Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for July 7, 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 Hugo Award finalists, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general, Secet Invasion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, season 3 of The Witcher-Man, Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, season 1 of Silo, Barbie, Ruby Gillman Teenage Kraken, the debate about AI writing and art and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Cheryl Eddy lists 63 science fiction, fantasy and horror books coming out in July 2023. 
• Alex Brown lists all the new YA SFF coming out in July and August 2023.
  
• Jaya Padmanabhan talks about current trends in Indian science fiction.
  
• Helen de Cruz talks about cosmic horror and the philosophical origins of science fiction. 
• Emmet Asher-Perrin points out that the Robin Hood legend we know today is quite different from the original version. 
  
• Sapphire Lazuli discusses the refusal of gender roles in Robert E. Howard's "Sword Woman".
• Marion Deeds shares her appreciation for the Jirel of Joiry stories by C.L. Moore.  
• A.M. Gelberg talks about family, identity and community in the Percy Jackson novels by Rick Riordan. 
  
• Camestros Felapton wonders about the popularity of The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five reasons to finish a book you don't love. 
• Molly Templeton talks about loving books no one else has heard of.
  
• Julian Lucas profiles Samuel R. Delany.  
  
• Anna Arthur talks about the latters her father-in-law David Cornwell a.k.a. John Le Carré wrote to her late husband Tim Cornwell, son of John Le Carré and brother of Nick Cornwell a.k.a. Nick Harkaway. 
  
• Jacob Ward and Lora Kolodny report about the ongoing harrassment of science fiction author Patrick S. Tomlinson.
  

Comics and Art:

• Mattie Lubchansky explains why some stories need to be comics.
  
• Hephzibah Anderson interviews cartoonist Alison Bechdel. 
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about an unusual method to make writers finish their novels.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Tom Huddleston and Matthew Singer share their fifty favourite fantasy movies of all time. 
• Arturo Serrano calls Asteroid City a heavy-hitting story that lays bare the scaffolding of narration.
  
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
• Justin Carter calls the animated superhero movie My Adventures with Superman an endearingly fun love story
• Molly Templeton calls Nimona a dazzling and affecting animated film. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Smoking Causes Coughing a refreshingly immature superhero comedy.
  
• Joel Golby calls The Horror of Dolores Roach a hugely fun drama about turning dead people into empanadas 
  
• Cath Clarke calls The Breach an implausible retro-style horror film. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1968 dystopian movie Wild in the Streets. 
• Mark Yon revisits the 1968 science fiction movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
  
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1996 horror comedy Uncle Sam.
  
• io9 interviews Rainn Wilson, star of Galaxy Quest and Star Trek Discovery, about turning the Fafhrd and Gray Mouser stories by Fritz Leiber into a TV show or movie. 
• Ben Travis interviews Robert Eggers, director of The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman and Nosferatu. 
• io9 interviews John Boyega, star of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, Pacific Rim II, They Cloned Tyrone and Attack the Block.
  
• Sian Cain interviews Henry Thomas, who played Elliott in E.T. - The Extraterrestrial. 
• Rich Pelley interviews Britt Ekland, star of Get Carter, The Man with the Golden Gun, The Wicker Man, The Night They Raided Minsky's and many others. 
  
• Gwilym Mumford wonders whether the TV streaming movel is broken. 
• Robert Mann reports that Disney has pulled the science fiction movie Crater from Disney Plus after only seven weeks.
  
• Stuart Heritage explains why TV stars increasingly film their scenes alone in front of a green screen rather than with their co-stars on set. 
• Linda Codega reports that the actors union SAG-AFTRA is preparing to strike.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, the cancellation of Star Trek Prodigy and Star Trek in general:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow", the latest episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow".
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on "Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow". 
• io9 interviews Cecilia Rose Gooding who plays Nyota Uhura in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
  
• Witney Seibold reports about a conflict between creator Gene Roddenberry and actors William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy on the set of the original Star Trek. 
  

 

Comments on Secret Invasion and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general (spoilers): 

• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Betrayed", the latest episode of Secret Invasion. 
• Sam Barsanti shares his thoughts on "Betrayed". 
• Linda Codega shares her thoughts on "Batrayed". 
• Andy Welch shares his thoughts on "Betrayed".
  
• Jarrod Jones explains how Secret Invasion changes the Skrulls' place in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
  
• Brian Davids interviews Ali Selim, director of Secret Invasion.
  

 

Comments on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (spoilers): 

• Leonard Maltin did not have high expectations for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny and still came away disappointed. 
• Olivia Rutigliano calls Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny a rousing and genuinely entertaining return.
  
• Steve Vertlieb shares his thoughts on Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, 
• Germain Lussier breaks down the ending of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (spoilers). 
• Germain Lussier praises how Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny uses a scene of children watching a puppet show to set up its finale. 
  
• Mary McNamara profiles Harrison Ford, star of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
• Brian Davids interviews James Mangold, director of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. 
• Lauren Huff also interviews James Mangold.
  
• Elizabeth Wagmeister interviews Shaunette Renée Wilson who plays Agent Mason in Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.
• Pamela McClintock reports that Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny performed only middling at the box office. 
• Andrew Pulver also reports about the struggles of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny at the US and international box office.
  

 

Comments on season 3 of The Witcher: 

• Jack Seale praises Henry Cavill's performance as Geralt of Rivia in season 3 of The Witcher, but feels that the show is strong enough to survive without him.
• Jen Lennon finds that Netflix split season 3 of The Witcher at an awkward point. 
• James Whitbrook reports about a rather bizarre advertising campaign for season 3 of The Witcher.
  

 

Comments on season 1 of Silo:

• Aaron Jones calls Silo a must-see dystopian series.
  
• Haley Zapal shares her thoughts on season 1 of Silo.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Silo.
  

 

Comments on Barbie: 

• Brian Hiatt interviews Greta Gerwig, director of Barbie.
  
• The Guardian reports that Barbie has been preemptively banned in Vietnam because of a map in the background showing some disputed islands in the South China Seas as being part of China.
• Peter Bradshaw points out that more movies based on Mattel toys are planned after Barbie. 
  
• Germain Lussier wonders which other Mattel toys might be turned into a movie following Barbie. 
• Stuart Heritage wonders what a potential Hot Wheels movie might look like.
  

 

Comments on Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken: 

• Arturo Serrano calls Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken an uninspired puree of better animated films.
  
• Victoria Davis discusses some of the challenges of animating Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken.
  

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2023 Hugo Award have been announced at last.
  
• The shortlist for the 2023 Manly Wade Wellman Award has been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2023 Utopia Award have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 Premio Ignotus have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2023 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2023 Harryhausen Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2023 ADCI Literary Prize has been announced.
• Camestros Felapton takes a look at the sources of Hugo winning short fiction over time.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Mark Billingham talks about the challenges of starting a brand-new series. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch discusses some benefits of niche marketing.
  
• Martin Edwards interviews bookseller Stephen Conway.
  
• The US Federal Trade Commission has announced that they will ban fake reviews.
• Literary agent Frances Collin has died aged 87.
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy: 

• Jason Sanford explains why it is problematic to call machine learning programs like ChatGPT, DALL-E or MidJourney artificial intelligences, because they are not intelligent. 
• Evgeny Morozov shares what he consideres the true threat of artificial intelligence.
  
• Winston Cho reports that authors have launched a new class action lawsuit against OpenAI for using copyrighted works without permission or compensation as training data for its large language model.
• Ella Creamer reports that authors Mona Awad and Paul Tremblay have filed a lawsuit against OpenAI for copyright violations.
  

 

Interviews:

• Dominic Noble interviews George R.R. Martin.
  
• Arley Sorg interviews Aimee Ogden.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews Jordan Kurella. 
• It's Jan interviews Brian Murphy. 
• Delia Cai interviews Ted Chiang.
  
• Fabienne Schwizer interviews Emily H. Wilson. 
• Paul Weimer interviews C.J. Leede.
  
• Arley Sorg interviews Yukimi Ogawa. 
• Laurel Amberdine interviews J.B. Park. 
  
• Catherine Hagey interviews Jan Stinchcomb.
• D.M. Ritzlin interviews Christopher D. Schmitz. 
  

 

Reviews:

• David M. Higgins reviews Translation State by Ann Leckie.
  
• Tzer Island reviews The Road to Roswell by Connie Willis
• Michael R. Brown reviews Doc Vandal: The Ziggurat of Doom by Dave Robinson. 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Cleaving by Juliet E. McKenna 
• Mary Picken reviews One by Eve C. Smith.  
• Em Nordling reviews Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews Inanna by Emily H. Wilson.
  
• Marlene Harris reviews Cassandra in Reverse by Holly Smale. 
• Alex Brown reviews The Severed Thread by Leslie Vedder
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker 
  
• John Mauro reviews The Pyres of Vengeance by N.C. Koussis
• Bill Capossere reviews Blade of Dream by Daniel Abraham
  
• Marlene Harris reviews War Cry by Brian McClellen.
• Robin Marx reviews Boys in the Valley by Philip Fracassi
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Shadow Dancers of Brixton Hill by Nicole Willson 
• Colleen Mondor reviews Into the Light by Mark Oshiro 
• Tobias Carroll reviews The Light at the End of the World by Siddhartha Deb
  
• Caren Gussoff Sumption reviews The Wick by Julianna Baggott 
• Rob Bedford reviews Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews All These Worlds: Reviews & Essays by Niall Harrison 
• Eugen M. Bacon Reviews Ex Marginalia: Essays from the Edges of Speculative Fiction, edited by Chinelo Onwualu.
• Runalong the Shelves reviews My Life In Horror - Volume 2 by Kit Power
  

 

Classics reviews:

• Carrie Sessarego revisits the 1666 proto science fiction novel The Description of a New World, Called the Blazing-World by Margaret Cavendish.
  
• Sophie Litherland revisits the 1938 horror story "Lynne Foster is Dead!" by Seabury Quinn. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1953 science fiction crime story "Watchbird" by Robert Sheckley.
  
• Leonid West revisits the 1958 horror story “Celui qui suscitait l’effroi…” (“That Which Arouses Fear…”) by Jacques Janus.
• James Davis Nicoll reviews the 1960 anthology The Year's Best S-F: 5th Annual Edition, edited by Judith Merril. 
  
• G.W. Thomas revisits the 1961 ghost story "Haunted Hall" by Donald Honig. 
• David D. Levine revisits the 1962 science fiction fix-up novel Hospital Station by James White.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1963 satirical science fiction novel Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1965 science fiction story "A Sign in Space" by Italo Calvino.
• David Levinson revisits the August 1968 issue of If - Worlds of Science Fiction.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1971 science fiction story "Inconstant Moon" by Larry Niven. 
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1971 science fiction novel Mission: Manstop by Kris Neville.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1972 science fiction story "The Gold at Starbow's End" by Frederik Pohl. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 SFF collection Limits by Larry Niven.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the July 1986 issue of White Dwarf.  
• James Tivendale revisits the 1999 Malazan epic fantasy novel Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Uncanny Magazine is looking for funding to finance its tenth year in business.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• Helen Li reports that the 2023 Anime Expo in Los Angeles, California, coincides with a hotel worker strike.
  
• Todd Martens shares his thoughts on Rogers: The Musical which is currently playing at Disney's California Adventure in Anaheim, California.
• Sabina Graves shares a slideshow of Rogers: The Musical.
  
• Sabina Graves interviews Amy Benson, Jonathan Moshfegh and David Nguyen who created Marvel and Star Wars inspired food for the US Disney Parks.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Ian Sample reports that astronomers have observed time dilation in the early universe.
  
• Ned Carter Miles reports that scientists of the University of Massachusetts have accidentally discovered a way to generate renewable power from humid air, albeit on a very small scale for now.  
  

 

Gaming: 

• Michael Baker shares his impressions of Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader.
• Wesley Yin-Poole reports that Baldur's Gate III will take approximately 75 to 100 hours to play.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Ian Delaney reviews the replica Batman Utility Belt by NECA. 
• Cat Eldridge reviews the Folkmanis Mini Collared Lizard Finger Puppet 
• For Eternia reviews the Masters of the Universe Masterverse Prince Adam, Clamp Champ and Horde Skeletor.
  
• Cora Buhlert shares a Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre toy photo story called "Artistic License".
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak" by Sam J. Miller in The Dark.
• "Cheaper to Replace" by Marie Vibbert in Clarkesworld.
• "Death and Redemption, Somewhere Near Tuba City" by Lou J. Berger in Clarkesworld.
• " Six Months After All Life on Titan Died" by J.B. Park in Lightspeed.
• "Monsters of the Drunken Shore" by Nic Anstett in Lightspeed.
  
• "Matthew and the Dragon" by Em Harriett in Swords and Sorcery Magazine. 
• "The Monster Fucker Club" by A.V. Greene in Apex Magazine.
  
• "My Little Time Demon" by Moses Ose Utomi in The Sunday Morning Transport.
• "Fisher Witch" by Josh Pearce in Pyre Magazine.
  
• "The World is Ending Tomorrow" by Kimberly Terasaki in Fantasy Magazine. 
• "Sell Your Trauma For Salvation" by Isha Karki in Nightmare Magazine. 
• "Coming Home" by Kit Campbell in Wyldblood.
  
• "Tracks" by Elizabeth Guilt in Luna Station Quarterly.
•  "The Big Four v. ORWELL" by Jeff Hewitt in Slate Future Tense.
• "Track 61" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Suicide Squad Isekai.
• Watch a trailer for The Nun II.