Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for May 21, 2021

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with The Nevers, The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, the various DC Comics based TV shows, The Underground Railroad, the many iterations of Star Trek, Shadow and Bone, some uproars involving Doctor Who, Army of the Dead, A Quiet Place Part II, Seance, Shrek at twenty, tributes to Charles Grodin and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Andrew Liptak shares science fiction and fantasy books coming out this summer.
  
• April Yee takes a look at new science fiction books by writers of colour.
  
• Charlie Jane Anders talks about the pitfalls of inventing an alien civilization. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction novels featuring hibernation ships.
  
• Bill Ward lists classic fantasy series by American writers.
  
• Ryan Harvey lists the books that got him into fantasy. 
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF novels featuring male characters that just don't give up.
  
• Sarah Pinsker shares five SFF books about siblings.
  
• Linsey Miller shares five SFF books featuring medicine and magic. 
• A.M. Strickland shares five YA fantasies with dead main characters.
  
• Eve Taft points out that sameness can be as horrifying as the other.  
• Daryl Gregory talks about murder, metafiction and mashups.
  
• Diane Callahan shares her appreciation for the works of Laini Taylor.
  
• Alexandra Alter profiles Andy Weir. 
• Julian Emerson profiles Charles Payseur.
• M.C. Tuggle profiles Henry Rider Haggard.
  
• Dr. Sam Hirst talks about the woman writers of the early gothic novel. 
• David Goodwin follows H.P. Lovecraft and his wife Sonia Greene around Greenwich Village, New York, in the 1920s. 
• Michael R. Brown profiles the longrunning pulp hero The Phantom Detective.
  
• Michael R. Brown explains why same pulp authors used pseudonyms. 
  
• Emily Temple shares the most discussed books on the internet.
  
• Alan Yu talks about the toxic side of fandom. 
• Jane Frank shares her appreciation for the SFF art of Richard Powers. 
• Jane Frank shares her appreciation for the SFF art of Paul Lehr.
• Editor and anthologist Marvin Kaye has died aged 83.
  
• SFF writer Jan Stirling, wife of S.M. Stirling, has died aged 71.
• Science fiction writer and editor Don Sakers has died aged 62.
  

 

Comics: 

• G.W. Thomas takes a look at comics featuring cavemen. 
• James Maliszweski takes a look at Lin Carter's work for Marvel Comics.
  
• James Bacon offers a virtual tour through the V for Vendetta: Behind the Mask exhibition at the Cartoon Museum in London, UK.
• Kentaro Miura, creator of the bestselling manga series Berserk, has died aged 54.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Ines Bellina shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Handmaid's Tale. 
• Leslie Felperin calls Psycho Goreman an engaging science fiction comedy horror film.
  
• Germain Lussier calls Oxygen a claustrophobic science fiction thriller. 
• Alex McLevy calls The Bite a biting zombie satire. 
• Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on Yasuke. 
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Debris.
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls Peter Rabbit 2 a cute but bland animated caper. 
• Cassidy Rae Proctor only just watched the Twilight movies for the first time and lists the ten most relatable characters.
  
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1966 horror movies The She Beast and The Embalmer.
  
• Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1986 comic book movie Howard the Duck and finds it one of the weirdest movies ever made. 
• Ryan Britt revisits the 1989 time travel show Quantum Leap. 
• Austin Gilkeson revisits the 2001 Tolkien adaptation The Fellowship of the Ring. 
• Tom Breihan revisits the 2011 movie Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2. 
• Matt Webb Mitovich interviews D.B. Woodside who plays Amanadiel in Lucifer.
  
• Germain Lussier interviews Darren Lynn Bousman, director of Spiral. 
• Scott Ryan ranks the twenty wildest and strangest Eurovision performances.
  
• Ryan Faughnder reports that Amazon is planning to buy MGM, the film studio which has the rights to the James Bond movies among many others. 
  
• William Hughes reports that Joss Whedon is having problems getting a green card for his new wife, because Joss Whedon is not actually his legal name and he gave the wrong birthplace as well. 
• Leonard Maltin remembers the late Norman Lloyd.
  
• Actor and screenwriter Douglas Livingstone, best known for Day of the Triffids, Play for Today and The Night Before the Execution, has died aged 86.
  
• Actor Charles Grodin, star of Midnight Run, Heaven Can Wait, Rosemary's Baby, King Kong, The Great Muppet Caper, The Incredible Shrinking Woman and others, has died aged 86. 
• Olivia Rutigliano shares a tribute to Charles Grodin. 
• Matthew Dessem remembers Charles Grodin's on-screen romance with Miss Piggy in The Great Muppet Caper.
  

 

Comments on The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general:

• Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on "Replacements", the latest episode of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Replacements".
• Germain Lussier celebrates the 77th birthday of George Lucas.
  

 

Comments on The Nevers: 

• Natalie Zutter shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Nevers.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Nevers.
• Roxana Hadadi shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Nevers.
• Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Nevers.
• Lucy Mangan calls The Nevers a cursed mess that not even magical aliens can save.
  

 

Comments on the various DC Comics based TV Shows:

• Andrew Tejada shares his thoughts on the latest developments in the various DC Comics based TV shows.
  
• Rob Bricken is troubled by the way Batwoman treats the character of Kate Kane. 
• Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Superman and Lois. 
• Scott von Doviak shares his thoughts on the latest episode of The Flash.
• Allison Shoemaker shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Legends of Tomorrow.
• Chancellor Agard interviews Tala Ashe who plays Zari in Legends of Tomorrow.
• Watch a clip of Zari and John Constantine singing a duet in Legends of Tomorrow.
  

Comments on The Underground Railroad:

• Lucy Mangan calls The Underground Railroad harrowing and masterful.
• Michelle Jaworski calls The Underground Railroad a technical marvel and astounding adaptation of Colson Whitehead's eponymous novel.  
• Alex Brown calls The Underground Railroad a gut-wrenching and awe-inspiring tour de force. 
• Doreen St. Felix talks about the achievement of The Underground Railroad.
  
• Ann Hornaday interviews Barry Jenkins, showrunner of The Underground Railroad. 
• Marah Eakin interviews Thuso Mbedu, star of The Underground Railroad.
• Joshua Ocampo interviews William Jackson Harper, another star of The Underground Railroad.
  
• Marah Eakin interviews Aaron Pierre, one of the stars of The Underground Railroad. 
• Marah Eakin interviews Joel Edgerton, another one of the stars of The Underground Railroad.
  
• Stuart Miller interviews the cast of The Underground Railroad.
• David Smith discusses the historical background of The Underground Railroad.
  

 

Comments on Star Trek in general:

• Amanda Reiko Andonian celebrates the Asian characters of Star Trek.
  
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the Star Trek Voyager episodes "The Voyager Conspiracy" and "Pathfinder".
• Hadley Freeman interviews William Shatner who played Captain James T. Kirk in the original Star Trek.
  

Comments on Shadow and Bone:

• J.C. Kang compares the TV series Shadow and Bone to the Grishaverse novels by Leigh Bardugo, upon which the series is based.
  
• Sian Cain interviews Leigh Bardugo, author of the Grishaverse novels.

 

Comments on Army of the Dead:

• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw calls Army of the Dead a ridiculous thrill ride.
  
• Steve Rose wonders if Zack Snyder has finally found his calling in Army of the Dead.
  
• Marah Eakin interviews Zack Snyder, director of Army of the Dead. 
• Catherine Shoard interviews Zack Snyder.
• Danette Chavez interviews Tig Notaro, one of the stars of Army of the Dead.
• Marah Eakin interviews Dave Bautista, one of the stars of Army of the Dead.
• Marah Eakin interviews the various female cast members of Army of the Dead.
  

 

Comments on Doctor Who:

• Emily Baker reports about a conflict regarding the legality of Doctor Who fanfiction.
• Alasdair Stuart reports about the allegations of sexual misconduct against Noel Clarke, star of Doctor Who, Kidulthood and Bulletproof, and the accusations of inappropriate behaviour against fellow Doctor Who star John Barrowman and wonders about the unequal response.
• Mick Joest reports that John Barrowman has apologised for upsetting people by running around naked backstage during the filming of Doctor Who and Torchwood.
• The BBC reports that Big Finish will not release a Torchwood audio play featuring John Barrowman and David Tennant, following the complaints.
  

 

Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:

• Julia Alexander talks about Loki and the growth of Disney+. 
• Evan Romano interviews Kevin Feige, president of Marvel Studios.
  
• John Boone interviews Anthony Mackie who plays Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon a.k.a. Captain America in the Marvel movies and TV shows. 
• Sam Barsanti calls M.O.D.O.K. an enjoyable supervillain sitcom. 
• Watch a trailer for Loki.
  
• Watch a clip from Loki.
• Watch a clip from Black Widow.
  

 

Comments on A Quiet Place Part II:

• Peter Bradshaw calls A Quiet Place Part II an effective and engrossing follow-up.
• A.A. Dowd calls A Quiet Place Part II a muffled echo of the original. 
• Germain Lussier calls A Quiet Place Part II a super-solid, edge-of-your-seat sequel.
  

 

Comments on Seance:

• Cheryl Eddy calls Seance a standard boarding school horror movie with some unexpected elements. 
• Katie Rife calls Seance a clever subversion of teen horror movie tropes.
  
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Simon Barrett, writer and director of Seance.
  

 

Shrek at twenty:

• Scott Tobias revisits the 2001 animated film Shrek. 
• Gina Cherelus revisits Shrek for its twentieth anniversary. 
• Tatiana Tenreyro remember an unfortunate adult Shrek inspired photoshoot in 2010.
  

 

Awards: 

• The finalists for the 2020 Australian Shadows Awards have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2021 Prix Jacques-Brossard has been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2022 Prix Jeunesse des Univers Parallèles have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2021 Agop Melkonian Awards have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2021 MTV Movie and TV Awards have been announced.
  
• The inaugural Analog Award for Emerging Black Voices is open for submissions. 
• The inaugural Morley Prize for Unpublished Writers of Colour is open for submissions. 
  
• Hugh Howey launches the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition.

 

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Tiffany Meuret declares that sometimes, writers need to let go.
• Robert Lee Brewer shares eight summer writing activities. 
• Elizabeth Brundage talks about writing character-driven thrillers.
• Lincoln Michel explains how much money authors earn.
• Andrew Albanese reports that Amazon and the Digital Public Library of America have come to an agreement over lending e-books in libraries.
• Tor reports about some personnel changes and promotions.
• Katie Moench shares fifteen cool bookshelf inserts.
  

Interviews:

• Paul Weimer interviews Adrian Tchaikovsky.
  
• The Guardian interviews Patrick Ness.
• Rogues in the House interview Howard Andrew Jones. 
• Hadley Freeman interviews Salman Rushdie.
  
• CBC Radio interviews Carmen Maria Machado. 
• The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction interviews Eugen Bacon.
• Paul Levinson interviews Nicole Kornher-Stace.
• Locus interviews Nghi Vo. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Lucy Hounsom. 
• Bill Capossere interviews Marion Deeds.
  
• Clark Collis interviews C. Robert Cargill.
  
• Dr. Brian Keating interviews Andy Weir.
• Janna Miller interviews Elin Olausson.
  

Reviews:

• Chris Kluwe reviews Hold Fast Through the Fire by K.B. Wagers.
  
• Liz Bourke reviews The Alien Stars and Other Novellas by Tim Pratt.
• Maya C. James reviews The Unbroken by C.L. Clark. 
• Alex Brown reviews Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbowa.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. 
• Hephzibah Anderson reviews Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon. 
• Ian Mond reviews Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer.
  
• Kat Hooper and Terry Weyna review Raybearer by Jordan Ifueko.  
• Paul Weimer reviews Floodpath by Emily B. Martin.
  
• Molly Templeton reviews Firebreak by Nicole Kornher-Stace.
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Return of the Thief by Megan Whalen Turner. 
• Lesa Holstine reviews Independent Bones by Carolyn Haines.
• Sandie Herron reviews The Last Curtain Call by Juliet Blackwell.
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Faceless Old Woman Who Secretly Lives In Your Home by Joseph Fink and Jeffrey Cranor.
• Kat Hooper reviews A Game of Fox and Squirrels by Jenn Reese. 
  
• Amy Goldschlager reviews The Map of Tiny Perfect Things by Lev Grossman.
• No More Grumpy Bookseller reviews We Go On Forever by Sarah Govett. 
• Camestros Felapton reviews The Fated Sky and The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal.
  
• Tadiana Jones reviews Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
• Germain Lussier reviews Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Godel Operation by James L. Cambias. 
• Sean Dowie reviews Riot Baby by Tochi Onyebuchi.
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews I’m Waiting for You and Other Stories by Kim Bo-Young.
• Paula Guran reviews The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales by Angela Slatter. 
• Jeff Foust reviews Developing Space and Settling Space by by John Strickland with Sam Spencer and Anna Nesterova.

Classics reviews:

• G.W. Thomas revisits the 1859 ghost story "The House and the Brain" by Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
  
• James Maliszewski revisits the 1918 lost world novel The Citadel of Fear by Francis Stevens a.k.a. Gertrude Barrows Bennett. 
• Cthulery revisits the 1932 dark fantasy story "The Testament of Atthamaus" by Clark Ashton Smith.
  
• Adventures Fantastic revisits the 1940 contemporary fantasy story "Fisherman's Luck" by Frank Belknap Long.
  
• John O'Neill revisits the 1943 space opera novel Judgment Night by C.L. Moore 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the February 1943 issue of Unknown. 
• Steve J. Wright revisits the April 1943 issue of Unknown and also takes a look at volume 6 of Unknown in general.
  
• Adventures Fantastic revisits the 1943 contemporary fantasy story "Wet Magic" by Henry Kuttner.
  
• Kate Washington revisits the 1961 children's fantasy The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster.
• Paul Fraser revisits the 1965 fantasy anthology The Dark Side, edited by Damon Knight.
  
• Paperback Warrior revisits the 1965 gothic novel Dark Cypress by Edwina Noone a.k.a. Michael Avallone.
• Gideon Marcus revisits the June 1966 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. 
  
• Cora Buhlert revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany.
• Victoria Silverwood revisits the 1966 humorous science fiction novel Mindswap by Robert Sheckley.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1968 time travel novel Past Master by R.A. Lafferty.
• Steve Bean revisits the 1970 science fantasy novel Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny.
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1976 science fiction collection The Turning Place: Stories of a Future Past by Jean E. Karl.
• Joe Kenney revisits Terminal Road, a 1986 novel in the Traveler post-apocalyptic adventure series by D.B. Drumm a.k.a. John Shirley.
• Paul Fraser revisits the December 1995 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction.
  

Con and event reports:

• John Coxon, Allison Scott and Liz Batty discuss various Worldcon bids. 
• James Malizewski shares Fritz Leiber's report about GenCon IX in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin in 1976. 
• Stephen Graham Jones shares an open letter to cons how they can do better by indigenous program participants. 
• The program for the virtual 2021 TorCon is now online.
  
• Judith Rosen reports about the online US Book Show, the replacement for the permanently cancelled BookExpo America.
  
• The Speculative Literature Foundation offers a support grant for science fiction, fantasy and horror related conventions as well as literary conventions with a significant SFF element. 
• Katie Rife reports about the Fantasia Film Festival in Montreal, Canada, which celebrates its twentieth anniversary this year.
  
• Belen Edwards interviews Grant Duffin, founder of Shrekfest.
  
• Hannah Sampson reports about the battle over the refurbishing Disney park attraction to remove outdated stereotypes. 
• Matt Novak reports that Disneyland, Paris, in Coupvray, France, will reopen in June.
• David Goldfarb reports that the 2021 Middle School National Championship Tournament included some science fiction related questions.
• Irish Central reports that a statue of a puca by sculptor Aidan Harte will not be put up in Ennistymon, Ireland, following protests by locals.
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• Artist Colin Howard, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, needs some help to buy a new wheelchair, which will make him more mobile.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Isaac Schultz reports that China's Zhurong rover has sent back its first images from Mars.
  
• NASA reports that the spacecraft OSIRIS-REx is returning to Earth with a sample of the asteroid Bennu. 
• George Dvorsky reports about SpaceX's plans for the first orbital test flight of its Starship.
  
• Japanese fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa first wants to book a trip to the International Space Station and then one to the Moon.
• Caroline Delbert reports that the Russian secretary of defence is planning to clone Scythian warriors who died 3000 years ago. 
• Alex Fox reports that scientists have managed to keep pigs and mice alive via anally delivered oxygen.
  
• Isaac Schultz reports that a colony of monkeys living near Fort Lauderdale airport in Florida are the descendants of fifty monkeys that escaped from a combined zoo and animal testing lab in 1948. 
• Jim Morrison reports about forest die-back in North Carolina.
  
• Rebecca Mead talks about the mysterious origins of the Cerne Abbas Giant, a well-endowed chalk figure etched into an English hillside.
  
• Crawford Smith reports about a witchcraft related murder in Rehmeyer's Hollow, Pennsylvania, in 1928. 
  
• Kelly Hayes-Raitt shares seven of Scotland's most fascinating mythical creatures. 

Free online fiction:

• "Hassan the Executioner Walks Out of Jawasar for the Last Time" by R.K. Duncan in Beneath Ceaseless Skies 
• "To Crack the World" by Kurt Hunt in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
  
• "Dead Men in Central City" by Carrie Vaughn in Lightspeed. 
• "There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai" by Andrea Kirz in Lightspeed.
  
• "The Moor" by Elin Olausson in Luna Station Quarterly.
  
• "Water Child" by Frances Ogamba in The Dark. 
• "Ripple Effects" by Laura J. Mixon in Tor.com.
  
• "Tiger of the New Moon" by Allison Thai in Anathema Magazine.
  
• "Dancing with Ereshkigal" by Sameem Siddiqui in Clarkesworld.  
• "This Is the Moment, Or One of Them" by Mari Ness in Apex Magazine. 
• "Weaving" by January Adams in Fireside Fiction.
  
• "The Cabbit" by Maria Dong in Nightmare Magazine.
  
• "Disenchantment" by P.H. Low in Fantasy Magazine. 
• "Pros and Cons of Spending the First Weeks of Your Son's Life in the NICU" by Timothy Mudie in Daily Science Fiction.
  
• "Safe as Houses" by Avra Margariti in Daily Science Fiction.
  

 

Trailers and videos: 

• Watch a trailer for Sweet Tooth. 
• Watch a trailer for Snake Eyes. 
• Watch a trailer for Eden. 
• Watch a trailer for The Mysterious Benedict Society.
  
• Watch a trailer for Fear Street. 
• Watch a trailer for Ragnarok 2. 
• Watch a trailer for Resident Evil: Infinite Darkness.
  
• Watch a trailer for Hotel Transylvania: Transformania.
• Watch a trailer for Ghosts.