Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 28, 2020

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Star Trek: Picard, series 12 of Doctor Who, season 5 of Outlander, season 2 of Altered Carbon, the latest version of The Invisible Man, Color Out of Space, I Am Not Okay With This, The Outsider, Brahms: The Boy II, Onward, tributes to Katherine Johnson and much more. 

Speculative fiction in general:

• File 770 offers an overview of SFF novellas published in 2019.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five must-read science fiction and fantasy heist novels.
• Sarah Waites shares ten standalone fantasy novels to try.
• Kate Knibbs reports about the current boom for apocalyptic climate change fiction.
• Lauren Jackson shares six SFF books about parasites. 
• Christina Ladd shares is list of Lovecraftian works by diverse authors. 
• Catherine Cavendish shares her favourite gothic novels 
• Darcy Coates wonders why people in horror movies and thrillers do stupid things and whether we wouldn't do the same. 
• Taylor Locke talks about Elon Musk's love for the Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and how it inspired him to found SpaceX. 
• John Anderer reports that according to a new study, Edgar Allan Poe likely did not commit suicide, but may well have been murdered. 
• Anthony Madrid reports about Russian children's book writer Kornei Chukovsky and compares different translations of his book The Telephone. 
• The Week wonders whether the 1981 Dean R. Koontz thriller The Eyes of Darkness predicted the corona virus. 
• J.K. Schmidt reports that DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio is leaving the company.
• Rich Johnston explains why Dan DiDio is leaving DC Comics.
• Longtime science fiction fan and former WorldCon chair Lester Cole has died aged 93.
  

Film and TV:

• Mark Kermode calls Little Joe "The Day of the Triffids meets Little Shop of Horrors". 
• Lucy Mangan calls the new Twilight Zone a dire, half-hearted reboot.
• Peter Bradshaw reports that the new live action version of Pinocchio goes back to the original story. 
• A.A. Dowd calls Wendy a glum take on the Peter Pan story.
• L.A. Young shares her thoughts on season 1 of His Dark Materials.
• Liz Shannon Miller shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Avenue 5. 
• Gwen Ihnat shares her thoughts on the first episode of Dispatches from Elsewhere. 
• Deborah Young shares her thoughts on Last and First Men.
• Deborah Young shares her thoughts on Siberia.
• Wesley Lara looks back on Bong Joon-Ho's 2006 monster thriller The Host.
• Tom Breihan declares that The Empire Strikes Back not only expands the Star Wars mythology, but also changed the idea of what sequels could do.
• Martin Edwards revisits the 1958 horror movie The Screaming Skull. 
• Elana Levine reports about the soap opera boom of the 1980s and how it changed television. 
• Meher Mirza reports that same-sex love stories are slowly becoming more common in Bollywood.
• Tom Brook interviews Shah Rukh Khan.
• Charles Bramesco interviews director David Cronenberg.
• Steven Brocklehurst profiles George Gibson who designed the sets for The Wizard of Oz among others.
• Stephen Dowling shares the proposed James Bond themes that never made it to screen.
• Ryan Faughnder reports that Bob Iger is stepping down as CEO of Disney. His replacement is Bob Chapek. 
• Adam B. Vary reports that Steven Spielberg is handing over the directing duties for Indiana Jones 5 to James Mangold.
• Ed Pilkington reports that film producer Harvey Weinstein has been found guilty of rape.
  

Comments on Star Trek: Picard and Star Trek in general (warning, spoilers):

• Zack Handlen shares his thoughts on "Stardust City Rag", the latest episode of Star Trek Picard. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Stardust City Rag". 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on "Stardust City Rag" 
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on "Stardust City Rag". 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Stardust City Rag". 
• Cora Buhlert shares her thoughts on "Stardust City Rag". 
• Bonnie McDaniel shares her thoughts on "Stardust City Rag".
• Phil Pirello interviews Jonathan Frakes, director of "Stardust City Rag".
• James Whitbrook is confused because Star Trek Picard guest star Necar Zadegan closely resembles a Star Trek: The Next Generation star.
• Inspired by Star Trek Picard, James Wallace Harris wonders whatever happened to science fiction.
• Camestros Felapton revisits the Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes "The Measure of a Man" and "The Offspring". 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "State of Flux" and "Heroes and Demons".
• Alvaro Zinos-Amaro reviews the Star Trek Picard tie-in novel The Last Best Hope by Una McCormack. 
• Jennifer Ouellette reports that students at the University of Leicester have calculated how long it would take to completely fill up the Enterprise with Tribbles.
• Long-time Star Trek fan Elyse Rosenstein who organised the first ever Star Trek convention in 1972 has died aged 69.
  

Comments on series 12 of Doctor Who (spoilers):

• Dan Martin shares his thoughts on "Ascension of the Cybermen", the latest episode of Doctor Who.
• Camestros Felapton shares his brief thoughts on "Ascension of the Cybermen".  
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on "Ascension of the Cyberman".
• Nicholas Whyte takes a look at how often Doctor Who visited Ireland as well as at Irish guest stars and Irish connections of the main cast.
  

Comments on season 5 of Outlander:

• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
• Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Outlander.
  

Comments on season 2 of Altered Carbon:

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw declares that season 2 of Altered Carbon still isn't the cyberpunk noir series she had hoped for.
• Joelle Monique shares her thoughts on the first episode of season 2 of Altered Carbon.
  

Comments on the latest version of The Invisible Man: 

• Jesse Hassenger calls the latest version of The Invisible Man an extremely effective thriller.
• Todd McCarthy calls The Invisible Man a fine update of a classic horror movie. 
• Benjamin Lee calls The Invisible Man a murky thriller, but praises the performance of Elsabeth Moss. 
• Alison Wilmore declares that Elisabeth Moss makes The Invisible Man worth seeing.
• Michael Hogan interviews Elisabeth Moss, star of The Handmaid's Tale, The Invisible Man and Mad Men.  
• Cameron Scheetz also interviews Elisabeth Moss.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews Leigh Whannell, director of The Invisible Man.
  

Comments on Color Out of Space:

• Cath Clarke calls Color Out of Space a scary, freaky and often funny science fiction horror extravaganza.  
• Alex Godfrey inteerviews Richard Stanley, director of Color Out of Space. 

Comments on I Am Not Okay With This: 

• Joe George declares that I Am Not Okay With This updates the themes of Carrie for a new generation.
• Lucy Mangan calls I Am Not Okay With This a terrifying portrayal of teen angst. 
• Angelica Cataldo calls I Am Not Okay With This middling, but praises the performance of Sophia Lillis.

Comments on The Outsider:

• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Outsider. 

Comments on Brahms: The Boy II: 

• Benjamin Lee calls Brahms: The Boy II a wilfully unscary evil doll horror film.
• Jesse Hassenger calls Brahms: The Boy II an inferior horror sequel. 

Comments on Onward:

• Steve Rose calls Onward Pixar's best film in years. 
• A.A. Dowd declares that Pixar loses a little of its magic with Onward.
• Josh Milton reports that Onward features the first openly lesbian character in the Disney/Pixar films.
• Jude Rogers interviews Dan Scalon, director of Onward.
  

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2019 Booknest Fantasy Awards have been announced.
• The winners of the 2019 Curt Siodmak Preis have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2019/20 NESFA Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Story Contest have been announced.
• The winners of the 2020 NAACP Image Awards have been announced with lots of love for genre films.
• The winners of the 2020 IFMCA Awards have been announced with lots of love for genre films.
• The longlist for the 2020 International Booker Prize has been announced. 
• The Hugo Book Club wonders whether some movies and TV episodes are nominated for awards more on the strength of the franchose than for their individual merits.
• Adri Joy and Joe Sherry discuss the finalists of the 2019 Nebula Awards.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Graham Wynd shares his sweary writing philosophy. 
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch talks about getting out of your comfort zone.
• Bonnie Randall tells writers not to listen to writing advice that tells them that they can't write the prologue/dream sequence/flashback, etc... they want to write, but the listen to their hearts.
• Janice Hardy shares some tips for strengthening character goals.
• Christy J. Breedlove talks about different editing processes.
• Benjamin C. Kinney shares a warning about an unethical magazine.
• Lynn Steger Strong talks about the difficulties of being a writer, if you don't have another source of income, particularly if you write literary fiction. 
• Richard Lea shares Waterstones CEO James Daunt's reasoning for paying his staff only the minimum wage in spite of record profits.
• Camestros Felapton takes a look at some BookBub numbers and stats in a two part post.
  

Interviews:

• Tor.com interviews Drew Williams and Arkady Martine.
• John Crowley interviews Elizabeth Hand.
• Andrew Liptak interviews Alix E. Harrow.
• The Qwillery interviews Kelly Braffet. 
• Paul Weimer interviews Premee Mohamed.
• Andrea Johnson interviews Myke Cole. 
• Lucy Campbell interviews Malorie Blackman.
• The HWA interviews Linda Addison. 
• Gordon B. White interviews Nicole Cushing. 
• Christian A. Coleman interviews Nino Cipri.
• Trevor Noah interviews Tochi Onyebuchi.
• Jean Marie Ward interviews Gregory Benford.
  

Reviews: 

• Adri Joy reviews Chilling Effect by Valerie Valdes.
• Lis Carey reviews The Gate That Locks the Tree by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller.
• Nina Shepardson reviews The Last Astronaut by David Wellington. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Wireless and More Steam-Powered Adventures by Alex Acks. 
• Carolyn Cushman reviews Sword and Pen by Rachel Caine and Lost Acre by Andrew Caldecott.
• Blue Book Balloon reviews False Value by Ben Aaronovitch 
• Rachael McKenzie reviews False Value by Ben Aaronovitch. 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews False Value by Ben Aaronovitch.
• Liz Bourke reviews Crier's War by Nina Varela and Moontangled by Stephanie Burgis.
• Amy Goldschlager reviews Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin.  
• Paul Weimer reviews The Poet King by Ilana C. Myer. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews The Night Girl by James Bow. 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Merciful Crow by Margaret Owen. 
• Alex Brown reviews We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mejia
• Fantasy Faction reviews A Sea of Broken Glass by Sonya M. Black.
• James David Nicoll reviews Huntress by Malinda Lo.
• Alex Brown reviews Belle Révolte by Linsey Miller. 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Queen of Raiders by Sarah Kozloff.  
• Mark Yon reviews Soot by Dan Vyleta. 
• The Behrg reviews Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven.
• The Behrg reviews Ghostland by Duncan Ralston.
• Lee Mandelo reviews Finna by Nino Cipri.
• Lee Mandelo reviews The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper
• Ian Mond reviews Zed by Joanna Kavenna.
• Martin Cahill reviews The Hidden Girl and Other Stories by Ken Liu.
• Katharine Coldiron reviews Carl Brandon, edited by Jeanne Gomoll.
  

Classics reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1928 science fiction novel The World of the Giant Ants by A. Hyatt Verrill.
• Paul Fraser revisits the May 1944 issue of Astounding Science Fiction.
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1944 science fiction horror novelette "The Veil of Astellar" by Leigh Brackett. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction novella "The Mad Robot" by William P. McGivern. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 planetary romance short story "Doorway to Kal-Jmar" by Stuart Fleming a.k.a. Damon Knight.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 horror short story "Monsieur Bluebeard" by Emil Petaja. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction short story "Sanity" by Fritz Leiber. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction story "Canal" by Carl Jacobi.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction story "Writing on the Wall" a.k.a. "The Cosmic Doodler" by Carl Jacobi.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction short story “The Odyssey of Battling Bert” by Stanton A. Coblentz.
• Steve J. Wright revisits the 1944 science fiction crime novelette "Mind Stealers of Pluto" by Joseph Farrell.  
• Mark Yon revisits the February/March 1965 issues of Science Fantasy and New Worlds. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the March 1965 issue of Fantastic Stories of Imagination.
• Jason Sacks revisits the 1965 science fiction novel Dare by Philip Jose Farmer, Gideon Marcus revisits the 1965 science fiction novels Fugitive of the Stars by Edmond Hamilton and Land Beyond the Map by Kenneth Bulmer and Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1965 collection New Writings in SF 3, edited by John Carnell. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1986 science fiction novel The Ragged Astronauts by Bob Shaw.
• Kat Hooper revisits the 1997 fantasy novel The Broken Crown by Michelle West.
  

Con and event reports:

• Andrew Porter shares some photos of Boskone 57 in Boston, Massachussetts. 
• The bid committee for JeddiCon, the proposed 2022 WorldCon in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, discuss their experience. 
• Tammy Coxen shares some tips for potential WorldCon bidders. 
• Camestros Felapton reports about an uproar involving the Life, the Universe and Everything writing symposium in Provo, Utah.
• Callum Gunn reports that four actors who played the Weasley siblings in the Harry Potter movies will appear at Fan Expo Dallas in Dallas, Texas.
• Alan Brown reports about a visit to the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge attraction at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
• Listen to a recording of a talk given by Isaac Asimov at Boskone 5 in Boston, Massachussetts in 1968.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Into the Ashe and Fire, an afrofuturist novel by Steve Underwood, is looking for funding. 
• The updated fifth edition of the RPG Ptolus: Monte Cook's City by the Spire is looking for funding.
• Mission Decks prebuilt game decks are looking for funding.
  

Science and technology:

• Samantha Masunaga reports that SpaceX has gotten approval to built its Mars spaceship in Los Angeles, California.. 
• Hannah Devlin reports that the biggest comic explosion ever detected has left a huge dent in space.
• Corinne Purtill asks what humans looks for in a robot co-worker.  
• Alison Flood reports that a new species of pterosaur has been named after House Targaryen of Game of Thrones.
• The BBC reports that a system failure in a line of automatic pet feeders has left hundreds of pets hungry for several days.
• The BBC reports that a human brain in a jar was found in a mail truck at the US-Canadian border. 
• Julius Montgomery, the first African-American to work in a technical position at Cape Canaveral, has died aged 90.
• Pioneering NASA mathematician Katherine Johnson has died aged 101.
• Elisha Fieldstadt remembers Katherine Johnson.
  

Free online fiction:

• "Sinew and Steel and What They Told" by Carrie Vaughn at Tor.com. 
• "The Mermaid Astronaut" by Yoon Ha Lee in Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 
• "Amelia Pillar's Etiquette for the Space Traveler" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
• "No Exit" by Orrin Grey in Nightmare Magazine. 
• "Live Through This" by Nadia Bulkin in The Dark.
• "Mandorla" by Cooper Shrivastava in Clarkesworld.
• "A Stranger at the Bochinche" by Daniel José Older in Lightspeed.
• "The Gamecocks" by J.T. Petty in Lightspeed.
• "I went to Hogwarts for seven years and did not learn math or spelling and now I can't get a job" by Julien Darmoni in The New Yorker.

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for Tales from, the Loop.
• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Westworld.
• Watch another trailer for season 3 of Westworld.
• Watch yet another trailer for season 3 of Westworld.
• Watch one more trailer for season 3 of Westworld.
• Watch a trailer for Last and First Man 
• Watch a trailer for the latest version of Candyman. 
• Watch an ad for Hasbro's animatronic Baby Yoda toy.
• See the original illustrations for Jules Verne's Voyages Extraordinaires.