Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for July 17, 2020

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with the various iterations of Star Trek, The Old Guard, Relic, Palm Springs, the debate about so-called "cancel culture", the many allegations of sexual harrassment in the SFF, comics and games communities, the latest convention cancellations and virtual conventions due to the corona virus and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Eric Brown shares the best recent science fiction, fantasy and horror novels. 
• Liz Bourke shares some SFF comfort reads. 
• L.A. Young lists SFF authors of marginalised identities. 
• Sam Maggs shares eight amazing novels about female superheroes.
• Isabelle Steiger shares five books in which magic comes with a price. 
• James Davis Nicoll discusses five strategies writers use to hide a "lost" civilisation.
• Elly Griffith talks about marches and why they inspire so many legends and folkloristic tales. 
• Silvia Moreno-Garcia offers a brief history of Mexican horror comics.
• Ryan Van Loan shares the maps of his fantasy novel The Sin in the Steel.
• Rhiannon Lucy Cossett reports about the latest death of the novel, this time due to female writers writing books that old white men do not care for.
• Gal Beckerman explains how The Baby-Sitters Club children's books taught him everything he needed to know about fiction.
• Alison Flood reports that the British Library has acquired an archive of Mervyn Peake's illustrations. 
• Olivia Rutigliano recalls the time Mario Vargas Llosa punched Gabriel García Márquez in the face.
• Joanna Cole, author of the Magic Schoolbus children's book series, has died aged 75.
  

Comments on the many allegations of sexual misconduct in the SFF, comics and games industry:

• Asher Elbein offers a comprehensive account of the many allegations of sexual misconduct in the comics industry.
• Sam Thielman reports about the sexual misconduct allegations against comic writer Warren Ellis.
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw also reports about the sexual misconduct allegations against Warren Ellis.
• More than sixty people who accuse Warren Ellis of manipulative behaviour have issued a statement.
• John Scalzi weighs in on the sexual assault allegations against the owner of Borderland Books in San Francisco, California.
• Claire Kirch reports about the reactions of customers and authors to the sexual assault allegations against the owner of Borderland Books.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw reports that three executives at the game developer Ubisoft have resigned following allegations of sexual harrassment and misconduct.
  

Comments on the debate about so-called "cancel culture":

• Several prominent writers and scholars have posted an open letter, complaining about so-called cancel culture. 
• Michael Hobbes responds to the open letter signed by several prominent writers and scholars condemning so-called cancel culture. 
• Andrew Keen and Osita Nwanevu discuss the open letter condemning so-called cancel culture. 
• Gabrielle Bellot responds to the open letter condemning cancel culture.
• Timothy the Talking Cat also speaks out against cancel culture.

Film and TV:

• Jake Kleinman shares the best science fiction shows on Netflix, as voted by Inverse readers. 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido calls Warrior Nun almost great. 
• Danette Chavez finds the latest adaptation of Brave New World a little too familiar. 
• Ellen E. Jones calls Good Manners a supberly strange horror film.
• Mike McCahill calls Dreambuilders a blandly bright animated adventure for children.
• Camestros Felapton shares his thoughts on season 3 of Dark. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw shares her thoughts on season 2 of The Twilight Zone.
• Kayla Kumari Updhyaya shares her thoughts on the season 1 finale of Snowpiercer. 
• Kate Kulzick shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Stargirl. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles an animated odyssey.
• Lucy Mangan calls the alternate history series The Plot Against America a taut political allegory.
• Jack Seale wonders why alternate history TV series, particularly those imagining a world where the Nazis have won WWII, are so popular. 
• David Renshaw explains why timeloop movies are so popular right now.
• Stephen Graham Jones explains why exposing children to horror movies might actually be good for them.
• Joachim Boaz revisits "The Fourth Horseman", the first episode of the 1975 post-apocalyptic TV series Survivors.
• Noah Berlatsky revisits the 1987 horror film The Evil Dead II.
• Scott Tobias revisits the 1990 supernatural romance Ghost for its 30th anniversary. 
• Joshua Rivera revisits the 1997 military science fiction film Starship Troopers. 
• Steve Rose interviews Mike Hodges, director of Flash Gordon, Black Rainbow and Get Carter. 
• Ammar Kalia interviews Idris Elba, star of Luther, Pacific Rim and the Thor movies. 
• Jake Kleinman reports that according to actor Bruce Davidson, who played the character in the X-Men films, the anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly was a very popular character among Republican politicans. 
• Lorelei Marcus shares her appreciation for actor Tony Randall.
• The BBC reports that actress Julia Sawalha is furious because she will not repeat her voice role in the sequel to Chicken Run, because her voice supposedly sounds too old. 
• Wendy Ide wonders whether cinema will survive the corona pandemic.
• Ben Child wonders whether the so-called Snyder cut of Justice League will be any better than Joss Whedon's version.
• Anthony D'Alessandro reports that The Empire Strikes Back sits at the top of the US box office charts again forty years after it was first released.
• Actress Naya Rivera, best known for her parts in Glee and CSI Miami, has drowned aged 33.
• Grant Imahara, host of MythBusters, has died aged 49. 
• Actress Galyn Görg who appeared in Twin Peaks, M.A.N.T.I.S., RoboCop and Point Break has died aged 55.
• Actress Kelly Preston, who appeared in Sky High, Space Camp, Gotti, Battlefield Earth and many others, has died aged 57.
• Peter Bradshaw remembers Kelly Preston.
  

Comments on the various iterations of Star Trek:

• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "Sacred Ground" and "Future's End, Part I"
• Watch a trailer for Star Trek: Lower Decks.

Comments on The Old Guard:

• Linda Holmes calls The Old Guard a smart blend of action and emotion.
• Emmet Asher-Perrin declares that The Old Guard proves that you don't need a huge badget to make a worthy comic book movie. 
• Benjamin Lee is thrilled that a major Hollywood action movie like The Old Guard finally dares to include a gay couple. 
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls The Old Guard a forgettable action movie. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares his thoughts on The Old Guard.
• Devin Coggan interviews Charlize Theron and the rest of the cast of The Old Guard.
• Tim Lewis interviews KiKi Layne, one of the stars of The Old Guard.
• Watch a clip from The Old Guard with a very sweet gay kiss.
  

Comments on Relic:

• Katie Rife calls Relic a haunted house movie about the inside of the human mind. 
• Deirdre Crimmings declares that Relic's psychological terror is built into its creepy set design.
• Debbie Zhou interviews Natalie Erika James, director of Relic. 
• Katie Rife interviews Emily Mortimer, star of Relic.

Comments on Palm Springs:

• Linda Holmes calls Palm Springs a witty timeloop romantic comedy.
• Cameron Scheetz interviews J.K. Simmons, one of the stars of Palm Springs.
  

Awards: 

• The winners of the 2019 Shirley Jackson Awards have been announced.
• The winner of the 2020 Prometheus Best Novel and Hall of Fame Award has been announced. 
• The winners of the 2020 Scribe Awards have been announced. 
• The nominees for the 2019 Ladies of Horror Fiction Awards have been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2020 Sunburst Awards has been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2020 Manly Wade Wellman Award has been announced.
• The shortlist for the 2020 Imadjinn Awards has been announced.
• Colson Whitehead has won the Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction
• Six posthumous recipients of the 2020 Bill Finger Award for Excellence in Comic Writing have been announced. 
• Constanze Hofmann takes a look at the finalists for the 2020 Best Fan Artist Hugo.
• Abigail Nussbaum takes a look at the political dimensions of the 2020 Hugo finalists.
• Joe Sherry takes a look at the 2020 Best Dramatic Presentation Long Form Hugo finalists
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Catherine Asaro explains where she gets her ideas.
• Charlie Jane Anders declares that a good plot is made of two things. 
• Janice Hardy discusses two things every novel must do. 
• Michele Tracy Berger talks about writing during difficult times.
• Laurence McNaughton shares four free apps for writers. 
• Mike Glyer reports that author Alexandra Duncan has pulled her upcoming novel Ember Days over complaints of cultural appropriation and insensitivity and that Publishers Weekly subsequently pulled an article about the book cancellation.
• Mike Glyer offers an update on the status of Uncle Hugo's and Uncle Edgar's bookstores, which burned down during the recent riots in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Interviews:

• Redditors interviews Kate Elliott. 
• Andrew Liptak interviews Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Farah Rose Smith interviews Livia Llewellyn. 
• Redditors interviews S.A. Chakraborty.
• The Qwillery interviews Raymond E. Feist.
• Locus interviews Steven Erikson. 
• The Qwillery interviews John P. Murphy.
• The Odyssey Writing Workshop interviews Corry L. Lee.
• Meredith Maran interviews Gish Yen. 
• Andrea Johnson itnerviews Grace P. Fong. 
• Andrea Johnson interviews Sara Felix.
• Cole Rush interviews Nadia Odunayo.
  

Reviews: 

• Liz Bourke reviews Unconquerable Sun by Kate Elliott. 
• Rob Bedford reviews Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.
• Carolyn Cushman reviews Knife Children and The Orphans of Raspay by Lois McMaster Bujold. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. 
• Kat Hooper and Marion Deeds review Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.
• Andrew Mather reviews Harrow, the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir. 
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Last Emperox by John Scalzi.
• Paul Weimer reviews The Sin in the Steel by Ryan van Loan. 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The House in the Cerulean Sea by T.J. Klune.
• Natalie Zutter reviews The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal. 
• Rob Bedford reviews The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal.
• Liz Bourke reviews Sixteenth Watch by Myke Cole. 
• Paul di Filippo reviews The Tyrant Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. 
• Steve J. Wright reviews Catfishing on CatNet by Naomi Kritzer. 
• Maya Kittelman reviews The Extraordinaries by T.J. Klune.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Shadowshaper Legacy by Daniel José Older. 
• Katharine Coldiron reviews House of Earth and Blood by Sarah J. Maas.
• Rebecca Fisher reviews Siege and Storm by Leigh Bardugo.
• Rebecca Fisher reviews Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo.
• Ian Mond reviews The Harpy by Megan Hunter.
• Alex Brown reviews All of Us With Wings by Michelle Ruiz Keil. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews A Spell for Trouble by Esme Addison.
• Kelly Lasiter reviews Conjure Woman by Afia Atakora.
• Paul Weimer reviews Sunshield by Emily B. Martin.
  
• Alex Brown reviews A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer.
• Laird Hunt reviews A Peculiar Peril by Jeff VanderMeer. 
• Richard Marpole reviews The Last Page by Anthony Huso. 
• Sarah Perry reviews Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell. 
• Ian Mond reviews Blue Ticket by Sophie Mackintosh. 
• The Eloquent Page reviews Random Sh*t Flying Through the Air by Jackson Ford. 
• Jude Cook reviews Two Tribes by Chris Beckett.
• Martin Cahill reviews Or What You Will by Jo Walton. 
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Or What You Will by Jo Walton. 
• Lauren Jackson reviews Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay. 
• Mark Chitty reviews Doomsday Game by Gary Gibson.
• Paula Guran reviews Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones.
• Michael Patrick Hicks reviews Misfits by Hunter Shea.
  

Classics reviews:

• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1944 science fiction novel Sirius by Olaf Stapledon.
• Weighing a Pig Doesn't Fatten It revisits the 1961 science fiction novel Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. 
• John Boston revisits the August 1965 issue of Amazing Stories. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the August 1965 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
• Rosemary Benton revisits the 1965 science fiction novels The Altar of Asconel by John Burnner and Android Avenger by Ted White, while Erica Frank discusses the illegal US paperback edition of J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings.
• Kat Hooper revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Across a Billion Years by Robert Silverberg.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1969 science fantasy novel Creature of Light and Darkness by Roger Zelazny. 
• Sean Guynes revisits the 1971 science fiction novel The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1983 post-apocalyptic novel A Matter for Men by David Gerrold.
• Alan Brown revisits the 1989 space opera novel Gryphon by Crawford Kilian.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1990 science fantasy novel The Madness Season by C.S. Friedman.
• Kat Hooper revisits the 1990 fantasy novel By the Sword by Mercedes Lackey.
  

Con and event reports:

• The virtual San Diego Comic Con shares its programming schedule. 
• Adam B. Vary looks ahead at the virtual San Diego Comic Con.
• Jennifer Maas and Tim Baysinger also discuss the virtual San Diego Comic Con.
• Sara Jones reports that FanX in Salt Lake City, Utah, has been postponed to 2021 due to the corona virus.
• The 2020 WindyCon in Lombard, Illinois, has been cancelled due to the corona virus. 
• Locus offers an overview of SFF conventions and events cancelled due to the corona virus.
• Edmund Schluessel shares his experiences at the virtual 2020 Finncon and why he felt the need to leave. 
• Rob Hansen remembers Sci-Con, the 1971 Eastercon in Worcester, UK.
  

Crowdfunding:

• Artist Jenny Parks has cancer and could use some help.
• Kristine Kathryn Rusch explains why Kickstarter is a gamechanger for creatives.

Science and technology:

• Dennis Overbye reports that astronomers have discovered a vast curtain of galaxies hidden behind the Milky Way. 
• Jonathan Amos reports about the planned Mars mission of the United Arab Emirates. 
• Sarah Stewart Johnson reports about Mariner-4's first Mars fly-by in 1965.
• Nina Louise Purvis explains how to do surgery in space.
• The BBC reports that the floodgates supposed to protect Venice, Italy, have been tested for the very first time.
  

Free online fiction:

• "The End of the World Measured in Values of N" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
• "A Siege of Cranes" by Benjamin Rosenbaum in Lightspeed.
• "The Black-Eyed Goddess of Apple Trees and Farmers' Wives" by Erin Eisenhour in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "It Is Not From Heaven" by Jonathan Edelstein in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "One Time, a Reluctant Traveler" by A.T. Greenblatt in Clarkesworld.
• "The Wandering City" by Usman T. Malik at the ASU Center for Science and the Imagination. 
• "The Folding Man" by Joe R. Lansdale in Nightmare Magazine.
• "The Glitch" by Aimée Jodoin in Luna Station Quarterly. 
• "Everything's Fine" by Matthew Pridham at Tor.com.
• "Juice Like Wounds" by Seanan McGuire at Tor.com.
• "Saudade" by Steve Rasnic Tem in The Dark.
• "One Small Step" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

Odds and ends: 

• Watch a trailer for season 5 of Lucifer.
• Watch a trailer for Project Power.
• Watch Henry Cavill, star of The Witcher and Man of Steel, build a PC. 
• Deana Whitney shares some recipes inspired by Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archives.