Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for June 16, 2023

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with a debate about cozy horror, Star Wars in general, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, cinematic multiverses in general, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, The Flash, season 6 of Black Mirror, Asteroid City, Silo, The Blackening, Elemental, the new Little Mermaid, Jurassic Park at thirty, the WGA strike, the Reddit blackout, the debate about AI writing and art, tributes to John Romita Sr., Cormac McCarthy and Treat Williams and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares the best recent science fiction and fantasy books.
• Tor.com shares all the new horror and genre-bending books coming out in June. 
• Kai Ashante Wilson takes a look at the state of queer fantasy and horror and shares a reading list. 
• Molly Odintz lists Latinx horror and crime fiction to check out in 2023. 
  
• Julia Glassman accidentally triggers a debate about cozy horror. 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on the cozy horror controversy.
  
• Camestros Felapton investigates claims that SFF stories with unhappy endings have a hard time getting published and gaining recognition and finds them invalid.
  
• James Davis Nicoll talks about the logistical challenges of superheroes. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF books about intelligent beings who are their own worst enemies.
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five classic science fiction stories about tidally locked planets.
  
• Taiwo Balogun shares twelve books about mermaids, sirens and sea gods. 
• Michele Kirichanskaya explore the allure of the monster lover trope. 
• Lee Weinstein discusses how the figure of the cyclops persists in speculative fiction. 
• Cole Rush lists the five greatest turtles and tortoises in fantasy.
  
• Jeremy P. Bushnell shares soundtracks for four classic supernatural novels. 
• Jeffrey Boakye wonders whether we should dismantle the literary canon. 
• Molly Templeton explains how she learned to stop worrying and ambrace the TBR pile.
  
• J.R.H. Lawless talks about Terry Pratchett and philosophy.
  
• G.W. Thomas takes a look at Gardner F. Fox's sword and sorcery.
  
• Joachim Boaz profiles indigenous science fiction author Russell Bates. 
• Ben Gierhart talks about the queerness of the character Rand al'Thor from The Wheel of Time.
  
• Michael Mewshaw reports about a literary feud between Graham Greene and Anthony Burgess. 
• Locus remembers Rajnar Vajra. 
• South African science fiction author Nick Wood has died aged 62.
  

 

Tributes to Cormac McCarthy:

• Cormac McCarthy, author of The Road, Blood Meridian and No Country For Old Men, has died aged 89. 
• Wade Goodwyn remembers Cormac McCarthy. 
• Rob Doyle remembers Cormac McCarthy.
  
• The Guardian shares tribute to Cormac McCarthy from other writers. 
• Lincoln Michel shares his appreciation for the works of Cormac McCarthy.
  
• Locus remembers Cormac McCarthy. 
• Luke Buckmaster takes a look at the filmic adaptations of Cormac McCarthy's work.
  

 

 Tribute to John Romita Sr.:

• Legendary comic artist John Romita Sr., best remembered for his groundbreaking work on Spider-Man as well as for his work as art director at Marvel Comics, has died aged 96.
• David Barnett remembers John Romita Sr. 
• James Whitbook remembers John Romita Sr. 
• Derrick Bryson Taylor and George Gene Gustines share an obituary for John Romita Sr.
  
• James Whitbrook shares tributes to John Romita Sr. from fellow comic industry professionals.
  

Comics and Art:

• Nicole Goux shares thirteen horror graphic novels to keep you up all night.
• J. Kingston Pierce and Robert Deis share their appreciation for the work of crime and thriller cover artist Ron Lesser.
• Justin Carter reports that DC Comics is relaunching Birds of Prey. 
• Mike Glyer reports about Marvel's New Ultimate Universe line, a relaunch of the Ultimates line from the 2000s.
  
• Battle Ram Blog argues that Jack Kirby's influence on Masters of the Universe is less big than some people believe. 
• Ashley Cullins reports that Disney has settled copyright lawsuits by several former Marvel writers and artists and their estates about various Marvel characters. 
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about the devil finding social media. 
• Comic artist Ian McGinty has died aged 38.
  

 

Film and TV:

• The AV-Club shares the twenty best TV-shows of 2023 to date. 
• Yao Xiao shares her thoughts on American Born Chinese.
  
• Michaele Jordan shares her thoughts on The Batman. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Inland and atmospheric folk horror film. 
• Chitra Ramaswamy calls Count Abdullah a defiantly silly comedy about a Muslim vampire.
  
• Michael Sun calls Run Rabbit Run a derivative horror film. 
• Leslie Felperin calls The Black Demon a daft but fun giant shark movie. 
• Linda Codega calls Nimona hilarious and visionary.
  
• James Wallace Harris shares his thoughts on The Artifice Girl. 
• Ray Greene points out that multiverse stories harm superhero movies. 
• A.A. Dowd explains why cinematic multiverses are destined to fail. 
  
• Pedro Pascal, star of The Mandalorian and The Last of Us, and Steven Yuen, star of The Walking Dead and Beef, interview each other.
  
• Claire Armitstead interviews Claire Denis, director of High Life and Stars at Noon. 
• Michael Hogan interviews Rosamund Pike, star of Die Another Day, Gone Girl and People Who Knew Me.   
• Sabina Graves interviews Sherri Chung, who composed the score for Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai.
  
• Hoai-Tran Bui revisits the 1978 science fiction movie The Cat From Outer Space. 
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1978 revenge of nature film Long Weekend.
  
• Ryan Britt revisits David Lynch's 1984 adaptation of Dune. 
• Justin Carter revisits the 2013 superhero movie Man of Steel.
  
• Devan Coggan looks behind the scenes of the spectacular battle scene in The Rings of Power. 
  
• Stephen Graham Jones talks about indigenous representation in movies and media. 
• Joe Merison shares eight science fiction movies that break their own time travel rules. 
• Luke Y. Thompson lists seventeen movies whose groundbreaking special effects changed filmmaking forever. 
• Nicholas Barber ranks the twenty-five best stunts in cinema.
  
• Marjorie McCown points out that film costume design is a storytelling device. 
  
• Chance Townsend lists every TV show cancelled in 2023 so far.
  
• Josef Adalian and Lane Brown explain that Hollywood's streaming model is broken.
• Matt Donelly interviews Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, CEOs of the Warner Bros Film Group, about the future of the company 
• Andy Swift reports that even though Superman and Lois has been renewed, many regular cast members have had their roles cut.
  
• Valerie Ettenhofer reports that the character of Jaskier will be getting a romance in season 3 of The Witcher.
  
• Juliette Harrison reports about a proposed Lord of the Rings movie in the 1950s that never went into production. 
• Vanessa Thorpe reports that Joseph Fiennes, star of The Handmaid's Tale and Shakespeare in Love, has revealed that Harvey Weinstein tried to bully him into compliance. 
• Jim Cornelius remembers the late actor Ray Stevenson.
  
• Actor Mike Batayeh, who appeared in Breaking Bad, CSI: Miami, X-Men: Days of Future Past and many others, has died aged 52.
  
• Actor and producer Paul Eckstein, who appeared in Star Trek: Voyager, Star Trek Deep Space Nine, Law and Order: Criminal Intent and co-created Godfather of Harlem, has died aged 59.
• Mexican voice actor Rubén Moya, who voiced He-Man among many other iconic characters, has died aged 62. 
  

 

Tributes to Treat Williams:

• Actor Treat Williams, who appeared in Prince of the City, Once Upon a Time in America, Dead Heat, Things To Do in Denver When You're Dead, Blue Bloods, The Phantom, Deep Rising, Chicago Fire, Everwood and many others, has died following a motorcycle crash aged 71
• Ryan Gilbey shares an obituary for Treat Williams.
• Nick Caruso shares Taylor Kinney's tribute to Treat Williams, who played his father in Chicago Fire.
  

 

Comments on Star Wars in general: 

• James Hibberd interviews showrunner Tony Gilroy and the cast of Andor. 
• James Whitbrook reports that Tony Gilroy had to fight for the f-word to be allowed to be uttered in Andor. 
• Fiona Moore shares project management lessons from Rogue One. 
• John Manuel Arias talks about fatherhood and masculinity in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews director James Mangold about his upcoming Star Wars movie.
  
• Ben Child reports that actor Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker, has announced that he is retiring from Star Wars.
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Disney has shares the release schedule for several upcoming Star Wars, Marvel and Avatar movies.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "The Broken Circle", the season 2 premiere of Star Trek Strange New Worlds. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "The Broken Circle".
  
• James Whitbrook shares everything to remember before season 2 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
  
• Paul Levinson hosts a roundtable discussion of season 3 of Star Trek Picard.
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Enterprise episode "E2". 
• Giles Gough praises the character arc of Worf across several incarnations of Star Trek
• io9 interviews Melissa Navia who plays Erica Ortegas in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. 
  

 

Comments on Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse: 

• Richard Roeper declares that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse amazes with its many visually glorious worlds.
  
• Brian Lowry calls Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse a sequel of sensory overload.
  
• Charles Pulliam-Moore praises Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse for how it tackles the controversy that happened when the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man was first introduced.
• Leah Schnelbach asks if Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse can reject the tragic nature of superheroes in general and Spider-Man in particular.
  
• James Whitbrook declares that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse explores Spider-Man's history with cops in messy ways
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw explains how an Easter egg introduced in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse five years ago paid off in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. 
• Linda Codega reports about The Spider Within, a short film that ties into Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
  
• Rebecca Rubin reports that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse has surpassed the total box office of its predecessor in only twelve days.
  

 

Comments on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (spoilers): 

• Arturo Serrano declares that Transformers: Rise of the Beasts hasn't learned the lessons from Bumblebee.
  
• Justin Carter and io9 readers share their thoughts on Transformers: Rise of the Beasts. 
  
• Germain Lussier talks about the ending of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts (spoilers).
• Jordan Moreau interviews Steven Caple Jr. and Lorenzo di Bonaventura, director and producer of Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.
• Nick Romano also interviews Steven Caple Jr. and Lorenzo di Bonaventura. 
• Germain Lussier interviews Steven Caple Jr.
  

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general: 

• Daniel Fienberg calls Secret Invasion a middle Marvel TV series.
  
• Jon Hofferman and Dan Sarto interview special effects creators Guy Williams and Michael Cozens who worked on Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3.  
• Bryan Reesman revisits the 2003 movie Hulk and the 2008 movie The Incredible Hulk.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that actor Tenoch Huerta, who plays Namor the Submariner in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has been accused of being a sexual predator by Mexican musician and actvisit María Elena Ríos.
• Adrian Horton reports that Tenoch Huerta has died the allegations of sexual assault against him. 
• Zach Sharf shares a statement of Tenoch Huerta. 
• Owen Gleiberman calls Stan Lee a documentary that makes the comics look better than the movies. 
  

 

Comments on season 6 of Black Mirror:

• Lucy Mangan calls season 6 of Black Mirror a perversely prescient dystopia.
• Cheryl Eddy lists ten lessons Black Mirror has taught the world so far. 

 

Comments on The Flash: 

• Monita Mohan declares that she found the final season of the TV show The Flash chaotic and underwhelming.
• Germain Lussier interviews Andy Muschietti, director of The Flash movie.
  
• Matt Schimkowitz explains how to prepare for The Flash by watching as few movies as possible. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports about a disrespectful cameo appearance in The Flash that caused a lot of backlash. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports about complaints about the CGI quality in The Flash.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports about the backlash generated by Ezra Miller's appearance at the premiere of The Flash in spite of the many criminal allegations against them as well as Miller's history of mental health issues.
  

 

Comments on Asteroid City: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls Asteroid City an exhilarating triumph of pure style.
  
• Linda Codega calls Asteroid City over-stylized and under-realized
• Murtada Elfadi calls Asteroid City a beautiful but rather empty film with a star-studded cast. 
  
• The Guardian reports that Wes Anderson, director of Asteroid City, is not happy about people making faux film trailers to parody his unique visual style. 
• Samantha Bergeson reports that Wes Anderson continues to support actor Bill Murray following allegations of sexual misconduct and has called Murray "a part of my family".
• Tara Bennett reports that there are Asteroid City themed pop-ups in New York City and Los Angeles, California. 
  

 

Comments on Silo: 

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Silo. 
• Molly Templeton reports that Silo has been renewed for a second season.
  

 

Comments on The Blackening:

• Andrew Lawrence calls The Blackening a whipsmart horror satire. 
• Timothy Cogshell calls The Blackening a slasher satire that slaughters tired tropes.
  

 

Comments on Elemental: 

• Sabina Graves calls Elemental an ambitious animated fantasy romance by Pixar.
  
• Manuel Betancourt calls Elemental an animated film that looks beautiful but doesn't generate much heat.

 

Comments on the new The Little Mermaid: 

• Teresa Jusino points out that the claim that The Little Mermaid underperformed in China and South Korea due to its black lead actress is racist nonsense.
  

 

Comments on Jurassic Park at thirty: 

• Scott Tobias revisits the 1993 dinosaur movie Jurassic Park for its thirtieth anniversary. 
• Justin Carter that thirty years later, Jurassic Park still stands tall.
  

 

Comments on the strike of the Writers Guild of America:

• Brian Welk explains the state of the negotiations of the actors guild SAG-AFTRA and the likelihood of a strike.
• Steven Barnes and Tananarive Due weigh in on the WGA strike. 
• Elsa Keslassy, K.J. Yossman and Manori Ravindran report about marches in support of the WGA strike around the world.   
  
• Germain Lussier reports that Daredevil: Born Again and The Penguin are stopping production due to the WGA strike.
  

 

Awards:

• The winners of the 2023 ESFS Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Lambda Literary Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2022 Coyotl Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Colorado Book Awards have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2023 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Book Writing have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2023 Russ Manning Promising Newcomer Award have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Jim Duggins, PhD Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize have been announced
• The shortlist for the 2023 Michael Knost Wings Award has been announced. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Hugo voting is expected to open at the end of June.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Siena Sterling reports how being wrongfully accused of plagiarism at age ten helped her become a writer. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about how changes to the distribution system affect writers and the publishing industry.
  
• Editor Rob Carroll has announced that Dark Matter Magazine is closing.
• The Washington Post speaks out against retroactive edits of older books to update them for modern sensibilities.
  
• Peter Walker reports that author Sathnam Sanghera has stopped doing public events because he's experiencing abuse over his book Empireland.
• Sarah Shaffi reports that Elizabeth Gilbert has pulled her new novel The Snow Forest from publication following a backlash because the novel is set in Russia in Soviet times, which makes it somehow offensive to Ukrainians. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that Elizabeth Gilbert's decision was the result of a review bombing of the still unreleased The Snow Forest on Goodreads
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy: 

• Linda Codega points out that scraping AO3 and other fanfiction site to create the Large Language Models that are the basis of AI writing tools like ChatGPT is a gross violation of the norms of fanfiction culture.
• Carl Franzen notes that as AI-generated content proliferates on the internet, AI programs may eventually collapse due to a feedback loop to no one's regret. 
• The SFWA has issued a statement on the use of AI. 
• Kevin Hurler reports that Google has ordered its employees not to enter sensitive data into its own AI chatbot Bard.
  
• Technomancer.ai reports that Japan has decided that copyright laws do not protect works from being used as AI training data.
  

 

Interviews:

• Alexander Glass interviews Michael Moorcock.
  
• Grimdark Magazine interviews Sebastien de Castell. 
• Locus interviews Connie Willis.
  
• Paul Weimer interviews Stephen Aryan. 
• Fantasy Magazine interviews Melissa A. Watkins.
  
• D.M. Ritzlin interviews M. Stern.
  

 

Reviews:

• Liz Bourke reviews Translation State by Ann Leckie.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Witch King by Martha Wells. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Mountain In The Sea by Ray Nayler
  
• Bill Capossere reviews Val Hall: The Odd Years by Alma Alexander
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Perilous Times by Thomas D. Lee. 
  
• Rob Bedford reviews Dragonfall by L.R. Lam. 
• John Mauro reviews Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson.
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix 
• Publishers Weekly reviews The Navigating Fox by Christopher Rowe.
  
• Judith Tarr reviews Mated to the Meerkat by Lia Silver. 
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Lost in the Moment and Found by Seanan McGuire
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Mutant Pride by S.J. Whitby.
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel 
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Morgan Is My Name by Sophie Keetch
  
• Molly Templeton reviews The Library of Broken Worlds by Alaya Dawn Johnson.
  
• Adri Joy reviews The Book of Gems by Fran Wilde. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron 
• Kat Hooper reviews The Jupiter Knife by D.J. Butler and Aaron Michael Ritchey
• Vanessa Armstrong reviews The Ferryman by Justin Cronin.
  
• Sally Berrow reviews Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. 
• Maura Krause reviews Court of the Undying Seasons by A.M. Strickland
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews The Shadow Cabinet by Juno Dawson
• Charles Bukovsky reviews The Will of the Many by James Islington.
  
• John Mauro reviews A Prelude to Ashes by Thiago Abdalla 
  
• John Mauro reviews The Combat Codes by Alexander Darwin
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Way Home by Peter S. Beagle  
  
• Clara Cohen reviews Mordew by Alex Pheby. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The Haunting of Alejandra by V. Castro
  
• Angela Slatter reviews Don’t Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones 
• Catriona Ward reviews Whether Violent or Natural by Natasha Calder
• Sarah McCarry reviews Ascension by Nicholas Binge. 
  
• Robin Marx reviews Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede. 
• Ian Mond reviews Hospital by Han Song, translated by Michael Berry.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Chinese Myths - From Cosmology And Folklore To Gods And Monsters by Xueting C. Ni
• Bill Capossere reviews For the Love of Mars: A Human History of the Red Planet by Matthew Shindell

 

Classics reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1912 supernatural novel Possessed by G. Firth Scott. 
• Marion Deeds revisits the 1915 feminist utopian novel Herland by Charlotte Perkin Gilman.
  
• G.W. Thomas revisits the 1920 paranormal mystery collection Shiela Crerar, Psychic Detective by Ella M. Scrymsour.
• The Cromcast revisits the 1934 Conan sword and sorcery story Iron Shadows in the Moon.
  
• Warner Holme revisits the 1945 fable Animal Farm by George Orwell.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1958 time travel story "The Men Who Murdered Mohammed" by Alfred Bester.
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1959 science fiction story "The Blind Pilot" by Nathalie Charles Henneberg. 
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1959 cosmic horror story "The Shuttered Room" by H.P. Lovecraft and August Derleth.
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the July 1968 issue of Galaxy. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1968 science fiction novel A Piece of Martin Cann by Laurence M. Janifer, Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1968 fantasy novel Of Men and Monsters by William Tenn, Blue Cathey-Thiele revisit the 1968 science fiction novel The Stoll, Small Voice of Trumpets by Lloyd Biggle, Lorelei Marcus revisits the 1968 fantasy novel The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle, 
  
• Greg O'Driscoll revisits the 1969 Brak sword and sorcery adventure Brak the Barbarian Versus the Mark of the Demons by John Jakes.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1970 science fantasy novel Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1981 time travel novella Time Safari by David Drake.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the May 1986 issue of White Dwarf. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1991 adventure novel Indiana Jones and the Peril at Delphi by Rob McGregor. 
• Alissa Burger revisits the 1994 YA horror novel The Dead Lifeguard and the 1997 YA horror novel High Tide, both by R.L. Stine.

 

Crowdfunding:

• The Good, The Bad, & The Uncanny: Tales of the Weird West, an anthology edited by Jonathan Maberry, is looking for funding.
• Back 2 OmniPark, a horror anthology edited by Ben Thomas and Alicia Hilton, is looking for funding.
  
• Strange Horizons has launched its annual fund drive to keep the magazine running in 2024.
  
• Season 2 of the horror audio drama Afflicted: The Bell Witch Returns is looking for funding.
• The indie publisher Space Wizard Science Fantasy is looking for funding for its next year of operations.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Arley Sorg reports about the 2023 Nebula Conference in Anaheim, California.
  
• Jonathan Cowie reports about the 2023 Sci-Fi London Film Fest in London, UK. 
• The Chengdu Worldcon reports about the 2023 Chengdu World Science Fiction Convention Global Brand Conference in Chengdu, China.
  
• Arifa Akbar reports about the musical adaptation of Groundhog Day by Tim Minchin, which is currently playing in London, UK.
• Peter Kujawinski reports about Belles & Chimes, a pinball league for women in Chicago, Illinois.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Passant Rabie reports that the cubesat MANTIS will soon support the James Webb Space Telescope in its exploration of the cosmos. 
• Ian Crawford reports that telescopes on the Moon are moving into the realm of possibility.
  
• Michelle Starr explains why NASA did not want its astronauts to use pencils in space. 
• Kiona Smith reports that a supernova in the so-called Pinwheel Galaxy might provide a chance to receive messages from aliens.
  
• Big Old Boats shares a video about the sinking of the MV München due a rogue wave in 1978
• Dhruv Mehrotra reports that a court ordered an surveillance app named Covenant Eyes installed on all phones and computers of a family as part of probation conditions and that the father had his probation revoked due to a glitch.
• Elizabeth Gamillo reports that paleontologists have discovered the remains of a new prehistoric giant rhinoceros in China. 
  
  

Comments on the Reddit blackout:

• Matt Binder reports why the high prices for access to Twitter and Reddit's API are bad news for internet users. 
• Luke Plunkett reports about the Reddit blackout to protest unpopular changes to Reddit's API policy. 
• Kevin Hurler also reports about the Reddit blackout. 
• Miles Sato and Jay Peters report about a leaked memo from the CEO of Reddit assuming that the outrage over Reddit's API plans would pass. 
• Jody Serrano reports that many subreddits are planning an indefinite blackout in response to the leaked memo.
  

 

Gaming: 

• Keza MacDonald and Keith Stuart share the best video games of 2023 so far.
  
• James Whitbrook lists the trailer for all the new science fiction, fantasy and horror games unveiled at Summer Games Fest 2023.
  
• Linda Codega lists sixteen tabletop RPGs with Legends of Zelda vibes. 
• Nic Reuben declares that Diablo IV offers a hell of a good time. 
• Joe DelFranco reviews the video game Horizon Call of the Mountain 
  
• Kenneth Shepard reports about the Phantom Liberty expansion to Cyberpunk 2077.
  
• Patricia Hernandez offers a look at the new spacefaring RPG Starfield. 
• Paul Tassi isn't quite sure how Starfield can exist.
  
• Molly Templeton reports about the upcoming Star Wars Outlaws video game. 
• Germain Lussier wishes he could play Star Wars outlaws right now. 
• James Whitbrook reports that the gaming company Embracer Group who purchased the rights to Lord of the Rings is planning massive lay offs.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

•  Iain Delaney reviews the Staff of Ra Headpiece Indiana Jones toy.
• James Whitbrook shares photos of the upcoming Heat Boys Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles HB0012 Leonardo robot action figure. 
• Andrew Liszewski shares photos of a new Lego set based on the movie Hocus Pocus. 
• Dad-at-Arms interviews Jeremy Sniatecki and Barry Eldridge of Factory Entertainment who produce replicas of fantasy weapons.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "The Bog Witch of Dirk-au-fen" ​by Vincent Wolfram in Swords and Sorcery Magazine
• "Bog Girls" by Maureen O'Leary in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Matchstick Girl" by Lucas Santana, translated by H. Pueyo, in The Dark.
• "Left at the Altar" by Lindsey Duncan in Luna Station Quarterly.
  
• "Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon" by Angela Liu in Clarkesworld.
• "Day Ten Thousand" by Isabel J. Kim in Clarkesworld.
• "Jaywalk the Stars" by Elad Haber in Lightspeed.
• "And the Fields Below" by Sarah Grey in Lightspeed.
  
• "Four Steps To Hunt a God" by Athat Firky in Strange Horizons.
  
• "Colors of the Sea" by Katherine Nabity in Strange Horizons. 
• "A World Unto Myself" by P.A. Cornell in Apex Magazine. 
• "Hausferatu" by Chris Willrich in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Spinning Shadow" by Margaret Ronald in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "An Incomplete Catalog of the Birds of New York" by Victor Manibo in The Sunday Morning Transport. 
• "Eat" by Melissa A. Watkins in Fantasy Magazine. 
• "June Sixteenth at Anna's" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
• "Memoria" by Steve Rasnic Tem in The Deadlands.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Foundation.
  
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of The Witcher.
• Watch a trailer for Babylon 5: The Road Home.
  
• Watch a trailer for Skull Island. 
• Watch a trailer for season 5 of What We Do In the Shadows.
  
• Watch a trailer for Landscape With Invisible Hand. 
• Watch a trailer for They Cloned Tyrone.
  
• Watch a trailer for Elio.
  
• Watch a trailer fro Carl's Date. 
• Watch a trailer for Nimona.
  
• Watch a trailer for Enter the Clones of Bruce. 
• Watch a trailer for Stan Lee.