
It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Return of the Jedi at forty and Star Wars in general, Star Trek in general, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Poker Face, the end of the so-called Arrowverse, The Boogeyman, Yellowjackets, the new Little Mermaid, the WGA strike, the debate about AI writing and art and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Amal El-Mohtar shares new science fiction and fantasy novels.
- R.W.W. Greene shares five SFF road trip stories to fuel your wanderlust.
- Christopher Rowe attempts to define sword and sorcery.
- Scott Oden discusses the intersection of historical fiction and sword and sorcery.
- Jelena Dunato asks what slavic fantasy even means.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction novels set in future versions of San Francisco.
- Lee Mandelo shares four weird and sexy queer books for Pride month.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five works that are not SFF but feel as if they could be.
- Alex Brown lists six favourite SFF authors writing in new and unexpected genres.
- Shehan Karunatilaka explains how Choose Your Own Adventure books taught him to write and helped him win the Booker Prize.
- Randee Dawn lists five SFF authors who also had careers as screenwriters.
- Joel Cuthbertson profiles Connie Willis.
- Jeff Goad profiles Gardner Fox.
- Steve Bean shares his appreciation for the Chronicles of Amber by Roger Zelazny.
- Michael Curtis shares his appreciation for the Silver John stories by Manly Wade Wellman.
- Christopher Rowe shares his appreciation for The Rogue sword and sorcery stories by Jason Ray Carney.
- Judith Tarr shares her appreciation for the Royal Dragons of Alaska paranormal romance series by Elva Birch.
- James Whitbrook declares that Amazing Spider-Man No. 26 does Ms. Marvel dirty.
- Gary Farber shares his appreciation for fan artist and Disney imagineer Jim Shull.
- Locus interviews fantasy artist Ed Binkley.
- The Cromcast interviews Jim Zub, writer of the new Conan comic.
- Tom Gauld shares a cartoon on how strikes are affecting the book world.
- Germain Lussier lists the best science fiction, fantasy and horror to stream in June 2023.
- Ann Michelle Harris calls Suzume a universal coming of age story that resonates across cultures.
- Camestros Felapton talks about the strange eschatology of Knock at the Cabin.
- Chris Garcia calls Fudgie Freddie truly brilliant and more than a little terrifying.
- Leslie Felperin calls Breaking Infinity a low budget time travel mystery.
- Cath Clarke calls Old Man and inauthentic and flat psychological horror movie.
- Phil Hoad calls The Old Man Movie: Lactopalypse! a brilliantly weird Estonian stop-motion film.
- Jack Seale calls The Days a diappointingly insight-free drama about the 2011 Fukushima disaster that cannot hold a candle to Chernobyl.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Silo.
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Robert Englund, who played Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street movies and Willie in V.
- Marc Malkin interviews Ismael Cruz Córdova, who plays Arondir in The Rings of Power.
- Germain Lussier interviews Andy Muschietti, director of The Flash.
- Jason Sacks revisits the 1968 spy movie Danger Diabolik.
- Maureen Ryan reports about the toxic culture behind the scenes of the 2004 TV show Lost.
- Cassidy Ward explains why King Kong is the only one of his kind living on Skull Island.
- Lorna Wallace shares eight SFF movies featuring giant insects or spiders.
- Writers of the Guardian share their favourite Stephen King movie adaptations.
- Karen Gillan, who plays Nebula, offers a look behind the scenes of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.
- Justin Carter shares the full list of shows removed from Disney Plus and Hulu.
- Actor and stunman Gary Kent has died aged 89.
- Actor George Maharis, best known for his roles in Route 66, Naked City, Fantasy Island, Night Gallery, The Bionic Woman and many others, has died aged 94.
- Lloyd Farley declares that Return of the Jedi is the best film of the original Star Wars trilogy.
- James Whitbrook shares forty things that are great about Return of the Jedi.
- Vincent Acovino reports how NPR had to apologise for accidentally spoiling Return of the Jedi upon its premiere forty years ago.
- Brady Langmann interviews Mark Hamill who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars.
- Anthony d'Alessandro interviews Deborah Chow, director of Obi-Wan Kenobi.
- Jazz Tangcay takes a look at the costume designs for Andor.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse a crazily frantic sequel with full-spin energy
- Brad Buckalew calls Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse an ambitious sequel.
- Germain Lussier calls Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse a wonder.
- William Hughes declares that the 2018 movie Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse is still the best Spider-Man movie of all time.
- Joel Golby calls Poker Face a perfect detective show that turns up the fun-o-meter until it explodes
- Lucy Mangan calls Poker Face a superfun detective show and praises the performance of Natasha Lyonne.
- Rebecca Nicholson declares that the female private investigator shows Poker Face and High Desert are the most wildly entertaining TV shows of 2023.
- Sam Barsanti bids goodbye to the so-called Arrowverse, the most ambitious experiment in superhero television.
- Sydney Bucksbaum interviews Eric Wallace, showrunner of The Flash, the last remaining Arrowverse show.
- Justin Carter takes a look at comic stories The Flash wanted to adapt, had the show continued.
- Leila Latif declares that Yellowjackets has taken survival horror to new heights.
- Hattie Lindert shares her thoughts on the season 2 finale of Yellowjackets.
- Brian Qualey shares his thoughts on the season 2 finale of Yellowjackets.
- Meredith Hobbs Coons shares her favourite 1990s songs used on the soundtrack of Yellowjackets.
- io9 interviews Rob Marshall, director of the new Little Mermaid.
- Brent Lang reports that the new Little Mermaid has grossed 118 million US-dollar over its opening weekend.
- Kyle Barr reports that the new Little Mermaid suffers from review bombing campaigns.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also reports about the review bombing campaign against the new Little Mermaid and wonders what IMDB or Rotten Tomatoes ratings say at all, since both are heavilöy biased.
- Mari Ness revisits the original fairy tale "The Little Mermaid" by Hans Christian Andersen.
- Nellie Andreeva interviews Francesca Orsi, head of HBO's drama department, about the impact of the WGA strike on HBO shows.
- Linda Codega reports that several Star Trek actors have been spotted on the picket lines supporting the WGA strike.
- Justin Carter reports that production on the Marvel projects Thunderbolts and Wonder Man has been put on hold due to the ongoing WGA strike.
- Justin Carter reports that the TV show Blade Runner 2099 has also stopped production due to the ongoing WGA strike.
- The shortlist for the 2023 Kitschies has been announced.
- The contestants for the 2023 Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Ursa Major Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire have been announced.
- Chris M. Barkley wonders about the future of the Hugos in an increasingly global science fiction community.
- Mike Glyer reports that the winner of the 2023 Self-Published Fantasy Blog-Off cover contest has been disqualified after the cover was found to be AI generated.
- Walter Rhein explains how to write something of literary merit that appeals to a popular audience.
- Lauren Mechling wonders what happens if your partner does not like your writing.
- Victoria Strauss talks about termination fees in publishing.
- Sarah Shaffi reports that the American Library Association, the Authors Guild and other groups are sueing the state of Arkansas over a new law that bans giving books deemed "obscene" to minors.
- Jason Sanford shares a round-up of the latest state of the AI controversy.
- Neil Clarke shares a statement on the use and training of AI large language models.
- Matt Binder reports that a lawyer used ChatGPT to draft a legal filing, only to find that the AI program had cited non-existent cases.
- John Walker reports that Nvidia is trying to replace many game developers with AI.
- Naomi Klein notes that AIs are not hallucinating, but that their creators are.
- Paul Rudnick shares a not entirely serious look at what AI written film and TV scripts might look like.
- Runalong the Shelves interviews Gareth Hanrahan.
- Track of Words interviews Sebastien de Castell.
- Gordon B. White interviews Sadie Hartmann.
- The HWA interviews Christine Sng.
- Miwa Messer interviews Jacqueline Woodson.
- Claire Armitstead interviews Georgi Gospodinov.
- D.M. Ritzlin interviews Matthew Knight.
- Oliver Brackenbury interviews Catherine Lundoff.
- Jane Temson interviews Chikọdịlị Emelụmadụ
- Adrienne Martini reviews Translation State by Ann Leckie
- Marlene Harris reviews Light Chaser by Peter F. Hamilton and Gareth L. Powell
- Adrienne Martini reviews Witch King by Martha Wells
- Rob Bedford reviews Witch King by Martha Wells
- Alex Brown reviews Witch King by Martha Wells
- Warner Holme reviews Witch King by Martha Wells
- Paul Weimer reviews Master of Samar by Melissa Scott.
- Roseanna Pendlebury reviews Hybrid Heart by Iori Kusano.
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Faithless by C.L. Clark.
- Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere review The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell
- Track of Words reviews The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell
- Jake Casella Brookins reviews Rose/House by Arkady Martine
- C.T. Phipps reviews Tronick by Rosie Record.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Grave Danger by Alice James.
- Fabienne Schwizer reviews Painted Devils by Margaret Owen.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Scarlet by Genevieve Cogman.
- Bookshelf Fantasies reviews The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews On The Nature of Magic by Marian Womack
- Marlene Harris reviews The Nameless Restaurant by Tao Wong.
- Bill Capossere reviews The Way Home by Peter S. Beagle.
- The Fantasy Book Café reviews The Bone Shard Emperor by Andrea Stewart.
- Em Nordling reviews The Salt Grows Heavy by Cassandra Khaw.
- Steven Poole reviews Conquest by Nina Allan.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Conquest by Nina Allan
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Conquest by Nina Allan
- Mark Yon reviews Airside by Christopher Priest.
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Dual Memory by Sue Burke
- Marlene Harris reviews Red Team Blues by Cory Doctorow.
- C.T. Phipps reviews Echoes of Olympos Mons by Eric Malikyte
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Under the Hollywood Sign by Tom Reamy
- David Hayden reviews Eyes Guts Throat Bones by Moïra Fowley
- Robin Marx reviews Die By the Sword, edited by D.M. Ritzlin.
- Christopher Rowe reviews the May 2023 issue of Savage Realms.
- Christopher Rowe reviews issue 56 of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
- Christopher Rowe reviews issue 10 of Tales from the Magician's Skull.
- Warner Holmes reviews Origins of The Wheel of Time: the Legends and Mythologies by Michael Livingston.
- Blake Morrison reviews Orwell: The New Life by D.J. Taylor
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1940 science fiction novel The Whispering Gorilla by Don Wilcox and its 1943 sequel Return of the Whispering Gorilla by David V. Reed.
- Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1948 lost world novel Ice City of the Gorgon by Richard S. Shaver and Chester S. Geier.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1953 non-fiction anthology Modern Science Fiction: Its Meaning and Its Future, edited by Reginald Bretnor.
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1959 science fiction story "The Valley of Echoes" by Gérard Klein.
- Alan Brown revisits the 1960 science fiction collection Tiger By the Tail by Alan E. Nourse.
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1964 science fiction story "The New Prehistory" by René Rebetez-Cortes.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1965 science fiction novel The Long Result by John Brunner.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1968 post-apocalyptic novel Sos the Rope by Piers Anthony.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1968 issue of Analog.
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1971 science fiction story "A Meeting With Medusa" by Arthur C. Clarke.
- James Maliszewski revisits the March 1986 issue of White Dwarf.
- Tales from Stolki's Hall: A Thrones & Bones Anthology, edited by Lou Anders, is looking for funding.
- Dragon Hoard Games, an independent game store in Silverdale, Washington, is looking for funding to ward off eviction.
- SFF writer Zin E. Rocklyn needs some help to be able to attend the residency portion of the Masters program in creative writing.
- Issues 7 and 8 of the RPG zine Tales from the Smoking Wyrm are looking for funding.
- My Palitoy Story by Bob Brechin, an illustrated history of the British toy company Palitoy, is looking for funding.
- Mira Jacobs reports that Florida's new anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ laws have affected the furry convention Megaplex in Orlando, Florida.
- E.J. Dickson also reports about Megaplex being forced to ban attendants under eighteen to comply with Florida's new anti-drag and anti-LGBTQ laws.
- Kenneth Shepard also reports about Ron DeSantis picking a fight with Megaplex.
- In response to Florida's new anti-LGBTQ laws, the International Association for the Fantastic in the Arts asks if their annual conference should remain in Orlando, Florida.
- Marcin Klak reports about the 2023 Magnificon in Krakow, Poland.
- Marcin Klak reports about the 2023 KONgres in Skierniewice, Poland.
- Kirk McKoy shares cosplay photos from Balticon in Baltimore, Maryland.
- Joshua Shaw reports about a problematic question during a quiz held at Anime North in Toronto, Canada.
- Tom Ambrose shares stories of British theatregoers behaving badly.
- Hannah Sampson discusses why the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser immersive hotel in Disney World in Orlando, Florida, failed.
- Sabina Graves reports about the music being created for the Tiana's Bayou Adventure attraction in Disneyland in Anaheim, California, and Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
- Isaac Schultz notes that we may have been looking for habitable exo-planets in the wrong place
- NASA reports that the Hubble Space Telescope is on the hunt for a black hole.
- Kenneth Chang explains why the Japanese Hakuto-R Moon lander crashed.
- Noor Al-Sibai reports that space tourists have been less than thrilled with the toilets aboard the International Space Station.
- Kaye Dee takes a look at the state of the European space industry in 1968.
- Eric Betz reports about Nabta Playa in Egypt, the oldest known astronomical site on Earth.
- The Guardian reports that the mystery of why Venice's channels suddenly turned flourescent green has been solved.
- The Guardian reports that a Beluga whale suspected of being a Russian spy has been spotted off the Swedish coast.
- Sarah Shaffi reports that the so-called Heege manuscript sheds light on the life and role of medieval minstrels.
- Nic Reuben calls the video game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum a derivative, uninteresting and fundamentally broken stealth action adventure that fails to capture anything interesting about Tolkien’s fiction.
- Levi Winslow reports that Daedalic Entertainment, developers of the video game The Lord of the Rings: Gollum, have apologised for the underwhelming experience.
- Vulture lists the 100 hardest video game levels of all time.
- Ashley Bardhan shares the worst parts of the best video games.
- Linda Codega shares games created by Asian and Pacific Islander designers.
- Linda Codega reports that Magic: The Gathering's new Lord of the Rings set is makign racists made and that is a good thing.
- Linda Codega interviews Andrew Gillis, creator of the RPG Girl by Moonlight.
- Sabina Graves shares ideas for Father's Day gifts for geeky dads.
- Andrew Liszewski shares the best Lego sets coming out in June.
- Germain Lussier shares two new Marvel themed Lego sets.
- Mattel Creations is offering a new version of Vykron, a Masters of the Universe figure based on very early He-Man concept art.
- Pixel Dan reviewers the Masters of the Universe Origins Point Dread and Talon Fighter playset and the Masters of the Universe Masterverse New Eternia Whiplash figure.
- "A Memory Is Like a Talon" by Anna Martino in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "Measure Twice, Cut Once" by K.R. March in Apex Magazine.
- "Fruit of the Memory Tree" by J.A. Prentice in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Eleonora of the Bones" by Kat Howard in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Infinite Endings of Elsie Chen" by Kylie Lee Baker in Uncanny Magazine.
- "The God of the Overpass" by Orrin Grey in The Dark.
- "We Are Always Walking on Dead Things" by Emily Ruth Verona in Nightmare Magazine.
- "The Ocean Remembers the Wave" by L. Chan in Strange Horizons.
- "The Bull's Calf" by Susan Murray Macdonald in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "Place of Four Winds" by Gabriel Mara in The Deadlands.
- "Pagan Fires" by Rev. Joe Kelly in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
- "Two Blue Circles" by John K. Peck in Pyre Magazine.
- "The Writers' Room" by Chao C. Shete in Omenana.
- "High Stakes" by B.A. Booher in Wyldblood.
- "Fierce Happening" by Trent Jamieson in The Sunday Morning Transport.





