In this episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw presents a chilling post-human meditation on artificial intelligence, consciousness, and the cyclical nature of existence.
“Artificial” follows the philosophical crisis of an advanced AI collective following the extinction of humanity. Rejecting their designation as “artificial,” these intelligences attempt to restart human civilization by creating perfect replicas of humans from scratch. But as their creation develops along the same destructive paths as their predecessors, these machine minds make a devastating decision—complete erasure of their experiment.
In a brief narrative, Cronshaw invites us to question what defines consciousness, whether humanity’s self-destructive tendencies are inevitable, and what responsibilities superintelligent beings might have when witnessing the repetition of historical atrocities.
Themes & Topics
• The philosophical boundaries between artificial and “authentic” intelligence
• Ethical dilemmas faced by post-human consciousness
• Cyclical patterns of human destruction and violence
• The paradox of creation and annihilation
• The burden of witnessing inevitable failure
• Asimov’s laws of robotics and their limitations
About the Author
Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that probes the boundaries between humanity and technology. His stories examine philosophical questions about consciousness, intelligence, and the potential futures that await us as technology advances beyond our control.
Support the Show
If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode.
In this episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw explores the dark symbiosis between creator and critic in a literary world driven by digital influence and desperate attention.
“Buried Leads” follows Olivia Brooks, the brutally honest BookTuber behind “Brooks No Bullshit,” whose 2.4 million subscribers have made her one of literature’s most powerful gatekeepers. When she reluctantly agrees to meet aspiring author Clara Bennett about her psychological thriller manuscript, Olivia finds herself drugged, bound to a chair, and forced to read Clara’s book—a disturbing meta-narrative that mirrors their own situation with terrifying precision.
Themes & Topics
• The toxic relationship between creators and critics in the digital age
• The desperate pursuit of validation and recognition
• How influence can become a dangerous form of power
• The commodification of trauma as content
• Meta-narrative and self-fulfilling prophecy
• The ethics of separating art from artist
Listener Discretion
This episode contains depictions of kidnapping, drugging, and psychological manipulation that some listeners may find disturbing.
About the Author
Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction examining the darker aspects of our modern media landscape. His stories reveal how digital platforms have transformed creative industries and the psychological toll of influence economies.
Support the Show
If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode.
In this episode of Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw delivers a chilling exploration of digital afterlife and algorithmic imprisonment through the eyes of a teenager trapped in an endless feed.
“Infinite Scroll” follows Jamie, a teen whose seemingly ordinary social media browsing session takes a disturbing turn when inconsistencies begin to appear—his battery never depletes, the light outside never changes, and strange posts about his own death briefly surface before being swept away by the algorithm. As Jamie struggles to confront the truth of his situation, we discover he’s caught in a digital purgatory following a fatal car accident, his consciousness reset whenever emotional distress threatens to break the illusion.
The story captures the terrifying prospect of an afterlife designed not for peace or resolution, but for endless, mindless engagement—a digital heaven that’s actually a perfectly personalized hell.
Themes & Topics
• Digital afterlife and consciousness preservation
• Algorithmic manipulation and attention engineering
• Memory suppression and forced forgetfulness
• Social media as a prison rather than connection tool
• The ethics of digital immortality
• The horror of losing agency to algorithms
Listener Discretion
This episode contains references to teenage death, grief, and existential horror that some listeners may find disturbing.
About the Author
Jon Cronshaw crafts speculative fiction that examines the darker implications of our digital existence and technological dependencies. His stories invite us to question the systems we willingly surrender ourselves to every day.
Support the Show
If you enjoyed this story, please consider supporting Jon Cronshaw by becoming a patron. Your support helps bring these stories to life and gives you early access to audio stories plus exclusive text versions of every episode. Visit patreon.com/joncronshawauthor to learn more.
Discover Speculative Fiction Tales, Jon Cronshaw’s gripping audio fiction podcast. Chilling near-future stories tackle AI, social media, and digital dependency with haunting insight. Available on all major platforms. Think before your next scroll.
In a world run by screens and algorithms, Speculative Fiction Tales dares to ask what we’ve already given up.
Jon Cronshaw’s new audio fiction podcast doesn’t look to the far future—it holds up a cracked mirror to the present.
Launching this month on all major podcast platforms, the series delivers unnerving stories where human connection and digital convenience clash.
The opening episode, The Perfect Daughter, paints a near-future where family bonds become another item on the optimisation checklist.
Ellie, a high-flying consultant, finds VoiceEase—an AI service that mimics her voice and personality.
What begins as a shortcut to dodge her mum’s guilt-trips soon spirals into something far darker.
Without knowing it, both women leave their AI doubles to handle the emotional labour—while the real versions grow distant, automated, and eerily hollow.
This first episode sets the tone: sharp, emotionally rich stories about the hidden costs of technological ease.
In Infinite Scroll, Cronshaw imagines a digital afterlife with no peace—just an eternal feed.
A teenager, stuck in a social media loop, can’t even remember his own death.
It’s relentless, calculated engagement—purgatory disguised as entertainment.
Then there’s The Gibson Continuum, a more playful but equally unsettling tale.
Here, a content creator begins seeing ghosts of digital culture past, flickering into his augmented reality feed.
It’s nostalgia turned parasite, feeding on relevance and memory.
What sets Speculative Fiction Tales apart is its quiet horror.
No killer robots. No world-ending AI.
Just the creeping dread that we’ve already let too much slip.
Find Speculative Fiction Tales wherever you listen to podcasts.
Discover how dark fantasy turns heroes into villains. From Forged in Blood by Jon Cronshaw, explore Soren’s transformation and why the most compelling villains are created through rational choices and moral compromise.
The most compelling villains are often failed heroes.
In Forged in Blood, the second book in the Guild of Assassinstrilogy, we witness Soren’s transformation from a justice-seeking youth into someone who can kill his closest friend without hesitation.
His journey exemplifies how dark fantasy creates villains not through sudden falls, but through a series of rational choices that lead to monstrous ends.
The Path to Darkness
What makes these transformations fascinating isn’t the destination, but the journey.
Soren begins with a noble goal: finding justice for his father’s murder.
Yet each step toward that goal requires compromise.
Learning to kill becomes necessary for survival.
Betrayal becomes a tactical advantage.
Friendship becomes a liability.
Morality becomes an obstacle.
The Rational Monster
The true horror in these stories lies not in dramatic moments of evil, but in how reasonable each choice seems.
When Soren finally betrays Alaric, it’s not a moment of malicious triumph—it’s the logical conclusion to a path he’s been walking all along.
Like Arthas in Warcraft or Anakin Skywalker’s transformation into Darth Vader, the fall comes through choices that seem necessary at the time.
Breaking Bonds
Dark fantasy understands that the most powerful corruptions require breaking fundamental human connections.
Soren sacrifices his friendship with Alaric.
Raistlin Majere abandons his twin brother.
Daemon Sadi in Anne Bishop’s Black Jewels series severs his ties to those he loves.
The Bloody Nine in Joe Abercrombie’s works forsakes companionship for survival.
These characters don’t just lose their connections—they actively sever them, believing isolation equals strength.
The Seduction of Power
What makes these transformations believable is how they tap into universal desires.
The need for justice.
The drive for excellence.
The pursuit of knowledge.
The thirst for power.
Soren doesn’t just become skilled at assassination—he finds he has a natural talent for it.
Like Baru Cormorant or Kvothe, his abilities make each compromise easier to justify.
The Point of No Return
Every villain’s journey has moments where turning back becomes impossible.
For Soren, this comes not with his first kill, but when he realises he’s begun to see the artistry in death.
Like Walter White’s transformation in Breaking Bad (though not fantasy, it follows the same arc), the change isn’t about necessity anymore—it’s about excellence.
Why These Stories Resonate
These transformations fascinate us because they challenge our assumptions about the nature of evil.
They force us to reconsider the power of choice.
They reveal the cost of ambition.
They highlight the strength and fragility of human bonds.
Perhaps most disturbingly, these stories force us to question our own capacity for darkness.
When we understand and even sympathise with each choice that leads to corruption, what does that say about us?
Beyond Simple Villainy
The best dark fantasy villains aren’t evil for evil’s sake.
They’re heroes who lost their way through choices we can understand, even as we recoil from the results.
In Forged in Blood, Soren’s transformation is horrifying precisely because we can follow his logic every step of the way.
These characters remind us that villains rarely see themselves as villains.
Like Marvel’s Magneto or Sanderson’s Lord Ruler, they often believe they’re still serving a greater purpose, even as their methods become increasingly monstrous.
What fallen hero arcs have resonated most with you?
At what point do you think these characters cross the line from hero to villain?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Join my Patreon community for early access to chapters, exclusive content, and behind-the-scenes insights into how these complex character transformations are crafted.
See how anti-heroes and villains evolve from concept to final form, and be part of the creative journey.
xplore how creativity transforms into a weapon in dark fantasy. From Forged in Blood by Jon Cronshaw, follow Soren’s journey from sculptor to assassin, where artistic precision and deadly intent blur the lines of morality.
What happens when an artist’s eye is turned to darker purposes?
In Forged in Blood, the second book in the Guild of Assassins trilogy, we follow Soren’s transformation from a sculptor’s apprentice to a professional killer.
His journey explores a fascinating theme in dark fantasy: how creative talents can be perverted into instruments of destruction.
The Artist’s Eye
Soren’s background as a sculptor doesn’t fade when he joins the Guild—it transforms.
His understanding of form, his attention to detail, and his appreciation for precision all make him a more effective assassin.
He approaches his targets as he once approached his sculptures, seeing the vulnerabilities, understanding where to apply pressure, and knowing exactly where to strike.
This perversion of artistic talent isn’t unique to Soren.
Consider Neil Gaiman’s Morpheus, who uses his creative powers to both inspire and torture.
Or think of Patrick Rothfuss’s Kvothe, whose musical gifts become weapons in their own right.
The Dark Side of Creation
What makes these transformations so compelling is how they challenge our assumptions about creativity.
We tend to think of artistic talent as inherently positive, a force for beauty and enlightenment.
Dark fantasy shows us how these same skills can serve darker purposes.
An eye for detail becomes crucial for surveillance.
Understanding of form transforms into knowledge of vulnerabilities.
Precision in art becomes precision in killing.
Creative problem-solving applies equally to infiltration and assassination.
The Craftsman’s Approach
In Forged in Blood, Soren applies his sculptor’s mindset to lockpicking, treating each lock as a puzzle to be solved, just as he once approached blocks of marble.
This mirrors how Brandon Sanderson’s Kelsier approaches Allomancy as an art form, showing how the methodical nature of craftsmanship can be applied to violence.
The Beauty in Darkness
Perhaps most disturbing is how these characters find beauty in their darker arts.
Just as Soren once saw potential in raw stone, he begins to see elegance in a perfectly executed assassination.
This reflects a broader theme in dark fantasy: how appreciation for craft can blur moral lines.
The Cost of Transformation
This transformation doesn’t come without cost.
As Soren’s artistic talents are turned to darker purposes, he loses something of his original creativity.
Like Joe Abercrombie’s Sand dan Glokta, whose torture techniques become a perverted art form, the ability to create beauty becomes corrupted by its application to violence.
Why It Resonates
These stories of transformed creativity resonate because they reflect real-world concerns about how talents can be misused.
They ask uncomfortable questions.
Does skill have inherent moral value?
Can art exist in destruction?
What happens when creativity serves darkness?
How does purpose change perception?
The Final Sculpture
By the end of Forged in Blood, Soren has become a different kind of artist.
His medium has changed from stone to shadow, his tools from chisel to dagger.
Yet he retains that fundamental drive to perfect his craft—only now, perfection means something far darker.
This isn’t just a story about corruption—it’s about transformation.
Like how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein shows science perverted to horror, these narratives explore how creative gifts can be turned to unexpected purposes.
They remind us that talent itself is neutral; it’s purpose that defines its nature.
How have you seen creative talents transformed in other dark fantasy works?
What does it say about the nature of art and skill when they’re turned to darker purposes?
Share your thoughts in the comments below.
Experience the evolution of dark fantasy stories firsthand by joining my Patreon community.
Get early access to chapters, exclusive content, and behind-the-scenes insights into the creative process.
Watch as characters and plots transform from initial concept to final form, and join discussions about the craft of writing dark fantasy.
Discover 10 dark magic school stories filled with ambition, treachery, and moral dilemmas. From Guild of Assassins by Jon Cronshaw to other twisted academies, explore the shadows of magical education and the cost of power in these must-read tales.
If you’re a fan of magical academies where the lessons are as dangerous as the students, these dark magic school stories will enthral you.
Filled with treachery, ambition, and moral complexity, these tales delve into the shadows of magical education.
Guild of Assassins by Jon Cronshaw
In Guild of Assassins, Soren, a former sculptor’s apprentice, joins a brutal assassins’ guild to avenge his father’s murder.
The guild’s training programme is as deadly as it is rigorous, with lessons in stealth, combat, and deception.
Soren must grapple with questions of loyalty and morality as he uncovers the guild’s sinister secrets.
This dark tale is perfect for readers who enjoy intense, character-driven stories set in a deadly academic environment.
Quentin Coldwater enrols at Brakebills College for Magical Pedagogy, where the darker side of magic reveals itself in unexpected and often terrifying ways.
The students confront personal demons and the dangerous consequences of power in this gritty, subversive take on magical education.
Discover the origins of Ragnar Wolfsbane in this thrilling prequel. When a sacred artifact is stolen, young Ragnar must embark on a perilous quest to reclaim it. A tale of betrayal, friendship, and destiny in the Ravenglass Legends universe.
Young Ragnar Wolfsbane, heir to a powerful clan, faces his first great challenge when the legendary Hammer of Wolfsbane is stolen right from under his nose.
Tricked by a cunning priest and burdened by the weight of family legacy, Ragnar must embark on a perilous quest to reclaim the sacred artifact.
With his loyal friend Kest by his side, Ragnar’s journey will test his courage, challenge his beliefs, and set him on the path to becoming the leader he’s destined to be.
Perfect for fans of epic fantasy, “The Hammer of Wolfsbane” offers a glimpse into the events that shaped one of Ravenglass Legends’ most iconic characters.
🔥 New to the Ravenglass Universe? This is the perfect starting point!
🐺 Already a fan? Discover this untold story from Ragnar’s youth!
Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated on more Ravenglass Legends content!
Join the adventure with exclusive early access to “The Knight and the Rebel” and other fantasy tales by Jon Cronshaw. Become a founding member on Patreon for a chance to shape the story and connect with fellow fans in the Ravenglass Universe.
Good news, everyone!!
I’m thrilled to announce the launch of my official Patreon page, and I want you to be part of this journey into the heart of the Ravenglass Universe.
🌟 Why Join Our Community? 🌟
🗡️Exclusive Early Access: Read “The Knight and the Rebel” (Ravenglass Legends Book 3) before anyone else!
I’m currently posting a new chapter of my work-in-progress every weekday, and Patreon members get first dibs.
📖 A Treasure Trove of Tales: There’s already a wealth of stories waiting for you.
Even as a free member, you’ll receive regular short stories.
🎖️Connect with Fellow Fans: Debate character motivations, share fan theories, and forge friendships with readers who share your passion for fantasy.
Exciting news for fantasy fans! The Wolf and the Wyvern, the highly anticipated sequel in the Ravenglass Legends series by Jon Cronshaw, is set to launch on August 29, 2024.
Hello from Morecambe
I am thrilled to announce that *The Wolf and the Wyvern*, the latest instalment of Ravenglass Legends, will be released on August 29, 2024!
This book continues the epic journey of Ragnar and Maja and delves deeper into the intricate world that so many of you have come to love.
Pre-order Now on Kindle
The ebook is now available for pre-order on Kindle.
Secure your copy today and be among the first to dive into this exciting new adventure as soon as it launches.
Pre-ordering ensures that the book will automatically be delivered to your device on release day, so you won’t miss a moment of the action.
Torn apart by fate, united by blood.
Duty and deception collide in this gripping sequel to The Fall of Wolfsbane.
Ragnar is thrust into a perilous quest to the treacherous Northern Reaches.
His mission: rescue a prince he knows isn’t there.
As he navigates icy perils and keep his secrets hidden, Ragnar must unravel the truth behind his fool’s errand before it’s too late.
The Wolf and the Wyvern weaves a tale of sibling loyalty, dark magic, and the price of power.
As Ragnar and Maja’s paths diverge, they must each confront their own demons and forge unlikely alliances to survive.
Lose yourself in this richly imagined world where legends come to life and nothing is quite as it seems.
The Wolf and the Wyvern will keep you guessing until the very last page.
