Adam Roberts

Adam Roberts

@adamroberts.bsky.social

Writer, FRSL. Prof, RHUL. Literature and science fiction. https://profadamroberts.substack.com/ "Frankenstein Rex" coming in October: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Frankenstein-Rex-Adam-Roberts/dp/1399617729/

7.5K followers953 following8.6K posts

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

"This famous Fantasy author told Inspector Morse to fire riot-control gas canisters at his sidekick!" "C. S. Lewis?" "That what Tolkien told Morse to do, yes."

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

In this Hugo poem, a young girl has climbed a cherry tree to pluck some fruit. "Ses petits doigts allaient chercher le fruit vermeil, Semblable au feu qu’on voit dans le buisson qui flambe." "Her little fingers reaching for the crimson fruit seemed like the fire one sees in a burning bush." What?

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

Wee sleekit thievin tea-leaf arsehole, O, what a haul is in thy mousehole! Thuve stole awa with all ma housegold, Ma famil jewellery! I'd rang thy hairy little mousethroat, Fo' yo tomfoolery!

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

Sensible policies for a better Britain.

Daniel Carpenter@dancarpenter.bsky.social

Took the eldest to a cafe and she spent the entire time reworking the vampire mythos. Her new rules: 1. All vampires can control and ride dinosaurs 2. Their teeth are made of foam 3. They can only be defeated by forcing them to do a puppet show

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social
Nathan Goldwag@goldwagnathan.bsky.social

"Let the Tyrants of Europe and the Orient tremble! For who can stand against the Brotherhood of Man, united in fraternity under the gathering banners of the New World?" - President Benito Juárez, 1870

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

An ad that assumes its target audience will be so familiar with Thomas Gray's 'Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College' (1747) that they'll get the tagline reference (it's to Gray's "where ignorance is bliss/Tis folly to be wise")

Old UK Print Ads@oldukprintads.bsky.social

Oct 1925: Milk Chocolate ad from Toblerone (+with Almonds and Honey) «Where TOBLERONE is bliss, 'Tis folly to buy otherwise-»

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

"This famous Jamaican record producer was telling me how the top Confederate Army general used to love pear-cider, but decided to give it up, since it was affecting his generalship." "Lee Scratch Perry?" "That's what Clement Coxsone Dodd told me, yes."

Adam Roberts reposted

Roy Lonergan
@roylonergan.bsky.social

Excellent from @adamroberts.bsky.social "A symbol is something of a time machine. It's an inconceivable compression of the time taken by operations of the spirit..."*. Lord knows where the book description on the dust jacket comes from. * Paul Valéry, Mauvaises Pensées et autres III.

Roy Lonergan@roylonergan.bsky.social

Fabulous book. I remember struggling to get into this a couple of decades ago and you need to push past the shocking event in the first chapter, like Marnie's XXXXX in TEOE. Still shocking this time.

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

"A group of female officers will supply you with the key to the Challenger 3. One note: its carved from horn." "That will depress me, sir." "Really? Why?" "It's the horn-key tank women, sir. They give me the horn-key tank blues." " .... Get out."

Adam Roberts reposted

derek guy
@dieworkwear.bsky.social

i personally don't believe you have to smile to look stylish. for instance: IG charlie_the_griffon

Kevin Vognar@somnule.bsky.social

why are all these people so sad about their beautiful sweaters though

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

I love Coleridge (tho much of his stuff is dross), but 'Kubla Khan' is in its own category. Tom Stoppard once said that reading Eliot's Prufock made him feel as he imagines the diabetic does when the insulin goes in: for me, it's KK. The poem closest to actual perfection in all literature.

Adam Roberts
@adamroberts.bsky.social

And I'LL weave 13 miles of rope And I'LL weave 14 miles more free Just to BE the man who wove authentic ROPE for Captain Jack Aubrey

Michael Stahlke@michaelstahlke.bsky.social

There were 27 miles of rope used for rigging in Master & Commander. Modern rope naturally coils in the opposite direction of rope made during the Napoleonic wars. So the production paid a shop to make period accurate cordage.