Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 5, 2016

Here is our weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with discussion about acccessible cons as well as the revived X-Files and The 5th Wave. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• Locus has published its 2015 recommended reading list.
• Charlie Jane Anders discusses George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg stories and their rather depressing outcome.
• Annalee Newitz discusses the Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie. 
• Annalee Newitz also discusses the popularity of competence porn. 
• Shaoyan Hu offers a brief summary of the state of Chinese science fiction in 2015.
• Mahvesh Murad explains why diversity is a tricky word and a tricky concept. 
• Jim C. Hines talks about representation and the seeds of possibility. 
• Kevin Durkin celebrates Octavia Butler.
• Tansy Rayner Roberts shares her appreciation for Anne McCaffrey and The Rowan. 
• Eric Benson profiles Joe R. Lansdale.
• Dominic Umile remembers Argentinian comic writer Héctor Germán Oesterheld, who was "disappeared" during the military dictatorship in the 1970s.  
• Amos Barshad attempts to explain why alternate histories of WWII are so very popular.
• G. Willow Wilson talks about art, money and the entertainment industry.
• Damien Walter takes a look at the contemporary horror genre.
• Kimberly Slichter laments how horror films keep getting snubbed at the Oscars.
• Dana Piccoli attempts to explain why Buffy the Vampie Slayer is still fondly remembers almost twenty years after it premiered.
• Charlie Jane Anders shares the 17 most tearjerking friendships in science fiction and fantasy.
• Michael E. Ruane reports that the model of the USS Enterprise as used in the original Star Trek TV series is being restored.
• Ryan Lambie remembers the rather strange 1980 science fiction film Saturn 3.
• Ron Miller shares some images from Dreams of the Stars, a lost 1950s science fiction movie with impressive model work by SF artist Morris Scott Dollens.
• Daniel E. Slotnik offers an obituary for the late David G. Hartwell. 

Comments about The X-Files:

• Alisha Grauso shares her theory about Scully's son in The X-Files.
• Eric Hegeclus reports that the iconic 1970s TV character Kolchak, the Nightstalker, puts in an appearance in the revived X-Files. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks shares his thoughts on the revived X-Files.

Comments about The 5th Wave:

• Edwin Arnaudin calls The 5th Wave unintentionally funny. 
• Tara Brady finds The 5th Wave cliched. 
• Stephanie Zacharek says that The 5th Wave washes out.

Awards:

• Nominations for the 2016 Hugo and 1941 Retro Hugo Awards are now open. 
• Nominations for the 2016 eFestival of Words are open. 
• The 2016 Locus Awards poll is open.
• The nominees for the 2016 Rhysling Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2016 Crawford Award has been announced.
• The winners of the 2016 SFR Galaxy Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the awards presented at the Angouleme Comics Festival have been announced.
• The good folks at Nerds of a Feather continue offering their personal 2016 Hugo Awards longlist. 
• Abigail Nussbaum shares her thoughts on awards eligibility posts and offers links to various recommendation lists. 
• David J. Peterson explains why there should be a separate Hugo Award for best YA novel.

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Hugh Howey gives some advice for aspiring writers.
• Violette Malan talks about outlining versus discovery writing. 
• Martyn V. Halm also talks about outlining versus discovery writing.
• J. Kathleen Cheney talks about worldbuilding for underground spaces.
• Aidan Doyle presents the science fiction writer's hierarchy of doubt.
• John Scalzi talks about impostor syndrome.
• Diana Pharaoh Francis talks about impostor syndrome, depression and writing.
• A.J. Goode talks about writer insecurity from the POV of a romance author.
• S.L. Huang explains why she doesn't write more Chinese characters.
• Matt Wallace explains why it would be a good idea to get more SFF writers writing for movies and TV.
• N.K. Jemisin talks about gaming and writing.
• Chris A. Jackson talks about writing media tie-in novels. 
• Angela Mayfair talks about critique croups and gatekeeping attempts.
• Natalie Luhrs shares how bad critique groups and writing workshops discouraged her from writing for years.
• Diana Urban shares 98 book marketing idea that can help authors increase sales.
  

Interviews:

• Janet Potter interviews Lois McMaster Bujold.
• Adrian Ling interviews Charlie Jane Anders. 
• Wendy Van Camp interviews Deborah J. Ross.
• Kristin Centorcelli interview Faith Hunter. 
• Kristin Centorcelli interviews Phillip de Poy. 
• Kristin Centorcelli also interviews Tim Akers.
  
• The Qwillery interviews Helen Lowe. 
• Sean M. Thompson interviews Mercedes M. Yardley. 
• Clarissa Halston interviews Carmen Maria Machado.
• John DeNardo interviews Arwen Curry.

Reviews:

• Ana Grilo reviews Midnight Taxi Tango by Daniel José Older. 
• Shana DuBois reviews A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly. 
• Jana Nyman also reviews A Criminal Magic by Lee Kelly.
• Kristin Centorcelli reviews Patchwerk by David Tallerman.
  
• Angela Blackwell reviews Lustlocked by Matt Wallace.
• Jackie C. Horne reviews Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones.
  
• Fantasy Book Café reviews The Changeling Sea by Patricia A. McKillip. 
• Nick Sharp reviews Chains of the Heretic by Jeff Salyards. 
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews The God's Eye View by Barry Eisler.

Crowdfunding:

• Closing Doors, the tenth and last novel in T.A. Pratt's Marla Mason urban fantasy series, is looking for funding.
• Hype, a graphic novel by Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray, is looking for funding.
• Gamut Magazine, a venue for neo-noir speculative fiction, is looking for funding.
• The Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, a documentary by Arwen Curry, is looking for funding. 
• The Octavia Butler Conference Fund is looking for donations.
• Sculptor Graham Humphreys is looking for funding to create a bronze bust of Bram Stoker for the Dublin Writers Museum. 

Con reports:

• Andrea Johnson shares her experiences at ConFusion in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
• Marko Kloos talks about ConFusion in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and the costs of going to a con in general. 
• Chuck Wendig talks about the pros and cons of attending conventions.
• Ethan Mills shares his experiences at ChattaCon in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
• Nicole Massabrook reports how several actors from the TV shows Arrow and The Flash handled the cancellation of the Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Secaucus, New Jersey, due to the blizzard.
• Rich Johnston shares some cosplay photos from PAX South in San Antonio, Texas.
• Brigid Alverson reports about yet another controversy to hit the Angouleme Comics Festival. 
• Mark L. Blackman reports about the New York Review of Science Fiction Readings Series featuring Richard Bowes and Barbara Krasnoff.
• Jason Sanford reports about problems with the upcoming 2016 World Fantasy Convention in Columbus, Ohio. 
• Marie Brennan also weighs in on the issues with the 2016 World Fantasy Convention.
• Teresa Frohock talks about the importance of accessible cons. 

Science and technology:

• The truth about the Fermi Paradox. 
• A supermassive black hole shoots a massive beam into intergalactic space.
• The Curiosity rover takes a selfie on Mars.
• Why we should never have mothballed the space shuttle.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Extraction Request" by Rich Larson in Clarkesworld. 
• "The Savannah Liars Tour" by Will McIntosh in Lightspeed.
• "The Virgin Played Bass" by Maria Dahvana Headley in Uncanny.
• "The Wolf's Bride" by Sharon Lee in Splinter Universe.
• "Will-o-the-wisp" by Sharon Lee in Splinter Universe.  
• "Tom, Thom" by K.M. Ferebee at Tor.com.
• "Bones of the World" by Jennifer Hykes in Apex Magazine. 
• "And the Woods Are Silent" by Amber van Dyk in The Dark.
• "This is Not a Wardrobe Door" by A. Merc Rustad in Fireside Fiction.
• "That's Amore" by Robert Dahlen.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Build your own phone-controlled life-size BB-8.
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of the TV version of 12 Monkeys.
• Watch a trailer for Space Tripping.