Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for February 23, 2023

 

It's time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting links about speculative fiction from around the web, this week with Masters of the Universe: Revolution, Star Wars in general, Doctor Who past, present and future, Dune: Part 2, the new Avatar the Last Airbender, Madame Web, Constellation, Spaceman, The Space Race, the best SFF books of 2023, trubutes to Steve Miller and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Deuce Richardson looks back on the collapse of the sword and sorcery genre in the 1980s. 
• Tonya Mitchell shares ten new gothic novels.
  
• Peter Wood talks about the pros and cons of nostalgia.
• James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF books about healers and medicine.
  
• Sarah Ruiz Grossman shares her favourite climate fiction novels. 
• Amanda Jayatissa shares five books that were inspired by folk tales.
  
• Samantha Hastings notes that fairy tales have always been dark.
  
• Judith Tarr talks about Bigfoot, king of the cryptids.
  
• Anna Smoot talks about the Jewishness of Sarah J. Maas' fantasy world.
  
• Benjamin Espen shares his appreciation for Manly Wade Wellman's Silver John stories.
  
• Lo Terry takes a look at Conan's lover Belit from "Queen of the Black Coast".
  
• Bill Cavalier shares a health update on the state of Robert E. Howard scholar Rusty Burke 
  
• Sheila Williams remembers Michael Bishop. 
• SFF scholar Richard Matthews has died aged 79. 
• The University of Tampa Press remembers Richard Matthews.
  

 

Tributes to Steve Miller:

• Science fiction author Steve Miller died aged 73. 
• File 770 shares an obituary that Steve Miller wrote for himself. 
• Sharon Lee remembers her long-time partner Steve Miller.
  

 

Best of 2023:

• Liz Bourke shares her favourite SFF books of 2023.
• Alexandra Pierce shares her favourite SFF books of 2023. 
• Arley Sorg shares his favourite SFF books of 2023.
  

Comics and Art:

• Robert Mammone reviews The One Hand #1 by Ram V and Laurence Campbell. 
• Jake Zawlacki interviews comic artist Dave McKean. 
• George Gene Gustines reports that legendary publisher EC Comics is returning.
  
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about the social media ready bookshelf.
  

 

Film and TV:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Sasquatch Sunset an ingenious Bigfoot comedy 
• Phil Hoad calls Monolith an impressive first contact science fiction film.
  
• Lucy Mangan calls The Way a thrilling near future drama unlike anything else on TV. 
• Sabina Graves asks people to please see Lisa Frankenstein, while it is still in theatres.
  
• Catherine Bray calls History of Evil a spooky-house horror film set in a future-fascist US 
• Meredith Hobbs Coons calls The Second Best Hospital In The Galaxy an animated series that's as ambitious as its protagonists.
  
• Alasdair Stuart talks about Echo, Reacher and the new paladins. 
• Leah Blaine praises how Percy Jackson and the Olympians handles the character of Medusa.
  
• Ben Child wonders whether Marvel will finally do right by the Fantastic Four given the recent cast announcements. 
  
• Kathryn Porter attempts to explain why racebent castings, particularly when black actresses are cast to play characters previously portrayed as white, make some people so angry.
• James Whitbrook reports that the usual suspects are mad that the shapeshifting character of Morph in the X-Men '97 animated show now identifies as non-binary. 
• Justin Carter reports that the TV show Superman & Lois was cancelled, because Warner Bros feared it would compete with the upcoming Superman: Legacy movie. 
  
• Stewart A. Shearer wonders if Gundam Wing was ever actually good. 
• David Wharton wishes that Hollywood would pay more attention to Robert A. Heinlein.
  
• Cole Rush shares his favourite frogs and toads from SFF films and TV shows. 
• Jack Shepherd interviews Gil Kenan, director of Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire. 
• Galactic Journey revisits the 1969 Star Trek episode "Requiem for Methuselah"
  
• Nathan Tavares revisits the 2006 speculative movie The Fountain. 
• Alexi Duggins reports that soap operas could be made by AI within three to five years.
  
• Mark Cousins wonders why British filmmakers don't band together to save endangered cinemas like Hollywood filmmakers sometimes do.
  
• Armando Tinoco reports that Stephen King has criticised Warner Bros for not releasing the latest adaptation of Salem's Lot, which was supposed to come out in 2023. 
• Actor Paul D'Amato, who appeared in The Deer Hunter, Slap Shot, Heaven's Gate, Heaven Can Wait and many others, has died aged 76.  

 

Comments on Masters of the Universe: Revolution (spoilers) and Masters of the Universe in general: 

• Dad-at-Arms discusses the relationship between Adam and Teela in Masters of the Universe Revelation and Revolution.
• Joshua M. Patton discusses the character of Gwildor in Masters of the Universe: Revolution. 
  
• For Eternia explains the three gods of Eternia and the four towers of Preternia as seen in Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
• Jacob Robinson interviews Rob David, executive producer of Masters of the Universe: Revolution.
  

 

Comments on Dune, Part 2: 

• Germain Lussier declares that Dune: Part 2 blew away his sandworm-sized expectations 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Dune, Part 2 a staggering spectacle.
  
• Murtada Elfadi calls Dune Part 2 visually ravishing 
• Germain Lussier interviews Stellan Skarsgård and Dave Bautista, who play Baron Harkonnen and Raban in Dune.  
• io9 interviews Dave Bautista who plays Raban in Dune, Part 2.
  

 

Comments on Star Wars: The Bad Batch and Star Wars in general:

• James Whitbrook declares that season 3 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch finally ties everything together.
• James Whitbrook shares everything you need to remember before season 3 of The Bad Batch.  
• James Whitbrook interviews Jennifer Corbett and Brad Rau, producers of Star Wars: The Bad Batch.
  
• Jordan Iacobucci, Joshua M. Patton and Kieran Loughlin point out that the Canto Bight sequence in The Last Jedi was not superfluous, only that almost everybody missed the purpose of that scene.  

 

Comments on Doctor Who past, present and future:  

• Louise Griffin shares the four greatest love stories in Doctor Who.
• Hollie Richardson interviews Louise Page, costume designer for Doctor Who.
  

 

Comments on the new Avatar: The Last Airbender in animation and live action:

• Jack Seale calls the live action Avatar: The Last Airbender a sparkling return for one of the greatest fantasy series of all time 
• Jenna Scherer declares that the new Avatar: The Last Airbender lacks the original's magic
  
• Justin Carter revisits the 2010 live action Avatar: The Last Airbender and finds it dull and just plain bad.
• Cole Rush share fantasy novel recommendations for the characters of Avatar: The Last Airbender.
  

 

Comments on Madame Web:

• Sam Adams calls Madame Web one of the worst superhero movies in recent years and one of the most enjoyable. 
• Katie Walsh calls Madame Web primo ridiculousness,
  
• Leah Schnelbach lets the spiders from Arachnophobia review Madame Web.
• Pamela McClintock and James Hibberd attempt to explain why Madame Web turned into such an unmitigated disaster. 
• Stuart Heritage notes that Madame Web is terrible, but at least Dakota Johnson's press tour is a lot of fun.
  

 

Comments on Constellation:

• Saloni Gajjar calls Constellation a trippy, hypnotic space thriller
  
• Rebecca Nicholson calls Constellation a slick space thriller. 
• io9 interviews Noomi Rapace, star of Constellation.
  

 

Comments on Spaceman:

• Peter Bradshaw calls Spaceman a trippy cosmic adventure.
  
• Alex Ritman interviews Johan Renck, director of Spaceman and Chernobyl.

Comments on The Space Race:

• David Smith calls The Space Race a groundbreaking documentary about black NASA astronauts.
  
• Vanessa Armstrong shares her thoughts on the documentary The Space Race.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2023 Bram Stoker Awards have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2024 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2024 Splatterpunk Awards have been announced.
• The finalists for the 2024 Prix Bob Morane have been announced.
  
• The finalists for the 2024 Premio Ernesto Vegetti have been announced.  
• The finalists for the 2024 Zsoldos Péter Award have been announced.
  
• The winner of the 2024 Dell Magazine Award has been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2023 Cybils Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 Annie Awards have been announced.
  
• The winners of the 2024 D.I.C.E. Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2024 VES Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2023 WGA Awards have been announced. 
  
• The winners of the 2024 Bafta Awards have been announced with few winners of interest.
  

Writing, publishing and promotion:

• Kelly Link shares thirty-four writing prompts. 
• Philip Athans points out that there actually is nothing wrong with prologues. 
• Mina Hardy discusses the difference between unreliable narrators and unreliable secondary characters.
  
• Vera Kurian shares tips for creating an ensemble cast.
  
• Elizabeth Bonesteel shares her not so great experiences with traditional publishing. 
• Victoria Strauss reports about outrage about a rights grab in the new terms of use at the audio book producer Findaway Voices
  
• Lauren Oyler reports about the many issues besetting Goodreads.
  
• Lois Beckett reports about the growing popularity of romance bookstores in North America.
  

 

Interviews:

• The Guardian interviews Kelly Link.
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Allen Stroud.
  
• Runalong the Shelves interviews Angela Slatter.
  

 

Reviews:

• John Mauro reviews The City of Marble and Blood by Howard Andrew Jones
• Clara Cohen reviews The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty 
  
• Paul Weimer reviews  The Thucydides Trap by Melinda Snodgrass
• Paul Di Filippo reviews Exordia by Seth Dickinson 
  
• Alex Brown reviews A Feast for Flies by Leigh Harlen  
• Marion Deeds reviews Starter Villain by John Scalzi 
• Liz Bourke reviews The Butcher of the Forest by Premee Mohamed
  
• John Mauro reviews Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older 
• Lesa Holstine reviews The Holy Terrors by Simon R. Green
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews Demon Daughter  by Lois McMaster Bujold 
• John Mauro reviews Candle Children by M.J. Baker
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Invisible Girl by C L Farley 
• Maura Krause reviews The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan. 
  
• Adrian Collins reviews The Hidden Legion by Snorri Kristjánsson
  
• Roseanna Pendlebury reviews Finding Echoes by Foz Meadows  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews The Last To Drown by Lorraine Wilson 
• Rebecca Fisher reviews Utterly Dark and the Face of the Deep by Philip Reeve
  
• Colleen Mondor reviews Mislaid in Parts Half-Known by Seanan McGuire 
• Jenny Hamilton reviews A Little Too Familiar and Rough Around the Hedges by Lish McBride.
  
• Maura Krause reviews Infinity Alchemist by Kacen Callender. 
  
• Fabienne Schwizer reviews The Poisons We Drink by Bethany Baptiste
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
• Fantasy Faction reviews The Wickwire Watch by Jacquelyn Hagen 
• Wendy Erskine reviews The Night Alphabet by Joelle Taylor
  
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Tanglewood by Knicky L.Abbott
  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Briar Book of the Dead by A.G. Slatter
• Fiona Denton reviews What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher. 
  
• Marlene Harris reviews What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher. 
  
• Gayle Surrette reviews What Feasts At Night by T. Kingfisher. 
• Gabino Iglesias reviews Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Parliament by Aimee Pokwatka
  
• Adrian Collins reviews The Builders by Daniel Polansky 
  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Loving Safoa by Liza Wemakor 
• Tzer Island reviews Cahokia Jazz by Francis Spufford  
• Natalie Zutter reviews Womb City by Tlotlo Tsamaase
  
• Gary K. Wolfe reviews Kinning by Nisi Shawl 
  
• Ian Mond reviews Him by Geoff Ryman 
• Mary Picken reviews The Descent by Paul E. Hardisty 
• Ian Mond reviews Deluge by Stephen Markley
  
• Marlene Harris reviews The Bezzle by Cory Doctorow
• Alexis Ong reviews Convergence Problems by Wole Talabi 
  
• Arturo Serrano reviews Extraordinary Visions: Stories Inspired by Jules Verne, edited by Steven R. Southard and Matthew T. Hardesty.
   
  

 Classics reviews:

• Brian Collins revisits the 1945 science fiction story “What You Need” by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore 
• Joachim Boaz revisits the 1964 science fiction collection Worlds Without End by Clifford D. Simak.
  
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1967 post-apocalyptic novel Termush by Sven Holm, translated by Sylvia Clayton.
  
• Tonya R. Moore revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Let the Fire Fall by Kate Wilhelm, Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1969 time travel novel The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier and the 1969 anthology New Writings in S-F 14, edited by John Carnell, Gideon Marcus revisits the 1969 science fiction novels The High Hex by Laurence M. Janifer and S. J. Treibich and The Rim Gods by A. Bertram Chandler, Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1969 alternate history novel If Israel Lost the War by Richard Z. Chesnoff, Edward Klein and Robert Littell and the 1969 science fiction novel The Jagged Orbit by John Brunner, David Levinson revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Captive Universe by Harry Harrison and Brian Collins revisits the 1969 science fiction novel Spacepaw by Gordon R. Dickson and the 1969 gothic novel The Tormented by Dorothy Daniels 
• Gideon Marcus reviews the March 1969 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 1973 speculative story “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” by Ursula K. Le Guin. 
• Brian Collins revisits the 1975 novella “The Storms of Windhaven” by Lisa Tuttle and George R. R. Martin 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1979 anthology The Best Science Fiction Novellas of The Year 1,
  edited by Terry Carr. 
• Alan Brown revisits the 1987 collection Night of the Cooters by Howard Waldrop 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1989 science fiction mystery Nightside City by Lawrence Watt-Evans 
• Alissa Burger reviews the 1992 YA horror novel The Mall by Richie Tankersley Cusick 
  
• Brian Collins revisits the 1998 science fiction story “First Fire” by Terry Bisson
• Runalong the Shelves revisits the 1998 historical fantasy novel Ash - A Secret History by Mary Gentle.
  
• James Wallace Harris revisits the 2003 postapocalyptic novel Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood.
  
  

Con and event reports:

• Roger Cadenhead reports that the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu, China, will not account for sponsorships and that co-chair Ben Yalow has no idea who the sponsors even were. 
• Mike Glyer reports that the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow has refused to accept passalong funds from the 2023 Worldcon in Chengdu. 
• File 770 reports that a Chinese company has organised an expensive Panda Study Trip for teenagers to the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow, Scotland - without the knowledge of the con com. 
  
• The 2024 GUFF race from Oceania to Europe is looking for candidates.
  
• Lynelle Howell discusses the problems that the New Zealand based convention Continuity has to find volunteers.
  
• James Hibberd reports that a John Wick themed immersive attraction is planned in Las Vegas, Nevada.
  

 

Science and technology:

• Tony Shepherd reports that astronomers have discovered the universe’s brightest object – a quasar powered by a black hole that eats a sun a day 
• Robin McKee reports that Japan will launch world’s first wooden satellite to combat space pollution
  
• Kaye Dee shares some space exploration news from 1969.
  
• Keith Roysdon reports about the Appalachian folklore belief of death crowns. 
• Colin Dickey shares the story of the Hopkinsville Goblins, who allegedly attacked a family in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, in 1955.
  
  

Gaming: 

• Zachary Small reports that according to a recent GLAAD report, seventeen percent of gamers identify as LGBTQ+
  
•  EN World discusses the rise and fall of Evil Genius Games.
  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Eternia playset. 
• Pixel Dan reviews wave 2 of the Mattel Turtles of Grayskull action figures. 
• Mega Jay Retro reviews the Mattel Turtles of Grayskull Sla'ker figure.
  
• Iain Delaney reviews the Corgi limited edition die-cast Stingray submarine.
  
• James Whitbrook shares a look at the Mondo X-Men: The Animated Series Rogue figure.
  
• Cheryl Eddy shares a look at the Hot Toys Spider-Man 2 action figure.
• Sabina Graves shares a look at a Snow White themed Lego set.
  

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Tell the King" by Natalia Theodoridou in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "Do Not Waver, My Heart" by Shanna Germain in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
• "The Pearl Captain" by Christopher Rowe in Lightspeed. 
• "What Becomes of Curious Minds" by Wen-yi Lee in Lightspeed.
  
• "Peddler of Favours" by Matthew Owen Jones in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
  
• "The Dreams From the Barrow" by Harry Piper in Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.
• "Nine Billion Turing Tests" by Chris Willrich in Reactor.
  
• "Lonely Ghosts" by Meghan Feldman in Clarkesworld.
  
• "The Beam Eidolon" by Ryan Marie Ketterer in Clarkesworld.
  
• "Preamble to the Death of a Small God" by H.B. Menendez in Nightmare Magazine
• "You, the Listener, on a Heavenly Trip" by Françoise Harvey in The Dark.
  
• "When No One Has to Say Goodbye" by Elisabeth Ring in Apex Magazine.
• "Common Sense" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch.
  

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for part 2 of season 2 of Invincible. 
  
• Watch a trailer for Iwájú
• Watch a trailer for Mars Machines. 
• Watch a trailer for The Spiderwick Chronicles.
  
• Watch a trailer for The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live. 
• Watch a trailer for Boy Kills World.
  
• Watch a trailer for Sting.
  
• Watch a trailer for Civil War.