Starring David Bowie, Rip Torn, Candy Clark, and Buck Henry.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <p>It was the summer of 1974 in Los Angeles. English music superstar David Bowie was on tour in America. He was promoting <em>Diamond Dogs, </em>the first album he’d released after retiring his alien glam-rock stage persona Ziggy Stardust. Along for part of the tour was BBC producer and director Alan Yentob, who was making a documentary about Bowie for the long-running television series <em>Omnibus</em>. Yentob’s film, <em>Cracked Actor</em>, aired on BBC1 in January, 1975.</p> <p><em>Cracked Actor</em> has never been officially released in any other format, but you can find the complete film all over the internet. It’s 50 minutes of conversations in cars and hotel rooms interspersed with concert footage, and all of it is implicitly fueled by so much cocaine. Whether that appeals to you depends a great deal, I suspect, on how interested you are in David Bowie in particular and the 1970s rock star life in general.</p> <p>The documentary caught the attention of a film casting agent by the name of Maggie Abbott, who was looking for somebody to play the lead role in a sci fi film to be directed by Nicolas Roeg. The requirements for the role were a bit unusual: the actor had to look not quite human. Roeg’s first choice for the role hadn’t been an actor at all but author Michael Crichton, who was 6’9”; another choice was Peter O’Toole. Neither of them were available or interested. (They also didn’t look like aliens, but movie magic is a powerful thing.) That’s why Abbott was still searching for the right person, and why she screened <em>Cracked Actor</em> for Roeg and suggested that he consider Bowie for the role.</p> <p>It wasn’t as wild an idea as it might seem on the surface. Although Bowie had only a few small acting credits to his name, it would not be Roeg’s first time working with a musician in a film. He had already co-directed <em>Performance </em>(1970), a crime film about a gangster who goes into hiding in the home of a rocker played by Mick Jagger.</p> <p>The casting was almost doomed before it began, because Bowie forgot about their first meeting and assumed, when he realized he would be about an hour late, that Roeg would have given up and left. But Roeg hadn’t left. <a href="https://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/mwfte.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">He waited at Bowie’s house for eight hours</a>. When they finally met, Bowie was so embarrassed he hadn’t read the screenplay that he agreed to do the movie to avoid the awkwardness of a longer conversation, which just might be the most British interaction I’ve ever heard of.</p> <p>Roeg was a well-respected filmmaker who had started his career in film right after getting out of the army following World War II. He began working at Marylebone Studios in London as a clapper-boy, or the person on set who worked the “clappers” to make a distinctive noise that would allow the film and audio tracks to be synced. He eventually worked his way up to camera operator, and throughout the ’60s he was worked as a cinematographer on such diverse films as David Lean’s <em>Lawrence of Arabia </em>(1962), Roger Corman’s <em>The Masque of the Red Death </em>(1964), and François Truffaut’s <em>Fahrenheit 451 </em>(1966). By the end of the decade he’d shifted into directing; <em>Performance</em>, which he co-directed with screenwriter Donald Cammell, was his first film as director. He followed it up with two movies that earned a lot of acclaim: <em>Walkabout </em>(1971) and <em>Don’t Look Now </em>(1973).</p> <p><em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> is based on the 1963 novel of the same title by Walter Tevis. The story in the book is pretty much what we see in the film, with some variations; screenwriter <a href="https://archive.org/details/Sight_and_Sound_1975_10_BFI_GB/page/n34/mode/1up" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Paul Mayersberg wrote a piece for <em>Sight and Sound</em> in 1975</a> explaining how he went about adapting the novel into the screenplay, as well as a bit about how the story evolved during filming.</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="10841"/> </div></figure> <p>The plot isn’t a complicated one: An alien visitor named Thomas Jerome Newton (played by Bowie) comes to Earth searching for water for his drought-stricken planet. He uses his superior technological knowledge and the help of patent lawyer Oliver Farnsworth (Buck Henry) to found a major corporation; his goal is to use his great wealth to build a spaceship to get back to his home planet, in order to bring resources and rescue survivors. But as he amasses wealth and power on Earth, Newton become involved with a young woman, named Betty Jo in the book and Mary Lou in the movie (and played by Candy Clark), and begins drinking heavily. His work attracts the attention of curious scientist Nathan Bryce (Rip Torn) as well as the U.S. government; the latter responds by detaining him and performing experiments on him. His mission disrupted, Newton gives up on returning to his home planet, and wastes away on Earth.</p> <p>It’s a story that spans decades, focuses heavily on a man’s descent into misery and failure, all of which leads to a sad, heavy ending—so honestly, it was perfect for a ’70s director looking to make an artsy, depressing sci fi movie.</p> <p>Tevis’ first novel, <em>The Hustler</em>, had already been made into an extremely successful 1961 film starring Paul Newman and Jackie Gleason. <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> was his second novel. Even though there was some suggestion at the time of its publication that he was a literary author dabbling in science fiction, Tevis had written several sci fi short stories already and was no stranger to the genre.</p> <p>In a 1981 interview (<a href="https://brickmag.com/an-interview-with-walter-tevis/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">reprinted in <em>Brick</em> in 2003</a>), Tevis said, “Where did <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth </em>fall from? He fell from San Francisco… essentially that book is a very disguised autobiography. It is based upon my own feelings from time to time that I’m from another planet.” He ties the themes in the book to his own childhood, during which he moved from San Francisco to Kentucky, where he spent a long time in a children’s hospital, isolated and unhappy. Tevis is also very frank about the role his own alcoholism played in the story: “Now, <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth </em>is about my becoming an alcoholic, really. That’s my private story about my sense of my own physical weakness and my sense of my not really being human…”</p> <p>This reminds me of what Eliseo Subiela said about <a href="https://reactormag.com/man-facing-southeast-an-alien-perspective-on-humanitys-madness/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Man Facing Southeast</em> (1986)</a> and his reasons for setting it in a psychiatric hospital. Both stories are at their core about exploring a feeling of alienation from other humans by making that alienation literal, and both use conditions that are largely marginalized and judged harshly, such as mental illness and addiction, to emphasize a sense of isolation within society. When I was reading about that movie, I found writers who mentioned that it followed in the footsteps of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em>, but I have no idea if Subiela ever saw it.</p> <p>I hadn’t read <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> before I watched the movie and started writing this column, but I borrowed the ebook from my library to read a bit and get a sense for Tevis’ style. I was immediately sucked in, to the point where I wanted to stop research and keep reading. The writing is fantastic and evocative and so engaging, with a sort of mournful, meandering feel. In <a href="https://www.newspapers.com/image/443210804/">a 2004 column in <em>The Boston Globe</em></a>, author James Sallis wrote about Tevis and his work, and he described <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth </em>as, “…one of the most heartbreaking books I know, a threnody on great ambition and terrible failure, and an evocation of man’s absolute, unabridgeable aloneness.”</p> <p><site-embed id="10842"/></p> <p>Beyond the casting, there really isn’t that much that’s exciting about the production of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em>. Because it stars one of the biggest rock stars of all time, and was made during a period when he was very publicly going through some personal and professional troubles, journalists and critics seem to have expected that there would be some drama on set. There’s an amusing article that was published in the rock music magazine <em>Creem </em>(readable on the Bowie archive page <a href="https://www.bowiegoldenyears.com/press/75-12-00-creem.html" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bowie Golden Years</a>) in which it sure sounds like the writers went in hoping for something exciting, like maybe a cocaine bender or wild orgies or something.</p> <p>Alas, it was not to be, because the filming went pretty smoothly. The movie was filmed in New Mexico, and <a href="https://variety.com/2016/film/news/david-bowie-man-who-fell-to-earth-candy-clark-1201677477/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">according to Candy Clark</a> as well as <a href="https://pitchfork.com/thepitch/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-david-bowie-review/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roeg and others on the production</a>, it was a fairly pleasant experience.</p> <p>Where we do find some good old-fashioned sex, drugs, and rock & roll was in the making of the film’s soundtrack, which Bowie wasn’t involved with at all. There’s <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/sep/08/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-soundtrack-bowie-john-phillips" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a 2016 article about the whole ordeal in <em>The Guardian</em></a>, and it would make a pretty good (trashy) Hollywood film in itself.</p> <p>Bowie was originally supposed to write the soundtrack. He went into the film thinking he was going to provide the music, and it would have come after his <em>Young Americans </em>(1975) album. But after three months of work he had produced nothing usable. That, coupled with what appeared to be some big misunderstandings, left Roeg in the awkward position of having a film that was supposed to premiere in a few months but had no music.</p> <p>Roeg called up John Phillips, better known as the singer and songwriter for <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oU6uUEwZ8FM" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">The Mamas & the Papas</a>. Roeg had met Phillips a few years before when he offered Phillips’ wife at the time, Genevieve Waite, the role of Mary Lou in <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em>. Phillps objected, because he wanted to write a sci fi rock musical for Waite to star in, and that led to a physical fight between the two men. People just don’t get into drunken fist fights about sci fi rock musicals anymore, do they?</p> <p>But their brief enmity didn’t last, because a few years later Roeg offered Phillips the chance to do the soundtrack for <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em>. Phillips agreed, even though he, like everybody else, didn’t really understand why Bowie wasn’t doing it. There were some more shenanigans involving fights, cocaine, and, somehow, a tryst with Mick Jagger’s wife during the writing and recording, but Phillips did end up providing much of the soundtrack.</p> <p>What that <em>Guardian</em> article doesn’t say—possibly because there’s no sex or cocaine involved, but who knows?—is that some of the music in <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> was also composed and performed by Japanese percussionist Stomu Yamash’ta. The weird, cool, sci fi-y, prog rock parts of the score were Yamash’ta’s, while the parts that sound either like twangy Americana or smooth jazz were Phillips, and I think both parts work quite well. It’s an interesting soundtrack. Very ’70s, but not in a bad way. None of it was composed or performed by Bowie, which is a bit sad. I would have loved to hear what Bowie’s version of the soundtrack, if he had ever written it.</p> <p>I’m not entirely sure how I feel about <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth.</em> I’ve been thinking about it since I watched it, so it definitely wormed its way into my head. Overall, I think it’s a fascinating but flawed movie. The film starts out brilliantly, Bowie is great in the lead role, and it’s undeniably beautiful to look at. But I think it drags a bit too long in the second half, and there are places where I simply wished for <em>more</em>. I wish there was more depth for the characters of Mary Lou and Nathan Bryce; Candy Clark and Rip Torn both do a great job with what they are given, but they could have been given much more…</p> <p>In that interview published in <em>Brick</em>, Walter Tevis offers thoughts on Roeg’s film version of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em>. Tevis, who was an English teacher for twenty-five years, said, “I give it a C-plus.”</p> <p>His critique of the film is an interesting one, because it comes down to a fundamental disagreement about how to tell stories that are meant to be understood on many levels. He said of Roeg’s work, “…I think he feels that it isn’t art if you can understand it, and I hate that notion. I really hate it. And I think when you do a parable, which is more or less what I do in science fiction, you have to be up front about what’s going on in the foreground.”</p> <p>I think, based on the date of that interview, that Tevis was talking about the version of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> that the distributor shaved by twenty minutes against Roeg’s wishes. But I’m not sure, and I don’t know how the different versions would have affected his opinion. I will say that even with the longer version, I can see where he’s coming from: This is a movie that cares more about the underlying parable of innocence falling to corruption than it does about the flow of the foreground story of a man losing sight of his purpose over decades.</p> <p>I don’t think that’s a fatal flaw, nor do I agree with him that the foreground plot always has to be crystal clear for a story to work. I have loved films like <a href="https://reactormag.com/stalker-journey-into-the-landscape-of-the-human-soul/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>Stalker </em>(1979)</a> or <a href="https://reactormag.com/high-life-you-cant-go-home-again/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><em>High Life </em>(2018)</a> where the clarity of the foreground plot is nowhere near as important as the underlying emotional and philosophical elements. But I do think that parts of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth </em>are disjointed in a way that distract from the underlying parable, and I can see why Tevis felt the way he did. <a href="https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-1976" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Roger Ebert said in his 1976 review</a>: “…there’s nothing more frustrating than asking logical questions about a movie that insists on being visionary.”</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity is-style-dots" /> <p>What do you think of <em>The Man Who Fell to Earth</em> and its take on the alien visitor as a metaphor for part of the human experience?</p> <p><strong>Next week:</strong> I like to keep things challenging by covering a truly obscure film now and then, so we’re watching Grigori Kromanov’s <em>Dead Mountaineer’s Hotel</em>, which is streaming <a href="https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/dead-mountaineers-hotel" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in just a couple of places</a>.[end-mark]</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/"><i>The Man Who Fell to Earth</i>: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair</a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/">https://reactormag.com/the-man-who-fell-to-earth-a-provocative-contemplation-of-corruption-and-despair/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839118">https://reactormag.com/?p=839118</a></p>

oursin

What I read

Finished Cakes and Ale, which is partly that early C20th litfic convention of a first-person narrator who just happens be around to hear a lot about the actual protags and the plot or at critical moments of same, but actually complicates it with Ashenden knowing that Rosie is not actually dead as everyone else supposes. Not sure the ending really worked.

I then, having got into an Edwardian/Georgian novelist rhythm, went 'ah! time for some Arnold Bennett! the one about the hotel', except I picked up The Grand Babylon Hotel (1902), which is 1900s thriller hijinx mode with European royalty shenanigans, false identities, etc etc (though I was wondering whether it might adapt into a screwball comedy movie?), and wasn't actually the one I'd read many years ago that I was thinking of.

Which was Imperial Palace (1930), which struck me as, although lacking the highspeed thriller plot element, remarkably like D Francis in its fascination for infrastructure (in this case, running a luxury hotel in London) and competence porn. The running-the-hotel bits and the trials posed for the new supervising housekeeper are, perhaps, at least these days, more interesting than the bits involving Hotel Manager and Rich Man's Daughter Gracie. To give her (and actually, Bennett as author) her due, she is not, whereas she would be in a lot of novels by his contemporaries, an unmitigated bitch (Aldous Huxley's Lucy Tantamount) or a tragic bitch (Michael Arlen's Iris Storm), she has some good points and was a competent racing driver, but she is still annoyingly entitled and egocentric.

I took a break from this because I suddenly had a whim to re-read Mary Renault, The King Must Die (1958) for the first time in absolute yonks. You know, Mary, the sexism and misogyny is not entirely just being Accurate for Period, is it, hmmmm? There is some great stuff in there, but.

On the go

Imperial Palace is very long, and still on the go.

Up next

I think I am up for some Agatha Christie, seriously.

reactor_feed

Posted by Sarah

https://reactormag.com/backlist-bonanza-5-underrated-asexual-speculative-fiction/

https://reactormag.com/?p=839195

Books Backlist Bonanza

Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Works of Asexual Speculative Fiction

In a month dominated by romance, we’re making space for SFF on the ace spectrum

By Alex Brown

Published on February 11, 2026

collection of 5 book covers for SFF titles with asexual and aromantic characters and themes

Allos, I love you, but sometimes you exhaust me. Having spent my life surrounded by allos, you’d think I’d be more used to your urges and passions, and yet I still have to pester my allo group chat with questions about why you do what you do. I remain convinced that allosexuality is one big conspiracy theory—or at the very least that all y’all are under some sort of mass hysteria. Either way, I’m reclaiming this month for the aces. Now, where’s that cake?

City of Strife by Claudie Arseneault

(City of Spires #1 — self-published; 2018) Chances are, if you’re looking for asexual and/or aromantic speculative fiction, you’ve come across recommendations for Arseneault. She’s been a staple in queer and in particular ace and aro speculative fiction for years, and has carved out quite the reputation in self-publishing. Her books center platonic relationships between a wide variety of queer characters, often of the shades and intersections of queerness that rarely make it into traditionally published books. You could pick any of her books, but today I want to highlight the first in the City of Spires trilogy. Arathiel returns to Isandor after more than a century away. He makes friends with a crew in the poorest neighborhood in town, then suddenly one of them is accused of a high-profile assassination. His only hope may be Lord Diel, but he’s busy trying to manage an envoy from the cruel Myrian Empire. A sprawling story of political intrigue and high fantasy unfolds through a large cast and lots of high stakes moments. And there are several asexual and aromantic characters! Not just one!

The Sound of Stars by Alechia Dow

(The Sound of Stars #1 — Inkyard Press; 2020) As far as I can tell, Alechia Dow is the only author writing Black young adult science fiction with asexual spectrum main characters. (She’s also one of only a handful of Black authors who are traditionally published in YA SF at all… it’s a slim field.) There are three interconnected books in this series, with The Sound of Stars being the first. All feature protagonists on various spots of the asexual spectrum. This book opens two years after aliens known as the Ilori invaded and conquered Earth, slaughtering a third of the population in the process. They banned music, art, and books, but 17-year-old Ellie has a secret stash in Ilori-controlled New York City. M0Rr1S (aka Morris), a lab-born being that looks human, discovers her private library, but is so fascinated by her music that he breaks the rules and doesn’t turn her in. They set off together to escape Morris’ family, and the groundwork they lay sets the stage for the rest of the series. This is one of those trilogies I think would kill as a streaming TV show adaptation. It’s wild and charming, sweet and romantic, and full of space opera adventure and teenage melodrama.

What We Devour by Linsey Miller

(Sourcebooks Fire; 2021) This was one of my favorite young adult books of 2021, and one I often still recommend to teen readers looking for dark fantasy. Set in a fantasy world where humans overthrew their gods and devoured them—literally—this book explores power and class. Lorena is the descendant of one of those devourers, but she’s special; she has magic from both gods, Noble and Vile. Because of her power, she’s forced into an indenture to the Vile crown price. He needs Lorena’s help to keep the Vile on the other side of the Door, lest the world be consumed. Lorena is morally gray and generally unlikeable, the ideal YA antihero in a bloodthirsty world. She may have magical power, but it’s curbed by political power, so she must find other ways to make the world a better place. Unfortunately for her victims, those ways often involve a lot of killing and pain. In this house, we love a complex protagonist.

The Bruising of Qilwa by Naseem Jamnia

(Tachyon Publications; 2022) Firuz and their family are Sassanian refugees from Dilmun struggling to build a new life in the Free Democratic City State of Qilwa. A plague decimated their homeland and drove them and hundreds of others into tenements in the poorest neighborhood in Qilwa, and now Firuz, a weaver of blood magic, works at one of the few clinics that cater to Sassanians. That’s when this fantasy story turns into a medical mystery. A strange, new disease spreads across Qilwa, and the refugees are blamed. Firuz has to not only find the source of the plague and stop it before it decimates their new home but also quell a rising swell of xenophobia and help a relative deal with body dysmorphia exacerbated by their relocation and loss of magic. The novella tackles a lot of topics with depth and nuance. Jamnia delves into oppression and subjugation, colonization and recolonization, and the diaspora and being a refugee.

Small Gods of Calamity by Sam Kyung Yoo

(Interstellar Flight Press; 2024) Something I’ve noticed with a lot of asexual fiction written by acespec authors is that we tend to just let our characters be ace. There’s not much hemming and hawing over our identities. Other characters might have strong opinions about the protagonist’s asexuality, but they are happy with who they are and just living their life. That’s what you get with Han-gil, the protagonist in this urban fantasy novella. Han-gil is a police detective in Seoul as well as someone who can communicate with spirits. Oh, and he’s ace and bi. We meet him as he starts investigating a spate of suicides that he soon realizes are part of something much bigger. This is a fast-paced, tightly-plotted mystery with a ton of worldbuilding and character work happening in under 150 pages. I hope we get more from Kyung Yoo soon! Small Gods of Calamity is a stunning debut.[end-mark]

The post Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Works of Asexual Speculative Fiction appeared first on Reactor.

https://reactormag.com/backlist-bonanza-5-underrated-asexual-speculative-fiction/

https://reactormag.com/?p=839195

reactor_feed

Posted by Christina Orlando

https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/

https://reactormag.com/?p=839141

Books cover reveals

Read the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s Goblin Market

A heartfelt fantasy arriving October 2026

By Reactor

Published on February 11, 2026

Photo courtesy of A.J. Hackwith

[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<a [...] h-[15px]">') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

<p class="syndicationauthor">Posted by Christina Orlando</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/">https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839141">https://reactormag.com/?p=839141</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/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/cover-reveals/" class="inline-block link-no-animation" aria-label="Link to term or tag cover reveals 1"> cover reveals </a> </span> </div> <h2 class="post-hero-title text-h1">Read the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s <i>Goblin Market</i></h2> <div class="prose post-hero-description prose--post-hero">A heartfelt fantasy arriving October 2026</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/reactor/" title="Posts by Reactor" class="author url fn" rel="author">Reactor</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 February 11, 2026 </p> </div> </div> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-vertical [&_a]:link"><p>Photo courtesy of A.J. Hackwith</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/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/#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 the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s <i>Goblin Market</i>&url=https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/” 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/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/" 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/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/&media=&description=Read the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s <i>Goblin Market</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 loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="740" height="463" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header-740x463.png" class="w-full object-cover" alt="Photo of author AJ Hackwith and the cover of their novel, Goblin Market" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header-740x463.png 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header-1100x688.png 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header-768x480.png 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header-1536x960.png 1536w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Goblin-Market-reveal-header.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 740px) 100vw, 740px" /> </figure> <div class="post-hero-caption post-hero-caption-horizontal [&_a]:link"><p>Photo courtesy of A.J. Hackwith</p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </post-hero> <div class="wp-block-more-from-category"> <div> </div> </div> <p><strong>A goblin changeling caught between the human and fey worlds must find a way to save her home…</strong></p> <p>We’re thrilled to share the cover and preview an excerpt from A.J. Hackwith’s <em><a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/708779/goblin-market-by-a-j-hackwith/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Goblin Market</a></em>, a new fantasy available October 20, 2026 from Penguin Random House.</p> <div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <figure class="wp-block-pullquote has-text-align-left"><blockquote><p>Being a changeling is hard enough, but Toast was older than most changeling children when her goblin parents stole her back from her human family and returned her to the harsh, bustling world of the Goblin Market, where anything from your fondest dream to your strongest talent can be bought—or sold.<br><br>Nearly a decade later, Toast has grudgingly cobbled together a life there as the Market’s guide for mortal visitors. But when the next arrival is her long-lost sister and the ancient beast whose magic the Market depends on disappears under strange circumstances, everything starts falling apart.<br><br>Now the Market itself is dying. With the Summer Court of noble fey plotting to claim the weakened Market for themselves, Toast, her friends, and an infuriatingly charming fey knight with an agenda of her own must negotiate their differences to make the trade of a lifetime and win back the Market’s future. To do so, Toast will have to decide what home—and the flawed community within—is ultimately worth.</p></blockquote></figure> <figure class="wp-block-image aligncenter size-large"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="1100" height="1697" src="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-1100x1697.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-839142" srcset="https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-1100x1697.jpg 1100w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-740x1142.jpg 740w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-768x1185.jpg 768w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-996x1536.jpg 996w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-1328x2048.jpg 1328w, https://reactormag.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/final-FCO-GOBLIN-MARKET-9780593546598-Berkley-Ace-Publicity-scaled.jpg 1659w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1100px) 100vw, 1100px" /><figcaption class="wp-element-caption">Cover art by Charlie Bowater; Design by Adam Auerbach</figcaption></figure> <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/2026/02/goblin-market-aj-hackwith.jpeg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="cover of AJ Hackwith's Goblin Market" /> </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/2026/02/goblin-market-aj-hackwith.jpeg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="cover of AJ Hackwith's Goblin Market" role="presentation" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <h3 class="shop-the-book-title text-h3">Goblin Market</h3> <p class="shop-the-book-author">A.J. Hackwith</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-1770830243" 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-1770830243" 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="icon-close"> <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/2026/02/goblin-market-aj-hackwith.jpeg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Goblin Market" /> </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/2026/02/goblin-market-aj-hackwith.jpeg" class="attachment-full size-full" alt="Goblin Market" /> </figure> <div class="grow shrink basis-0"> <h3 class="shop-the-book-modal-title">Goblin Market</h3> <p class="shop-the-book-modal-author">A.J. Hackwith</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/B0GHTP7VRM?tag=tordotcomgeneral-20" data-book-title="Goblin Market" 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/9780593546598" data-book-title="Goblin Market" 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/isbn9780593546604" data-book-title="Goblin Market" 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/9780593546598" data-book-title="Goblin Market" 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=9780593546598" data-book-title="Goblin Market" 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>A. J. Hackwith (she/they) is a queer writer of fantasy and science fiction living in the woods of the Pacific Northwest with her partner and various pet cryptids. </p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity" /> <div style="height:10px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <h3 class="wp-block-heading has-text-align-center"><strong>Chapter One</strong></h3> <div style="height:5px" aria-hidden="true" class="wp-block-spacer"></div> <p><em>Extra potatoes for dinner.</em> That’s all Toast heard when the boy began negotiations with the foolish offer of his first-born daughter. Even now, watching him haggle with Silver, she could see he was barely more than a child himself. Not in the cherubic, soft limbed way, really. But in the slouched curved of his spine, the dull polish of disappointment beginning to wear down his edges. He had learned the world would not love him back, but not yet that it could strip him bare if he let it. He still had the ambition of his dreams.</p> <p>Otherwise he would have never found the door that lead nowhere. The door that leads to the Goblin Market. “I’m never having kids anyway,” he announced, with all the bravado of someone who’d convinced himself he’d meant it. “It’ll be like getting it for free.”</p> <p>“What a cunning negotiator you are, peachfuzz.” Silver’s skin was pale with the luster of old jade, smooth in places where age should have made a busy map of lines. Goblin years don’t draw wrinkles, just deepen the secrets in the eyes. Though the name alone told Toast she was one of the oldest merchants in the Market. Goblins earned their common name based on the first successful deal they ever struck. Silver had evidently dealt in raw coin, at one point. And so far back that her name was ‘Silver’ rather than penny, dollar, or credit.</p> <p>“Has anyone tried bitcoin?” Toast only realized the daydream question was said aloud when Silver shot her a look to peel bark from a tree.</p> <p>“Henry.” Silver flicked a thumb in Toast’s direction and another man, who had been idly polishing the dream-glass, tucked away his rag. He was dressed in too tight pants and a blousy teal shirt which could have been from several decades of history, but was gaudy in all of them in Toast’s opinion.  Henry offered Toast a candy from a rather stale looking silver bowl. “Mint?”</p> <p>Henry may not have been a goblin, but as Silver’s indentured assistant, he was as market-blood as Toast. And like any market resident, Toast knew better than to accept a gift. Especially one shaped like a smile. </p> <p>“What are they? Honey words?” Toast eyed the glistening candies. Her crossed arms made it obvious she wasn’t biting, so Henry sighed and set the bowl down. “Delirium drops,” Henry admitted, with no remorse on his lazy smile. “Imported fresh from the Summerlands.”</p> <p>“High Fey sweets don’t interest me.” Toast gave him a flat look even while keeping an eye on how Silver’s negotiation was progressing with the human mark. He was, as Toast had expected, getting tidily fleeced by Silver’s talented omissions. The boy was petting a battered pair of gloves with an awe that bordered on enchantment. The finder fee that was due to Toast from the deal would be decent, maybe even enough to pay for a few deals of her own. (After the potatoes.)</p> <p>“I wouldn’t expect a simple goblin like you to appreciate the finer things,” Henry shrugged, selecting one candy from the bowl himself to languidly pluck at the glossy wrapper. “Suit yourself.”</p> <p>God, Toast couldn’t stand the addicts. She had never bothered to learn Henry’s particular story, how he’d come to find the Goblin Market or what initial deal he’d made, but anyone could guess how he’d become stuck working for Silver. Henry was a goblinfruit addict, one of the many humans that lived–if you could call it that—within the Market, doing any demeaning job or fey bidding they could to win them another taste of the sweet fruit called goblinfruit. It was a delicacy unique to the Market’s goblin community, and known to be pleasant to fey of all kinds, but addictive to the point of possession for humans. </p> <p>The fruit didn’t kill you. It just made you forget why anything else ever mattered.</p> <p>Once you’d tasted goblinfruit, your every waking thought was devoted to securing the next portion. Henry was a case in point, serving as Silver’s ever-present lackey in exchange for a steady but meager supply. Fey never hesitated to take advantage of us—no, of humans. <em>Humans.</em> Not us. Toast berated herself again as she watched Henry drop the faint, cerulean delirium drop on his tongue and slouch against a crate of goods.</p> <p>“Ach!” Silver twisted around and delivered a faint smack to Henry’s shoulder. “Foolish boy! What have I told you about sampling the merchandise? You’ll owe me for that.”</p> <p>Toast could imagine the groveling Henry would do to preserve his ration serving of goblinfruit, but he was already too far gone, a drippy smile on his face as the candy of glazed emotion melted through his brain. “You could have bothered to stop him,” Silver turned her frown on Toast.</p> <p>“Could have. Didn’t see the fair trade.” Toast shrugged.</p> <p>That earned her a narrow look, but no retort. Toast was secure in the fact that Silver couldn’t even hold it against Toast her. Fair trade was the lifeblood of the Market. If the goblins and low fey of the Market had a religion, it was the cosmic concept of fair trade. Not that there was ever anything equitable in the promise of ‘fair’. There were always winners and losers in the market. And when a human was involved, they always played the loser.</p> <p>Toast focused her attention on the boy she’d escorted to Silver’s booth. He was still lost in fascination, staring avariciously at those stupid gloves. “You…” Toast wavered, but a sharp raise of one brow from Silver was enough to tip her over into a sigh. “…if you are satisfied, I can walk you back to the door,” she said to the fool who barely heard her. Toast wanted nothing more than to back out of the tent and let the Churn’s crowd sweep her along, but her own sense of ‘fair’ didn’t allow it. Even foolish boys deserved to find their way home.</p> <p>The boy was too enchanted with his new purchase to answer, but Silver frowned at the contents of a drawer before pulling out a handful of pebbles whose surfaces gleamed like oil slicks. She counted five into Toast’s waiting palm.</p> <p>“Bezoars, again?” Toast let her annoyance carry.</p> <p>Silver shrugged, indicating the currency of payment and Toast jostled them in her palm before putting them away. The oily, dark feel said they were from the belly of a Nightmare, or possibly even an Omen. It was a generous fee, not that she’d ever admit that to Silver. She tugged on the boy’s sleeve and nudged him into the dim bustle of the Churn.</p> <p>The Churn was the Market’s backbone. A cavernous space with a large main thoroughfare of tents and booths perched beneath the ruins of pillars that jutted out of the wall in impossible geometry. The lighting came from twine-strung lanterns which swayed without wind. Nothing about the Market was straight: not its rooms, not its wares, not its people. But at least the Churn, at least, pretended to stay still. Deeper in, the Market turned feral, hallways slipping and folding, rearranging themselves like rebellious memories. </p> <p>By the time they reached the stairs, the lanterns had guttered low. Toast managed to drag the boy back up the switchback to the entrance hallway. “Right. Pleasure meeting you, yadda, yadda, yadda—”</p> <p>“Yes…” the boy agreed absently. But then he managed to pull his gaze away from the bauble he’d just sold his firstborn for. “Wait, what if I need to come back?”</p> <p>Toast kept her skepticism off her bland expression. Fey from elsewhere were regular visitors of the Market, but typically humans only stumbled in once, and whether by fate or failing, they were not seen again. She pretended to consider it with a shrug. “How’d you find the door, again?”</p> <p>“I…” his expressive face folded into confusion. “I remember it was end of semester, and I had a shit-ton to drink and then there was this weirdo at the bar that…I can’t remember what they said.”</p> <p>“Oh, that’s normal,” Toast reassured. Her stomach dropped and pity sunk in despite her best efforts. A wandering trickster had sent him here, or worse. There were enough creatures out there that who rarely visited the Market themselves because they made such a tidy meal of other’s desperation.</p> <p>“You understand what you paid today, right?” She shouldn’t be asking, but at least it did serve as a distraction. The boy’s face bloomed into a prideful smile.</p> <p>“Yeah. Whatever. Basically free.”</p> <p>“You said as much back there. You understand that’s forever, right? Even if you change your mind or there’s an…uhm, accident.”</p> <p>He was already nodding in an arrogant way that made Toast feel less sympathy, but then there was a hitch in his expression. Toast’s heart sank. “No judgement, but have you had some…” She paused and pulled the words from a memory she’d bought last month. “…a one night stand?”</p> <p>The blank anxiety on the boy’s face was answer enough. Oh, he really was an idiot. Toast clenched her jaw and shoved his lanky legs toward the door. “Anyway, the Goblin Market appreciates your business. Never come againok<em>bye</em>!”</p> <p>He made some blustery objections, but the enchantment took hold as he touched the brass doorknob. The frame of the door always remained the same—creaky and crooked, with mismatched carvings at the corners. But the door was always unique to the guest. This one was a wide, artful mahogany with an ornate latch that reeked of old money. How someone who had so much could still fill his heart with so much envy that they called a door to the Market, Toast would never understand. She was halfway down the stairs before the click finished echoing in the empty hall.</p> <p>At least she had the coin to wash the bad taste out of her mouth. She stopped by her favorite shops, using some of the bezoars to buy a spicy skewer (extra potatoes) and another on a goblinfruit hand pie. After a bit of haggling, she handed over the gleam from her hair for a pint of weak ale, and swapped last week’s dreams for a new blanket that was heavier than the old one and stitched with runes to keep out the chill and regret. There was a new draft in the abandoned closet that she called home. She’d manage. Still better than the week she spent sweltering at night because the closet had been relocated directly over a boiler room.</p> <p>The ever-shifting secret space which hosted the goblin market was just referred to as the Market, by everyone Toast had ever spoken to. It gave the impression of a dilapidated, nonsensical forever-house. It was not, of course. No architect could or would dream up such a sprawling, illogical maze of dead-end hallways, stairs to nowhere, bottomless pools, or dusty rooms. A door could open on a decaying Victorian parlour one day or a hurricane-thrashed stairwell the next. It just depended on the Market’s mood.</p> <p>The whimsy made the Market treacherous to navigate, if you didn’t know the secret as Toast did. As she climbed a spiral staircase, she noticed it was the one made of bone that she’d already seen twice on the way in this morning. She touched each brass knob and lever of every door as she sped down the hallway, other arm loaded with her dinner. It never hurt to stay acquainted with the Market, her fingertips memorizing the feeling of cold, tarnished metal memorized under her fingertips like breadcrumbs to follow out.</p> <p>When she reached her door, she exhaled. Still there. Inside it smelled of dry cloth and old paper. It looked like a supply closet, like the ones where that the teacher had always kept the precious craft supplies in when she was in grade school. Toast pretended it smelled of crayons and Elmer’s glue, the way Ms. Luchsinger’s closet had in first grade. One of the good days when their teacher pulled out fresh crayons. A fantasy that she was back at Middlevale elementary, and when she emerged in the morning she’d be 12 years old again, and human, and loved and cared for without expectation of payment or debt.</p> <p>She laid out her meal, spread the new blanket, and settled into her next nest. She nibbled on the hand pie as she pulled out a sad looking notebook. The pages were nearly black from scribbles—dream fragments, old sketches, the memory-ghosts of horses, because of course she’d been a horse girl once. </p> <p>Ten years ago. Ten years since she’d woken in her bed, not yet changed or claimed, only to find a green-skinned creature, Silver, at the foot of it with eyes like flint and a voice like a sealed contract.</p> <p>She’d screamed, of course. But no one stirred in the house, not her parents or her baby sister, already under Silver’s temporary enchantment. There had been no dramatic rescue. Only Silver’s voice, calm as paper: <em>You are not theirs.</em></p> <p>Toast had run, of course she had. She’d managed to reach her parents room, screaming for help. Her mom kept a baseball bat under the bed. She’d—she’d drive this nightmare away. Toast had thrown herself on her parents bed, but. But her mother only shifted fretfully in her sleep, brow furrowing then smoothing again. She still remembered the scent of her mother’s sleep-warmed skin before Silver pulled her away.</p> <p>She probably tried to explain it all kindly, if Toast was being fair. But she Toast had been so confused, so scared, that the facts might as well have been incantations: that Toast was a changeling child, a goblin pretending to be human. That her ‘real’ parents, also goblins, should have fetched her long ago but–here, Silver paused, unnaturally evasive–they had been delayed, forcing Silver to complete the errand.</p> <p>But that didn’t prepare Toast for the icy water feeling of some magic sliding off her skin. Did not stop her from wailing as she looked in the hallway mirror and saw a wretched green-skinned stranger staring back. A creature her size with big, tear-filled red eyes and giant, fawn-like floppy ears that came to points and fluttered like broken wings as she cried.</p> <p>That door had shut. And the Market had opened on her new life.</p> <p>She learned quickly. Goblins believed a community raised a child. Well, they believed <em>humans</em> should raise goblin children up through that helpless, sticky period, <em>then </em>the community raised a child. Most goblin children were brought back to the Market by age six as their changeling disguise wore thin. Young enough to adapt well, but old enough to be useful.</p> <p>Toast had been eleven, too old to be pitied, too young to be feared. Silver helped just enough to keep her from starving. When asked, Silver had given her only a perfunctory answer as to why they’d waited so long. She said her parents were absent, like Toast had been an appointment they’d penciled in their planner and forgot. Whenever Toast pressed further, complicated wrinkles formed around Silver’s closed mouth.</p> <p>Whatever the reason, Toast never forgave them for it. She was gathered into some orientation and adjustment guidance by well-meaning aunties. Sitting hunched over next to kids half her age, many of whom seemed to have either convinced themselves this is was some fantasy adventure, or comforted themselves with crying constantly.</p> <p>Toast had no more tears. After that first night, she held herself to the resolution to not cry again. If this was home now, Toast would make it a home no one could take away from her. Let no one close enough to rip another comfort away. If Toast was a goblin, then she’d be a <em>goblin.</em> As fierce and nasty as any of the monsters who’d ripped her away from her human dream.</p> <p>It wasn’t that easy, she learned. All the traders knew that fresh changeling kids were easy targets. Merchants seemed to take endless amusement using the old fey “may I have your name?” trick on changelings.</p> <p>Her first trade had been a desperate, hungry bargain: the memory of her hometown for a slice of fried bread. Toast. She might have picked something else if she’d known goblins take their first Market acquisition as their name for the rest of their life. She didn’t even remember how it tasted now, and she’d never remember the way back again.</p> <p>She couldn’t go home even if she’d wanted to. She had been Toast ever since.</p> <p>The post <a href="https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/">Read the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s <i>Goblin Market</i></a> appeared first on <a href="https://reactormag.com">Reactor</a>.</p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/">https://reactormag.com/cover-reveal-and-excerpt-aj-hackwith-goblin-market/</a></p><p class="ljsyndicationlink"><a href="https://reactormag.com/?p=839141">https://reactormag.com/?p=839141</a></p>

candyheartsex

Reposted pinch hits, plus a handful of new ones! These will be due at 11:59 PM EST on 2/13. If you can claim a pinch hit, please reply to this post (comments will be screened) or email the mod account at candyheartsex at gmail dot com. Make sure to include your AO3 username and the pinch hit you want to claim.

If you can claim a pinch hit but will need a few extra hours, please let me know.

( CLAIMED - PH 38 - Sun Sword - Michelle West, Crossover Fandom, Crossover Fandom, Transformers (Skybound 2023), Transformers (Skybound 2023), Transformers (Skybound 2023), 묘령의 황자 | Mystic Prince (Webcomic), 황녀 반역자를 각인시키다 | Revolutionary Princess Eve (Webcomic) )

( PH 42 - Ancient History RPF, Crossover Fandom, Dragon Ball )

( PH 52 - The Love Hypothesis - Ali Hazelwood, The Hurricane Wars - Thea Guanzon, The Dead Romantics - Ashley Poston, My Roommate Is a Vampire - Jenna Levine )

( PH 60 - Drowning by Numbers (1988), The Red Shoes (1948), أزرق القفطان | The Blue Caftan (2022), Titane (2021), Plainclothes (2025) )

~~( CLAIMED - PH 78 - Chrono Trigger, Octopath Traveler (Video Game), Final Fantasy X Series, Outside Xbox RPF, 女王的游戏 | Road to Empress (Visual Novel), Oxventure (Web Series) )~~

( PH 79 - 僕だけがいない街 | Boku dake ga Inai Machi | ERASED (Anime & Manga), 炎の蜃気楼[ミラージュ] | Honoo no Mirage | Mirage of Blaze, 언파더 | Unfather (Webcomic), 창 없는 방 | A Room Without Windows (Webcomic), Les vêpres siciliennes | I vespri siciliani | The Sicilian Vespers - Verdi/Scribe/Duveyrier )

( PH 81 - The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner, The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner, The Queen's Thief - Megan Whalen Turner )

( PH 93 - Merlin (TV), Teen Wolf (TV), Sherlock (BBC TV 2010) )

~~( CLAIMED - PH 94 - Hazbin Hotel (Cartoon), The Magnus Archives (Podcast), Pluribus (TV 2025), Persona 3, 堀さんと宮村くん | Hori-san to Miyamura-kun | Horimiya (Manga) )~~

( PH 95 - Rose Red (TV), The Cabin in the Woods (2011), Final Destination (Movies), Frankenstein (2025), Your Monster (2024), The Indian Lake Trilogy - Stephen Graham Jones, Lisa Frankenstein (2024), Devil Went Down to Georgia - Charlie Daniels Band (Song), Emma - Jane Austen, Red Dwarf (UK TV) )

~~( CLAIMED - PH 96 - Northanger Abbey (2007), Beauty and the Beast (1992), Pride and Prejudice (TV 1995) )~~

( PH 97 - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV), give me a break! - Michael Clifford & Waterparks (Music Video), A League of Extraordinary Women - Evie Dunmore, A League of Extraordinary Women - Evie Dunmore )

skygiants

Picking up a book called Part Time Girl about a high school kid who switches (physically, magically, inconveniently) back and forth between Being A Boy and Being A Girl, I was like, okay, I know pretty much what the vibes of this are going to be. And the first couple chapters in which protagonist Michael/Kayla worries about a Sort Of Girlfriend and a Hot Boy and I Have Taken This Part Time Job As A Girl But Now I Need Girl Clothes, Bra Shopping! So Stressful!! did not really lead me to think anything different!

Then about 40% of the way through the book our protagonist was suddenly running through the woods from evil wizards, and I'm like, okay, this I did not expect.

It turns out the plot of this book is NOT high school drama and figuring out your complicated gender feelings! The plot of this book is that evil racist homophobic wealthy wizards called the Clan (yes) run the world and you have to team up with your traumatized neighbor to fight them, while also figuring out your complicated gender feelings along the way.

Also, the protagonist and the traumatized neighbor bond by hanging out and watching the 2014 kdrama Healer, the plot and cast of which is lovingly described in text. This is in fact plot relevant because they later use their arguments over which cast member is hotter to prove their identities to each other when it's in question. Now I do love Healer but given that it came out, again, in 2014 and I haven't heard anyone talk about it pop culturally in more than a decade, this possibly surprised me even more than the evil wizards.

I can confidently say that at no point did I predict some of the major turns this book took, and I will put them under a spoiler in case you, too, would like to experience this Experience as I confidently believe it was meant to be Experienced: ( here we go! for the ride! )

ravelryfriendsursule_feed

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sparkling-cider

miraling favorited Sparkling Cider by Kristin Lehrer

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sparkling-cider

ravelryfriendsursule_feed

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gansey-afghan

miraling favorited Gansey Afghan by Lena Skvagerson

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gansey-afghan

ravelryfriendsursule_feed

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roy-g-biv-6

miraling favorited ROY G BIV by Park Williams

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/roy-g-biv-6

sabotabby

Just finished: Changelog by Rich Larson. I don't have much to add from last week other than, surprise surprise, the last few stories were also amazing. One of the ones towards the end, "You Are Born Exploding," is probably the best one? I don't know which is the best one. It's about a mother whose young son is dying while increasing numbers of people in her seaside town are turning into zombie sea monsters, some of them voluntarily. Look, you can read it for free!

Sequel: An Anthology, edited by Chenise Puchailo. This collection is a sequel to Spud Publishing's first anthology, Debut (okay I find this, and everything about the press, very adorable, like a little middle finger in the face of SEO), and features six new authors and five new illustrators in Canadian genre fiction. I'm just really glad this exists, you guys. It gives me hope. It's like, very scrappy and indie and most of its focus is on the Prairies and interior BC, which is deeply underrepresented in fiction generally and in genre fiction even more so. It's not out yet but it should be launching in the spring.

Currently reading: The Threads That Bind Us by Robin Wolfe. Look, there are about six or seven of you who need to drop whatever you're doing and read this immediately. I'd have binged the entire thing in one night except that I felt like that wouldn't do it justice and I needed to slow down and read it in two nights instead.

This is a collection of twelve memories from queer and trans folks, written in their own words, which Robin then illustrates with symbolic embroidered textile art pieces (and a brief explanation of how the final embroidery relates to the story). It's devastating. The first story is about a teenager taking care of his leather daddy's friends who are dying of AIDS. There are moments of grief, love, and startling joy. It's the kind of thing where I just start directly texting friends who need to read it yesterday.

My only regret here is that the shipping somehow cost more than the book so I bought it in ebook form, which is probably actually better in terms of my seeing the details of the embroidery, but I'm sure the hard copy makes for a stunning physical artifact.

Anyway I am blown away so far and need you to read it so we can scream together.

tresfoyle

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

Current Mood: gloomy

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Carrie S

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/02/tarot-after-dark-taking-flight-with-the-crow-tarot/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=165719

This piece of literary mayhem is exclusive to Smart Bitches After Dark, but fret not. If you'd like to join, we'd love to have you!

Have a look at our membership options, and come join the fun!

If you want to have a little extra fun, be a little more yourself, and be part of keeping the site open for everyone in the future, we can’t wait to see you in our new subscription-based section with exclusive content and events.

Everything you’re used to seeing at the Hot Pink Palace that is Smart Bitches Trashy Books will remain free as always, because we remain committed to fostering community among brilliant readers who love romance.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/2026/02/tarot-after-dark-taking-flight-with-the-crow-tarot/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?p=165719

cereta

( You're about to view content that the journal owner has advised should be viewed with discretion. )

smartbitches_feed

Posted by Lara

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/copper-script-by-kj-charles/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=166081

B-

Copper Script

by KJ Charles
May 29, 2025 · KJC Books
Historical: European

I’m a big KJ Charles fan so it was inevitable that I would read this book one day. I read it this weekend and I had a great time, with a couple caveats.

Aaron is a police detective in London in the 1920s. He is told about a graphologist, Joel, who can decipher people’s personalities from their handwriting with impossible accuracy. Aaron is sure that Joel is a charlatan or a con artist of some description and becomes obsessed with working out how Joel does what he does. The first 50% is taken up by this. Initially this put me off my stride as I thought the mystery plot would kick in sooner but it doesn’t: that comes later.

We find out early on that Joel has a ‘criminal’ history – he did two months in prison for an ‘indecent proposal’. While he doesn’t advertise his queerness to the general public, there is something about Aaron that provokes Joel into flirting at Aaron quite a bit. Aaron is tightly buttoned up and doesn’t flirt back. He wouldn’t dare – he’s a policeman. This builds some quite lovely tension between the two. There is an intensity to their connection that’s a lot of fun to read.

Joel has a limb difference – his left hand was shot during WW1 and he lost the hand. His feelings about his prosthetic are complicated. The sex scenes adapt to Joel’s limb difference and Aaron’s responses show a deep acceptance of Joel as he is.

As with all KJ Charles novels, the historical detail is rich and makes for a very immersive experience as a reader. For example, the discussions of how WW1 veterans were treated at the time made me consider the England of that time in a different light.

The mystery plot kicks in at around 60% but things stagnate almost immediately. Because it happens so late in the book, I won’t take you through it here, but I will say that there are no clues, no movement in solving the mystery until one of the characters takes decisive action around 80% in. So the pacing is a bit off. Once that decisive action is taken, the plot accelerates significantly.

For a romance novel, Joel and Aaron don’t spend a huge amount of time together before professing their love for one another. I get that given their circumstances (and the mystery plot) that it’s tricky to get that time together and stay safe, but the romance felt a bit rushed to me. It is possible that this might be a “me” problem as I recently read a trilogy by KJ Charles in which the romance arc takes three books to reach fruition. So perhaps it is quick in comparison only. Nevertheless, it is something that my mind snagged on while reading.

Do I recommend this book? Absolutely I do. It is good, but it doesn’t reach the heights of KJ Charles’ other books. The mystery brought the story momentum to a lull, and I wanted more than the limited time Joel and Aaron spent together, but Charles’ writing is always compelling, particularly in the way the characters move around in a world with such deep and specific contextual details. I probably sound a bit disappointed, and I am, but I don’t want that to stand in the way of you picking up this book.

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/reviews/copper-script-by-kj-charles/

https://smartbitchestrashybooks.com/?post_type=reviews&p=166081

glowingfish

This is where I went on Friday. This is Otter Crest, which is about 25 miles from where I live. I took a local bus to a nearby stop, and walked a few miles to get here.

This is what I do when I am not working, being sick, or fiddling around on the internet.

quomodocumque_feed

Posted by JSE

https://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/luck-or-loveliness/

http://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/?p=8480

So pretty.

Watch on YouTube

I like the life I’ve had but also in some ways I wish I had been in New Zealand playing with the Tall Dwarfs in 1981 instead of being a 10-year-old in the suburbs of Washington, DC.

https://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/2026/02/10/luck-or-loveliness/

http://quomodocumque.wordpress.com/?p=8480

How a Stephen King Character Becomes an Unlikely Source of Hope

Give Me a Reason

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Someone to Honor

You can find ordering info for this book here.

A Seditious Affair

You can find ordering info for this book here.

New Zealand Ever After

You can find ordering info for this book here.

Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz Are Really Truly Returning to The Mummy in 2028

The Man Who Fell to Earth: A Provocative Contemplation of Corruption and Despair

Backlist Bonanza: 5 Underrated Works of Asexual Speculative Fiction

Read the First Chapter of A.J. Hackwith’s Goblin Market

B-

Copper Script

Page Summary

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags