Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 19, 2023

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with  Echo and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Star Trek in general, Star Wars in general, The End We Start From, the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death, season 4 of For All Mankind, the debate about AI-generated writing and art, tributes to David J. Skal, Howard Waldrop and Tom Purdom.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares a round-up of her favourite recent science fiction and fantasy. 
• The Review Geek shares ten planetary romances to enjoy.   
• Ratika Deshpande shares seven science fiction stories about planets you probable don't want to visit.
• Amy Avery shares nine great speculative whodunnits.
  
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF books that illustrate the Peter principle.
  
• Adventures Fantastic shares his appreciation for the works of Clark Ashton Smith, 
• Brian Collins shares his appreciation for the works of Clark Ashton Smith, 
• Sterling Ulrich explains how The Lord of the Rings made poetry exciting. 
  
• Zoe Williams shares reactions to the news that Keanu Reeves and China Mieville are collaborating on a novel called The Book of Elsewhere.
• John Self reports about the rise of celebrities writing novels. 
• Molly Templeton talks about reading books at the right time.
• Cole Rush talks about book trades. 
• Jeffrey Davies wonders whether reimagining history through biofiction is ethical.
  
• Mailing #6 of TRIAPA is now available. 
  
• SFF author and scholar David J. Skal has died aged 71.
• David Colton remembers David J. Skal. 
• SFF author Howard Waldrop has died gaed 77. 
• Vanessa Armstrong shares an obituary for Howard Waldrop.
  
• Lawrence Person remembers Howard Waldrop.
  
• Science fiction writer Tom Purdom has died aged 87.
  

 

Comics and Art:

• Robert Mammone reviews Creepshow #4 by Nick Dragotta and Jean-Francis Beaulieu
  
• Jeffrey Haas interviews comic writer and artist Tim Seeley.
• David Brooke interviews writer and artist Patrick Zircher abour writing and drawing a Solomon Kane story for Savage Sword of Conan.
  
• David Brooke announced a prequel comic miniseries to Masters of the Universe: Revolution with a very interesting variant cover. 
• Tatiana Siegel and Gene Maddaus wonder what will happen when the copyrights for Batman and Superman expire in the next ten years.
  
• Ella Creamer reports that a near mint copy of The Amazing Spider-Man No. 1 from 1963 has sold at auction for 1.38 million US-dollar
  
• Tom Gauld shares his latest literary cartoon.
  

 

Film and TV:

• The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy calls Bodies a fun time travel mystery. 
• Jenna Scherer calls Hazbin Hotel a vivid and stylish animated series that lacks writing flair
  
• Peter Bradshaw calls The Civil Dead a deadpan ghost comedy of wannabes trying to make it in Los Angeles. 
• Arturo Serrano compares The Pod Generation and Birth/Rebirth, two recent movies about technological child birth. 
• Courtney Howard calls I.S.S. a science fiction film that fails to achieve liftoff
  
• Matthew Jackson calls Founders Day gruesome fun for slasher devotees
  
• Manuel Betancourt shares his thoughts on the season 1 finale of The Curse. 
• Cheryl Eddy lists ten classic science fiction performances overlooked by the Oscars. 
• Justin Carter notes that Universal is giving filmmakers carte blanche to use its classic monsters, resulting in interesting films like Abigail or The Last Voyage of the Demeter.  
• Josh Weiss shares his ten favourite movies about toys coming to life.
• Cheryl Eddy shares ten essential giallo movies to watch.
  
• Fiona Moore revisits the 1967 near future satire Playtime and the 1968 science fiction monster film The Green Slime.
  
• Daniel Dockery revisits the 1999 animated series Batman Beyond.
  
• Gavia Baker-Whitelaw revisits the 2004 science fiction show Stargate Atlantis.
• Deirdre Behar interviews Rachel Brosnahan who will play Lois Lane in Superman Legacy. 
• Tom Lamont interviews Peter Capaldi, star of Doctor Who and Criminal Record.
  
• Cheryl Eddy worries about the future of The Exorcist film franchise.
  
• Stuart Heritage chronicles strange problems, deaths and disasters that have befallen TV shows.  
• Justin Carter reports that Godzilla Minus One is now the highest grossing Japanese film in the US ever and the fifth highest grossing international film in the US.
  

 

Comments on Echo and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:

• Dominic Patten declares that Echo is exactly what Marvel needs right now.  
• Leah Schnelbach wonders whether Echo can take the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in a new direction. 
• Noetta Harjo shares episode by episode reviews of Echo.
• Germain Lussier shares seven things he liked and three he didn't about Echo.
• Noetta Harjo shares her appreciation for the character of Maya Lopez from Echo.
  
• Brian Davids interviews Vincent D'Onofrio who plays Wilson Fisk a.k.a. Kingpin in Echo, Daredevil and Hawkeye.
  
• Zack Sharf reports that Robert Downey Jr believes that playing Tony Stark a.k.a. Iron Man was some of the best acting work he ever did, only that it remained ignored because of the antipathy of many critics against superhero films.
  

 

Comments on Star Wars in general:

• Ben Child wonders whether the newly announced Mandalorian movie can save Star Wars on the big screen.
• James Whitbrook is annoyed that Star Wars titles these days are mostly just character names.
  
• James Hibberd reports that David Benioff and Dan Weiss have revealed the idea for their cancelled Star Wars movie The First Jedi.  

 

Comments on Star Trek in general:

• Galactic Journey revisits the 1969 Star Trek episode "Let This Be Your Last Battlefield". 
• James Whitbrook reports that even the cast and writer are still divided over the controversial Star Trek Voyager episode "Tuvix".
  
• Avery Kaplan shares her appreciation for the character of T'Lyn from Star Trek: Lower Decks.
• James Whitbrook lists the worst times Starfleet got its arse handed to it across all iterations of Star Trek. 
• Avery Kaplan lists ten Star Trek actors who appeared on Columbo.
  

 

Comments on the cancellation of Our Flag Means Death: 

• Joe Otterson reports that the much beloved pirate series Our Flag Means Death has been cancelled by HBO Max. 
• Ryan Leston reports about a campaign to save Our Flag Means Death from cancellation. 
• Cheryl Eddy reports that there is still a chance that the beloved pirate series Our Flag Means Death will find a home elsewhere after HBO Max cancelled it. 
  

 

Comments on The End We Start From: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls The End We Start From an all too believable post-apocalyptic drama and praises the performance of Jodie Comer. 
• Rich Pelley interviews Jodie Comer, star of Killing Eve and The End We Start From.
  

 

Comments on season 4 of For All Mankind:

• Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of For All Mankind.
• Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of For All Mankind.
  
• The Geek's Guide to the Galaxy hopes that For All Mankind will get seven seasons.
• Douglas Helm reports that while Star Trek exists in the For All Mankind universe, Star Trek Voyager does not seem to exist, probably because For All Mankind showrunner Ron D. Moore was not asked to write for that show. 
• Germain Lussier explains that there are only three Star Trek shows by 2003 in the For All Mankind universe.
  

 

Awards:

• The nominations for the 2024 Annie Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 2024 SAG Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2024 DGA Awards have been announced.
• The nominations for the 2024 PGA Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2024 VES Awards have been announced. 
• The nominations for the 2024 Bafta Awards have been announced with barely any love for genre films and lots of love for dull movies.
  
• The winners of the 2024 Critics Choice Awards have been announced. 
  
• The winners of the 2023 Primetime Emmy Awards have been announced with no love for genre TV. 
• The winners of the 2024 African-American Film Critics Association Awards have been announced.  
• The finalists for the 2024 D.I.C.E. Awards have been announced.
• The 2023 Uncanny Magazine Reader Poll is open for voting.
  
• Mike Glyer reports about an uproar involving the Self-Published Science Fiction Competition after an author freaked out over a negative review and attacked the reviewer.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Peter Malone Elliott explains what Sam Shepard taught him about writing. 
• Ethan Sabatella talks about using Celtic mythology and folklore in sword and sorcery.
  
• Nicola Griffith shares tips for writing author bios.
• Otho Eskin talks about his publishing journey.
  
• Victoria Strauss warns writers about submitting their work to a Silent Manga Audition, since the terms mean they lose all their rights. 
• Aidan Moher weighs in on the issues with Nazis on Substack. 
• Ella Creamer reports that libraries in the UK suffer from a lack of recognition from the British government. 
  
• The British Library reports that they have managed to restore several services following a devastating cyber attack.
  

 

Comments on the AI controversy:

• Arwa Mahdawi wonders why ChatGPT appears to be getting "lazy". 
  
• Kate Knibbs reports that scammy AI-generated books, often rewriting real books, are flooding Amazon. 
• Kevin Geiger attempts to predict the impact of AI on Hollywood in 2024.
  

 

Interviews:

• Lenny Picker interviews J. Michael Straczynski 
• Locus interviews Ai Jiang. 
• Paul Weimer interviews Laura Anne Gilman. 
• Paul Semel interviews Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki 
• Roseanna Pendlebury interviews Iori Kusano.
  
• Scott Edelman interviews Izzy Wasserstein. 
• File 770 interviews Michael A. Burstein. 
• Rogues in the House interviews Molly Tanzer and Oliver Brackenbury. 
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Tej Turner.
  
• Adrian Collins interviews Mark Lawrence.
  
• Roseanna Pendlebury interviews Sarena Ulibarri
  

 

Reviews:

• James Davis Nicoll reviews Fallen by Melissa Scott
  
• Lis Carey reviews Becoming Terran by Mark Roth-Whitworth 
• Russell Letson reviews Creation Node by Stephen Baxter 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Shigidi and The Brass Head of Obalufon by Wole Talabi
  
• John Mauro reviews The Exile of Zanzibar by Daniel Maidman
• Marlene Harris reviews Wild and Distant Seas by Tara Karr Roberts
  
• Adri Joy reviews Virgin Land by Chloe Smith  
• Alexandra Pierce reviews Bittersweet in the Hollow by Kate Pearsall
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Blood War by Tej Turner 
• Fiona Denton reviews Pillar of Ash by H.M. Long 
• Natalie Zutter reviews The Tusks of Extinction by Ray Nayler
  
• John Mauro reviews A Lion’s Pride by P.L. Stuart
  
• Marlene Harris reviews That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon by Kimberly Lemming
• Marlene Harris reviews Miss Percy’s Pocket Guide to the Care and Feeding of British Dragons by Quenby Olson
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews Good Girls Don't Die by Christina Henry  
• Warner Holme reviews The Last House on Needless Street by Catriona Ward  
• Gabino Iglesias reviews The September House by Carissa Orlando 
• John Mauro reviews The Folly by Gemma Amor
  
• Joseph B. Hoyos reviews Mister Lullaby by J.H. Markert 
• Bill Capossere reviews Treacle Walker by Alan Garner
• Kat Hooper reviews UnSouled by Neal Shusterman 
• John Mauro reviews Overdue by Mark Lawrence.
  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Short and Long by Michael Blumlein  
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews They Shut Me Up by Tracy Fahey
  
• Vicki Weisfeld reviews Deep Freeze by Michael C. Grumley 
  
• Alex Wallace reviews Another Life by Sarena Ulibarri  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Animals at Night by Naomi Booth
  
• The Quick and the Read reviews Night Side of the River by Jeanette Winterson
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews The Book of Love by Kelly Link  
• Arley Sorg reviews The Black Girl Survives in This One, edited by Desiree S. Evans and Saraciea J. Fennel.
  
• Alex Jennings reviews Out There Screaming, edited by Jordan Peele. 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews A City on Mars by Kelly and  Zach Weinersmith
     
  

Classics reviews:

•  Jitka Čejková revisits the 1920 science fiction play R.U.R. Karel Čapek
• Deuce Richardson revisits the 1931 sword and sorcery story “The Tale of Satampra Zeiros” by Clark Ashton Smith.
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1955 science fiction story “Project Nursemaid” by Judith Merril
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1956 science fiction story “Anything Box” by Zenna Henderson.
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1956 science fiction story “Stranger Station” by Damon Knight.
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1956 science fiction story “And Now the News…” by Theodore Sturgeon.
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1956 science fiction story “2066: Election Day” by Michael Shaara. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1961 science fiction story “Wall of Crystal, Eye of Night” by Algis Budrys  
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1966 science fiction novel Rocannon's World by Ursula K. Le Guin.
• Sam Reader revisits the 1966 horror story “Larger Than Oneself” by Robert Aickman. 
• Gideon Marcus revisits the February 1969 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
  
• Gideon Marcus revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Double, Double by John Brunner, Brian Collins revisits the 1969 space opera novel Omnivore by Piers Anthony and the 1969 sword and sorcery novel Swordmen of Viztar by Charles Nuetzel, Jason Sacks revisits the 1969 space opera novel The Star Venturers by Kenneth Bulmer and the 1969 near future science fiction novel The Fall of the Dream Machine by Dean R. Koontz, Kris Vyas Myall revisits the 1969 anthology Frontier of Going: An Anthology of Space Poetry, edited by John Fairfax and Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1969 gothic YA novel The Whistling Boy by Ruth M. Arthur, the 1969 time travel novel Genesis Two by L. P. Davies, the 1969 science fantasy novel Isle of the Dead by Roger Zelazny and the 1969 science fiction novel S.T.A.R. Flight by E. C. Tubb
  
• Judith Tarr revisits the 1975 non-fiction book The Mothman Prophecies by John Keel.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1978 science fantasy novel  Exiles at the Well of Souls by Jack L. Chalker
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1998 near future science fiction novel Distraction by Bruce Sterling.
  

 

Con and event reports:

• The 2024 StokerCon in San Diego, California, has announced two guests of honour.
  
• Mike Glyer reports that the Texas Library Association has first disinvited Chuck Tingle from its 2024 conference in San Antonio, Texas, then reinvited him, only for Tingle to decline the invitation.
• The 2024 Trans Atlantic Fan Fund race has begun. 
• A Karl Edward Wagner Day in Knoxville, Tennessee, has been announced. 
• Mike Glyer announces that the 2024 Nebula Conference will be held in Pasadena, California.
  
•  Bill and Teresa Peschel report about a visit to a replica of Sherlock Holmes' living room at 221B Baker Street in Reading, Pennsylvania.
• Germain Lussier lists sixteen genre films that will be shown at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. 
• Kyle Barr shares his favourite robots displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  
• Matt Poskitt reports how a cross-promotion with Pokémon caused havoc at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. 
• Pat Cassels reports about a visit to the Hall of Fake Presidents in Washington DC, which features portraits of fictional US presidents from movies or TV shows. 
• Sabina Graves reports about the new Donkey Kong rollercoaster at Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan in Osaka, Japan,  
• Sabina Graves reports about the International Festival of the Arts at Epcot Center in Disney World in Orlando, Florida. 
  

 

Crowdfunding:

• The Thirtieth Anniversary Collection of Disney's Gargoyles comics is looking for funding.
• The deluxe omnibus hardcover edition of Hack/Slash Vol. 4 for Tim Seeley is looking for funding.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Ian Sample explains why landing on the Moon today is more difficult than fifty years ago.
• Cheyenne MacDonald reports that the Peregrine moon lander and its cargo will likely burn up in Earth's atmosphere, its mission having failed.
  
• Gareth L. Powell talks about the damage solar flares could wreak on earthly infrastructure. 
  
• April White talks about the women who worked at the Yerkes Observatory in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, in the early 1920s.
  
  

Gaming: 

• C.T.Phipps reviews Vampire: The Masquerade: Swansong
• Kyle Barr reports that Ubisoft is aggressively pushing a subscription model for its games, against the resistance of many gamers.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Sabina Graves shares a look at the Hot Toys Morbius action figure.
• Pixel Dan reviews the Super 7 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Party Wagon.  
• Pixel Dan reviews the Frazetta Girls Fire and Ice Dark Wolf action figure. 
• James Whitbrook looks back at the Star Wars: The Phantom Menace toyline twenty-five years later.
  
• The Battle Ram Blog shares some background on the never released Masters of the Universe Gigantisaur toy from 1987.
  
• Cora Buhlert shares a Masters-of-the-Universe-Piece Theatre toy photo story called "In Exile".
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Night Desk Duty at the Infinite Paradox Hotel" by Aimee Ogden in Lightspeed. 
• "Farewell to Faust" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
  
• "Cuneiform" by Yoon Ha Lee in The Sunday Morning Transport.
  
• "Rail Meat" by Marie Vibbert in Clarkesworld.
• "Just Another Cat in a Box" by E.N. Auslender in Clarkesworld. 
• "Born a Ghost" by Nadia Bongo in Apex Magazine. 
• "Up With the Morning Son" by Stewart A. Shearer in Side Quest. 
• "The Forgetter" by Andrew Snover in Nightmare Magazine. 
  
• "Plague in Arak" by D. J. Tyrer in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
  
• "Garlands for Your Bridal Chamber" by Fatima Taqvi in The Dark.
• "Hospitallity" by Jennifer Skogen in Luna Station Quarterly.
• "Liminal Spaces" by Maureen McHugh in Tor.com.
  
• "Marginalia" by Mary Robinette Kowal in Uncanny Magazine
• "Except the Music" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  
  

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for Zorro.
  
• Watch a trailer for Spaceman.
  
• Watch a trailer for Monsters 103 Mercies Dragon Damnation