Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for July 3, 2015

And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this time with some discussion about Terminator: Genisys as well as yet more Hugo debate.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Diana Biller shares an essential Cyberpunk reading list.
• Karen Burnham discusses space and space travel in modern science fiction. 
• Sam Thielman takes a look at far right fringe science fiction and its links to the Charleston shooting.
• Oliver Johnson looks back on the work of Robert A. Heinlein.
• David Axe shares his issues with Robert A. Heinlein's Farnham's Freehold. 
• Molly Lynch shares 10 influential pulp novels that have stood the test of time, including several SFF novels.
• Jonathan Wolfe discusses Cuban science fiction. 
• Alexandra Erin discusses Katherine Addison's novel The Goblin Emperor and responds to complaints that it's not really fantasy and not really a novel.
• Gail Z. Martin discusses her problems with the term "Mary Sue". 
• Alisha T. Raydan points out that if Hollywood won't do superheroines justice, then maybe YA fiction could. 
• Brian Gallagher explains why a post-nuclear war world would look nothing like Mad Max.
• Matthew Gould revisits the British nuclear war drama Threads.
• Don Kaye remembers the movie Rollerball for its 40th anniversary.
• Keith Phipps remembers a trio of largely forgotten Star Wars wannabes from 1978.
• Janey Tracey shares some early reactions to Marvel's Ant-Man.  

Thoughts on Terminator Genisys:

• Sara Stewart calls Terminator Genisys a waste of time travel.
• Scott Mendelsohn believes that Terminator Genisys makes Terminator Salvation look like Terminator 2: Judgement Day by comparison. 
• Nicholas Barber believes that Terminator Genisys should be the end of time travel movies in general.
• Henry Barnes believes that the Terminator franchise has lost its lustre.
• Crystal Bell believes that Terminator Genisys is the saviour the franchise needs. 
• Tony Hicks thinks that Terminator Genisys is fun, though nowhere near the original. 
• Derek Austin Johnson calls Terminator Genisys nostalgic but nonsensical. 
• James Cameron actually liked Terminator Genisys.

Awards:

• The winners of the 2015 Locus Awards have been announced.
• Adrian Ling points out that the Locus Awards were dominated by women this year. 
• The winners of the 2015 Rhysling Awards have been announced.
• The candidates for the 2015 Elgin Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2015 Seiun Awards for science fiction translated into Japanese have been announced.
• The nominees for the 2015 Deutscher Phantastik Preis have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2015 ENnie RPG awards have been announced. 
• The 2015 World Fantasy Lifetime Achievement Awards have been awarded to Ramsey Campbell and Sheri S. Tepper.  

Hugo controversy:

• Hugo nominee Kary English has an open letter to puppies and everybody else. 
• Jon F. Zeigler offers his assessment of the Hugo dispute.
• Aditya Mani Jha shares a summary of the Hugo controversy.
• Abigail Nussbaum shares a round-up of the latest developments in the Hugo debate.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares eight books that will help people understand the current Hugo controversy. 
• Steve Davidson shares some ideas about what fans and pros can do to prevent slates and bloc voting in the future.
• Subversive Reader wonders what's next for the Hugos.
• Martin Wisse points out that you cannot change the Hugos without understanding their history.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Bennett R. Coles talks about getting started in science fiction self-publishing. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch tells writers not to worry about writing for the ages and including dated references, because readers are smart.
• John McPhee discusses writing and frames of reference.
• Chuck Wendig shares the secret of making readers care about your characters. 
• Marie Brennan shares five things fantasy writers can learn from Dorothy Dunnett.
• C.P.D. Harris discusses the use of religion in his Domains of the Chosen series. 
• Hugh Howey explains why writing short fiction still makes sense even given the changes to Kindle Unlimited.
• Kari Sperring and Marie Brennan discuss revisions.
• Jaym Gates discusses the process of arranging anthologies. 
• S.B. James posts the third part of her series about creatting epubs with Sigil. 
• Hugh Howey talks about iconic cover art.
• David Neth discusses uploading your book for preorder at different retailers.
  

Interviews:

• Max Pfeffer interviews S.A. Hunt
• Clara Moskovitz interviews James S.A. Corey a.k.a. Daniel Abraham and Ty Franck. 
• Mark Yon interviews Julian May.

Reviews:

• Elena Linville reviews Dark Star by Oliver Langmead.
• Floyd Looney reviews Fleet by John M. Davis.
• Judy Goodwin reviews Line of Descent by James Derry.
• Paul Weimer reviews Elizabeth Willey's Argylle series. 
• Rachel Neumeier reviews various Hugo nominees.
  

Crowdfunding:

• The Secret Loves of Geek Girls, an all-women comic/text anthology of true stories about love romance and sex with new cartoons by Margaret Atwood, is looking for funding.  
• French artist Willow is looking for backers for the book edition of her comic Le Voyage de Terre.
• Writers Lev and India Valentin need some help with medical and living expenses.

Con reports:

• Cheryl Morgan reports about her experiences at Archipelacon in Mariehamn, Finland. (Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4)
• Thomas Arnfelt also reports about Archipelacon.
• Will Shetterly shares his experiences at 4th Street Fantasy convention in Minneapolis, MN.
• John Wiswell shares a bibliography for various 4th Street Fantasy panels.
• Kal Spriggs talks about his experiences at Libertycon 28 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Doug Dandridge also shares his experiences at Libertycon.

Science and technology:

• A SpaceX Falcon 9 unmanned transport vessel on a resupply mission to the International Space Station explodes after take-off.
• NASA is planning to use holographic glasses aboard the International Space Station. Unfortunately, the first two pairs were aboard the SpaceX Falcon transporter which exploded.
• Robot Myon is introduced to human emotions via opera.
• A bunch of tiny robots will help to crack dark energy.
• According to British academic Dr. Stuart Armstrong, threats from artificial intelligence are not just science fiction.
• How would the religions of the world react to the singularity?
• Why contemporary CGI special effects look less convincing than the more primitive effects of the 1990s and early 2000s.
  

Free online fiction:

• "A New Home" by Floyd Looney.
• "Star" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "At the End of Babel" by Michael Livingston at Tor.com.
• "Cold Hands, Red Cloak", part 58 of Musketeer Space by Tansy Rayner Roberts.
• Chapter 2 of "Descendants... in Space", part 87 of The Descendants by Landon Porter.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a Japanese trailer for Ant-Man with plenty of new footage. 
• Watch a clip from Ant-Man.
• Watch a trailer for Crimson Peak, Guillermo del Toro's new movie starring Tom Hiddleston.
• Watch a trailer for Pan.
• Watch a trailer for Harbinger Down.