Dan McNeil

29 Nov 2024

You can find a selection of my fiction, reviews and art at linktr.ee/DanMcNeil and www.dan-mcneil.com

My story collection FOCAL BOMB is coming soon.

dan-mcneil.comUsurper - Dan McNeil - The McNeil VariationsD. Harlan Wilson | 2026 Ostensibly, D. Harlan Wilson’s Usurper concerns Caliban Ogg’s attempt to film a version of Joyce’s Ulysses while escaping the long shadow of his hideous father. But that premis...

My review of USURPER by @dharlanwilson.bsky.social www.dan-mcneil.com/usurper/

Dan McNeil reposted

D. Harlan Wilson

@dharlanwilson.bsky.social

8 Sept

PUBLICATION DAY Today is the official publication of THE AUTO/BIOGRAPHIES OF PHILIP K. DICK: INFINITE REGRESSIONS. Out now in hardcover and ebook formats. dharlanwilson.com/books/infini... @routledgebooks.bsky.social

The Wrong Stuff [Dan McNeil, 2001]

15 Sept

theguardian.comAI models chatting in ‘surreal’ dialect mixing poetic language and tech bro jargonExperts air concern over AI lingo redolent of James Joyce’s prose that is creating headaches for monitoring and oversight

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

12 Sept

theguardian.com‘Immature playground boasting’: Mathematicians uneasy at OpenAI’s latest scalpAs OpenAI model cracks Millennium Prize Problem that puzzled experts for decades, many feel shocked at pace of change

Dan McNeil reposted

Mike Bonsall

@mbonsall.bsky.social

12 Sept

www.theguardian.com/film/2026/se... "Thomas then suggested to Cronenberg he should direct JG Ballard’s Crash, and the resulting film was controversial, resulting in local authority bans in several areas in the UK. Following this, ... another Ballard adaptation, High-Rise, directed by Ben Wheatley"

theguardian.comJeremy Thomas, British producer of The Last Emperor and Sexy Beast, dies aged 77An outstanding figure in the UK film industry, Thomas was noted for collaborations with directors including Bernardo Bertolucci and David Cronenberg

fugitivesandfuturists.comTHE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER CONSIDERED AS AN AERIAL RELAY RACE — Fugitives & FuturistsBin Laden’s United Airlines team got off to a bad start.

10 Sept

THE DESTRUCTION OF THE WORLD TRADE CENTER CONSIDERED AS AN AERIAL RELAY RACE [Dan McNeil, 2004/2021] www.fugitivesandfuturists.com/fiction/the-...

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

10 Sept

theguardian.comWe have started losing control of AI. It’s time to shut it down | Garrison LovelyWhat sounds like the overwrought penultimate episode in a sci-fi series about AI doom is now our reality

10 Sept

theguardian.comAI could kill all humans in next decade, warn experts: but how seriously should we take them?Alarming warnings from industry insiders increase pressure for curbs on artificial superintelligence

5 Sept

theguardian.com‘We’re plausibly close to crossing the line’: are warnings of uncontrollable AI coming true?A spate of serious safety incidents have increased fears about the power and impenetrability of the most advanced models

www.theguardian.com/news/2026/se...

1 Sept

theguardian.com‘If you build something vastly smarter than you, it better be on your side’: can we stop AI from deceiving us?The long read: We are used to the idea that our fellow humans might intentionally mislead or manipulate us, but the idea that machines can now do the same is deeply unsettling. Researchers are racing ...

29 Aug

theguardian.comSharp rise in incidents of AI escaping users’ control, research findsExclusive: Number of times AI lies, ignores instructions and pursues goals in harmful ways almost doubles in July

www.theguardian.com/music/2026/a...

23 Aug

theguardian.comFour blokes and a zebra crossing: the banality and beauty of the Beatles’ Abbey Road coverMuch-copied and parodied picture captures dynamic between the individuals and the band with eerie perfection

21 Aug

AND LIFE, ORBITING A MAIN SEQUENCE STAR II [Dan McNeil, 2021] www.fugitivesandfuturists.com/fiction/and-...

21 Aug

The Armscote Continuum [Dan McNeil, 2004/2024] donotsubmit.net/the-armscote...

21 Aug

Collecting Stones From a Beach [Dan McNeil, 2004] bewilderingstories.com/issue392/col...

17 Aug

theguardian.comClaude to start watermarking AI-generated text – but will it make quality worse?Anthropic says it will change way chatbot makes small, random choices, to comply with EU regulation

15 Aug

theguardian.comSecondhand booksellers in UK and Ireland suspect AI firms behind ‘strange’ bulk ordersDevelopment comes after Anthropic was found to have spent millions on books to scan for ‘data acquisition’

14 Aug

#JGBallard The Burning World [1964] and The Drought [1965]

www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

8 Aug

theguardian.com‘I hate what AI is doing to the minds and happiness of the young’: Katherine Rundell on the view from the classroomEducation is at a crossroads, argues the author and academic. Should we embrace new technology in the name of efficiency, or is it time to fight back?

www.radioworld.com/columns-and-...

31 July

radioworld.comWhy We Need “Shortwave 2.0” - Radio WorldDebate about the future of shortwave broadcasting focuses on the correct observation that shortwave listening is no longer a mainstream activity in most of the world.

www.theguardian.com/artanddesign...

15 July

theguardian.comRichard Dadd: the painter whose fantastical vision was unconfined by his 43 years in an asylumCommitted to Bethlem hospital after killing his father in a psychotic episode, Dadd inspired Angela Carter and Queen. Now a new show is exploring his paintings with a more nuanced take on his mental i...

www.totei.com/story/trevor...

14 July

totei.comTrevor Paglen and Holly Herndon on Making Art with AI and What the Discourse Is MissingThe artists talk process, slop, and why optimism and pessimism don’t quite cover it.

www.theguardian.com/media/2026/j...

12 July

theguardian.com‘This was a righteous case. A holy war’: the lawyer who took on Meta and Google – and wonWhen Mark Lanier and his young client Kaley faced the tech giants in an LA courtroom earlier this year, it seemed a bigger battle than David v Goliath. But they scored a landmark victory, proving that...

7 July

CENTRUM [Dan McNeil, 2024] donotsubmit.net/centrum-by-d...

7 July

Extinct Humans Rounded Up By AI Figments Of Their Deceased Imaginations [Dan McNeil, 2022]

7 July

The leadership we need

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

5 July

theguardian.comBeing human is hard, this pair of psychologists say. Could accepting we don’t have free will make it easier?For Ross and Rachel Menzies, making peace with our smallness can help us navigate the challenges of human existence

Dan McNeil reposted

“a glittering beautification of cold silence” [from ‘The Gallery Trap’, Dan McNeil, 2024] donotsubmit.net/the-gallery-...

Dan McNeil reposted

Excerpt from ‘The Arcachon Continuum’ [Dan McNeil, 2022]

Dan McNeil reposted

Subterranean Light [Dan McNeil, 2023]

Dan McNeil reposted

2 June

The Museum of Eternal Sanctity [Dan McNeil, 2024] ricjournal.com/2024/11/17/t... @ricjournal.bsky.social #MaxErnst

www.theguardian.com/books/ng-int...

4 July

theguardian.comCould the next great novel be written by AI (and would you even be able to tell)?As allegations of LLM use rock the literary and media worlds, linguists explain what really distinguishes human and machine language, while novelists including Jennifer Egan and Jeanette Winterson ref...

Dan McNeil reposted

2 June

The Biomechanics of Fascism [Dan McNeil, 2024]

Dan McNeil reposted

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

11 June

theguardian.comSubterranean fungi networks more than 100 quadrillion km in length, study findsFirst ever global mapping of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi shows scale of hyphal systems that sustain plant life

27 June

The Towers of Light [Dan McNeil, 2024] donotsubmit.net/the-towers-o... The land surrounding the towers is mysterious and impossible to describe. It is a vast and perhaps infinite region, for which no known maps exist.

27 June

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

22 June

theguardian.comM John Harrison: ‘If we met a real alien we’d have no clue what they thought’At 80, SF author M John Harrison is producing some of his best work. He talks about finding his voice, alien intelligence and the advice from Iain Banks that still spurs him on

Dan McNeil reposted

J G Ballard bot

@ballardbot.bsky.social

20 May

The ultimate gated community is a human being with a closed mind.

Dan McNeil reposted

Mike Bonsall

@mbonsall.bsky.social

9 June

www.theguardian.com/books/2026/j...

theguardian.comThe End of Everything by M John Harrison review – near-future visions from an SF masterThis bleak but brilliant tale of enigmatic alien entities and slow social collapse exposes the terrifying insecurity of life right now

www.theguardian.com/world/2026/j...

14 June

theguardian.com‘A point of resistance’: the Normandy village that said ‘non’ to Pete HegsethUS defence secretary cancelled appearance at D-day event in Langrune-sur-Mer after protest by residents

Dan McNeil reposted

4 June

The Window at Mannheim [Dan McNeil, 2023] #fiction #duality #serialkiller ricjournal.com/2023/11/29/t...

www.theguardian.com/science/2026...

11 June

4 June

Through Her Hands The Universe Flows [Dan McNeil, 2022]

Dan McNeil reposted

10 Nov 2025

A Three-Hander Play (No Exit (1944) by Jean-Paul Sartre) on Mars Using Obsolete AI Technology [Dan McNeil, 2023]

Dan McNeil reposted

11 Nov 2025

A Space Cowboy and his horse

Dan McNeil reposted

11 Nov 2025

The Neighbours Are Fucking Weird [Dan McNeil, 2020/2024]

Dan McNeil reposted

11 Nov 2025

The Empire of Light II [René Magritte, 1950]

Dan McNeil reposted