It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Star Wars in general, Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek in general, Masters of the Universe in general, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general, Paradise, season 2 of Severance, Wolf Man, Dog Man, Love Me, Companion, The Colors Within, Common Side Effects, the sexual abuse allegations against Neil Gaiman, tributes to David Lynch, Marinanne Faithfull and John Erwin and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Cheryl Eddy shares new science fiction, fantasy and horror books coming out in February 2025.
- Tobias Carroll shares indie and small press speculative fiction for January and February 2025
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene shares her favourite SFF books by women writers in a two part post.
- Cora Buhlert discusses how the sword and sorcery genre got its name.
- Sheila Jenné talks about science fiction romance hybrids and the different expectations of science fiction and romance readers.
- Alex Call notes that the British SFF bestseller lists are dominated by romantasy.
- Sakinah Hofler talks about science fiction and defamiliarization.
- Dorian Lynskey explains how literature predicted and portrayed the atom bomb
- Ratika Deshpande shares five SFF short stories written as instructions
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF works featuring treacherous or ineffectual advisers
- Kali Wallace talks about the enduring appeal of magnificent trees and fantasy forests
- Ava Burke shares her favourite fictional ghosts.
- Mahvesh Murad shares five pregnancy horror novels.
- Molly Templeton talks about reading and writing about reading and writing
- Betsy Wollheim shares a guide to the works of Tanith Lee.
- James Davis Nicoll shares his appreciation for the Science Fiction Book Club.
- Bobby Derie delves into the correspondence between August Derleth and Everil Worrell.
- SFWA shares a tribute to Laurel Amberdine.
Comments on the sexual abuse allegations against Neil Gaiman:
- Drew Broussard interviews Lila Shapiro who wrote a detailed article about the allegations against Neil Gaiman and interviews several of his victims.
- Rachel Johnson who first reported about the allegations against Neil Gaiman claims that the complete cancellation of Gaiman was not what she wanted.
- Jake Kanter reports that Neil Gaiman has been dropped by his agent in response to the allegations of sexual misconduct.
- Justin Carter reports that Dark Horse Comics cut ties with Neil Gaiman and will not publish the remaining issue of the Anansi Boys comic adaption.
- Ella Creamer also reports about Dark Horse Comics cutting ties with Neil Gaiman.
- Rhianna Pratchett, daughter of the late Good Omens co-creator Terry Pratchett, has announced that Neil Gaiman will not receive any of the proceeds from a Good Omens graphic novel that is currently being crowdfunded.
- Jennifer Maas reports that The Sandman TV show will end after season 2 in response to the allegations against Neil Gaiman.
- Nadia Khomami reports that a stage adaptation of Neil Gaiman's Coraline, which was to be performed in Leeds, UK, has been cancelled as well.
Comics and Art:
- Marjorie Liu talks about the immortality of Superman.
- Isaiah Colbert reviews Ichi the Witch by Osamu Nishi and Shiro Usazaki
- Rachel Cooke reviews This Beautiful, Ridiculous City by Kay Sohini
- Sophia Waite reviews Tegan and Sara: Junior High by Tegan Quin and Sara Quin
- Bobby Derie revisits Ghosts and Monsters by Mark Falstein and Tony Gleeson, a 1982 collection of horror stories adapted into comics for use in schools.
Film and TV:
- Arturo Serrano struggles to express how he feels about season 2 of Silo.
- Jesse Hassenger declares that Castlevania Nocturne's embrace of magic hasn't just made its combat more exciting, it's also been hugely important for its character work.
- Cheryl Eddy declares that Didn’t Die offers a wry, poignant take on the zombie apocalypse
- Phil Hoad calls Elevation a high-altitude monster thriller that offers yet another twist on the Quiet Place formula
- Germain Lussier declares that Heart Eyes does a solid job blending horror, comedy and romance
- Benjamin Lee calls Opus a silly dud of a horror film.
- Benjamin Lee calls Together a codependent relationship body horror film.
- Phil Hoad calls Dark Match a backwoods grindhouse gorefest
- Jim Vorel calls The Ugly Stepsister the most disgusting fairy tale ever told
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Harley Quinn.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Mayfair Witches.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on season 4 of Mythic Quest.
- Jonothon Hill interviews John Barrowman, best known for playing Captain Jack Harkness in Doctor Who and Torchwood.
- Zoe Williams interviews Cynthia Erivo, best known for playing Elphaba in Wicked.
- Lisa Morton interviews horror filmmaker Toby Poser.
- Jenny Hamilton discusses the problematic attitude of the urban fantasy TV show Angel towards sexuality.
- Cheryl Eddy revisits the 1962 Twilight Zone episode “The Last Rites of Jeff Myrtlebank”
- Jessica Holmes revisits the 1970 Doctor Who serial "Spearhead from Space".
- Fiona Moore revisits the 1970 TV movie An Evening of Edgar Allan Poe, Victoria Silverwolf revisits the 1970 short film The Moebius Flip and the 1970 fantasy film Sole Survivor and Brian Collins revisits the 1970 horror film The Dunwich Horror.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1975 Space 1999 episode "Breakaway".
- Aya Tsintziras revisits the 1986 Twilight Zone episode "Gramma", adapted by Harlan Ellison from the story by Stephen King.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1995 Babylon 5 episode “Knives”
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1998 time loop film Run Lola Run.
- Judith Tarr revisits the 2015 monster movie Lake Placid vs. Anaconda
- Jill Goldsmith reports that the estate of Superman co-creator Joe Schuster is suing Warner Bros. Discovery and DC Comics which may lead to the upcoming Superman movie not being released in certain territories.
- Costume designer Phyllis Dalton who worked on The Princess Bride and many historical dramas has died aged 99.
- Jeannot Szwarc, director of Somewhere in Time, Supergirl, Jaws 2, Enigma, Santa Claus: The Movie and many others, has died aged 85.
- British actor Christopher Benjamin, who appeared in Doctor Who, The Avengers, Danger Man, The Prisoner, The Saint, Jason King and many others, has died aged 90.
Tributes to David Lynch:
- Dan Persons shares his appreciation for the work of David Lynch.
- Mike Miley shares his appreciation for David Lynch's weather reports.
- James Bacon reports about a visit to the Twin Peaks filming locations in Fall City, Snoqualmie and North Bend, Washington.
- Rachel Handler interviews the owner of the Palmer house from Twin Peaks, whose home has become a pilgrimage site and now shrine for fans of Twin Peaks and David Lynch.
- Chris Nichols reports about an impromptu memorial to David Lynch that sprung up at his favourite restaurant Bob's Big Boy in Los Angeles, California,
- Pette Hammond reports that David Lynch will posthumously receive the Writers Guild Laurel Award for Screenwriting
Tributes to Marianne Faithfull:
Tributes to John Erwin:
Comments on Star Wars: Skeleton Crew and Star Wars in general:
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
- Rob London shares the comments of Alison Brie about her role as Evil-Lyn in the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action movie.
- James Eatock revisits the 1983 He-Man and the Masters of the Universe episode "The Cat and the Spider".
Comments on Star Trek: Section 31 and Star Trek in general:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido declares that Star Trek: Section 31 has surprisingly little shadowy black ops for a story that's supposedly about shadowy black ops.
- Robert Lloyd declares that Star Trek: Section 31 is diverting, but it’s more pilot episode than film
- Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on part 1, part 2 and part 3 of Star Trek: Section 31.
- James Whitbrook shares three things he liked and seven things he didn't about Star Trek: Section 31.
- Arturo Serrano notes that there was never going to be a good way to tell a story where Section 31 are the heroes, but it didn't need to reach this abysmal degree of atrociousness
- James Whitbrook explains how a certain cameo in Star Trek: Section 31 came to be.
- Avery Kaplan discusses the portrayal of the Deltans across various incarnations of Star Trek.
- James Whitbrook reports that Star Trek: Section 31 is now the lowest-rated Star Trek project on Rotten Tomatoes
- James Whitbrook revisits the 1995 Star Trek Voyager episode "Time and Again".
Comments on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the Marvel Cinematic and TV Universe in general:
- Garrett Martin calls Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a fresh new take on classic Spider-Man
- Jarrod Jones calls Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man a Marvel classic in the making
- Isaiah Colbert declares that Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man offers a Marvel Cinematic Universe remix of a classic comic origin story
- Fay Watson and Jack Shepherd interviews Dario Scardapane and Charlie Cox, showrunner and star of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Jay Snow revisits the 2014 Marvel spy series Agent Carter.
- Andy Behbakht reports that Brad Winterbaum, head of Marvel Television, has addressed the question whether Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD are canon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Cheryl Eddy reports that Anthony Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson a.k.a. Falcon a.k.a. Captain America in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has come under fire for making mildly critical remarks that the US is not always the good guys
Comments on Paradise:
- Lucy Mangan calls Paradise a whodunnit with wit and heart and praises the performance of Sterling K. Brown
- Amy Amatangelo calls Paradise a pulpy, action-packed delight.
- Saloni Gajjar calls Paradise a head-scratching, twisty thriller.
- Alasdair Stuart shares a spoilerish review of Paradise.
- Whitney Friedlander interviews Dan Fogelman, creator of Paradise.
Comments on Companion:
- Jarrod Jones declares that Companion is about controlling relationships, in more ways than one
- Jesse Hassenger calls Companion a facile horror romp and praises the performance of Sophie Thatcher.
- Benjamin Lee calls Companion an empty science fiction thriller that's not as clever or original as it thinks it is
- Sabina Graves interviews Drew Hancock, director of Companion.
- Sabina Graves interviews Jack Quaid and Sophie Thatcher, stars of Companion.
Comments on Love Me:
Comments on Wolf-Man:
Comments on Dog Man:
Comments on season 2 of Severance:
- Saloni Gajjar shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Severance.
- Molly Templeton shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Severance.
- Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Severance.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Severance.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Severance.
- Joel Cuthbertson calls Severance a realist manifesto for the twenty-first century
Comments on The Colors Within:
- Phuong Le calls the anime musical The Colors Within a synaesthetic joy
- Elijah Gonzales declares that the anime The Colors Within captures the everyday magic of music
- Leigh Monson calls The Colors Within a musical slice-of-life anime
- Elijah Gonzalez interviews Naoko Yamada, director of The Colors Within.
Comments on Common Side Effects:
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2025 National Book Critics Circle Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2025 ALA Youth Media Awards have been announced.
- Zach Schonfeld wonders why the Oscars are so reluctant to celebrate horror movies.
- The ENNIE Awards have revised their coverage on generative AI use.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Carter Wilson talks about the joy of writing a standalone book.
- Gemma Tizzard talks about researching historical fiction.
- Greg Wands and Elizabeth McCullough Keenan talk about creating the perfect antagonist.
- Mary Childs talks about trying and failing to design a cover for her book.
- Constance Grady notes that the alleged reading gap between men and women isn't actually all that big.
- James Folta notes that men have bigger problems than not reading novels.
- Shelf Awareness reports that the US Department of Education has called the wide-spread book bans in US schools and school libraries a hoax.
- Authors Against Book Bans responds to the US Department of Education.
- Locus reports about the US Department of Education dismissing book bans.
- Lucy Knight reports that Simon & Schuster will no longer ask authors to obtain blurbs for their books
- Jim Milliot reports that the publisher Bloomsbury UK has reached a last-minute contract agreement with Amazon
- Ella Creamer and Sarah Butler report that British bookseller W.H. Smith is considering selling its high street stores, which would be a massive blow for British bookselling.
- Justin Ray interviews Nikki High, owner of the bookstore Octavia’s Bookshelf in Pasadena, California.
- Lucy Knight reports that the US Authors Guild is planning to certify books as written without the aid of AI.
- Laura Snapes reports that Sir Elton John has critcised the UK's proposed watering down of copyright law to enable copyrighted works to be used for AI training without compensation
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Liz Bourke reviews And the Mighty Will Fall by K.B. Wagers
- Kevin Tipple reviews Faithless in Death by J.D. Robb
- Martin Cahill reviews Space Oddity by Catherynne Valente
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Hammajang Luck by Makana Yamamoto
- Alexandra Pierce reviews Edge of the Known World by Sheri T. Joseph
- Rich Horton reviews In Memoriam: A Novel of the Terran Diaspora by Fred Lerner
- Alexandra Pierce reviews Fortress Sol by Stephen Baxter
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Spire Climbers by Rob J. Hayes
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Dead Cat Tail Assassins by P. Djeli Clark
- Mark Yon reviews The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell.
- Sasha Bonkowsky reviews The Outcast Mage by Annabel Campbell.
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews The Diplomacy of the Knife by C.M. Caplan
- Natalie Zutter reviews Kalyna the Cutthroat by Elijah Kinch Spector
- Paperback Warrior reviews Doom of the Dark Delta by James Reasoner.
- Gary K. Wolfe reviews At the Fount of Creation by Tobi Ogundiran
- Russell Letson reviews Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Rob Bedford reviews The Fury of the Gods by John Gwynne.
- Marion Deeds reviews Bringer of Dust by J.M. Miro
- Liz Bourke reviews The Book of Gold by Ruth Frances Long
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Teller of Small Fortunes by Julie Leong
- Marlene Harris reviews The Baby Dragon Cafe by A. T. Qureshi
- Chris Kluwe reviews The Bones Beneath My Skin by T.J. Klune
- Fiona Denton reviews Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros.
- Alex Brown reviews A Vile Season by David Ferraro
- John Mauro reviews A Pack of Wolves by P. L. Stuart
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Ansuz by Malene Sølvsten, translated by Adrienne Alair.
- Paul di Filippo reviews Ludluda by Jeff Noon and Steve Beard
- Warner Holme reviews Malarkoi by Alex Pheby
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews Discovery by J.A.J. Minton
- BOLO Books reviews Death of the Author by Nnedi Okorafor.
- Roseanna Pendlebury reviews Remember You Will Die by Eden Robins
- Abigail Nussbaum reviews The Shutouts by Gabrielle Korn
- Abergale Shep reviews The Watchers by A.M. Shine
- Alasdair Stuart reviews Motheater by Linda H- Codega.
- Suzi Feay reviews The Lamb by Lucy Rose
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Wilding by Ian McDonald
- Blue Book Balloon reviews The Stones of Landane by Catherine Cavendish
- Paperback Warrior reviews I'm Starting to Worry About This Black Box of Doom by Jason Pargin.
- Paul Weimer reviews A Conventional Boy by Charles Stross
- Lucy Popescu reviews Dealing With the Dead by Alain Mabanckou
- Ian Mond reviews Crows and Silences by Lucius Shepard
- Marion Deeds reviews Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart and Other Stories by GennaRose Nethercott
- Paul Weimer reviews The History of the World Begins in Ice by Kate Elliott
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Schrödinger's Wife (and Other Possibilities) by Pippa Goldschmidt
- Leah Ning reviews Really Shockingly Bad Things and Other Stories by Sam Asher.
- Siobhan Maria Carroll reviews The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024, edited by Hugh Howey
Classics reviews:
- Joe Kenney revisits the 1936 The Spider pulp adventure novel Green Globes Of Death by Grant Stockbridge a.k.a. Norvell Page.
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1956 YA science fiction novel Undersea Fleet by Frederik Pohl and Jack Williamson
- Brian Collins revisits the 1970 science fiction novel Alien Island by T. L. Sherred, Winona Menezes revisits the 1970 science fantasy novel The Winds of Darkover by Marion Zimmer Bradley and the 1970 science fiction novel The Anything Tree by John Rackham and Jessica Dickinson Goodman revisits the 1970 science fiction novel Enchantress From the Stars by Sylvia Louise Engdahl.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the February 1970 issue of Analog.
- Sam Reader revisits the 1978 post-apocalyptic story “Seven American Nights” by Gene Wolfe
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1985 science fiction novel Knight Moves by Walter Jon Williams
- Paperback Warrior revisits the 1986 Ashton Ford occult detective novel Ashes to Ashes by Don Pendleton.
- Kat Hooper revisits the 2012 urban fantasy novel Elfhome by Wen Spencer
- Alex Brown revisits the 2016 Books of Raksura fantasy novel The Edge of Worlds by Martha Wells.
Con and event reports:
- Daniel Dern reports about the 2025 Arisia in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
- John Hertz reports about the 2025 LosCon in Los Angeles, California.
- Sir Dork reports about the Toys in Action toy photography con in Saratoga Springs, New York.
- Lena Barkin discusses the difference between fan-run cons and professional media cons and how it caused a massive war in Blake's 7 fandom in 1988, when actor Paul Darrow noted that he preferred professional cons, which paid him for his presence, to anarchic fan cons.
- Ella Creamer reports about the midnight launch of Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros in various British bookshops.
- Locus shares a photo of the latest Brooklyn Books and Booze reading event in Brooklyn, New York.
- Elizabeth Minkel reports about an exhibition of imaginary books in Manhattan, New York.
- Oliver Wainwright reports about London Toy Fair in London, UK.
- Sabina Graves reports about the International Festival of the Arts at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
- Sabina Graves reports about the Fan Fest Night events at Universal Studios Hollywood in Hollywood, California.
- Sabina Graves reports that the Star Wars themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel in Disney World in Orlando, Florida, is being turned into an office building for the Walt Disney Company.
Crowdfunding:
Science and technology:
- Ian Sample reports that the newly discovered asteroid 2024 YR4 has a one percent chance of colliding with Earth in December 2032, placing it at the top of the observation list.
- Ashley Strickland reports that two mysterious fast radio bursts have been detected that originated from wildly different places in space
- Mike Zastrow reports that a newly discovered asteroid turned out to be actually the Tesla roadster SpaceX launched into orbit.
- Patrick Pester talks about the "artificial sun" nuclear fusion reactor in China.
- John Mauro talks about advances in glass technology in science and science fiction
- Ashley Belanger reports about the latest technology to get rid of AI crawlers on webpages.
- Nicholas Wroe discusses the history of tarot.
- Trisha Tobias talks about the history of the so-called duppies, the ghosts of Jamaica.
Gaming:
- Dave Bradley reviews the video game Murder is Game Over: The Blackinton Curse
- Joe DelFranco reviews the video game Metaphor: ReFantazio by Studio Zero
- Justin Carter discusses the lasting legacy of Mass Effect 2.
- Keith Stuart explains why old video games magazines are a vital source of cultural history – and nostalgia
- Summer Lin reports that a fight broke out over Pokémon cards at a Costco market in Los Angeles, California.
Toys and collectibles:
- For Eternia reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Cartoon Collection Faker action figure.
- Alex Wallace talks about revisiting LEGO Star Wars sets after fifteen years.
- Cassie Holguin shares a look at the Cullen House from Twilight LEGO set.
- James Whitbrook lists LEGO sets coming out in February.
- James Whitbrook shares a look at a giant Gardevoir Pokemon plushie that is basically human-sized.
Free online fiction:
- "Bravado" by Carrie Vaughn in Reactor.
- "After the God Has Moved On" by Kate Elliott in Lightspeed.
- "Chickenfoot Soup" by Marika Bailey in Lightspeed.
- "Murder in the Clavist Autonomous Zone" by Rich Larson in Strange Horizons.
- "A Charm to Keep the Evil Eye Away From Your Campervan; or, Roamin' Rights" by Christopher R. Muscato in Strange Horizons.
- "For Whom the Hair Grows" by Tia Tashiro in Uncanny Magazine
- "The Night Market" by Chinelo Onwualu in Omenana.
- "Rage Against the Venting Machine" by Russell Nichols in Apex Magazine.
- "Autonomy" by Meg Elison in Clarkesworld.
- "Vigil" by David Bowles in The Sunday Morning Transport.
Trailers and videos:
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