Thursday, March 16, 2023

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 17, 2023



It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the 2023 Oscars and the remarkable triumph of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general, The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general, the season 1 finale of The Last of Us, the season 1 finale of Poker Face, 65, Shazam! Fure of the Gods, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, Mrs. Davis, season 2 of Shadow and Bone, Scream VI, a Nebula Awards uproar, tributes to John Jakes, Robert Blake and Chaim Topol and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:
Tributes to John Jakes: 

 
Film and TV:
 
Tributes to Chaim Topol and Robert Blake:
 
Comments on Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general (spoilers): 
 
Comments on The Last of Us:  
 
Comments on season 3 of The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general: 
  
 
Comments on 65: 
 
Comments on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: 
 
Comments on Shazam! Fury of the Gods: 
 
 Comments on Poker Face: 
 
Comments on Mrs. Davis:
 
Comments on season 2 of Shadow and Bone: 
 
Comments on Scream VI: 
 
Awards:

Writing, publishing and promotion:
 
Interviews:

Reviews:

Classics reviews:
 
Con and event reports:
 
Crowdfunding:
 
Science and technology:

Free online fiction: 
 
Trailers and videos:
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Wednesday, March 15, 2023

Simultaneous Times Podcast Episode 61 featuring "This is the Genesis Ship Arkhaven" by Jonathan Ficke and "A Free Man" by Warren Benedetto

 

Episode 61 of the Simultaneous Times podcast is now available, featuring stories from Shacklebound Books by Jonathan Ficke and Wartren Benedetto. Simultaneous Times is a science fiction podcast produced by Space Cowboy Books, a science fiction bookstore in Joshua Tree, California.

The stories featured in this episode are: 

This is the Genesis Ship Arkhaven  by Jonathan Ficke - https://jonficke.com/ -
music by Fall Precauxions - https://fallprecauxions.bandcamp.com/  -
read by Jean-Paul Garnier -

A Free Man by Warren Benedetto - https://warrenbenedetto.com/ -
music by Phog Masheeen - https://phogmasheeen.com/ -
read by Jean-Paul Garnier -
 

Theme music by Dain Luscombe

 

Listen to the Episode Here.

 

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Monday, March 13, 2023

The Last Lion of Karkov by Dale Griffin

 

Release date: March 14, 2023
Subgenre: Historical fantasy
 

About The Last Lion of Karkov:

 


Raised in Karkov, a military, male-dominant kingdom, twins Natalia and Jillian know nothing but battle. When Jillian emerges as the dominant twin and apparent heir to the throne, Natalia, the softer and more diplomatic sister, ceases her military training. As Natalia prepares to marry the prince of her father’s favored Western ally, Jillian is set to become the first woman Lion of Karkov. But things don’t go as planned when the older generation of warriors values her womb over her sword. Suddenly, the role Jillian has fought for all her life is slipping through her fingers…and she’s not about to let it go without a fight.

At first, Jillian wants to destroy the young male warrior that the older generation favors. But soon, the two begin to fall for each other, and dark secrets behind Karkov’s past come to light. Now, Jillian finds herself in the unthinkable position of defending her former rival…and defying her father. Her defiance inspires a younger generation of warriors, who dub her the Lioness of Karkov.

Furious, her father ousts Jillian and the warriors who swore allegiance to her, setting in motion a chain of events that will disrupt everything he swore to protect. As innocent lands suffer invasion, greedy monarchies fall to revolution, and the wedding of the century threatens to live up to its name, Jillian and Natalia must reckon with the consequences of love and war. When four nations converge on a battlefield, one sister must decide whether to embrace the life she always wanted—or stand up for the destiny that was never meant for her.
 

 

Excerpt:

 

Not one day did the sun rise without Jillian's waiting for it to appear. One morning, when the horizon provided only enough light to notice the contrast between movement and stillness, Jillian saw beasts creeping through the high grass. They were barely moving enough to keep her eyes trained on; she waited for dawn to reveal what she hoped they would be. The sky gradually lightened as the beasts crept closer, seemingly on their way to the watering hole. By the time they were at the closest point, before their trek would lead them farther away, Jillian was able to see four lionesses.

Three of the lionesses continued on, while one stopped with its nose lifted into the breeze, facing the tower. At first, Jillian assumed the lioness had picked up the scent of the horses, secured inside of stables at the tower’s base. But the longer it stood, frozen like a statue, Jillian wondered if her own scent was somehow being pushed down by the cool morning air. Her scent would be more peculiar than that of the horses.

Jillian also stayed motionless, savoring the moment for as long as it lasted. Standing there naked, with an empty stomach, Jillian marveled at how she had become wild like the lioness. She had spent many days caring about nothing except the carnal desire to reproduce, only leaving the nest when it was absolutely necessary to satisfy her intense hunger. If Jillian could keep from thinking about the past or future, what would be the difference between her and the beast?

Despite seeing the lioness’s belly contract long before the sound reached her, Jillian was surprised and amazed to hear it bellow. It roared three consecutive times. Jillian’s reaction was pure joy. She didn’t understand why it was so pleasurable, but for an instant, Jillian had never been happier. When the lioness resumed its stealthy walk, Jillian wished more than anything that Natalia had shared the experience, and she became less wild.

 

Amazon

 

About Dale Griffin: 


DALE GRIFFIN is a historical fantasy writer releasing his debut novel "The Last Lion of Karkov" in March 2023. Griffin considers himself a traveler and a writer as a result. Married to his best friend and travel partner, the two explore Europe as frequently as possible. Inspired by those journeys, Griffin uses his experiences to influence his imagined worlds and the memorable characters who dwell in them.
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Sunday, March 12, 2023

Dark and Lonely Water by Graeme Reynolds

 

Release date: March 10, 2023
Subgenre: Horror
 

About Dark and Lonely Water:

 

When Samantha Ashlyn is forced to return to her home town to write an article on a series of drownings, she initially resists, finding disturbing similarities to her childhood experiences. However, once she starts looking into the assignment, she finds that things are not what they seem. An ancient evil is rising again, aided by what appears to be a centuries-old conspiracy to keep it hidden. With the help of a disgraced police diver, Sam races to stop the nightmare before more lives are lost. Not realising that her investigation has put herself and those she loves in terrible danger.

 

Excerpt:

 

CHAPTER ONE


Brendan Simms gives the beer-soaked bar one last half-hearted wipe, then throws the sodden cloth into the sink. “That’s me done now, Paul,” he calls across the empty dance floor where his boss collects the evening's takings from the tills. He picks up his jacket from one of the bar stools and heads to the nightclub entrance. Brendan puts the coat on, reaching for his wallet that would ordinarily be nestled in the inside pocket, only to find it missing. He feels a surge of panic, believing for a second that it’s been stolen from the staffroom. Then he remembers. Shit! He’d taken his wallet from his jeans and tossed it onto the bed while he got ready for work. Never picked it up again.
“Hey, Paul! Any chance you can sub me for a taxi home? I’ve left me fuckin wallet in the house.”
His boss looks up from the till roll and shakes his head. “Sorry, Bren. Can’t do it. Andrea goes off her tits if I start giving out subs. Screws the payroll right up, then I get it in the neck for the rest of the week.”
It’s been a long night. He enjoys this job—far more than the weekday slog at the Co-Op—but tonight had been a challenge. The club was filled with particularly obnoxious drunks all evening. Now it’s after four in the morning, and all he wants to do is fall into bed beside Jimmy. Sleep until lunchtime. Brendan sighs heavily. “Can you not lend me a tenner then? It’s three miles to my flat, and I’m dead on me feet.”
“Sorry,” Paul says. “Don’t carry cash on me when I’m working. It’s a nice night, though. The walk‘ll do you good.”
Bastard. He knows that Paul is lying. He saw him fold twenty quid out of a fat roll of notes earlier to buy some weed off one of the customers. He considers calling his boss out on his bullshit but what’s the point? He doesn’t have the energy for the argument. Instead, he says, “Yeah, thanks, mate. Thanks for fucking nothin. I’ll just be off then?”
Paul gives a half-hearted wave without looking up as Brendan flings open the wooden double doors and storms down the stairs, muttering curses.
The evening is still warm outside the sweaty confines of the club, and a mild breeze wafts against Brendan’s face. He can almost pretend that he is somewhere exotic, about to stroll along a beach instead of shuffling through the back streets of Preston. The smell makes it hard to maintain the illusion, though. The air reeks of urine, vomit, and discarded kebabs. Ah! Preston Fishergate in the early hours of a Sunday morning. What a place. What a fucking place.

 

Amazon

 


 

About Graeme Reynolds: 

Graeme Reynolds was born in England in 1971. Over the years, he has been an electronic engineer in the Royal Airforce, worked with special needs children and been a teenage mutant ninja turtle (don't ask).

He started writing in 2008 and has had over thirty short stories published in various ezines and anthologies before the publication of his first novel, High Moor, in 2011. He went on to write High Moor 2: Moonstruck and High Moor 3: Bloodmoon before moving on from werewolves to focus on his publishing empire and new stories that didn’t involve writing quite so many transformation scenes.

When he is not breaking computers for money, he hides in deepest darkest Swindon and dreams up new ways to offend people with delicate sensibilities.

 

Facebook | Twitter


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Thursday, March 9, 2023

Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 10, 2023



It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the 2022 Nebula Award finalists, the discussion surrounding the rise of AI writing and art bots, the editing of books by Roald Dahl, R.L. Stine and Ian Fleming, Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general, The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general, The Last of Us, Scream VI, tributes to Christopher Fowler and Tom Sizemore and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:
Comments on the flooding of Clarkesworld and other SFF magazines with AI spam:
 
Tributes to Christopher Fowler: 
 
Comments on the edits to Roald Dahl's, R.L. Stine's and Ian Fleming's works:
 
 
Film and TV:
 
Comments on Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general (spoilers): 
 
Comments on The Last of Us:  
 
Comments on season 3 of The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general: 
 
Comments on Scream VI: 
 
Awards:

Writing, publishing and promotion:
 
Interviews:

Reviews:

Classics reviews:
 
Con and event reports:
 
Crowdfunding:
 
Science and technology:

Free online fiction: 
 
Trailers and videos:
 
Odds and ends:
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