Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 6, 2023

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the best SFF books, films and TV-shows of 2022, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Star Wars in general, Star Trek in general, the new Willow, The Witcher: Blood Origins, Mayfair Witches, M3GAN, Netflix cancelling 1899 and Netflix's cancellation spree in general, the chaotic future of the DC Cinematic Universe and the chaos at Warner Bros and HBO Max in general, Avatar: The Way of Water, tributes to Suzy McKee Charnas and Fay Weldon, Fritz Leiber revisited, Jeremy Renner's snow-ploughing mishap and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cheryl Eddy shars 41 science fiction, fantasy and horror books coming out in January. 
• Nicholas Whyte reveals what we can expect in 2023 according to science fiction. 
• Charles Bramesco also takes a look at what 2023 will look like according to science fiction. 
• Brandon Ying Kit Boey explains why apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction are prennially popular.
  
• Ratika Deshpande shares six SFF works to brighten gloomy days. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares a semi-scientific study of science fiction and fantasy governments.
  
• A.K. Larkwood shares seven adventure fantasy books. 
• Cole Rush shares five SFF works that draw on Greek mythology. 
  
• Fletcher Wortmann talks about dinosaurs and cosmic horror.  
• Bobby Derie chronicles the correspondence between Bernice Nette Barlow, mother of R.H. Barlow, and H.P. Lovecraft.
  
• Molly Templeton explains why you should touch all your books.
  
• Steve Holland shares an obituary for Greg Bear.
• io9 remembers the science fiction, fantasy and horror creators we lost in 2022.  

 

Best Books of 2022:

• Marlene Harris shares her favourite crime and SFF novels of 2022. 
  
• SFFWorld share their favourite SFF films and TV shows of 2022.
• The io9 reviewers shares their favourite SFF works of 2022. 
• The Strange Horizons reviewers share their favourite SFF works of 2022 in a two part post.
  

 

Tributes to Suzy McKee Charnas: 

• SFF and horror writer Suzy McKee Charnas has died aged 83.
• Michael Swanwick remembers Suzy McKee Charnas.
  

 

 Tributes to Fay Weldon:

• British novelist and screenwriter Fay Weldon has died aged 91.
• Claire Armitstead shares an obituary for Fay Weldon. 
• Jenny Colgan remembers Fay Weldon. 
• Alex Clark remembers Fay Weldon.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Patrick McDonnell explains how to read a comic strip. 
• John Picacio weighs in on the rise of AI-generated art. 
• Brian Murphy rails against AI-generated art.
  
• Cartoonist Sarah Andersen recounts how she first had her art stolen by Neonazis and then by AI art generators. 
• Adrian Collins reviews The Fade Out: The Complete Collection by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips.
• C.T. Phipps reviews Blade Runner Black Lotus #2 by Nancy Collins and Enid Balam.
• Rachel Cooke reviews Artist by Yeong-shin Ma.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews comic artist and editor Al Milgrom.
• Eli Benik explains how to prepare your art to post it online. 
• James Davis Nicoll points out five surprise cameos in SFF cover art.
  
• Sideshow remembers Stan Lee for his 100th birthday.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Jason Ray Carney shares his thoughts on Masters of the Universe: Revelation. 
• Jack Seale finds that Our Flag Means Death wastes the talents of some of the best comedians in the world. 
• Tyler Dean shares his thoughts on the series finale of His Dark Materials.
  
• David Gerrold finds that Wednesday depart too much from the established Addams Family canon.
• Arturo Serrano declares that Troll takes all the clichés of the kaiju genre and applies them to Norse mythology. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido calls Samaritan a perfectly cromulent superhero movie.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Wolf Manor a cheerfully silly werewolf horror film. 
• Phuong Le calls Piggy a darkly fun horror movie.
  
• Bonnie McDaniel shares her thoughts on season 1 of Severance. 
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1961 horror film The Curse of the Werewolf.
  
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1999 X-Files episode "Millennium".
  
• Lorna Wallace shares her appreciation for the animated TV show Gravity Falls for its tenth anniversary. 
  
• Steve Rose interviews S.S. Rajamouli, director of RRR. 
• Justin Carter notes that 2022 was the year that many media franchises fell off their pedestals. 
• Ted Gioia muses how Star Wars, the Marvel Universe and other media franchises he dislikes may finally fail and end. 
  
• Fashion designer Dame Vivienne Westwood has died aged 81.
• Make-up artist Christopher Tucker has died aged 81. 
  

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:  

• Carolyn Giardina interviews Autumn Durald Arkapaw, cinematographer of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
• Yang-Yi Goh interviews Dave Bautista, star of Guardians of the Galaxy, Dune and Glass Onion.
  
• Neil Barrett takes a biomedical look at the process that turned Jennifer Walters into She-Hulk.
• Chris Godfrey interviews Hugh Jackman, best known for playing Logan a.k.a. Wolverine.
  

 

Comments of Star Wars in general: 

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw praises the costume design of Andor. 
• James Hibberd interviews Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian and The Last of Us.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Jennifer Corbett and Brad Rau, producers of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
  
• Zack Sharf reports that Solo: A Star Wars Story will not be getting a sequel to nobody's surprise. 

 

Comments on Star Trek in general: 

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on the first season of Star Trek Prodigy.
  
• Galactic Journey revisits the 1967 Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles". 
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "The Expanse".
  

 

Comments on the new Willow: 

• Cindy White shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Willow.
• Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Willow. 
  
• Justin Carter explains how Val Kilmer was able to put in a cameo in Willow.
  

 

Comments on The Witcher: Blood Origins: 

• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on The Witcher: Blood Origins.
  
• Darren Mooney notes that the reason that The Witcher: Blood Origins feels rushed is because it was cut down from six to four episodes.
  

 

Comments on Mayfair Witches: 

• Linda Codega calls Mayfair Witches and unambitious and tragically unsexy adaptation of Anne Rice's trilogy. 
  
• Jenna Schere calls Mayfair Witches not exactly spellbinding.
  

 

Comments on M3GAN: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls M3GAN an entertaining horror film.
• Germain Lussier calls M3GAN more serious than expected, but still very fun.
  
• Brian Davids interviews James Wan and Jason Blum, director and producer of M3GAN. 
  

 

Comments on the cancellation of 1899 and Netflix's cancellation spree in general:

• J. Kim Murphy reports that the historical fantasy series 1899 has been cancelled after only one season. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that Netflix is being criticised for cancelling so many shows, including successful ones, after only a single season.  
• Jennifer Maas reports that The Sandman had a difficult journey to renewal as well, though the show was ultimately renewed.
  

 

Comments on the various DC Comics based movies and TV-shows and the chaos at Warner Bros and HBO Max in general: 

• Ellise Shafer reports that George R.R. Martin has said that the chaos at HBO Max also affects the various Game of Thrones spin-offs in development.
• James Whitbrook reports that actress Leslie Grace has shown a look at her Batgirl costume from the Batgirl movie that was cancelled by Warner Bros, even though it was already far into post-production. 
• The AV-Club reports that in spite of their increasingly erratic behaviour and multiple charges against them, Ezra Miller may still return to the DC Cinematic Universe as the Flash.
  

 

Comments on Jeremy Renner's snow-ploughing accident: 

• Sian Cain reports that actor Jeremy Renner, best known for playing Clint Barton a.k.a. Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been hospitalised following a serious accident while snow-ploughing. 
• Sian Cain shares more information about Jeremy Renner's snow-ploughing accident. 
• Sian Cain also shares Jeremy Renner's first statement after his accident. 
• The Guardian shares some video footage of Jeremy Renner in hospital.

 

Comments on Avatar: The Way of Water: 

• Chris M. Barkley shares his thoughts on Avatar: The Way of Water and finds that he is not the audience for the movie. 
• Steve Power shares his thoughts on Avatar: The Way of Water.
  
• Various Hollywood personalities interviews James Cameron, director of Avatar: The Way of Water.
  
• Ben Child notes that the relative financial success of Avatar: The Way of Water sadly means that they will make more of those movies.
  
• The BBC reports that Avatar: The Way of Water has raked in one billion US-dollar at the box office, but will need at least twice that to break even.
• Andrew Pulver reports that Avatar: The Way of Water has passed Top Gun: Maverick at the global box office, though the latter has grossed more in the US. 
  
• Mark Sweney reports that the success of Avatar: The Way of Water and Glass Onion proves that audience are willing to go to the cinema again, but wonders if it's too little too late.
  

 

Awards:

• The winner of the 2022 Darth Vader Parenthood Award for Outstandingly Horrible Fictional Parents has been announced.
• The winner of the 2022 Jonathan and Martha Kent Fictional Parent of the Year Award has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2021 Emeka Walter Dinjos Memorial Award For Disability In Speculative Fiction have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2022 Cybils Awards has been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2022 Golden Issue Award for Best Comic Book Movie has been announced. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• David Steffen explains how to read a short story contract.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about social media for authors.
  
• Mark Piesing claims that AI audiobook narration is inevitable.
  
• Brandon Sanderson criticises the business practices of Audible. 
• Ted Gioia explains how James Daunt turned Barnes & Noble around.
  
• Phoenix Tso and Mike Roe report that a new bookstore in Pasadena, California, will be named after Octavia E. Butler. 
• Elizabeth A. Harris and Alexandra Alter report that Filippo Bernadini has plead guilty to stealing several unpublished manuscripts.
  

Interviews:

• Arley Sorg interviews Ada Hoffman.
  
• Locus interviews Saad Z. Hossain.
• Oliver Brackenbury interviews Kim Stanley Robinson. 
• Arley Sorg interviews Paul McAuley. 
• Paul Weimer interviews M. Darusha Wehm.
  

Reviews:

• Lis Carey reviews The Spare Man by Mary Robinette Kowal.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Eyes of the Void by Adrian Tchaikovsky. 
• Russell Letson reviews Return to Glory by Jack McDevitt 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Beyond the Burn Line by Paul McAuley.
  
• Bonnie McDaniel reviews Even Though I Knew the End by C.L. Polk. 
• Fletcher Vredenburgh reviews Arminius: Bane of Eagles by Adrian Cole.
  
• Paul Weimer reviews Notorious Sorcerer by Davinia Evans. 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
• John Mauro reviews The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. 
• Adrienne Martini reviews Among Our Weapons by Ben Aaronovitch
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Heavenly Sword by Alice Poon.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Sword of Fire by Katherine Kerr.
  
• Bonnie McDaniel reviews Tread of Angels by Rebecca Roanhoarse. 
• Chris Haught reviews Death's Beating Heart by Rob J. Hayes. 
• John Mauro reviews No Heart for a Thief by James Lloyd Dulin.
  
• Alexandra Pierce reviews The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
• Ian Mond Reviews The Inconceivable Idea of the Sun by Anil Menon
  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Such a Beautiful Thing to Behold by Umar Turaki 
• Annamária Apró reviews Aphasia by Katalin Baráth.
  
• Alexandra Pierce reviews Phase Change: Imagining Energy Futures, edited by Matthew Chrulew
• Isiah Lavender III reviews Africa Risen: A New Era of Speculative Fiction edited by Sheree Renée Thomas, Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki and Zelda Knight
  
• Liam's Lyceum reviews issue 0 of New Edge Sword and Sorcery Magazine.
  

Classics reviews:

• Steve Goble revisits the 1939 sword and planet novel Almuric by Robert E. Howard.
• Alec Nevala-Lee revisits the 1939 cozy catastrophe novel The Hopkins Manuscript by R.C. Sheriff. 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1950 horror novel You're All Alone by Fritz Leiber. 
• Steven H. Silver reviews the 1951 science fiction story "The Devil Was Sick" by Bruce Elliott.   
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1959 science fiction horror novel The Monster from Earth's End by Murray Leinster.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1961 Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery story "Scylla's Daughter". 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the January 1968 issue of Analog. 
• David Levinson revisits the February 1968 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction. 
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1975 Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery story "Under the Thumbs of the Gods" by Fritz Leiber.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1977 Fafhrd and Gray Mouser sword and sorcery story "Rime Isle" by Fritz Leiber. 
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1977 horror novel The Wolfman by Carl Dreadstone a.k.a. Ramsey Campbell.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 military science fiction novel Space War Blues by Richard A. Lupoff.  
• James Malizewski revisits the February 1985 issue of White Dwarf.
  
• Joe Kenney revisits the 1990 horror novel Nightblood by T. Chris Martindale
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2013 fantasy novel Sister Mine by Nalo Hopkinson.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Mike Glyer shares the presentation the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China, gave at the 2022 SMOFCon in Montreal, Canada.
• Rich Lynch reports about a visit to the "Entertainment Nation" exhibition at the National Museum of American History in Washington DC.
• Dalya Alberge reports that many castles, museums and theatres in the UK are forced to close because of rising energy prices.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Ghoulish Books is looking for funding for their 2023 line-up of horror titles. 
  
• Gilead is looking for funding for his illustrated fantasy collection Tales from Bosky Creek.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Edward Helmore reports that NASA sees itself in a space race with China.
  
• Nell Greenfieldboyce explains how zircon can offer a look into the Earth's past.
• Ben Crair profiles Swedish paleobotanist Else Marie Friis who discovered fossil evidence of the world's first blooming wildflowers. 
• Kiona Smith reports that a book-eating fungus is exciting xenobiologists.
  
• Jaweed Kaleem profiles the Embracer Group, a Swedish company that is buying up videogame companies left, right and center. 
• NASA astronaut Walter Cunningham has died aged 90.
  

Free online fiction: 

• "A Man Walks Into a Bar: In Which More Than Four Decades After My Father’s Reluctant Night of Darts on West 54th Street I Finally Understand What Needs to Be Done" by Scott Edelman in Lightspeed.
• "The Last Serving" by Lincoln Michel in Lightspeed.
  
• "Collaboration?" by Ken Liu and Caroline M. Yoachim in Uncanny Magazine. 
• "What Is Owed and What Can Never Be" by Ariel Marken Jack in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "Different Drummer" by Lindsey Duncan in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.  
• "The Tongue Remembers What the City Forgets" by R.K. Duncan in Strange Horizons. 
• "L’Homme de Houbigant" by Jonathan Louis Duckworth and Joe Koch in The Deadlands.
  
• “A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen” by Margrét Helgadóttir in Slate Future Tense.
• "Monsters" by L.D. Colter in Fantasy Magazine.
  
• "Sweat, Rice" by Shari Paul in The Dark.
  
• "This Sweet and Bitter Fruit or, Ladon’s Lament" by Meaghan Klinker in Luna Station Quarterly.
• "Learning to Accept What's To Come" by Scott Edelman in Apex Magazine. 
• "To Cheer as They Leave You Behind" by James L. Sutter in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Into the Hyacinths" by Mandisi Nkomo in Omenana. 
• "The Fortunate Isles" by Gregory Feeley in Clarkesworld.
  
• "Symbiosis" by D.A. Xiaolin Spires in Clarkesworld.
  
• “End of the Year PR Missives From Scrooge & Marley” by John Scalzi in Whatever.
• "Rocket Girls" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
• "The Frozen Citadel" by Cora Buhlert
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Foundation.
  
• Watch a trailer for Evil Dead Rise. 
• Watch a trailer for Jung_E.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Ark. 
• Watch a trailer for Renfield.
  
• Watch a trailer for Poker Face.
  
• Watch a trailer for Koala Man.