Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for March 13, 2015

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

Speculative fiction in general:

• Shaun Duke looks at the common roots of space opera and epic fantasy.
• Gerry Canavan points out that the current space opera renaissance is less optimistic than its golden age predecessors and still influenced by the more pessimistic science fiction of the 1970s. 
• At The Spectator, William Cook argues that Blade Runner foresaw the way we live today.  
• At Reason, Jesse Walker discusses the blurry line between man and machine in the work of Philip K. Dick.
• The New Yorker profiles Liu Cixin.
• At The Guardian, David Barnett asks whether it really matters whether Kazuo Ishiguro considers his new novel The Buried Giant fantasy or not.
• At Flavorwire, Jonathan Sturgeon calls genre writers and readers tyrannical for trying to claim Kazuo Ishiguro as one of their own.
• Meanwhile, Kazuo Ishiguro himself rejects claims of genre snobbery. 
• And at Esquire, Stephen Marche declares the genre wars over.
• The Middle East Monitor takes a look at Arab science fiction.
• At the BBC World Service, Lauren Beukes takes a look at African science fiction.
• At the Guardian, Jessica Bland introduces Afrofuturism.
• Justina Robson tackles the issue of women in science fiction.
• Open Road Media has a video in which male writers talk about women in science fiction.
• Legion of Leia takes a look at ten female SFF roles that defied stereotypes.
• Robert Jackson Bennett wonders why it is so hard for many male writers to write convincing female characters.
• So does Junot Diaz, albeit in somewhat harsher words.
• Annalee Flower Horne discusses the portrayal of sexual violence survivors in science fiction and fantasy. 
• Various women writers discuss the issues and pitfalls of using rape and sexual violence as a plot device.
  
• At The Galaxy Express, Heather Massey looks at black women authors of science fiction romance.
• Cora Buhlert takes a look at the disparate reviews of Jupiter Ascending.
• At the Independent, Sarah Hughes wonders about the secret of Outlander's success.
• At The Atlantic, Sophie Gilbert reappraises Buffy the Vampire Slayer on the show's eighteenth anniversary. 
• Also at The Atlantic, Noah Berlatsky remembers Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic.
• Landon Porter explains why superheroes need supporting casts.
• At The Conversation, Luke Moffett claims that Chappie suggests it's time to think about the rights of robots.
• Is Guardians of the Galaxy just a D&D campaign played by the Avengers (plus Falcon and Bucky) during their downtime?
• Jessie Stickgold-Sarah explains how early 2000s theories about the Web 2.0 were both fulfilled and subverted by the online fandom cultures.
  

Tributes to Sir Terry Pratchett:

• The BBC has an obituary for Sir Terry Pratchett.
• Tor.com remembers Terry Pratchett.
• At the Guardian, Dean Burnett remembers Terry Pratchett.
• The Guardian also has an obituary for Terry Pratchett by Christopher Priest.
• Finally, the Guardian also shares tributes to the late Sir Terry from various well known writers, actors, politicians and other celebrities.
• The Independent shares the best Terry Pratchett quotes.
• The Globe and Mail has an obituary for Terry Pratchett.
• Neil Gaiman shares his memories of Terry Pratchett.
• George R.R. Martin shares his tribute to Terry Pratchett. 
• Scott Lynch also has a tribute to Terry Pratchett.
• At Can't Talk, Bell recounts how reading Terry Pratchett helped her grow up and realise her full potential. 
• A petition has been started at Change.org imploring Death to bring back Terry Pratchett.

Awards:

• The winners of the 2014 Kitschie awards have been announced.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Dave Farland shares some tips for creating believable characters.
• Elena Linville talks about writing a story that just keeps on growing. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about the importance of writing routines.
• Sherry Soule shares some tips for working with critique partners.
• Antara Man shares three surefire way to get book reviews.
• Mark Lawrence wonders how much blog reviews really influence sales.
• Ruth Nestvold shares some tips for formatting your book for Createspace or another POD service. 

Interviews:

• Lela Markham interviews Ted Cross. 
• Michael Brookes interviews Allen Miles.
• Michael Anton interviews Simon R. Green.
• August S. Evrard interviews Myke Cole. 
• Robyn Lupo interviews Linda Nagata. 
• Nick Sharps interviews Charles E. Gannon.
• The Civilian Reader interviews Markus Heitz.
  

Reviews:

• Anthony Vicino reviews the anthology No Way Home.
• Edi's Book Lighthouse reviews The Immortality Game by Ted Cross.
• Tome Tender also reviews The Immortality Game by Ted Cross.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Doll Face by Tim Curran. 
• Emily Asher Perrin reviews Chappie and compares it to a grown-up E.T. 
• Time reviews the movie Chappie.
• KSDK also reviews Chappie.
  

Crowdfunding:

• A Star Trek anthology edited by James A. Bray is looking for funding.
• Speculations K.C., a Kansas City Worldcon anthology edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, is looking for backers.
• The fourth annual volume of Unidentified Funny Objects, an anthology of humorous fantasy edited by Alex Shvartsman, is looking for funding.
• The Alpha workshop for young writers of science fiction, fantasy and horror is looking for supporters.
  

Con reports:

• The Visalia Times Delta reports on the second annual Tulare Sci-Fi Con in Tulare, California.
• The Campus also reports on the Tulare Sci-Fi Con.
• Shannon Page recounts her experiences at RadCon in Pasco, Washington, and also shares a few photos.
• Jim Hines also shares some photos of RadCon.
• The Tri-City Herald also reports about RadCon.
• Andrea Blythe shares her experiences at FogCon in San Francisco.
  

Science and technology:

• The NASA spacecraft Dawn has achieved orbit around Ceres, making it the first spacecraft to orbit a dwarf planet. 
• Brazilian astronomers have discovered two newborn star clusters.
• Astronomers have also discovered a gigantic black hole with a weight of 12 billion suns. 
• NASA has shared a model of what Mars might have looked like when it had oceans.
• See some concept drawings for the Mars One habitat. 
• Discover argues that ion engines are the future of space travel.
• At Time.com, two economists argue that galactic empires make no sense.
• Cyber warriors need not be soldiers in the traditional sense. 
• A start-up that uses 3D printing techology to create prosthetic arms for children with partially developed limbs has given a bionic arm to a 7-year-old boy, presented by Robert Downey Jr. in character as Tony Stark himself.
• Some cases of synaesthesia might be caused by alphabet magnets.
• Check out this awesome timelapse video and photos of the launching and transfer of the cruise liner Anthem of the Seas in Papenburg, Germany.

Free online fiction:

• "Simon Clash: The Galaxy's Greatest Hero" by James Aquilone in Nature. 
• "The Thyme Fiend" by Jeffrey Ford in Tor.com.
• "Phantom" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "On a Spiritual Plain" by Lou Antonelli.
• "The River Stole the Gods" by R.M. Webb.
• Chapter 20 of Dragon Physician by Joyce Chng.
• "Communications in Outer Space", part 42 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• "The Pink Parlor", part 6 of Room by Jodi Ralston. 
• Chapter 5 of "Darkness Falling", part 84 of The Descendants by Landon Porter. 

Odds and ends:

• Lauren Panepinto asked several female fantasy artists to redesign famous female SF and fantasy characters with stunning results.
• Watch the first episode of Powers, a streaming video series based on the comic by Brian Michael Bendis, online for free.
• Watch a trailer for season 5 of Game of Thrones. 
• Watch a trailer for Tomorrowland.
• Watch a trailer for the new Marvel streaming video series Daredevil. 
• Watch a trailer for the movie Selfless.