It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with news from the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Murderbot, Superman, season 3 of Foundation, season 3 of Squid Game, Jurassic World Rebirth, Nautilus, The Institute, tributes to Julian McMahon and Mark Snow and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- The New York Times shares science fiction novels to read this summer.
- Sarah Fimm shares her ten favourite fantasy novels of the 2020s to date.
- Sarah Fimm shares her ten favourite YA fantasy books of the twenty-first century to date.
- Alex Brown shares her most anticipated YA science fiction, fantasy and horror books for July and August 2025.
- Gabino Iglesias recommends three new horror novels.
- Taylor Hunsberger declares that horror offers young readers safe spaces in scary times
- Elly Griffiths shares her ten favourite time travel books.
- Sarah Fimm shares the ten fantasy series that disappointed her most.
- Alex Brown shares five underrated SFF books about revolutions.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five SFF works featuring dangerously impatient heirs and successors.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction books about aliens who are fed up with humans.
- Ratika Deshpande shares five stories featuring haunted and magical trees and forest spirits
- Lorna Wallace shares five horror novels featuring spiders.
- Z.B. Steele recommends books for fans of specific video games.
- Eric Williams talks about Robert E. Howard's love for Norse sagas.
Comics and Art:
Film and TV:
- The New York Times shares the allegedly one hundred best movies of the twenty-first century.
- Readers of the New York Times share their one hundred favourite movies of the twenty-first century.
- Vance Kotrla calls Lost in Starlight a South Korean animated film that straddles romance and space adventure
- Ann Michelle Harris calls KPop Demon Hunters a fresh take on familiar themes, played out with bright animation and appealing characters
- Alex Wallace shares three ruminations on the themes of Elio
- Catherine Bray calls Watch the Skies a nicely put together Swedish UFO movies, which is sadly mainly notable for using AI to change the actors' lip movements to match the dubbed dialogue.
- Ignatiy Vishnevetsky calls Daniela Forever a scince fiction-ish drama about the unfinished business of grief.
- Isaiah Colbert calls Gachiakuta a gritty dystopian anime series with the most raw, inventive power system since Chainsaw Man.
- Jim Vorel declares that the Thai horror movie Ziam certainly does punch some zombies in the face
- Jim Vorel calls Brick a science fiction thriller as dumb as its name.
- Isaiah Colbert calls the anime New Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt a raunchy, foul-mouthed riot
- Phoebe Wagner shares her thoughts on episode 10 of season 2 of Andor.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Resident Alien.
- Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of The Librarians: The Next Chapter.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Revival.
- Rory Doherty lists ten film adaptations of Image Comics.
- Catherine Shoard wonders why Hollywood is so focussed on remakes and sequels these days.
- Stuart Heritage talks about plot holes in TV shows such as character's parents dying off-screen multiple times.
- Nancy Tartaglione interviews Terry Gilliam, director of Brazil, Twelve Monkeys and Time Bandits.
- Robert Ito interviews Charlize Theron and Uma Thurman, stars of The Old Guard 2.
- Isaiah Colbert interviews Yoshihiro Watanabe, Justin Leach and Kat Minett, producers of Leviathan.
- Hanna Flint interviews Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight.
- Rachel Pronger interviews B-movie director Stephanie Rothman
- Peter Bradshaw revisits the 1957 science fiction film Quatermass 2.
- Dan Persons revisits the 1960 Twilight Zone episode “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” and the 1961Twilight Zone episode “It’s a Good Life”
- Blake Turck revisits the 1975 shark movie Jaws.
- Tyler Dean revisits the 1983 animated sword and sorcery film Fire and Ice.
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1987 superhero movie Mr. India.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1996 Babylon 5 episode “War Without End, Part One”
- William Hughes remembers the late Kenneth Colley.
- Actor Peter-Henry Schroeder, best known for his appearances in Star Trek: Enterprise and Argo, has died aged 90.
Tributes to Julian McMahon:
- Australian actor Julian McMahon, best known for his roles in Charmed, Fantastic Four, Profiler, FBI: Most Wanted and Nip/Tuck, has died aged 56.
- Caolán Magee and Sian Cain remember Julian McMahon.
- Nellie Andreeva remembers Julian McMahon.
- Justin Carter remembers Julian McMahon.
- Glenn Garner shares tributes to Julian McMahon from former co-stars.
- The Guardian shares photos from Julian McMahon's career.
Tributes to Mark Snow:
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
- For Eternia shares some speculations regarding the appearance of Skeletor in the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film.
- James Eatock reveals what the villain Evilseed from the Filmation He-Man cartoon looks like under his robe.
- James Eatock also discusses an expensive animation mistake in the early episodes of the She-Ra cartoon.
Comments on Murderbot:
- Alex Brown shares their thoughts on “All Systems Red”, the latest episode of Murderbot.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on “All Systems Red” the latest episode of Murderbot.
- William Hughes shares his thoughts on “All Systems Red”, the latest episode of Murderbot.
- Charles Pulliam-Moore reports that Murderbot has already been renewed for a second season.
Comments on season 3 of Foundation:
- John DeVore declares that season 3 of Foundation is as weighty, high-stakes and oddly captivating as ever
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Pilou Asbæk who plays the Mule in Foundation.
- Vanessa Armstrong also interviews Pilou Asbæk
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Jared Harris who plays Hari Seldon in Foundation.
- Vanessa Armstrong interviews Terrence Mann, Lee Pace and Cassian Bilton, who plays the different incarnations of Emperor Cleon in Foundation as well as Laura Birn, who plays Demerzel.
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Lou Llobell who plays Gaal Dornick in Foundation.
Comments on the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:
- Robert Downey Jr. who plays Tony Stark in the Marvel Cinematic Universe interviews Dominique Thorne who plays Riri Williams in the Marvel Cinematic Universe
- Amanda Vincent explains why X-Men ’97 should be Marvel’s standard for future projects
- Adam Blevins and Steven Weintraub report how fan theories influenced decisions in Spider-Man: No Way Home.
- Ben Child muses whether rewriting movies based on fan theories is a good or a bad thing.
Comments on Superman:
- Germain Lussier shares early reactions to Superman.
- Germain Lussier declares that Superman soars
- Jarrod Jones calls Superman a big, blue reboot that supercharges a beleaguered genre
- Alissa Wilkinson calls Superman a sincere but also goofy movie, with a few well-timed twists on the mythology
- Glen Weldon declares that Superman is corny, which is why it gets Superman right
- Kevin Fox Jr. calls Superman earnest but overburdened.
- Peter Bradshaw calls Superman a cluttered, pointless franchise restarter
- Germain Lussier interviews James Gunn, writer and director of Superman and head of DC Studios.
- BBC Front Row interviews James Gunn.
- A. Martinez interviews James Gunn.
- Germain Lussier interviews Nicholas Hoult who plays Lex Luthor in Superman.
- Nick Romano interviews Nathan Fillion who plays Guy Gardner a.k.a. Green Lantern in Superman.
- Germain Lussier reports that some of the supporting characters in Superman might be getting spin-offs.
- Sabina Graves notes that Krypto the Superdog is the breakout star of Superman.
- Ben Fritz discusses how Superman could revive the fortunes of DC Studios.
- James Whitbrook reports that far right culture warriors are shocked that Superman is an immigrant, even though he has been portrayed that way since 1938.
- Andrew Pulver reports that Dean Cain who played Superman in The Adventures of Lois and Clark in the 1990s has criticised the new Superman for being too woke,
- William Hughes reports that much hated Warner Discovery CEO David Zaslav vetoed a Black Superman movie as "too woke".
- Germain Lussier ranks the various Superman movies over the decades.
- Jesse Schedeen discusses the odd evolution of Superman's powers over the decades
- Jesse Hassenger looks back on the old DC Cinematic Universe and why it never really worked out in spite of some good movies.
Comments on Nautilus:
Comments on The Institute:
Comments on season 3 of Squid Game:
- Tom Phillips shares the comments by actor Bryan Brucco, who played one of the VIPs in Squid Game, about the much criticised dialogue of those characters.
- James Pero reports that people who dislike the ending of Squid Game are using AI to "fix" it.
- Cheryl Eddy reports that all three season of Squid Game currently sit at the top of the Netflix charts.
- Cheryl Eddy reports that the reality show Squid Game: The Challenge is getting a third season as well.
Comments on Jurassic World Rebirth:
- Arturo Serrano calls Jurassic World Rebirth a sequel that fails to make the case for why the franchise shouldn't stay dead.
- Jacob Oller declares that Jurassic World Rebirth once again makes dinosaurs everyone's problem
- Jacob Oller declares that rhe bigger the mutant dinosaurs get, the emptier the Jurassic World films are
- Mekado Murphy interviews Gareth Edwards, director of Jurassic World Rebirth.
- Sabina Graves ranks Jurassic World characters based on how much she wanted them to get eaten
- Samantha Masunaga and Ryan Faughnder report that Jurassic World Rebirth had a very good opening weekend at the box office
Awards:
- The finalists for the 2025 World Fantasy Awards have been announced.
- The winner of the 2025 Prometheus Award has been announced.
- The winner of the 2025 Tähtifantasia Award has been announced.
- The winners of the 2025 Janusz A. Zajdel and Piotr Tak Awards have been announced.
- The finalists for the 2025 Baen Fantasy Adventure Award have been announced.
- Rich Horton shares his thoughts on the 2025 finalists for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.
- The Translated Hugo initiative wants to add a Hugo category for translated works.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Charlie Jane Anders explains why she doesn't want to write about arsehole protagonists right now.
- Lincoln Michel talks about worldbuilding.
- A.P. Howell shares their appreciation for the Submission Grinder.
- Dean Simons talks about the politics of printing in China.
- Ella Creamer reports that the UK start-up Globe Scribe offers an AI translation service for fiction and was promptly and rightfully slammed.
- Francis Hamit reviews the BBC's online mystery writing class taught by an AI-generated Agatha Christie.
- Ella Creamer reports that Raynor Winn, author of the bestselling memoir The Salt Path, has been accused of making most of the story up.
- Lucy Knight notes that controversy has been stalking the memoir since it emerged as a separate genre.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Marlene Harris reviews The Potency of Ungovernable Impulses by Malka Older
- Marion Deeds reviews Persephone Station by Stina Leicht
- Alexandra Pierce reviews Awake in the Floating City by Susanna Kwan
- Fiona Sturges reviews Orbital by Samantha Harvey
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Bee Speaker by Adrian Tchaikovsky
- Adrienne Martini reviews Esperance by Adam Oyebanji
- Doreen Sheridan reviews Splinter Effect by Andrew Ludington
- Fantasy Faction reviews Swordheart by T. Kingfisher
- Marlene Harris reviews Heir of Light by Michelle Sagara
- Cassie Schulz reviews The Duke Steals Hearts & Other Body Parts by Elias Cold.
- Colleen Mondor reviews Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
- Marlene Harris reviews Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race
- Ed Crocker reviews The Gryphon King by Sara Omer
- Arley Sorg reviews When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
- James Tivendale reviews War Lord by Bernard Cornwell
- Niall Harrison reviews The Book of Records by Madeleine Thien
- Ian Mond reviews Major Arcana by John Pistelli
- John Mauro reviews While Darkness Gathers by Philip Chase
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Darkness in the Pines by David Green
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Starling House by Alix E. Harrow
- Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews It Was Her House First by Cherie Priest
- Rob Bedford reviews My Ex, the Antichrist by Craig DiLouie
- John Mauro reviews Liminal Monster by Luke Tarzian
- Gabino Iglesias reviews The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica
- Christobel Kent reviews Havoc by Rebecca Wait
- Kate Jackson reviews Summers End by Juneau Black
Classics reviews:
- Paul Weimer revisits the 1949 fantasy novel Silverlock by John Myers Myers
- Dave Hook revisits the 1949 science fiction collection The Thirty-First of February by Nelson S. Bond
- Dave Hook revisits the 1949 collection The Lottery, or, The Adventures of James Harris by Shirley Jackson
- Alan Brown revisits the 1952 space opera novel Gunner Cade by Cyril Judd a.k.a. C.M. Kornbluth and Judith Merril.
- Cici Zhang revisits the 1957 fix-up novel Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1960 science fiction story “Something Bright” by Zenna Henderson
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1965 science fiction novel The Squares of the City by John Brunner
- David Levinson revisits the August 1970 issue of Venture Science Fiction.
- Gideon Marcus revisits the August/September 1970 issue of Galaxy.
- Brian Collins revisits volume 1 of the 1970 anthology The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, edited by Robert Silverberg.
- Kris Vyas-Myall revisits the 1970 science fiction anthology Orbit 7, edited by Damon Knight.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1980 post-apocalyptic military SF novel The Steel, the Mist, and the Blazing Sun by Christopher Anvil
- Christopher Lockett revisits the 1988 Discworld fantasy novel Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett.
- Alissa Burger revisits the 1996 YA horror novels The Confession and What Holly Heard by R.L. Stine.
Con and event reports:
- The 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, shares its program schedule.
- Mike Glyer shares a summary of the first virtual Business Meeting of the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington.
- Randee Dawn explains why so many SFF conventions need fixing and how ConVergence in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is trying to buck the trend
- Umberto Gonzales wonders why so few of the big film studios are bringing their offerings to San Diego Comic Con this year.
- Mike Glyer shares the results of the site selection voting for the 2027 Westercon.
- Kevin Standlee shares a video of the Business Meeting at the 2025 Westercon in Santa Clara, California.
- Mike Glyer reports about the two bids for the 2028 Worldcon for Kigali, Rwanda, and Brisbane, Australia.
- Kimberly Pierce shares her experiences at the 2025 Fan Expo Denver in Denver, Colorado.
- Randee Dawn shares the photo of the latest Brooklyn Books & Booze event.
- Mark Sweney interviews Fiona Eastwood, CEO of Merlin Entertainments who operates several theme parks, including the various Legoland parks as well as Alton Towers and Thorpe Parks.
- Veronica Bane shares her experiences working as a theme-park princes
Crowdfunding:
Science and technology:
- Dan Falk asks whether with space junk on the rise, a catastrophic event is inevitable.
- Alex Wilkins reports that images transmitted by the space probe New Horizons enable a first test of interstellar navigation
- John Timmer reports that new evidence suggests that some supernovae may be a “double detonation”
- Robert Z. Pearlman reports that Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" also includes 85 million US-dollars to move the Space Shuttle Discovery from the Smithsonian Museum in Washington DC to the Space Center in Houston, Texas
- Angela Woolsey reports that the Smithsonian Museum is determined to keep the Space Shuttle Discovery.
- Luc Olinga reports that China has started a robot football league.
Toys and collectibles:
- Adam McCombs traces the many connections between Masters of the Universe and Mattel's Big Jim toyline.
- James Whitbrook takes a look at the Lego Transformers Soundwave
- Pat Henderson reviews The Wand Company Star Trek Tricorder
- Germain Lussier shares a look at the Hot Toys The Last of Us Joel Miller action figure.
- Germain Lussier shares a look at Super 7's Godzilla San Diego Comic Con exclusives.
Free online fiction:
- "Rapport: Friendship, Solidarity, Communion, Empathy" by Martha Wells in Reactor.
- "How to Win Against the Robots" by Katherine Crighton in Lightspeed.
- "A Dish Best Served Cold, Or, an Excerpt From the Cookbook Of the Gods" by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe in Lightspeed.
- "Out of Draconia" by Alma Alexander in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "Beyond the Fold" by Holden Lee in Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
- "A Black Mile To The Surface" by Chris Bissette in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "My Song at the Conclave of Many Sorrows" by Daniel A. Oluremi in Apex Magazine.
- "The Twelve Deaths of You" by C.J. Subko in The Deadlands.
- "Serpent Carriers" by K.A. Teryna, translated by Alex Shvartsman in Clarkesworld.
- "Welcome to Kearney" by Gary Kloster in Clarkesworld.
- "No Mirrors Here" by A. Katherine Black in The Dark.
- “Tunnel Fever” by Margrét Helgadóttir in Future Tense Fiction.
- " The Hearth" by Benjamin Percy in Nightmare Magazine.
Trailers and videos:
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