Though not publishing until September, the Campbell, Xingyun, and Neukom Award winning-author Lavie Tidhar’s latest science fiction novel THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE WORLD, The Speculative Shelf shared their thoughts on the book. lizziethe reader’s Weekly Bookish Question #327 (March 5th – March 11th) answer to this week’s query (Have you ever read a book that had a unique or intriguing combination of genres? What was it? (follow-up: are there any genre combinations that you think would be super interesting?)) is THE ESCAPEMENT. On his personal site, Tidhar announces the new Tidhar-written short film Welcome to your A. I. Future, directed by Nir Yaniv.

Reading a new Lavie Tidhar novel is always a treat. You can count on engaging prose paired with an inventive story and THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF THE WORLD certainly fits that bill.

The Speculative Shelf

My shout-out today, though, is THE ESCAPEMENT by Lavie Tidhar. It is:

a western
a quest fantasy
a portal fantasy
a literary novel about a man grieving his son
a dreamscape
and every element of world-building that isn’t pulled from Wild West tropes is drawn from circus and stage magic history.

lizziethe reader’s Weekly Bookish Question #327

What do you do when artificial intelligence starts taking over your life? Should you fear these new technologies, or should you embrace them? With the rise of ChatGPT, MidJourney and their cousins, it can feel like A.I. is taking over the world. What place is there still for the human creative spark? And can we learn to live with, or must we fight against these new creations?

With more questions than answers, the creative team of award-winning writer Lavie Tidhar (Central Station, Neom) and animator Nir Yaniv (LiftOff, The Voice Remains) decided to tackle the question by making a movie about A.I. while using it. Because what if the new machines just want to help? What could possibly go wrong?

Welcome to your A.I. future!

Lavie Tidhar