Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 26, 2023

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Star Wars in general, American Born Chinese, Mrs. Davis, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, Yellowjackets, the new Little Mermaid, the WGA strike, Sudowrite and the debate about AI writing in general, book bannings in the US, a controversy involving the far right BasedCon, an upcoming character death in the Marvel universe, tributes to Ray Stevenson, Martin Amis and Tina Turner and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Tobias Carroll shares the best small press science fiction and fantasy coming out in May and June 2023. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF feel-good comfort reads. 
• Cole Rush shares five SFF tales that make him feel better about the world.
  
• James Davis Nicoll discusses five ways science fiction writers side-step the problem of relativity. 
• Cole Rush shares five SFF stories in which the Moon is more than just a moon. 
• James Davis Nicoll lists five surprisingly sympathetic supervillains.
  
• Blue Rose attempts to explain romantic fantasy.
  
• Naoise Dolan points out that happily ever after doesn't necessarily have to mean marriage. 
• Aja Romano explains how puritanism first took over online fandom spaces and then all leaked out into the rest of the Internet.
  
• Judith Tarr shares her appreciation for the Tiger Eye paranormal mysteries by Alyssa Day.
  
• Max Gladstone talks about finding his time travel novella This Is How You Lose the Time War hitting the Amazon bestseller list after a viral tweet by one Bigolas Dickolas Wolfwood.
  
• Genevieve Cogman discusses how to reimagine The Scarlet Pimpernel for a modern audience.
  
• Olivia Rutigliano talks about all the monsters both actual and metaphorical in Charlotte Bronte's 1848 gothic novel Jane Eyre. 
• Lucy Knight reports that evidence suggests that Beatrix Potter's Peter Rabbit was inspired by the Brer Rabbit folktales from the pre-Civil.War South and therefor by African folklore.  
• Molly Templeton discusses two types of unforgettable reading experiences.
  
• Michael Bond explains why fandom is good for you.
  
• British writer Martin Amis has died aged 73. 
• Locus remembers Martin Amis.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Christian Holub reports about a major character death in an upcoming Marvel comic (spoilers).
• James Whitbrook also reports about Marvel's upcoming character death.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the upcoming Marvel character death has already sparked a massive backlash.
• Rachel Cooke reviews Blood of the Virgin by Sammy Harkham. 
• Molly Templeton reports about a mystery regarding who illustrated the iconic cover for the 1976 paperback edition of A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle.
  
• Bill Ward takes a look at the many different covers Fred Saberhagen's books have had over the years. 
• Rich Johnston reports that Roy Thomas is not happy about the Fire and Ice comics published by Dynamite, because he and Gerry Conway were not involved in spite of writing the screenplay for the Fire and Ice movie.
  
• Graeme McMillan reports that Image Comics has ditched Diamond as its distributor and will now exclusives use Lunar.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon on late night reading.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Joel Golby calls Poker Face a perfect detective show that turns up the fun-o-meter until it explodes  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Asteroid City an exhilarating triumph of pure style.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Inland Empire a fascinatingly unwholesome altered states horror film.
  
• Arturo Serrano calls The Big Door Prize a science fiction series that will make you reconsider your life choices.
• Jeff Spry calls Crater an old-fashioned kids' sci-fi flick with out-of-this-world charm
  
• Cheryl Eddy calls Huesera: The Bone Woman a Mexican film about the horrors of motherhood. 
• Leslie Felperin calls The Resurrection of Charles Manson a horror thriller that's not really about Charles Manson and a tital mess besides.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Silo.
  
• Monita Mohan shares her thoughts on the series finale of Titans and points out that the characters were the reason to watch the show.
  
• Phuong Le calls Boonie Bears: Guardian Code a formulaic animated kids film with the ecological subtext. 
• Phil Hoad calls the animated film My Fairy Troublemaker a little flat, but feels that children will enjoy it. 
  
• Ben Child wonders whether The Creator is the first in a new wave of science fiction movies about artificial intelligence.
• Germain Lussier shares some early reactions to Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and wonders whether the movie might actually be good. 
• Cheryl Eddy shares early reactions to Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
  
• Tom Smyth wonders why Disney's newer animated movies no longer have villains.
• Lorna Wallace lists five of the scariest scenes from animated movies aimed at kids. 
• Ian Spelling shares twenty-two blockbusters which made a lot of money and yet are completely forgotten. 
  
• Jen Lennon and Cindy White share the ten worst TV series finales of all time.
  
• Fiona Moore revisits the 1968 horror movie Witchfinder General. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1968 science fiction films Battle Beneath the Earth and The Astro-Zombies.
  
• Josh Spiegel revisits the 1973 Disney animated adventure film Robin Hood. 
• Germain Lussier revisits the 1981 adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark.
  
• Anthony Breznican revisits the making of the 1983 alien invasion TV series V.
  
• Dan Persons revisits the 1989 time travel movie Back to the Future Part II.
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "Azati Prime".
• Melissa Kagen discusses the character of Aunt Nora in the Jumanji movies and how she shows that women are not expected to play games, only to facilitate others playing.   
• Cheryl Eddy shares ten horror movies that will persuade you to switch off social media.
  
• Ranker ranks the best Hercules movies.
• Adam B. Vary interviews Paddy Considine who plays Viserys Targaryen in House of the Dragon.
  
• Sabina Graves interviews Joe Dante and Tze Chun, creator and showrunner of Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai
• Abby Aguirre interviews Margot Robbie, star of The Suicide Squad, Birds of Prey, Barbie and I, Tonya.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that the advertising campaign for The Flash is very strange, relying mainly on celebrities calling it the best film ever, probably because star Ezra Miller has become toxic due to their erratic and criminal behaviour.
  
• Brent Lang and Tatiana Siegel lament that there is no new generation of film stars which command the same attention and box office draw as the generation of the 1970s and 1980s. 
  
• Jacob Oller explains how venture capitalism took over Hollywood.
• Alex Zalben laments the impending end of the CW network and its stable of popular shows with a diverse cast for mostly younger and geeky audiences. 
• Justin Carter reports that Disney is sitting on a finished ten episode animated Alien vs. Predator series that will probably never see the light of day.
  
• Nellie Andreeva reports that Disney is removing dozens of TV series and movies from Disney Plus, including Willow, Y: The Last Man, Turner and Hooch, Pistol and many others. 
• Screewriter Jake Thornton, who co-wrote The Princess, one of the movies being pulled from Disney Plus, weighs in on the decision. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw points out that everybody hates the rebranded HBO Max streaming service.
• CBC News reports that the beloved Pic-a-Flic video store in Vancouver, Canada, is about to close and that its collection of rare movies on videotape is endangered. 
  
• Director, writer and Hollywood historian Kenneth Anger has died aged 96.
  
• Irish actor Ray Stevenson, who appeared in the Thor movies, Punisher: War Zone, the Divergent series, Dexter, Ahsoka, Rome, RRR and many others, has died aged 58. 

 

Tributes to Tina Turner: 

• Singer and actress Tina Turner, who appeared in Mad Max 3: Beyond the Thunderdome and Tommy and sang the theme song for the James Bond movie Golden Eye, has died aged 83. 
• William Grimes shares an obituary for Tina Turner. 
• Alexis Petridis remembers Tina Turner. 

 

Comments on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers): 

• Jen Lennon reports about some behind the scenes trouble between Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige and Marvel head Ike Perlmutter in 2015, which almost derailed the Marvel Cinematic Universe for good.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw wonders what it means that Echo is being released all at once on Disney Plus, while other Marvel shows had weekly releases. 
• Sean Gunn, who plays Kraglin in Guardians of the Galaxy, shares his favourite songs from the movie trilogy.
  

 

Comments on Star Wars in general: 

• Emmet Asher-Perrin points out that 3-CPO is actually awesome in Return of the Jedi.
• Ben Croll interviews Rodrigo Blaas who created the Star Wars Visions episode "Sith". 
• Germain Lussier notes that Pedro Pascal isn't in The Mandalorian suit all that much and that much of his performance as Din Djarin is voice only. 
  

 

Comments on American Born Chinese: 

• Saloni Gajjar calls American Born Chinese an entertaining science fiction adventure elevated by its star-studded cast. 
  
• Leila Latif notes that in spite of the star-studded supporting cast of American Born Chinese, the real joy is the interplay between the two young lead actors.
  

 

Comments on Mrs. Davis: 

• Arturo Serrano calls Mrs. Davis a lofty tower of nested metaphors about the many meanings of love
• Leah Schnelbach wonders how to even discuss Mrs. Davis.
  

 

Comments on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny: 

• Owen Gleiberman calls Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a joyless piece of nostalgic hokum.
  
• Garth Franklin shares some early reviews of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

 

Comments on Yellowjackets: 

• Hattie Lindert shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Yellowjackets. 
• Maggie Tokuda-Hall recommends some books for the characters of Yellowjackets.
  

 

Comments on the new The Little Mermaid: 

• Peter Debruge notes that the new The Little Mermaid risks drowning the audience in visual effects, but praises the performances of Halle Bailey and Melissa McCarthy.
• Ellen E. Jones declares that the new Little Mermaid doesn't capture the magic of the 1989 animated film, but also praises the performance of Halle Bailey. 
• Leigh Monson calls the new Little Mermaid a watered down remake, but also praises the performance of Halle Bailey. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls the new Little Mermaid an overlong remake that cannot match the original and also praises the performance of Halle Bailey.
  
• Alex Abad-Santos wonders why the new Little Mermaid looks so bad.
  

 

Comments on the strike of the Writers Guild of America:

• Linda Codega reports that ChatGPT and similar AI chatbots will not save Hollywood studios from the WGA strike. 
• Trek Movie reports that several Star Trek actors have been spotted on the WGA picket lines, supporting Star Trek writers.
  
• Catherine Shoard reports that actor and director Sean Penn has expressed his solidarity with the striking WGA writers.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw wonders whether Ryan Reynolds can still improvise and ad-lib lines for Deadpool 3, which is currently filming, or whether that would be considered a violation of the WGA strike. 
• The MWA has issued a statement in support of the WGA.
  
• Justin Carter reports that college graduates have heckled Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslay during a graduation ceremony at Boston University in Boston, Massachussetts. 
• James Grebey remembers how the 2007/2008 WGA strike affected the TV show Heroes.
  

 

Awards:

• The shortlist for the 2023 Ignyte Awards has been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 Mythopoeic Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2023 Premio Vegetti have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2023 Future Worlds Prize have been announced. 
• The Unofficial Hugo Book Club Blog argues that there should be an US National SFF Award, since American writers and fans can't always claim the Hugos and Nebulas as theirs.
  
• The Bram Stoker Awards have announced some rule changes. 
• Ahrvid Engholm announces the creation of the Bertil Falk Space Opera Prize. 
• Sarah Shaffi reports that the British coffeeshop chain Caffè Nero is launching a book award. 
• TikTok announces the TikTok Book Awards UK and Ireland.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• E.J. Cooperman explains that in order to write compelling characters, you need to find the source of their pain.
  
• Melissa Yi explains how to write better Asian characters. 
• M.P. Woodward explains what creating war games taught him about writing. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about the importance of rest for creatives.
  
• Victoria Strauss shares editing clauses in publishing contracts to watch out for. 
• Robert Dahlin notes that book banning in the US has never been worse. 
• Hannah Natanson reports that the rise in book banning attempts particularly targets LGBTQ books. 
• Austin Bailey reports about a fight about book banning attempts in Saline County, Arkansas.
  
• Sarah Shaffi reports that a book has been returned to a public library in St. Helena, California, 96 years late. 
• Rick Kogan reports that the owners of the Centuries & Sleuths crime and mystery bookstore in Chicago, Illinois, are planning to retire and are looking for new owners. 
  
• Peter Beaumont report that Masha Gessen has resigned from the PEN America board after some Ukrainian writers complained about Russian anti-government writers being allowed to take part in a festival.
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy: 

• Jason Sanford reports about a controversy surrounding the AI writing program Sudowrite.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that science fiction writer S.B. Divya is promoting the AI writing bot Sudowrite and received a lot of backlash for it.
  
• Rose Eveleth reports how Sudowrite, yet another AI writing bot, was caught out having illegally scraped fanfiction sites by using the term "knotting" in the way writers of so-called Omegaverse fanfic would use it. 
• Jack Bandy shares the dirty secrets of BookCorpus, a corpus created from books illegally scraped from Smashwords, etc... that was used to train AI programs like ChatGPT. 
• The UK Society of Authors releases a statement on artificial intelligence.
• The US Authors Guild also releases a statement on artificial intelligence.
  
• Sarah Shaffi reports about an uproar when it turned out that the cover art for the novel House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas was AI generated.

 

Interviews:

• Locus interviews Mary Robinette Kowal. 
• Locus interviews C.L. Clark. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Premee Mohamed.
  
• Anthony Cummins interviews M. John Harrison. 
• If This Goes On... Don't Panic interviews Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki.
• Paul Weimer interviews Stina Leicht.
  
• Michael Gallagher interviews Howard Andrew Jones.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews L. Marie Wood.
  
• Rebecca Liu interviews R.F. Kuang.
• Arley Sorg interviews Mark H. Harris.
  
• The HWA interviews Bryan Thao Worra. 
• Gordon B. White interviews Sadie Hartmann
  
• D.M. Ritzlin interviews Rose Strickman.
  
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Patrick Jankiewicz.
  

 

Reviews:

• Charles Bonkowsky reviews The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown.
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Scourge Between Stars by Ness Brown
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway. 
• Russell Letson Reviews Rose/House by Arkady Martine
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Grave Danger by Alice James. 
• John Mauro reviews Witch King by Martha Wells.
  
• Michael Dodd reviews The Keeper's Six by Kate Elliott.
  
• Grimdark Magazine reviews The Malevolent Seven by Sebastien de Castell. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Sword Defiant by Gareth Hanrahan. 
• Bridget Flanagan reviews Bonesmith by Nicki Pau Preto. 
• Marion Deeds reviews King Bullet by Richard Kadrey.
  
• Michael Dodd reviews The Lies of the Ajungo by Moses Ose Utomi
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Bone Shard War by Andrea Stewart. 
• Clara Cohen reviews A Clockwork River by J. S. Emery 
• Lis Carey reviews Lies Sleeping by Ben Aaronovitch.
  
• Becky LeJeune reviews Paradise 1 by David Wellington.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Ruby Finley vs. the Interstellar Invasion by K. Tempest Bradford.
• Alex Brown reviews That Self-Same Metal by Brittany N. Williams 
• Alex Brown reviews To Shape a Dragon’s Breath by Moniquill Blackgoose
  
• Ian Mond reviews Dazzling by Chịkọdịlị Emelụmadụ 
• Lis Carey reviews A House With Good Bones by T. Kingfisher. 
  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Spite House by Johnny Compton
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Poisoner's Ring by Kelley Armstrong. 
  
• Nick Duerden reviews The Ghost Theatre by Mat Osman. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Ghost Goes to the Dogs by Cleo Coyle  
• Chris Kluwe reviews Camp Damascus by Chuck Tingle.
  
• Mark Yon reviews Babel by R.F. Kuang. 
• Ian Mond reviews Flux by Jinwoo Chong 
• Arturo Serrano reviews The Mother by B.L. Blanchard.
  
• Jake Casella Brookins reviews A Brief History of Living Forever by Jaroslav Kalfař  
• Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds review Deadly Memory by David Walton.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Other Side of Never - Dark Tales From The World of Peter And Wendy, edited by Marie O'Regan and Paul Kane
• Runalong the Shelves reviews New Suns 2 - Original Speculative Fiction By People of Colour, edited by Nisi Shawl
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Brian Collins revisits the 1934 Jirel of Joiry sword and sorcery story "Black God's Shadow" by C.L. Moore.
  
• The Cromcast revisits the 1934 Conan sword and sorcery story "Rogues in the House" by Robert E. Howard. 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1949 Eric John Stark sword and planet novella "Enchantress of Venus" by Leigh Brackett.
  
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1953 science fiction story "The Infinities" by Phlip K. Dick and the 1955 science fiction story "Competition" by James Causey. 
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1955 science fiction story "The Golem" by Avram Davidson. 
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1959 science fiction story “The Man Who Lost the Sea” by Theodore Sturgeon
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1966 gothic romance The Secret of Mallet Castle by Clarissa Ross a.k.a. William Ross. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1968 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 fairy tale retelling Beauty by Robin McKinley. 
• Ken Lizzi revisits the 1978 anthology Lin Carter Presents The Year’s Best Fantasy Stories: 4, edited by Lin Carter.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1979 Kardios of Atlantis sword and sorcery story "The Edge of the World" by Manly Wade Wellman. 
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1980 science fiction novel Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. 
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1982 science fiction story "Triceratops" by Kono Tensei.
  
• Young People Read Old SFF revisit the 1985 weird western story "Hong's Bluff" by William F. Wu. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1986 non-fiction collection Microworlds: Writings on Science Fiction and Fantasy by Stanislaw Lem.
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1986 science fiction story “On the Inside Track” by Karl Michael Armer
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the February 1986 issue of White Dwarf. 
• Sam Reader revisits the 1987 horror story "The Reach" by Stephen King.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1995 anthology The Year’s Best Science Fiction, Twelfth Annual Collection, edited by Gardner Dozois. 
  
• Emmet Asher-Perrin revisits the 2002 Discworld fantasy novel Night Watch by Terry Pratchett.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• MV Media is looking for funding for the sword and soul comic Changa and the Jade Obelisk #3. 
• SFF writer and composer David McDonald needs help with moving costs. 
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Locus reports about the 2023 International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts in Orlando, Florida. 
• Locus reports about the 2023 Norwescon in Seattle, Washington.
  
• Mike Glyer reports about a controversy involving the far right BasedCon in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
• Andy Chalk also reports about the controversy surrounding BasedCon. 
• Watch a video of the "Third Row" panel at Conversation, the 2023 Eastercon in Birmingham, UK, featuring John Coxon, Niall Harrison, Emily January and Abigail Nussbaum
• Luke Plunkett shares cosplay photos from the 2023 Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo in Chicago, Illinois.
• Susan de Guardiola reports about the exhibition “Do It Yourself! Self-Publishing from Letterpress to LaserJet”, which includes several fanzines on display, in Cambridge, Massachussetts.
• John O'Neill reports about a visit to DreamHaven Book and Comics in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
  
• Tshepo Mokoena reports about performers pretending to be mer-people for underwater shows and the like.
  
• Inspired by the failure of Disney World's immersive Star Wars themed hotel Galactic Starcruiser, Cass Morris muses how to make a Star Wars themed hotel work.
  

 

Science and technology:

• SciTech Daily reports that the James Webb Space Telescope has uncovered that the universe is even more vast than initially thought.
• Becky Ferreira wonders whether black holes aren't really giant structures made of spacetime.
  
  

Gaming: 

• Michael Baker reviews the video game Wartales.
  
• Justin Carter interviews Patricia Summersett who voices Zelda in the various Legend of Zelda videogames.
• Linda Codega shares ten tabletop games for fans of the Fast & Furious series.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "July 12th Through the Lens" by Lerato Mahlangu in Omenana.
• "All These Ghosts Are Playing to Win" by Lindsey Godfrey Eccles in Uncanny Magazine.
  
• "The Blade's Bargain" by Robert Luke Wilkins in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
  
• "In the Tomb of Melanius" by David Ferguson in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
• "The Whisper of That Blood" by Maria Haskins in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Only Kings and Doves" by M.S. Dean in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
  
• "Pretty Good Neighbor" by Jeffrey Ford in Tor.com. 
• "The Belfry Keeper" by S.L. Harris in Lightspeed. 
• "Blood for a Stranger" by Timothy Mudie in Lightspeed.
  
• "Thank Mother For Your Life" by Mary G. Thompson in Apex Magazine.
  
• "The Twin Paradox" by P.L. Watts in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "The Body Fate" by Avi Burton in Fantasy Magazine.
  
• "The Words Beneath" by Michael Harris Cohen in The Dark.
• "The Fall" by Jordan Chase-Young in Clarkesworld.
  
• "Action at a Distance" by An Hao, translated by Andy Dudak in Clarkesworld.
• "Still Life With Cats" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
• "Ghosts" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.   

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for The Flash. 
• Watch a trailer for Barbie.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Jujutsu Kaisen.
• Watch a trailer for Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.