Since Francis Fukuyama is apparently feminising and anthropomorphising ChatGPT now, here's a long essay I wrote this year about why that's a very bad idea: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

It was the only place I could find to stream The Stepford Wives when I was working on the AI girlfriends essay. Crazy.

My review of Like Shards of Rainbow Frolicking in the Air by L. Timmel Duchamp is now live at Strange Horizons! I liked this collection a lot: amusing and strange meditations on gender and utopia. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Also, my essay "Neither Girls Nor Friends: the Artificial Woman in American Science Fiction" is on @strangehorizons.bsky.social's list of award-eligible works for 2025! I'm proud of this essay, and honoured to be included among so much fantastic criticism. strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

It's a good'un. Click through.

It's always a good Monday when it's a Will Shaw review Monday ... especially so when it's of a book from Aqueduct.

Also, my essay "Neither Girls Nor Friends: the Artificial Woman in American Science Fiction" is on @strangehorizons.bsky.social's list of award-eligible works for 2025! I'm proud of this essay, and honoured to be included among so much fantastic criticism. strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

My review of Like Shards of Rainbow Frolicking in the Air by L. Timmel Duchamp is now live at Strange Horizons! I liked this collection a lot: amusing and strange meditations on gender and utopia. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

I will stop plugging this essay when it stops being relevant. Find out about the history of the "AI Lover" as a science fictional concept, and the troubling history of the fantasy tech bros want to sell us: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

In which I talk Lester del Rey, Chan Davis, Ira Levin, Sylvia Plath, Rachel Ingalls, Sierra Greer, and... Cliff Richard. Also, tradwives! Find out what they all have in common: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

This is a very good story: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

This is a good story: inner-worlds.ghost.io/inner-worlds...

My short story, 'Commuter Special,' was just published in Hawthorn and Ash! Check it out over here: ironfaeriepublishing.com/2025/10/06/h...

Uncertain Sons and Other Stories by Thomas Ha reviewed by William Shaw Will This Be A Problem? The Anthology: Issue V edited by Olivia Kidula & Somto Ihezue reviewed by Amritesh Mukherjee Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake reviewed by Subham Rai Link to latest issue in bio! #bookreviews

Very thoughtful, comprehensive review, diving into some older more conventional stories, discussing more recent slippery ones, and pulling in researched interview quotes. Wow. Really enjoyed reading this one. Thanks, @williamshaw.bsky.social.

It's UNCERTAIN SONS and @thomasha.bsky.social all the time now. Apologies, but reviews are dropping. Please check out this fab one from @williamshaw.bsky.social at Strange Horizons. bit.ly/41TpG7l

That @williamshaw.bsky.social is back at @strangehorizons.bsky.social, talking Thomas Ha’s debut short story collection from @undertow.bsky.social - and whatever weird fiction might be. “Ha’s current slippery and enigmatic style,” Will shows us, “emerges from a firm grasp of genre fundamentals.”

My review of Uncertain Sons by Thomas Ha is now live at Strange Horizons! I really enjoyed this collection; it will probably end up as one of my favourite books of the year. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

My short story, 'Children Singing,' is now free to read on the Iron Faerie Publishing website! Check it out over here: ironfaeriepublishing.com/2025/09/01/h...

Minizine bundle here: itch.io/s/158108/min... Stories by Miranda Jensen and @williamshaw.bsky.social.

After last week's issue of @samovarmag.bsky.social, we're back to a regular @strangehorizons.bsky.social week ... which means reviews! Tip: always read @williamshaw.bsky.social. Here he is on Debbie Urbanski's Portalmania: "metafictionality allows Urbanski to turn ambivalence ... into ... horror."

My review of Portalmania by Debbie Urbanski is now live at Strange Horizons. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

My review of There's Nothing Left For You Here by Allegra Solomon is now live on my blog. I really enjoyed this book, and I think it deserves more coverage. You can read my review over here: williamshawwriter.wordpress.com/2025/07/30/r...

My poem, 'When Shall We Three Meet Again?' has just been published in the anthology Gathered Here Today from @gravesidepress.bsky.social! I'm very pleased with how this poem turned out. You can check out the book over here: gsp-shop.fourthwall.com/products/gat...

I will stop plugging this essay when it stops being relevant. Find out about the history of the "AI Lover" as a science fictional concept, and the troubling history of the fantasy tech bros want to sell us: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Remember, kids, neither girls nor friends. It's dangerous to sell the idea that your partner shouldn't have any needs of her own. strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

The weirdness of this sci-fi was why I was immediately interested in publishing this story. The Pink Hydra exists for work that sits on the edge of today's publishing ecosystem: too sexy, too queer, too thoughtful or strange, etc. Get William's story here: linktr.ee/sosn_no1

My short story, "The Universe’s Best Erotic Writing, Volume 1: A Book Review by Ian Harrison" is now available in the July edition of The Pink Hydra Minizine. Check it out over here: thepinkhydra.itch.io/something-ol...

The weirdness of this sci-fi was why I was immediately interested in publishing this story. The Pink Hydra exists for work that sits on the edge of today's publishing ecosystem: too sexy, too queer, too thoughtful or strange, etc. Get William's story here: linktr.ee/sosn_no1

Really excited for people to read this story; for a long time I thought it was just too odd to get published. Emmylou has been fabulous to work with, and The Pink Hydra is a delightful venue. I couldn't be happier to be working with them.

My review of The Hampdenshire Wonder by J.D. Beresford is now live at Strange Horizons! This was a book I read casually, then dropped everything to review because it just felt too perfect, too much of this moment, not to. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Soooo.... let's try that again. The first issue of our minizine, featuring short fiction by @williamshaw.bsky.social is on pre-order on itch for 19% off! Racy painting from 1915 at the link: 🥵 thepinkhydra.itch.io/something-ol...

Here's the last of your @strangehorizons.bsky.social reviews for the week, from the pin-sharp @williamshaw.bsky.social. On another of the always interesting Radium Age reissues, The Hampdenshire Wonder - a novel "about a family torn apart by a juvenile man’s disappointment and neglect."

Annie Bot has just won the Arthur C. Clarke Award! In my essay "Neither Girls Nor Friends," I read Annie Bot alongside previous examples of fictional "AI Girlfriends" including Helen O'Loy and The Stepford Wives. You can read that over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

I have a joke about the Twelfth Doctor which is also a joke about Clara Oswald. Like a hybrid.

I have a joke about the Invasion of Time, but OH MY GOD WHERE DID THESE SONTARANS COME FROM LOOK OUT FOR THAT POOL CHAIR

Annie Bot has just won the Arthur C. Clarke Award! In my essay "Neither Girls Nor Friends," I read Annie Bot alongside previous examples of fictional "AI Girlfriends" including Helen O'Loy and The Stepford Wives. You can read that over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

This is a good story: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/fi...

Re-upping my essay about "AI girlfriends" and the roots of this fantasy in American science fiction. Contains The Stepford Wives, Annie Bot, "Helen O'Loy" and some surprising extra texts. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Link found via @williamshaw.bsky.social's very interesting essay in @strangehorizons.bsky.social. Support the SH fund drive! strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

Re-upping my essay about "AI girlfriends" and the roots of this fantasy in American science fiction. Contains The Stepford Wives, Annie Bot, "Helen O'Loy" and some surprising extra texts. Check it out over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

I wrote a long essay about the history of AI girlfriends in American science fiction. It contains "Helen O'Loy," The Stepford Wives, Sylvia Plath, and Cliff Richard for some reason. You can read it over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

My review of Be Gay, Do Crime: Sixteen Stories of Queer Chaos is now live on my blog! Check it out over here: williamshawwriter.wordpress.com/2025/06/03/r...

This was a great read and incredibly useful for anyone thinking about AI and companionship.

I'm very proud of this long essay I wrote about AI girlfriends and why they're a very bad idea. Check it out over here!

For this week’s @strangehorizons.bsky.social issue, it was a pleasure to co-edit this really wonderful essay by Will Shaw: “Neither Girls nor Friends: the Artificial Woman in American Science Fiction” — strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

In which I talk Lester del Rey, Chan Davis, Ira Levin, Sylvia Plath, Rachel Ingalls, Sierra Greer, and... Cliff Richard. Also, tradwives! Find out what they all have in common: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...

I'm very proud of this long essay I wrote about AI girlfriends and why they're a very bad idea. Check it out over here!

Neither Girls Nor Friends: the Artificial Woman in American Science Fiction by William Shaw @williamshaw.bsky.social "Like a lot of people, I found myself snagged on the poetry of one phrase in particular: “AI girlfriends are neither girls nor friends." Read at the link to the issue in our bio!

I wrote a long essay about the history of AI girlfriends in American science fiction. It contains "Helen O'Loy," The Stepford Wives, Sylvia Plath, and Cliff Richard for some reason. You can read it over here: strangehorizons.com/wordpress/no...