Barbarius started reading The Millay Illusion by Sarah Pinsker
#Hugo2026Finalist novelette
Mostly reading sci-fi, fantasy, and comics/graphic novels, but occasionally some other stuff too.
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71% complete! Barbarius has read 37 of 52 books.
#Hugo2026Finalist novelette
#Hugo2026Finalist novelette
It has a stage magician's sense of timing; its creators have imbued it with razzle-dazzle from beyond the stars.
— Kaiju Agonistes by Scott Lynch (Page 16)
#Hugo2026Finalist novelette

Originally published in Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue #220
#Hugo2026Finalist Novelette

The last remnants of the human race left a dying Earth, desperate to find a new home among the stars. …
I had no idea what this was about when I started reading this, but I really enjoyed it.
It's probably easiest to consider the idea of mutually assured destruction: the idea that because a bunch of countries have nukes and could destroy each other, so therefore no one uses nukes. This only exists however due to a delicate balance that needs to be maintained constantly. Now imagine that that destructive power resides in people. People, with all their emotions, flaws, ego, and issues... And still that delicate balance needs to be maintained... along with all their emotions, flaws, ego, and issues...
So then, who gets to make the rules and maintain the balance?
I had no idea what this was about when I started reading this, but I really enjoyed it.
It's probably easiest to consider the idea of mutually assured destruction: the idea that because a bunch of countries have nukes and could destroy each other, so therefore no one uses nukes. This only exists however due to a delicate balance that needs to be maintained constantly. Now imagine that that destructive power resides in people. People, with all their emotions, flaws, ego, and issues... And still that delicate balance needs to be maintained... along with all their emotions, flaws, ego, and issues...
So then, who gets to make the rules and maintain the balance?
The Invisible Parade is a truly beautiful picture book about Día de Muertos and a little girl grieving her recently passed grandfather. The artwork is phenomenally beautiful and touching, and the story provides a message of hope and humanity.