Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 6, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web:

Speculative fiction in general:

• At the Guardian, Damien Walter remembers Frank Herbert's Dune on the occasion of its 50th anniversary.
• At Kirkus, Andrew Liptak continues his series about changes in the publishing industry and their impact on speculative fiction.
• Ben Bova attempts to explain what hard science fiction is.
• Troy L. Wiggins talks about the importance of the immigrant experience in genre fiction.
• A. Lee Martinez explains why diversity matters. 
• At The Atlantic, Ta-Nehisi Coates discusses the broad, inclusive canvas of superhero comics.
• Marie Brennan talks about the absence of women in Patrick Rothfuss' The Name of the Wind.

• Elizabeth Bear discusses the depiction of prostitutes in speculative fiction.
• On Mark Lawrence's blog, several authors discuss the alleged "death of grimdark".
• At This is Horror, Simon Marshall Jones asks what makes a monster.
• Ray Bradbury discusses becoming an accidental architect in this essay published posthumously at the Paris Review.
• The Oyster Review talks about Harry Potter studies and interviews several Potter scholars.
• The Rolling Stone ranks the 50 best science fiction movies of the 1970s. Judging by some of the choices, it seems they had trouble finding 50 movies to rank.
• The New York Times talks to directors Andy and Lana Wachowski about the inspiration behind Jupiter Ascending.
• At The Vulture, Abraham Riesman asks "What is wrong with Jupiter Ascending?"
• At Topless Robot, Luke Thompson discusses why so many longtime comic fans are wary about the upcoming Fantastic Four movie and how the casting choices are only part of the issue. 
• James Whitbrook discusses the real reason why US remakes of British TV shows so often fail.
• Even Neil Gaiman himself is not very happy with the way his Doctor Who episode "Nightmare in Silver" turned out. 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• The SFWA is planning to allow self-published and small press authors to join. 
• At Nerds of a Feather, Dean Smith Richards calls for SFF writers to write better stories and rely less on twist endings.
• Steve Vernon talks about being a hack writer. 
• Travis Heermann explains where stories come from.
• Nerine Dorman talks about loss of hope and why she will continue to write what she loves. 
• Nicolette Stewart explains how to write a sexist character without looking like a sexist author.
• Elle Chambers introduces her character Mimi St. Laurent. 
• David Farland talks about using setting to its fullest advantage.
• At The Book Smugglers, Kate Elliott talks about self-rejection and the courage to say yes. 
• At Amazing Stories, Keith West wonders when we will start seeing indie-published books on awards ballots.
• Tess Gerritsen discusses her failed lawsuit against the producers of Gravity and how this affects every writer selling to Hollywood. 
• At David Gaughran's blog, Nick Stephenson and Matt Iden talk about influencing Amazon's algorithms.
• Patty Jansen attempts to answer the question, "Do self-published books need ISBN numbers?"
• David Faulds of Dulwich Books offers indie authors some tips on how to get their books onto bookstore shelves. 

Interviews:

• The New York Times interviews Kelly Link.
• Sherwood Smith interviews Judith Tarr.
• Ken Liu interviews Tang Fei.
• Deborah Stanish interviews Ann Leckie.
• Buddy Gott interviews Bonnie R. Paulson.
  

Reviews:

• At BoingBoing, Jason Weisberger reviews Young Moon by H.S. St. Ours. 
  
• Heroines of Fantasy reviews Half Life by S.L. Huang. 
• Paul Weimer reviews Random by Alma Alexander.
• James Nicoll reviews The Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers. 
• Cheryl Morgan reviews The Galaxy Game by Karen Lord. 
• Elena Linville reviews Twiceborn by Marina Finlayson.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The Lurking Season by Kristopher Rufty.
• Tony Rabig reviews The Top of the Volcano: The Award Winning Stories of Harlan Ellison.
• Patty Jansen reviews Secret's of the World's Bestselling Writer, a non-fiction book about the storytelling techniques of Earle Stanley Gardner.
• Den of Geek reviews Jupiter Ascending.
• Paul Levinson reviews episode 2.3 of Helix. 
• Shaun Duke reviews the 2010 movie The Sorcerer's Apprentice.
• Kwame Opam reviews the 1997 flop Batman and Robin.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Save the Sci Fi: The Next Generation, a project to make out of print vintage science fiction novels available again in e-book format, is looking for funding.
• The reboot of Jill Trent, Science Sleuth, a 1940s comic book, is looking for backers. 
• The comic anthology Satellites Volume 1 is looking for funding.
• Travis Herman is looking for funding for his novel Spirit of the Ronin, part 3 of his Ronin trilogy.
• Readercon, a popular convention in the Boston area, needs a new sound system. 
• Harry Connolly shares some tips about running a successful Kickstarter campaign.

Con reports: 

• The Little Red Reviewer shares their experiences at Confusion in Dearborn, Michigan.
• Jason Sanford also reports about Confusion. 

Science and technology:

• At io9, George Dvorsky lists 11 ways the future might turn out differently than expected.
• Wired discusses the evolution of artificial intelligence.
• Bill Gates is worried about artificial intelligence. 
• A speck of interstellar dust obscures a glimpse at the big bang.
• Space.com has some great photos of NASA launching rockets into the Northern lights.

Free online fiction:

• "Gene Wars" by Paul McAuley. 
• "Little Lost Robot" by Paul McAuley.
• "Hearts" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "Sadness" by V.A. Jeffrey.
• "The Language of Knives" by Haralambi Markov at Tor.com.
• Chapter 7 of The Dragon of Ankoll Keep by K.S. Augustin. 
• "The Yellow Parlor", Chapter 4 of Room by Jodi Ralston.
• Chapter 18 of Dragon Physician by Joyce Chng.
• "Concerning the Questionable Life Choices of Dana D'Artagnan", part 37 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 5 of "Avalon Rises", part 83 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch the TV trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron.
• Watch the TV trailer for Terminator: Genesys.
• Watch the TV trailer for Insurgent.
• Watch the trailer for Marvel's upcoming Daredevil series.
• Enjoy these photos of Kermit and Miss Piggy visiting Yoda and Mark Hamill on the set of The Empire Strikes Back.
• Check out this gallery of Mexican pulp fiction cover art.