John Wiswell

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John Wiswell

Goodreads Author


Born
in The United States
Website

Genre

Member Since
June 2007


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: 3.88 · 23,955 ratings · 5,524 reviews · 68 distinct worksSimilar authors
Someone You Can Build a Nes...

3.88 avg rating — 20,121 ratings — published 2024 — 23 editions
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Wearing the Lion

3.71 avg rating — 1,006 ratings — published 2025 — 9 editions
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Open House on Haunted Hill

4.15 avg rating — 745 ratings — published 2020 — 2 editions
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D.I.Y

3.82 avg rating — 314 ratings — published 2022
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The Three O’Clock Dragon

3.67 avg rating — 190 ratings — published 2023
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I'll Miss Myself

3.74 avg rating — 157 ratings — published 2024
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Phantom View

3.73 avg rating — 41 ratings — published 2025 — 2 editions
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Questa storia non è la storia

3.90 avg rating — 31 ratings — published 2021
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Reactor Magazine Short Fict...

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3.17 avg rating — 6 ratings
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The Dragon Has Some Complaints

4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings — expected publication 2026 — 2 editions
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When We Were Real
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Foundling Fathers
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John’s Recent Updates

The Night Before Christmas by Clement Clarke Moore
"The book captures the anticipation and wonder of Christmas Eve in a single magical night. The narrative follows a family sleeping peacefully as mysterious sounds draw the narrator to the window, where a miraculous scene unfolds with Saint Nicholas ar" Read more of this review »
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A Philosophy of Thieves by Fran Wilde
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The Iron Garden Sutra by A.D.  Sui
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When We Were Real by Daryl Gregory
When We Were Real
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Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills
"The art of short story writing is to make the reader feel as connected to the character, place, and plot as if they were reading a novel length story. Samantha Mills exceeds expectations in this area, and I will be on the lookout for everything and a" Read more of this review »
Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills
"A really strong collection of short stories blending fantasy and science fiction, sometimes inside the same story. Most of them revolve around themes of family and bodily autonomy. The writing is easy to follow even if she likes to jump around time a" Read more of this review »
Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills
"Strong women, revolting against their fate.
Magic and witchcraft.
SF and fantasy, sometimes woven together in the same story.
Circular time, blurred timelines.
Characters getting lost at sea to find themselves.

Samantha Mills knows how to pack a punc" Read more of this review »
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Rabbit Test and Other Stories by Samantha Mills
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The Lion in Winter by James Goldman
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Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
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What an unexpected delight! A spaceship's central computer is charged with taking care of all the humans on board, but finds someone is killing them off. They're drained of blood. None of the ship's sensors can find this killer. Gradually, the ship c ...more
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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

“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

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

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3rd Quarter 2025 - Fantasy #3

 
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“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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