And here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with more about The Martian, lots of Star Wars discussion (and a rather silly boycott), Captain America's politics, a celebration of Back to the Future and reactions to Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Ann Leckie shares her ten favourite science fiction novels.
- Jeff Somers discusses five lost science fiction and fantasy novels he would love to read.
- Charles Yu shares his thoughts on several new science fiction and fantasy releases.
- John DeNardo shares five reasons to read short speculative fiction anthologies.
- Nancy Jane Moore shares her thoughts about The Martian.
- Sarah Vilkomerson traces Andy Weir's journey from self-publishing to Hollywood.
- Ezra Glinter profiles Arkady and Boris Strugatsky.
- Yang Yang profiles Liu Cixin.
- Howard Andrew Jones shares his appreciation for Leigh Brackett.
- Liz Bourke talks about strong female characters and the double standard of criticism they are often subjected to.
- Victoria Hooper explains why realism and the impossible don't have to be mutually exclusive in fantasy.
- Katherine Harbour explains why dragons have replaced unicorns as the favourite fantasy creature of many women and girls.
- Mitchell Hogan shares his favourite magic systems.
- Brian Stableford discusses the origins of epic fantasy.
- Daniel Polansky shars his appreciation for Peace by Gene Wolfe.
- Emma Koonse discusses the enduring popularity of C.S. Lewis.
- Colin Dwyer shares the deep dark secret of R.L. Stine.
- C.J. Skuse explains why we need angry girls in young adult fiction.
- Alyssa Rosenberg discusses the downside of cultural fragmentation.
- Annie B. Matthews talks about diversity in indie fiction.
- Michael Powell talks about superheroes and their connection to New York City.
- James Whitbrook reports that some people are very mad that Sam Wilson, the current Captain America, is highly critical of the US.
- Jessica Lachenal also weighs in on the controversy surrounding Captain America.
- Marc Daalder believes that Captain America taking a political stance is long overdue.
- Maddy Myers reports that Captain America shocked even more people by kissing Thor.
- William Evans is very pleased about the kiss between Captain America and Thor and writes an open letter to Alex Ross, the artist who drew the cover.
- Andrea Tallarita offers a lingustic analysis of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
- Emily Asher-Perrin wonders if the true reason that there is no Black Widow movie in the pipeline is because Marvel fears it would never get it right.
- Sheila Williams remembers her favourite superheroines.
- Spencer Kornhaber and David Sims wonder how original Star Wars: The Force Awakens can be.
- Jessica Lachenal reports about some disgruntled racists threatening to boycott The Force Awakens.
- Chuck Wendig also weighs in on the Star Wars boycott.
- Adam W. Kepler checks how the real 2015 holds up compared with the version of today portrayed in Back to the Future II.
- Bob Strauss explains why Back to the Future will last forever.
- Saba Hamedy explains why Edward Scissorhands has stood the test of time 25 years after its first release.
- Elizabeth Howell explains why Doctor Who still rules time and space after more than fifty years.
- Mark R. Kelly shares his appreciation for the Jonny Quest cartoon of the 1960s.
- Romanian science fiction writer and translator Liviu Radu has died aged 66.
- Prolific reviewer Harriet Klausner has died aged 63.
Comments about Crimson Peak:
- Derek Austin Johnson calls Crimson Peak a "gothic mess".
- Casey Jones thinks Crimson Peak is a gorgeous nightmare.
- Leah Schnelbach thinks Crimson Peak is a breathtakingly beautiful subversion of the gothic romance.
Awards:
- Liu Cixin has won the best achievement award at the 2015 Xingyun Awards.
- The winners of the 2015 Geekie Awards have been announced.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Ursula K. Le Guin discusses where ideas come from.
- Howard Andrew Jones explains how he writes.
- Diane Lee shares three contradictory truths about self-publishing.
- Gerrard Cowen talks about battling with chapter 1.
- T.W. O'Brien shares some strategies for naming a science fiction world.
- Sylvia Frost offers an analysis of paranormal romance covers.
- Rick Gualteri rates various publishing platforms.
- Kimberly G. Giarratano shares some tips for organising a collective book giveaway.
- Matt Wallace explains why word of mouth is so important for authors.
Interviews:
- Jessica Stites interviews Margaret Atwood.
- Claire Cameron also interviews Margaret Atwood.
- Erika M. Anderson interviews William Gibson.
- Mieneke van der Salm interviews Kameron Hurley.
- Sarah Olsen interviews David Barnett.
- Larry Ketchersid interviews Matthew Kressel.
- Shawn Speakman interviews Delilah S. Dawson.
- Kat G. interviews Seanan McGuire.
- Sandra Odell interviews Alyssa Wong.
- Alyx Dellamonica interviews Louise Marley.
- Jason Sizemore interviews Maurice Broaddus.
- Dag Rambraut interviews J.L. Doty.
- Dag Rambraut also interviews Mark Stone.
- A.C. Wise interviews Nicolette Barischoff.
- Entertainment Weekly interviews Rick Riordan.
- Smart Girls Love Sci-Fi Romance interviews Sabine Priestley.
- The Qwillery interviews Nadine Darling.
- Foyles interviews Natasha Pulley.
- Ofeibea Loveless interviews Joyce Chng and Jaymee Goh.
- Andrew Nette interviews book cover designer W.H. Chong.
Reviews:
- Liz Bourke reviews Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie.
- Paul Weimer reviews School for Sidekicks by Kelly McCullough.
- Paul Weimer also reviews Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- James Nicoll reviews The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin, translated by Joel Martinsen.
- James Nicoll also reviews Root of Unity by S.L. Huang.
- Aaron Pound reviews Time Salvager by Wesley Chu.
- Thea James reviews The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.
- Paul di Filippo also reviews The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson.
- Andrea Johnson reviews This Gulf of Time and Stars by Julie Czerneda.
- Jayn Sand reviews Seveneves by Neal Stephenson.
- John DeNardo reviews The Rewind Files by Claire Willett.
- Amelia Smith reviews The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro.
- Sarah Olsen reviews Gideon Smith and the Mask of the Ripper by David Barnett.
- Michael Patrick Hicks reviews the audio version of Locke & Key by Joe Hill and Gabriel Rodriguez.
- Leah Schnelbach reviews the pilot of The Expanse.
- Zain Charkawi reviews the Doctor Who episode "The Girl Who Died".
- Peter Bradshaw reviews Spectre, the latest James Bond movie.
- David Neth reviews The Fine Print of Self-Publishing by Mark Levine.
Crowdfunding:
- Red Hot Rain, a new Weather Wardens novel by Rachel Caine, is looking for funding.
- Spanish Women of Wonder, an anthology edited by Cristina Jurado and Leticia Lara, is looking for funding.
- The Cora Chronicles: Genesis, a science fiction novel by Vincent Lim, is looking for funding.
- Time and Time Again, a science fiction novel by Michael McDuffy, is looking for funding.
- The War of Faith, an apocalyptic novel by Holly Hunt, is looking for funding.
- Drift, a science fiction novel by Danielle Mohr, is looking for funding.
- Dark Shadow, a science fiction novel by David Ehrlich, is looking for funding.
- StoryShop, a writing app by Sean Platt, Johnny B. Truant and David Wright, is looking for funding.
- The partner of writer Rochita Loenen-Ruiz has passed away and Rochita and her children could use some help.
Con reports:
- Bri Lopez Donovan reports about JOFcon 2015 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
- Chris Carle shares cosplay photos from New York Comic Con.
Science and technology:
- A massive coronal hole has just appeared on the sun.
- Why is Jupiter's great red spot still raging?
- A distant white dwarf has been observed in the act of destroying its planets.
- A double star has been observed in the process of merging.
- Are Déjà Vus triggered by parallel universes?
- Ray Kurzweil claims that nanobots will plug our brains into the web by the 2030s.
- Will future furniture be drones?
- Ross Andersen wonders whether space exploration has become a modern religion.
- Sasha Raspopina claims that space exploration already was a religion of sorts in the former Soviet Union.
- The science behind the plague doctor costume.
Free online fiction:
- "Tear Tracks" by Malka Older at Tor.com.
- "Corpse Vision" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
- "And If the Body Were Not the Soul" by A.C. Wise in Clarkesworld.
- "And Never Mind the Watching Ones" by Keffy R.M. Kehrli in Uncanny Magazine.
- "Hadley Full of Hate" by Michael Hernshaw in The Sockdolager.
- "The Lord of Corrosion" by Lee Thomas in Nightmare Magazine.
- "The Girl with Wings of Iron and Down" by Aidan Moher.
- Chapter 1 of "Just Us Sidekicks", part 90 of The Descendants of Landon Porter.
Odds and ends:
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