It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general, news from the upcoming Masters of the Universe live action film and Masters of the Universe in general, Fantastic Four: First Steps and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general, Superman and the DC Cinematic Universe in general, season 3 of Foundation, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, season 2 of Wednesday, Alien Earth, Red Sonja, Witchboard, the latest adaptation of The War of the Worlds, Weapons and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Lisa Tuttle shares a round-up of her favourite recent science fiction, fantasy and horror books.
- Alex Brown shares must read short speculative fiction from July 2025
- James Davis Nicoll notes that women have always written SFF, but it wasn't always easy to find.
- Christine Orlando asks seventeen speculative fiction authors what their favourite SFF trope is and which trope needs to be reimagined.
- Terry Pratchett talks about how magic and magic users are portrayed in fantasy fiction.
- Sarah Fimm shares her ten favourite books with space battles.
- Z.B. Steele recommends eight indie grimdark novellas.
- Rachel Eve Moulton talks about female violence as power in horror fiction.
- Tom Mead talks about the similarities between locked room mysteries and ghost stories.
- Samantha Edmonds shares six stargazing books..
- Alissa Burger shares her favourite fictional amusement parks.
- Jo Walton shares her reading list for July 2025.
- Ray Tabler takes a look at author pen names.
- Molly Templeton notes that we all miss mass market paperbacks.
- David Agranaoff talks about the waking nightmares of Philip K. Dick
- Samantha Brown discusses the ongoing fascination with Octavia E. Butler, nineteen years after her death.
- Rich Eberwein ranks ten main characters from The Lord of the Rings for likeability.
- Tobias Carroll shares his appreciation for the uncanny fiction of Joel Lane.
- Clara Bullock reports that a rare first edition of The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien has sold for 43000 British pounds at auction.
- Science fiction fan and scholar Terry A. Murray has died aged 72.
Comics and Art:
Film and TV:
- Phil Hoad calls the anime Wolf Children a minor masterpiece.
- Phil Hoad calls That Alien, Sound a kooky comedy about a disembodied alien inhabiting a young woman’s body in a surreal exploration of music, identity and disconnection
- Luke Buckmaster calls One More Shot a pleasantly derivative time-loop comedy from Australia.
- Jim Vorel calls Went Up the Hill an emotionally powerful but ponderous queer ghost story
- Natalie Zutter declares that Freakier Friday didn’t learn its lesson the first time around
- Cath Clarke declares that animated film Super Charlie explores an important theme but doesn’t compare to Pixar in fun or heart
- Jim Vorel declares that the serial killer mockumentary Strange Harvest slashes with flair, but loses potency in the end
- Monita Roy Mohan shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Nautilus.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the series finale of Resident Alien.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Revival.
- Isaiah Colbert shares his thoughts on the latest episode of the anime Dan Da Dan.
- David Agranoff talks about Philip K. Dick themes in season two of Severance
- Ramin Zahed reports about how the new animated Peanuts special Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical came to be,
- Paste Magazine shares their thirty favourite movies about witches.
- Daisy Schofield interviews special effects experts about how various movie and TV monsters were created.
- Cheryl Eddy interviews Mike P. Nelson and star Ally Ioannides, director and star of Friday the 13th: Sweet Revenge
- Kali Wallace revisits the 1965 Italian science fiction film Planet of the Vampires.
- Jennifer Ouellette revisits the 1975 fantasy comedy Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
- Shaun Duke revisits the 1976 East German science fiction film In the Dust of Stars.
- Mekishana Pierre shares an oral history of the 1995 fantasy series Xena: Warrior Princess and finally confirms that Xena and Gabrielle were gay.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1996 Babylon 5 episode “Shadow Dancing”
- Cheryl Eddy revisits the 2000 Toxic Avenger horror film Citizen Toxie.
- Emma Keates revisits the 2005 horror show Supernatural.
- John Mauro revisits the 2006 anime Black Lagoon.
- Brittany Wong explains how "clanker", an anti-robot slur from Star Wars, escaped into the real world.
- Germain Lussier reports how various US government agencies are comically misunderstanding Star Wars and are somehow harbouring under the impression that Darth Vader is a good guy.
- Braedon Montgomery reports that AMC's commitment to Interview with the Vampire a.k.a. The Vampire Lestat and its other Anne Rice inspired shows proves that focussing on specific niches can be successful for TV channels.
- Sabina Graves reports that actress Charithra Chandran has experienced racist abuse after being cast in One Piece as Nefertari Vivi a.k.a. Miss Wednesday.
- Sabina Graves reports that James Cameron has announced that he will keep inflicting Avatar movies on the filmgoing public.
- Gabriel V. Rindborg reports that piracy is on the rise again after streaming services became steadily more expensive and worse.
- Lorna Raver, best known for her appearances in Drag Me To Hell, Freeway, Armored, The Caller and many others, has died aged 81.
Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:
Comments on season 3 of Foundation:
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on “Where Tyrants Spend Eternity,”, the fourth episode of season 3 of Foundation.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on “Where Tyrants Spend Eternity,”, the fourth episode of season 3 of Foundation.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on “Where Tyrants Spend Eternity,”, the fourth episode of season 3 of Foundation.
Comments on Fantastic Four: First Steps and the Marvel Cinematic Universe in general:
- Cheryl Morgan calls Fantastic Four: First Steps not a great movie, but a competent one.
- Michael Chabon recounts how he pitched a script for a Fantastic Four movie back in 1995.
- Matthew Byrd notes that there are conflicting reports regarding the future of Daredevil: Born Again.
- Watch some behind the scenes footage from the filming of Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Comments on Superman and the DC Cinematic Universe in general:
- Ben Child takes a look at former Superman actor Dean Cain going off the rails, as the latest iteration of Superman becomes a huge success.
- Justin Carter reports that Robin will finally appear on screen again.
- Sabina Graves reports that Krypto the Superdog will get his own animated series
- Watch a trailer for season 2 of Peacemaker.
Comments on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”, the latest episode of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”, the latest episode of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”, the latest episode of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on “The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail”, the latest episode of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- James Whitbrook lists the worst ensign deaths in Star Trek.
- Avery Kaplan shares her favourite Star Trek episodes about ancient alien civilisations.
- Vanessa Armstrong reports about a proposed new Star Trek series featuring the return of Captain Jonathan Archer from Star Trek: Enterprise.
- James Whitbrook wonders what the future looks like for Star Trek after Paramount's merger with Skydance.
- Ed Gross reports about the fan attempts to save the original Star Trek from cancellation.
Comments on Outlander: Blood of My Blood:
- Sarah Dempster calls Outlander: Blood of My Blood atrocious, unapologetically preposterous … and very watchable
- Natalie Zutter declares that the Outlander: Blood of My Blood series premiere justifies its existence
- Diana Keng interviews Maril Davis and Matthew B. Roberts, two of the stars of Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
- Diana Keng interviews Harriet Slater, Jamie Roy and Hermione Corfield, three more stars of Outlander: Blood of My Blood.
Comments on season 2 of Wednesday:
- Sabina Graves wonders about Lady Gaga's role in Wednesday.
- Diana Keng visits Cantacuzino Castle in Bustemi, Romania, one of the shooting locations for Wednesday.
- Sabina Graves reports that the first half of season 2 of Wednesday has already matched the ratings of the complete season 1.
- Watch a stop-motion animated "Tale of the Skull Tree" scene from Wednesday.
- Watch a trailer for the rest of season 2 of Wednesday.
Comments on Alien: Earth:
- Jack Seale calls Alien: Earth TV that bristles with bone-deep dread
- Rhik Samadder calls Alien: Earth properly creepy
- Leah Schnelbach declares that Alien: Earth mixes Peter Pan and xenomorphs to extraordinary effect
- Matt Schimkowitz shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Alien: Earth.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on the first two episodes of Alien: Earth.
- Vanessa Armstrong explains what to know before watching Alien: Earth
- Vanessa Armstrong interviews Noah Hawley, creator of Alien: Earth.
- Peri Nemiroff interviews Samuel Blenkin and Alex Lawther, two of the stars of Alien: Earth.
Comments on Weapons:
- Leah Schnelbach declares that Weapons lives up to the hype, then laughs at the hype and transcends it
- Leah Schnelbach also notes that she can't stop thinking about Weapons.
- Haley Zapal calls Weapons a scary-as-hell, deeply unsettling horror film
- Matt Schimkowitz declares that tragedy doesn't actually bring anyone together in Weapons
- Matthew Jackson declares that America weaponizes children and Weapons follows suit
- Jesse Hassenger notes that Weapons doesn’t have a deeper meaning but that’s okay.
- Mark Kermode reviews Weapons
- Germain Lussier interviews Zach Cregger, director of Weapons.
- Anthony Breznican interviews Zach Cregger.
- Justin Carter reports that Weapons had a good opening weekend.
- Cheryl Eddy shares eight movies about freaky kids to watch after Weapons
Comments on Red Sonja:
Comments on Witchboard:
Comments on the latest adaptation of War of the Worlds:
Awards:
- The winners of the 2025 Aurora Awards have been announced.
- The winners of the 2025 Munsey Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2024 Endeavour Award has been announced.
- The finalists for the 2025 Harvey Awards have been announced.
- The recipients of the 2025 David A. Kyle Big Heart Award have been announced.
- The recipients of the 2025 First Fandom Awards have been announced.
- The shortlist for the 2025 Royal Society Trivedi Science Book Prize has been announced.
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Lincoln Michel implores people to continue making art even in the face of AI slop flooding the internet.
- Tanya Scott finds surprising affinities between writing and medicine
- Arjun Panickssery wonders why sentence lengths have decreased.
- Jason Sanford explains why he does not use generative AI.
- Nathalie op de Beek reports that public schools in Florida have removed hundreds of books with allegedly sexual content from their libraries, fearing the state's reprisal
- Nathalie op de Beek reports that a Florida court has upheld the freedom to read in the decision PRH versus Gibson.
- Jim Milliot shares an update on the class action lawsuit of several authors against Anthropic AI.
- Writer Dave Barry reports how Google AI declared him dead and refused to correct its mistake, even though Barry is very much still alive.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Paul Di Filippo reviews Haze by Katharine Kerr
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Planetfall and After Atlas by Emma Newman
- Alex Wallace reviews Time's Agent by Brenda Peynado
- Colleen Mondor reviews Meet Me at Blue Hour by Sarah Suk
- Runalong the Shelves reviews Automatic Noodle by Annalee Newitz
- Melissa A. Watkins reviews Mindscape by Andrea Hairston
- Paul Di Filippo reviews New Tomorrow by Cody Goodfellow
- Vicki Weisfeld reviews Divinity Games by Lou Gilmond
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Blackcap by Benjamin Aeveryn
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Executioner's Blade by Andrew Knighton
- Kat Hooper reviews Knot of Shadows by Lois McMaster Bujold
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Adventure of the Demonic Ox by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Suzi Feay reviews The Magician of Tiger Castle by Louis Sachar
- Marlene Harris reviews Which Witch? by Simon R. Green
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Murder at Spindle Manor by Morgan Stang
- Gayle Surrette reviews The Enchanted Greenhouse by Sarah Beth Durst
- Kat Hooper reviews The Ornithologist’s Field Guide to Love by India Holton
- Kat Hooper reviews The Geographer’s Map to Romance by India Holton
- Marlene Harris reviews Pearl City by Julia Vee and Ken Bebelle
- Ian Mond reviews The Red Labyrinth by Ben Peek
- Bill Capossere and Marion Deeds review The Tainted Cup by Robert Jackson Bennett
- Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews Of Empires and Dust by Ryan Cahill
- Fantasy Faction reviews The Book That Wouldn’t Burn by Mark Lawrence
- Sasha Bonkowsky reviews Sunbirth by An Yu.
- Liz Bourke reviews The Starving Saints by Caitlin Starling
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews Only a Grave Will Do by James Lloyd Dulin
- Roseanna Pendlebury reviews On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle, tanslated.by Barbara Haveland.
- Beejay Silcox reviews Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
- Paul Di Filippo reviews The Immeasurable Heaven by Caspar Geon
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
- Martin Cahill reviews The Buffalo Hunter Hunter by Stephen Graham Jones
- Rob Bedford reviews House of Monstrous Women by Daphne Fama.
- Eugen Bacon reviews Monsters and Other Tales of Humanity by Carla E. Dash
- Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews At Dark, I Become Loathsome by Eric LaRocca
- Dorian Lynskey reviews Chasing the Dark: Encounters with the Supernatural by Ben Machell
Classics reviews:
- Sandy Ferber revisits the 1926 lost world novel The Devil’s Henchmen by John Oldrey
- Robert Charles Wilson revisits the 1950 fantasy comedy play Bell, Book and Candle by John Van Druten.
- John Boston revisits the September 1970 issue of Amazing.
- Cora Buhlert revisits the 1970 historical fantasy novel Deryni Rising by Katherine Kurtz.
- Winona Menezes revisits the 1970 fantasy anthology New Worlds of Fantasy 2, edited by Terry Carr.
- Brian Collins revisits the 1971 science fiction novel A Time of Changes by Robert Silverberg
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1972 science fiction novel Beyond Apollo by Barry N. Malzberg
- Brian Murphy revisits the 1975 Cormac Mac Art sword and sorcery novel Sword of the Gael by Andrew J. Offutt
- Sam Reader revisits the 1975 horror story “The Hospice” by Robert Aickman
- Brian Collins revisits the 1980 fantasy story “The Storm King” by Joan D. Vinge
- Kat Hooper revisits the 1983 science fiction novel For Love of Mother-Not by Alan Dean Foster
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1983 sword and sorcery novel The Four Wishes by Charlotte Stone
- Christopher Lockett revisits the 1989 Discworld fantasy novel Guards, Guards! by Terry Pratchett.
Reports about the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington:
- Alan Boyle reports about the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington.
- The 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, shares the demographics of its membership.
- Alan Boyle reports about a panel on AI at the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle.
- Mike Glyer reports that the representatives of the ConKigali 2028 Worldcon bid for Kigali, Rwanda, are unable to attend the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington, due to not having their visa approved in time.
- Elizabeth Klein-Lebbink shares some photos of the Rotsler Award exhibition at the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington.
Other con and event reports:
- Cheryl Morgan reports about Archipelacon 2, the 2025 Eurocon, in Mariehamn, Finland.
- Locus reports about the 2025 Locus Awards weekend in Oakland, California.
- Dean Simmons reports about an uproar and a threatened boycott at the Angoulême Comic Festival in Angoulême, France.
- Pádraig Ó Méalóid reports about the event Comics at the National Library of Ireland in Dublin, Ireland.
- Joseph Earl Thomas reports about the 2025 North American International Pokémon Championships in New Orleans, Louisiana.
- Taylor Henderson reports that an Alien themed pop-up experienced called The Hunt will appear in several cities all over the world for a single day.
Science and technology:
- Paul Sutter calls for preserving the Moon from commercial exploitation.
- Paul Sutter also notes that the future of astronomy might be on the Moon.
- Jo Wilkins reports that China has presented armed robotic wolves.
- Jimmy Juliano remembers some phenomena of the early internet.
- Molly Templeton reports about an election for the cat bike path mayor currently happening in Somerville, Massachusetts
- Astronaut Jim Lovell, commander of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission, has died aged 97.
Gaming:
- Keith Stuart talks about the current popularity of cosy games.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five user-friendly rulesets for tabletop roleplaying games
- Gideon Marcus shares his thoughts on the 1970 medieval war game Feudal.
- Keith Stuart reports about people bonding over and finding love via video games.
- C.T. Phipps reviews the video game RoboCop: Unfinished Business
Toys and collectibles:
Free online fiction:
- "Feast of Famine" by Adam-Troy Castro in Lightspeed.
- "Dad Went Out to Get the Milk" by Osahon Ize-Iyamu in Lightspeed.
- "With Only a Razor Between" by Martin Cahill in Reactor.
- "Memories Are Only Valuable if They Can Be Lost" by Ai Jiang in Clarkesworld.
- "Sleeper" by R.T. Ester in Clarkesworld.
- "The Ocean Vomits What We Discard" by J.A.W. McCarthy in The Dark.
- "As Ephemeral as Bubbles" by Akis Linardos in Apex Magazine.
- "My Mother, Dragonslayer" by E. Rathke in Swords and Sorcery Magazine.
- "Witness" by James Patrick Kelly in The Sunday Morning Transport.
- "Swallow Test" by Angela Liu in Nightmare Magazine.
Trailers and videos:
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