It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with more on the discussion surrounding the rise of AI writing and art bots, Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general, The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general, Secret Invasion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Dungeons & Dragons: Honour Among Thieves, season 2 of Yellowjackets, the new Super Mario Bros Movie and much more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Cheryl Eddy shares new science fiction, fantasy and horror releases for April 2023.
- Tor.com shares all the new science fiction books coming out in April 2023.
- Tor.com shares all the new fantasy novels coming out in April 2023.
- Tor.com shares all the new horror and genre-bending novels coming out in April 2023.
- Tor.com shares all the new YA SFF coming out in April 2023.
- Media Death Cult share their fifty favourite science ficion novels of all time.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction futures where teleportation is possible, though not necessarily safe.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five ways to fictionally justify smashing huge rocks into Earth in spite of science.
- Brandon Sanderson explains why he writes fantasy.
- Ling Ling Huang talks about body horror and identity.
- Disha Bose explains why she wants to see more complex characters of colour.
- Molly Templeton explains how to get past a reading slump.
- Judith Tarr shares her appreciation for the Dragon Heart series by Stephanie Burgis.
- Iona Glen finds some connections between Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis.
- Brian Murphy shares his appreciation for the Cugel the Clever stories by Jack Vance.
- Don Herron remembers John Jakes.
- Longtime science fiction fan Leslie Smith has died aged 64.
Comics and Art:
- Leah Stark reports that according to media studies scholar Scott Bukatman, comics like Hellboy offer a heightened reading adventure.
- Brad Hawley reviews Stumptown Volume One by Greg Rucka and Matthew Southworth.
- Zach Rabiroff interviews Erica Henderson and Ryan North, creators of Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and Danger and Other Unknown Risks
- Alex Segura interviews comics writer Fred Van Lente.
- Monsters, Magic and Madness interviews SFF artist Michael Whelan.
- Locus interviews SFF artist Eli Minaya.
- Sarah Shaffi reports that Alice Oseman has announced that there will be a sixth volume in the popular Heartstopper series of graphic novels.
Film and TV:
- Phuong Le calls Lola and intriguing time travel tale set in the 1940s.
- Phil Hoad calls The Portable Door a passable YA fantasy carried by its hardworking cast.
- Neil Vora discovers a warning about the dangers of global warming in The Last of Us.
- Linda Codega calls Suzume an anime about the struggle against abandoning what we love.
- Chris Garcia calls I XXXX My Sex Doll a thought-provoking science fiction film.
- Leslie Felperin calls The Outwaters a found footage horror film that tries to be experimental, but feels hollow and decadent.
- Cath Clarke calls Little Bear's Big Trip a dismal animated movie that's punishment for both kids and adults.
- The Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog revisits the 1975 post-apocalyptic movie A Boy and His Dog and calls it misogynist, reprehensible and one of the worst Hugo winners ever.
- Ryan Britt revisits the 1976 dystopian movie Logan's Run and finds it vastly underrated.
- Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1978 superhero movie Superman.
- Hoai-Tran Bui revisits the 2010 Doctor Who episode "The Eleventh Hour"
- Bloody Disgusting revisits the 2012 sword and sorcery movie Solomon Kane.
- Sofie Zeldin-O'Neill interviews Christopher Eccleston, who played the Ninth Doctor in Doctor Who.
- Kevin E.G. Perry interviews James Marsden, who played Cyclops in the X-Men movies.
- Rebecca Rubin interviews Natasha Lyonne, star of Poker Face and Russian Doll.
- Dad-at-Arms interviews Saturday morning cartoon scholar James Eatock
- Camestros Felapton explains why a proposed Harry Potter TV series is a terrible idea.
- Kim Masters reports that only 37 percent of those who watched the first episode of The Rings of Power went on to watch the entire series.
- Nadia Khomani reports that the UK's status as a cinematic powerhouse is at risk according to Oscar-winning producer David Putnam.
Comments on Star Trek Picard and Star Trek in general (spoilers):
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Dominion", the latest episode of Star Trek Picard.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on "Dominion".
- Galactic Journey share their thoughts on the 1968 Star Trek episode "Assignment Earth".
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Carpenter Street".
- Dalton Norman shares every literary reference in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
- Alice Rose Dodds wonders what the "NCC" in Star Trek spaceship registration numbers stands for.
Comments on season 3 of The Mandalorian and Star Wars in general:
- Sam Barsanti shares his thoughts on "Guns For Hire", the latest episode of The Mandalorian.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on "Guns For Hire".
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on "Guns For Hire".
- Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on The Mandalorian episode "The Pirate".
- Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that season 2 of The Bad Batch is lightyears ahead of season 1, but still has some issues.
- E.V. Grieve reports that a Mandalorian themed mural featuring Grogu has appeared in the East Village neighbourhood of New York City.
Comments on Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves:
- Alex Brown calls Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves a charming adventure.
- Arturo Serrano declares that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves is just as cheerfully chaotic as your most memorable gaming sessions.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido declares that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves strikes a perfect balance between RPGs and movies.
- William Hughes takes a look at how Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves captures the RPG experience.
- Jennifer Ouellette calls Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves a worthy homage to the classic RPG.
- Amy Nicholson declares that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves brings comedy and adventure to the fantasy genre.
- Gavia Baker-Whitelaw praises how Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves handles comedy.
- Mey Rude interviews Michelle Rodriguez who plays Holga in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
- Sam Barsanti reports that Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves had a strong opening at the box office.
Comments on Secret Invasion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:
- Anthony Breznican shares a behind the scenes look at the new Marvel TV series Secret Invasion.
- Brian Hiatt interviews James Gunn, writer and director of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 as well as Chris Pratt who plays Peter Quill and Karen Gillan who plays Nebula.
- Robert DeSalvo interviews Simu Liu who plays Shang-Chi in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Watch a trailer for Secret Invasion.
- Watch a trailer for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Comments on season 2 of Yellowjackets:
Comments on the new Super Mario Bros Movie:
- Peter Bradshaw calls the new Super Mario Bros Movie a disappointment to rival the first movie.
- Germain Lussier declares that the new Super Mario Bros Movie stinks.
- Matthew Huff calls the new Super Mario Bros Movie an Easter egg filled adventure for fans of the videogames.
- io9 interviews Chris Pratt and Charlie Day who voice Mario and Luigi in the new Super Mario Bros Movie
- Steffen Powell interviews Jack Black who voices Bowser in the new Super Mario Bros Movie.
- Inspired by the new Super Mario Bros Movie, Charles Bramesco asks if the practice of casting big name celebrities rather than trained voice actors for animated movies is ruining these movies.
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2023 Prometheus Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Tolkien Society Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Quantum Shorts Film Festival have been announced.
- The winners of the 2023 Olivier Awards have been announced with lots of love for the stage version of My Neighbour Totoro.
- Adri Joy and Joe Sherry discuss the 2022 Nebula finalists.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Lincoln Michel discusses the different between plot-forward and prose-forward writing.
- Harper Kincaid shares tips for writing neurodivergent characters without resorting to harmful stereotypes.
- Neil Clarke weighs in on the flood of AI-generated spam submissions that hit Clarkesworld and possible countermeasures.
- Frances D'Emilio and Matt O'Brien report that ChatGPT has been blocked in Italy due to privacy concerns.
- Greg Rosalsky reports that women now dominate the publishing business on all levels, but still lag behind in many other creative fields.
- Lawrence Venuti talks about the shifting role of the translator.
- Alexandra Alter and Elizabeth A. Harris wonder when the posthumous edits of classic literature to remove offensive language have gone too far.
- Reggie Ugwu reports that readers were disturbed to find that their e-book editions of works by Roald Dahl, R.L. Stine, Ian Fleming or Agatha Christie changed while they were reading them.
- David Propper reports that James Patterson has complained about the bias of the New York Times bestseller list now one of his books has not made the list, though he feels it should have.
- Lucy Knight reports that Amazon will close the British online book seller Book Depository, which they took over in 2011.
- Seanan McGuire weighs in on the Internet Archive ruling.
- Sarah Shaffi and Sarah Butler report that children's book author Fay Evans has lost her copyright infringement lawsuit against the British department store chain John Lewis over their 2019 Christmas ad.
- Emily Dugan reports that YA author Judy Blume has said that book bannings have become much worse than in the 1980s.
- CNN reports that a judge in Texas has ruled that twelve books removed from libraries in Llano County, Texas, must be returned to the shelves at once.
Interviews:
- Oliver Brackenbury interviews Jonathan Maberry.
- Chelsea Davis interviews Kelly Link.
- Paul Weimer interviews Juliet E. McKenna.
- Linda Codega interviews Naomi Alderman.
- Arley Sorg interviews Han Song and Michael Berry.
- Arley Sorg interviews Susan Forest, Julie Nováková and Lucas K. Law.
- Anthony Cummins interviews Catherine Lacey.
- The HWA interviews Jacqueline West.
- The HWA interviews Hillary Dodge.
- The HWA interviews R. Leigh Henning.
- The HWA interviews K.H. Vaughan.
Reviews:
- Raven Crime Reads reviews The Space Between Us by Doug Johnstone.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews Beyond the Reach of Earth by Ken MacLeod
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Frontier by Grace Curtis.
- Marlene Harris reviews Sea Change by Gina Chung.
- Lyndsey Luther reviews Tress of the Emerald Sea by Brandon Sanderson.
- Marlene Harris reviews And Put Away Childish Things by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews A Woman of the Sword by Anna Smith Spark.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Shield Maiden by Sharon Emmerichs.
- Marion Deeds reviews Crownbreaker by Sebastien de Castell.
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Foxglove King by Hannah Whitten.
- Rob Bedford reviews Emperor of Ruin by Django Wexler.
- Lis Carey reviews The Hanging Tree by Ben Aaronovitch
- Archita Mittra reviews Pomegranates by Priya Sharma
- Grab This Book reviews God of Fire by Helen Steadman.
- Andrew Jaden reviews The Mask of Mirrors by M.A. Carrick.
- Fantasy Faction reviews Mysterious Ways by Abbie Evans.
- Andrew Jaden reviews Cyber Mage by Saad Z. Hossain.
- John Mauro reviews Return of the Griffin by J.C.M. Berne.
- Marion Deeds and Bill Capossere review Dead Country by Max Gladstone.
- Martin Cahill reviews The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz.
- Becky LeJeune reviews Beautiful Shining People by Michael Grothaus.
- Alex Brown reviews Spell Bound by F.T. Lukens.
- Marlene Harris reviews The Echo of Old Books by Barbara Davis.
- Joseph B. Hoyos reviews A Cruel Light by Cindi MacMillan.
- Becky LeJeune reviews Lone Women by Victor LaValle.
- Alex Brown reviews Lone Women by Victor LaValle.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews Feed Them Silence by Lee Mandelo
- Colleen Mondor reviews Fraternity by Andy Mientus
- Gabino Iglesias reviews Daphne by Josh Malerman
- Marlene Harris reviews White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews White Cat, Black Dog by Kelly Link.
Classics reviews:
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1912 Barsoom sword and planet novel "A Princess of Mars" by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Alan Brown revisits the 1914 lost world novel At the Earth's Core by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- M. Porcius revisits the 1920 Tarzan adventure Tarzan the Untamed by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1938 sword and sorcery novella "Roads" by Seabury Quinn.
- James Wallace Harris revisits the 1946 post-apocalyptic novel The Murder of the USA by Will F. Jenkins a.k.a. Murray Leinster and the 1947 post-apocalyptic story "Tomorrow's Children" by Poul Anderson.
- James Maliszewski revisits the 1948 dark fantasy story "The Master of the Crabs" by Clark Ashton Smith,
- Joachim Boaz revisits the 1951 science fiction story "Through Channels" by Richard Matheson and the 1954 science fiction story "Audience Reaction" by Robert F. Young.
- Vintage Pop Fictions revisits the 1953 science fiction novel The Invaders by Murray Leinster.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1957 anthology SF: The Year’s Greatest Science-Fiction and Fantasy Second Annual Volume, edited by Judith Merril.
- Bobby Derie revisits the 1960 sword and sorcery poem "I Remember Conan" by Grace A. Warren.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1960 science fiction novel Rogue Moon by Algis Budrys.
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1964 sleaze crime novel Gutter Road by Don Elliott a.k.a. Robert Silverberg.
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1967 Conan sword and sorcery story "The Lair of the Ice Worm" by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1967 science fiction novel Camp Concentration by Thomas M. Disch.
- David Levinson revisits the May 1968 issue of If: Worlds of Science Fiction.
- Joe Kenney revisits the 1981 horror novel They Thirst by Robert R. McCammon.
- James Maliszewski revisits the September 1985 issue of White Dwarf.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 2012 science fiction novel The Fractal Prince by Hannu Rajaniemi.
Con and event reports:
- Germain Lussier shares what to expect at Star Wars Celebration Europe in London, UK.
- Arifa Akbar calls The Lost Spells an enchanting and magical musical based on the children's book by Robert MacFarlane, which is currently playing in Watford, UK.
- Mark Fisher calls Laura Eason's stage adaptation of Jules Verne's Around the World in 80 Days, which is currently playing in Keswick, UK, a witty and inventive travelogue
- Chris Wiegand reports that a performance of the musical Bat Out Of Hell by Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf in London, UK, was interrupted by a disruptive audience member.
- Sabina Graves interviews the designers of the Tron Lightcycle/Run rollarcoaster in Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
Gaming:
- Cole Rush shares five boardgames fantasy fans will love.
- Linda Codega reports about sexual assault allegations and general unprofessionalism at Wyrmwood Gaming.
- Eric Ballein reviews the videogame Horizon Forbidden West.
- Simon Parkin reviews the puzzle game Rytmos.
- German boardgame designer Klaus Teuber, creator of Settler of Catan, Hoity Toity, Barbarossa, Timberland and many others, has died aged 70.
Science and technology:
- George Dvorsky introduces the first four astronauts of NASA's Artemis project.
- Kenneth Chang notes that Uranus appears much paler than assumed in a recent image captured by the Hubble Space Telescope.
- Michael Race reports that Richard Branson's company Virgin Orbit has filed for bankruptcy.
- Daisy Dobrijevic shares the best pranks played in space.
- Phillip Ball wonders whether fusion power will provide the solution to global warming.
- Darren Orf reports that feral dogs in the Chernobyl exclusion zone are undergoing rapid mutations.
- Mari Yamagushi reports that there are concerns about the structural integrity of the Fukushima nuclear power plant, which suffered a catastrophic meltdown in 2011.
- Priya Sridhar discusses how new scientific developments revive the old "brain in a jar" trope.
- Nina Lakhani reports that the Chinese balloon recently shot down by the US was indeed a spy balloon.
Free online fiction:
- "So You Want To Kiss Your Nemesis" by John Wiswell in Lightspeed.
- "Virtually Cherokee" by Brian K. Hudson in Lightspeed.
- "The Knells of Agassiz" by Holly Schofield in Luna Station Quarterly.
- "The Faceless, The Watch Guard, and Sugar" by Bibiana Ossai in The Dark.
- "An Inheritance of Scars" by Martin Cahill in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Lone Drummer" by A.G. Lamar in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "The Words That Make Us Fly" by S.L. Harris in Apex Magazine.
- "The Stars We Raised" by Xin Xinyu, translated by Judy Yi Zhou, in Tor.com.
- "Ascension" by Jade Lancaster in Pyre Magazine.
- "Re/Union" by L. Chan in Clarkesworld.
- "There Are the Art-Makers, Dreamers of Dreams, and There Are AIs" by Andrea Kriz in Clarkesworld.
- "A Truth Among Several" by Gustavo Bondoni in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "Those Hitchhiking Kids" by Darcie Little Badger in The Sunday Morning Transport.
- "Trading With Monsters" by Miguel O. Mitchell in Fantasy Magazine.
- "Irresponsibly Human" by John Wiswell in Small Wonders.
- "Space Too Deep, Orbit Too Wide" by Jason Ray Carney in Way Station.
- "Root Canticle" by Natasha King in Nightmare Magazine.
- "Killing the Angel of Death" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
Trailers and videos:
Odds and ends:
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