John Wiswell

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John Wiswell

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
Website

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Member Since
June 2007


John Wiswell is a disabled author who lives where New York keeps all its trees. He won the Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Debut Novel for Someone You Can Build A Nest In, and the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for Open House on Haunted Hill, and the Locus Award for Best Novelette for That Story Isn't The Story. His fiction has been translated into over fifteen languages. ...more

Terry Pratchett

I'm so grateful that Terry Pratchett spent so many years creating incomparable fiction for us. Fantasy would not be the same without him.
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Published on March 12, 2015 12:27
Average rating: 3.86 · 28,166 ratings · 6,400 reviews · 70 distinct worksSimilar authors
Someone You Can Build a Nes...

3.86 avg rating — 23,730 ratings — published 2024 — 25 editions
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Wearing the Lion

3.64 avg rating — 1,375 ratings — published 2025 — 9 editions
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Open House on Haunted Hill

4.15 avg rating — 753 ratings — published 2020 — 2 editions
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D.I.Y

3.83 avg rating — 320 ratings — published 2022
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The Three O’Clock Dragon

3.68 avg rating — 202 ratings — published 2023
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I'll Miss Myself

3.75 avg rating — 179 ratings — published 2024
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The Dragon Has Some Complaints

3.98 avg rating — 101 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 6 editions
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Phantom View

3.75 avg rating — 64 ratings — published 2025 — 2 editions
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Questa storia non è la storia

3.88 avg rating — 32 ratings — published 2021 — 2 editions
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Reactor Magazine Short Fict...

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The Iron Garden S...
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Startup Hell
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John’s Recent Updates

The Night Prince by Lauren Palphreyman
"✩ 5 stars ✩

What to Expect:
➼ Morally Gray MMC
➼ Touch Her & Die
➼ Character Development & Backstory
➼ Fated Mates
➼ Enemies-to-Lovers
➼ Love Triangle
➼ Hidden Identity
➼ Mind Link
➼ Shifter Romance
➼ Duet Narration by Zara Hampton-Brown, Shane East, & Sean " Read more of this review »
John Wiswell and 3 other people liked Jess's review of The Mountain in the Sea:
The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler
"3.5 -- I liked this quite a bit as an ideas book, and for the most part enjoyed reading it, but having just read Nayler's most recent novel, Palaces of the Crow, it's just so evident how much he has honed and developed his craft since this debut nove" Read more of this review »
John Wiswell rated a book it was amazing
A Dubious Clamor by Marissa Lingen
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Only Marissa Lingen would write a story about a magic sword that's pissed off at questionable legislation. Thank God we have her.

I adored this book. I adored its worldly, stuffy, and sincere narrative sensibilities. I adored its characters digging in
...more
John Wiswell and 4 other people liked Stephanie's review of A Dubious Clamor:
A Dubious Clamor by Marissa Lingen
"This is the blurb I sent:
“A Dubious Clamor is a witty and nourishing delight, full of music and harpies and Scandinavian folklore and a passionate defence of the values of inclusion and mental flexibility.”

In its alt historical London setting, it als" Read more of this review »
Honey in Her Veins by Ruth McKell
"This one sounds so interesting! Such pretty cover art too! Thank you to the author and the publishing team for gifting me with a finished copy. ❤️"
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The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D. Sui
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Tea & Treachery at the Infinite Pantry by Jo  Miles
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Platform Decay by Martha Wells
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Quotes by John Wiswell  (?)
Quotes are added by the Goodreads community and are not verified by Goodreads. (Learn more)

“No young woman of means has gone through her entire life without at least once surveying her opportunities and wishing for a dragon instead.”
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In

“[...]for hatred was the fear people let themselves enjoy.”
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In

“All Shesheshen could do for Homily was be patient with her, and make space for her, and eventually, one day behind her back, eat her mother.”
John Wiswell, Someone You Can Build a Nest In

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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Horror Aficionados : Pseudopod for your short horror fiction needs! 138 290 Jul 15, 2019 10:53AM  
Horror Aficionados : Pseudopod 508 1105 Jul 15, 2019 10:58AM  
Reading with Style: This topic has been closed to new comments. SU 21 Completed Tasks 853 75 Aug 31, 2021 09:01PM  
Sci-fi and Heroic...: What have you been Reading this October? 57 65 Nov 01, 2021 09:49AM  
Play Book Tag: 2022 Hugo Awards 16 29 Sep 10, 2022 07:34PM  
SciFi and Fantasy...: D.I.Y by John Wiswell - March Short Story 17 47 Apr 01, 2023 07:10AM  
“A friend came to visit James Joyce one day and found the great man sprawled across his writing desk in a posture of utter despair.

James, what’s wrong?' the friend asked. 'Is it the work?'

Joyce indicated assent without even raising his head to look at his friend. Of course it was the work; isn’t it always?

How many words did you get today?' the friend pursued.

Joyce (still in despair, still sprawled facedown on his desk): 'Seven.'

Seven? But James… that’s good, at least for you.'

Yes,' Joyce said, finally looking up. 'I suppose it is… but I don’t know what order they go in!”
Stephen King

“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
Niels Bohr

“A fanatic is a man who, when he's lost sight of his purpose, redoubles his effort.”
Poul Anderson, Harvest of Stars

“The secret of life is honesty and fair dealing. If you can fake that, you've got it made.”
Groucho Marx

“[O]ne of the mixed blessings of being twenty and twenty-one and even twenty-three is the conviction that nothing like this, all evidence to the contrary notwithstanding, has ever happened before.”
Joan Didion, Slouching Towards Bethlehem

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Comments (showing 1-8)    post a comment »
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message 8: by John

John Wiswell Ella wrote: "John wrote: "Ella wrote: "Thanks for the friend request, John! Have you read any Dunsany?"

Pleased to meet you, Ella! I only started reading him in 2013, when I was challenged to ape his style. I ..."


As someone just starting to get publications under my belt, I completely sympathize with his fear. He was unique in ways that would probably get a lot of any marketplace to shut him out. Many of our greats were like that!


message 7: by Lena (last edited Jan 27, 2015 08:32PM)

Lena John wrote: "Ella wrote: "Thanks for the friend request, John! Have you read any Dunsany?"

Pleased to meet you, Ella! I only started reading him in 2013, when I was challenged to ape his style. I failed terrib..."


So true! Though apparently his unusual prose style caused him worry - he wrote once,

"For years no style seemed to me natural but that of the Bible and I feared that I never would become a writer when I saw that other people did not use it."


message 6: by John

John Wiswell Ella wrote: "Thanks for the friend request, John! Have you read any Dunsany?"

Pleased to meet you, Ella! I only started reading him in 2013, when I was challenged to ape his style. I failed terribly, though I wrote a preposterous thing in result. He's one of Fantasy's truly unique authors.


message 5: by Lena

Lena Thanks for the friend request, John! Have you read any Dunsany?


message 4: by John

John Wiswell Ken wrote: "Hi John. Good evening, I hope the weekend is well. Thanks for accepting me on your friends list. I look forward to doing some back reading on your many book reviews and come across some gems that I..."

Happy to meet you, Ken. Thanks for the earnest explanation of why you wanted to be friends in the invitation. It's rare someone explains like that. I ought to be reading more non-superhero comics this summer - Demo looks particularly appealing.


message 3: by John

John Wiswell Joe wrote: "Hi john, Thanks for accepting, What is the one book you would recommend to me?

Joe."


We do seem to have fairly similar tastes, looking at our two book feeds. You're reading one of my all-time favorite novels right now. Comparing the lists, I'd next recommend Huxley's Brave New World. It's a wild vision of the future pregnant with social commentary.


Joseph Hi john, Thanks for accepting, What is the one book you would recommend to me?

Joe.


SHAKIRA CHOONG My dear friend,
How have you been?
I would be very honoured if you could be so kind as to read my story and see it you like it?
http://www.goodreads.com/story/show/5...

hugs,
shakira
http://justmeshakirack.blogspot.com


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