Book Series Guide
John Wiswell

Author guide

John Wiswell Books in Order

John Wiswell is an American science fiction and fantasy author. His debut novel, Someone You Can Build a Nest In, was published by DAW Books in 2024. His short fiction has appeared in Uncanny Magazine, Tor.com, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Nature Futures, Diabolical Plots, and other venues. He won 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. He lives in New York and writes fiction marked by dark humor, tenderness, disability representation, and unconventional monsters.

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Catalog record updated .

John Wiswell's Newest Book

Cover of The Dragon Has Some Complaints

The Dragon Has Some Complaints

novel · First published 2026

Garrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in Kardoša. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity, Bottomhead is like a feral cat, and Upperhead is under the delicate delusion that he is, in fact, human. When a nearby battle goes awry, Garrodigh sneaks into an elite dragon rider academy, pretending to be tame to get free food and a warm bed. Lucky for him, rider Rania Albright is desperate enough for a dragon of her own that she overlooks his eccentricities. As Garrodigh recovers under Rania’s care, all three heads start to turn, for the first time, in the same direction. Each wants to protect her from the invaders who killed their fourth head—the same invaders who seek to conquer Kardoša. When the academy comes under attack, can this wild dragon and his wilder rider save their homeland together? This cozy fantasy intertwines epic battles with loving friendships, sharing an utterly unique perspective on what it means to be a ‘monster.’

Not sure where to begin?

Start with one of these

Cover of Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Someone You Can Build a Nest In

Wiswell's acclaimed debut novel and the clearest introduction to his distinctive blend of fantasy, horror, romance, humor, and empathy.

Outside the series

Bibliography by category

Novels (7)
  1. D.I.Y.

    novella · 2022

  2. The Three O'Clock Dragon

    novella · 2023

  3. Someone You Can Build a Nest In

    novel · 2024

    Discover this creepy, charming monster-slaying fantasy romance—from the perspective of the monster—by Nebula Award-winning debut author John Wiswell Shesheshen has made a mistake fatal to all monsters: she’s fallen in love. Shesheshen is…

  4. I'll Miss Myself

    novella · 2024

    A man using a social media app that reaches across dimensions to talk to himself in different timelines, discovers some of his problems are universal...and some are not... At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without…

  5. Wearing the Lion

    novel · 2025

    Sometimes a goddess's worst enemy is her biggest fan. Heracles, hero of Greece, dedicates all his feats to the goddess Hera. If only he knew that his very face is an insult to her...as he is yet another child that Hera’s dipshit husband,…

  6. Phantom View

    novella · 2025

  7. The Dragon Has Some Complaints

    novel · 2026

    Garrodigh was once a four-headed dragon, among the most powerful in Kardoša. After an unfortunate incident, he now has three heads, one stump, and a daily whirlwind of internal bickering. Centerhead wants to rain death upon all humanity,…

Frequently asked questions about John Wiswell

Who is John Wiswell, and what is he known for?

John Wiswell is a science fiction, fantasy, and horror author whose work combines dark humor, monsters, and empathy for outsiders and nonhuman characters. He writes both short fiction and novels.

Sources: johnwiswell.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)penguinrandomhouse.com (opens in a new tab)

How do John Wiswell’s identity and disability experiences shape his writing?

Wiswell has described himself as asexual, disabled, and not neurotypical. He says experiences of dehumanization and disability have made it easier for him to sympathize with characters and beings that society treats as nonhuman or lacking in value.

Sources: smallwondersmag.com (opens in a new tab)almostanauthor.com (opens in a new tab)

What inspired John Wiswell to write about monsters and outsiders?

Wiswell has said he has always related to villains and monstrous figures, especially those whom cultures wrongly label dangerous. He has cited Martha Wells’s Murderbot and Tamsyn Muir’s Gideon the Ninth as influences on his use of nonhuman perspectives and distinctive character voices.

Source: fantasy-hive.co.uk (opens in a new tab)

What awards has John Wiswell won?

He won the Nebula Award for Best Short Story for “Open House on Haunted Hill,” the Locus Award for Best Novelette for “That Story Isn’t the Story,” and the Nebula Award for Best Novel for Someone You Can Build a Nest In.

Sources: nebulas.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)johnwiswell.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)

Where did John Wiswell study, and where does he live?

Wiswell graduated from Bennington College in 2005. He lives in a wooded part of New York.

Sources: johnwiswell.blogspot.com (opens in a new tab)events.sfwa.org (opens in a new tab)