It's
time for the latest weekly round-up of interesting
links
about speculative
fiction from
around the web, this week with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general, Masters of the Universe in general, Peacemaker and the DC Cinematic Universe in general, season 3 of Foundation,, Alien Earth, Outlander: Blood of My Blood, season 2 of Wednesday, The Conjuring: Last Rites, The Long Walk, the Anthropic AI settlement and much
more.
Speculative fiction in general:
- Lacy Baugher Milas shares the most anticipated romantasy books of fall 2025
- Tobias Carroll shares indie and small press speculative fiction for September and October 2025
- Dave Hook shares an overview of women in speculative fiction over the decades.
- Alex Brown shares their most anticipated young adult SFF for September and October 2025
- Brenda Clough tries to define a taxonomy of historical science fiction
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction books that decided to just ignore the limitations imposed by the speed of light.
- Ruthanna Emrys talks about lingustic science fiction and the Sapir Whorf hypothesis.
- James Davis Nicoll shares five science fiction stories built around specific, context-dependent disabilities
- Joe Hart talks about the fear and fascination of gothic fiction
- Lorna Wallace shares five horror stories featuring big families and big drama
- Amanda Chapman shares her favourite subtly supernatural novels.
- Neil Sharpson explains how writing a vampire novel made him more comfortable with death.
- Jo Walton shares her reading list for August 2025.
- Dmytro Gromov and Oleg Ladyzhenskij a.k.a. Henry Lion Oldie talk about the state of Ukrainian science fiction.
- Molly Templeton notes that criticism is apparently dying once again.
- Matthew Petti reports that the FBI once investigated science fiction author Vernor Vinge.
- Locus remembers Guy Lillian.
- Janet Rudoph remembers Chelsea Quinn Yarbro.
Comics and Art:
- Robin Marx reviews Conan the Barbarian #23 by Jim Zub and Fernando Dagnino
- Brad Hawley reviews I Want to Eat Your Pancreas: The Complete Manga Collection by Yoru Sumino and Idumi Kirihara
- Jason Sacks takes a look at the underground comics of the late 1960s and early 1970s.
- Winston Cho reports that Warner Bros. Discovery sues the AI company Midjourney for copyright infringement
- Michael Whelan and Michael Everett discuss book cover layout from the POV of an illustrator.
Film and TV:
- Ann Michelle Harris calls Washington Black a unique coming-of-age story about the search for knowledge and family connection
- Trace Sauveur calls Guillermo del Toro’s take on Frankenstein an extravagant gothic science fiction melodrama.
- Cassie Tongue calls Lesbian Space Princess a fizzy animated film with loads of laughs and a lot of heart
- Natalia Keogan calls Sacrifice a superficial satire of the climate crisis.
- Benjamin Lee calls Obsession a nasty horror film which sees a wish for true love go horribly wrong
- Cheryl Eddy declares that Traumatika puts a gruesome spin on the idea of facing your demons
- Jim Vorel calls Rabbit Trap mesmerizing but alienating
- Jason Gorber calls Dust Bunny ferociously fun
- Diana Keng shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Invasion.
- Isaiah Colbert shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Dan Da Dan.
- Isaiah Colbert interviews Zach Aguilar and Johnny Yong Bosch, voice actors for the anime Infinity Castle.
- Sabina Graves interviews David Howard Thornton who plays Art the Clown in the Terrifier movies.
- Andrea Castañeda revisits the 1970 apocalyptic film Gas-s-s-s.
- Ryan Britt revisits the 1975 science fiction series Space 1999.
- Julio Bardini explains where the title of the 1982 science fiction film Blade Runner comes from.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1996 Babylon 5 episode “The Hour of the Wolf”
- Kali Wallace revisits the 2018 science fiction film High Life.
- Richard Edwards declares that science fiction is the genre of ideas, so science fiction film and TV shouldn't just be about big budgets and spectacular visuals
- Lee Mandelo shares ten queer Thai SFF shows to enjoy.
- Dan Chaon discusses the lasting impact of the films of Tod Browning and Lon Chaney, though many of them are lost.
- Stuart Heritage talks about cartoons getting political.
- Animation Magazine reports that the Sesame Street archive is moving to YouTube.
- Diana Keng pays a visit to Twede's Café in North Bend, Washington, which was the real life filming location for the Double R Diner in Twin Peaks.
- The BBC reports that the Ellangowan Hotel in Creetown, Scotland, which was a filming location for the 1973 horror film The Wicker Man, will be turned into apartments.
- Alexandria Wyckoff lists six rare and expensive VHS tapes.
- Justin Carter reports that voice actor Greg Cipes, who voiced Beast Boy in various Teen Titans and other DC superhero other cartoons, claims he was fired by Warner Bros after being diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
- Rafael Boyd reports that a lightsaber prop used by Darth Vader in the original Star Wars trilogy has been sold at auction for 2.7 million British pounds.
- Scott Spiegel, co-writer of Evil Dead II and executive producer of Hostel, has died aged 67.
Comments on season 3 of Foundation:
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on “The Paths That Choose Us”, the latest episode of season 3 of Foundation.
- Paul Levinson shares his thoughts on “The Paths That Choose Us”, the latest episode of season 3 of Foundation.
- Cheryl Eddy shares her thoughts on “The Paths That Choose Us”, the latest episode of season 3 of Foundation.
- Rich Pelley interviews Jared Harris who plays Hari Seldon in Foundation.
- Rick Porter reports that Foundation has been renewed for season 4.
Comments on Peacemaker and the DC Cinematic Universe in general:
- Emmet Asher-Perrin shares their thoughts on the latest episode of Peacemaker.
- Melody McCune shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Peacemaker.
- Jarrod Jones shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Peacemaker.
- Isaiah Colbert shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Peacemaker.
- Ben Child wonders about the next Superman movie Man of Tomorrow.
Comments on Star Trek: Strange New Worlds and Star Trek in general:
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on “New Life and New Civilizations”, the season 3 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on “New Life and New Civilizations”, the season 3 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Caroline Siede shares her thoughts on “New Life and New Civilizations”, the season 3 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Avery Kaplan shares her thoughts on “New Life and New Civilizations”, the season 3 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Melody McCune shares her favourite quotes from “New Life and New Civilizations”, the season 3 finale of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Avery Kaplan and Diana Keng share their thoughts on “Terrarium”, the previous episode of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Lily Osler wonders whether biology is destiny in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Meredith Jacobs discusses the Doctor Who references in season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.
- Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Paradise", the first episode of the audio drama Star Trek Khan.
- Vanessa Armstrong interviews Naveen Andrews who voices Khan Noonien Singh in a Star Trek audio drama.
- Avery Kaplan shares five Star Trek episodes about two characters
- Laurie Ulster reports that Star Trek Discovery stars Anthony Rapp and Wilson Cruz are disappointed that Star Trek Discovery never had a musical episode.
Comments on seaosn 2 of Wednesday:
- Sabina Graves shares five things she loved and three things she didn’t about season 2 of Wednesday.
- Arturo Serrano shares his thoughts on the second part of season 2 of Wednesday.
- Savannah Salaxar interviews Owen Painter who plays Slurp in season 2 of Wednesday.
- Lisa de los Reyes interviews the special effects team of Wednesday.
Comments on Alien: Earth:
- Leah Schnelbach shares her thoughts on the latest episode of Alien Earth.
- Matt Schimkowitz shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Alien Earth.
- Germain Lussier shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Alien Earth.
- Ryan Britt interviews Noah Hawley, showrunner of Alien Earth.
- Saloni Gajjar interviews Jeff Russo, composer for Alien Earth.
- Carson Blackwelder and Nigel Smith interview Sigourney Weaver who plays Ellen Riply in several Alien movies about Alien Earth.
Comments on Outlander: Blood of My Blood:
Comments on The Long Walk:
- Steve Rose calls The Long Walk the grimmest mainstream movie for some time
- Frank Scheck calls The Long Walk bleak, bruising and emotionally affecting
- Jacob Oller calls The Long Walk a chummy, harrowing B-movie which respectably plods its way through its hellish metaphor.
- Richard Swan declares that The Long Walk explores bonds forged in extremity and then trips over the finish line
- Jesse Hassenger declares that The Long Walk reaches for something profound and disturbing, while at the same time wary of risking a bad stretch.
- James Hibberd interviews Mark Hamill who plays the Major in The Long Walk.
Comments on The Conjuring: Last Rites:
- Leah Schnelbach declares that The Conjuring: Last Rites hits both the highs and lows of the series
- Haley Zapal declares that The Conjuring: Last Rites isn't exactly scary, but will appease fans looking for an emotional finale for their horror mom and dad
- Justin Carter reports that The Conjuring: Last Rites has had the best box office opening for the entire series.
Awards:
Writing, publishing and promotion:
- Lauren Oliver talks about collective narrators.
- Hannah Mary McKinnon explains how her corporate job made her a better writer of mysteries
- Elizabeth Bear points out that networking is just making friends
- Hank Phillippi Ryan talks about book tours.
- P.A. Cornell reports how she walked away from a story sale to Analog, after Analog's new owners refused to budge on inacceptable contract terms,
- Ted Johnson reports that Anthropic AI has agreed to pay 1.5 billion US dollar to settle the AI class action lawsuit brought forward to several authors.
- Jason Sanford dissects the Anthropic AI settlement and finds it not nearly as favourable as initially presented, especially since many authors are shut out altogether due to not having a US copyright registration.
- Jason Sanford shares an update about the Anthropic AI settlement.
- Ashley Belanger reports that US District Judge William Alsup has refused to approve the Anthropic AI settlement.
- Ed Nawotka reports that Apple is also being sued by authors for copyright infringement over the training of its AI system.
Interviews:
Reviews:
- Rob Bedford reviews The Two Lies of Faven Sythe by Megan E. O'Keefe.
- Runalong the Shelves reviews The Bewitching by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
- James Davis Nicoll reviews Queen Demon by Martha Wells
- Marion Deeds reviews The Secret Market of the Dead by Giovanni de Feo
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Lady’s Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
- Niall Harrison reviews The Island of Last Things by Emma Sloley
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews That Inevitable Victorian Thing by E.K. Johnston
- Mark Yon reviews Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
- Melissa A. Watkins reviews Novic by Eugen Bacon
- Doreen Sheridan reviews Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
- Marlene Harris reviews A Tangle of Time by Josiah Bancroft
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi
- Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews Once Was Willem by M.R. Carey
- Paul Weimer reviews Hornytown Chutzpah by Andrew Hiller
- Rai Furniss-Greasley reviews When Among Crows by Veronica Roth
- Liz Bourke reviews The Needfire by M.K. Hardy
- Marlene Harris reviews The Maiden and Her Monster by Maddie Martinez
- James Davis Nicoll reviews The Unkillable Frank Lightning by Josh Rountree
- Colleen Mondor reviews When Devils Sing by Xan Kaur
- Sam Leith reviews The Secret of Secrets by Dan Brown
- Gabino Iglesias reviews The Ephemera Collector by Stacy Nathaniel Jackson
- Paul Weimer reviews Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill
- Marlene Harris reviews Audition for the Fox by Martin Cahill
- Esmay Rosalyne reviews You Weren’t Meant to Be Human by Andrew Joseph White
- Z.B. Steele reviews Demon by Rob J. Hayes
- Adrian Collins reviews The Feeding by Anthony Ryan
- Maura Krause reviews Predatory Natures by Amy Goldsmith
- Fantasy Faction reviews The Company of Death by Elisa Hansen
- Marlene Harris reviews Ushers by Joe Hill
- Gabino Iglesias reviews A Thousand Natural Shocks by Omar Hussain
- Yagnishsing Dawoor reviews No Friend to This House by Natalie Haynes
- Camestros Felapton reviews Katabasis by R.F.Kuang
- Paul Di Filippo reviews A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde
Classics reviews:
- Brian Collins revisits the 1970 horror collection The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath by H. P. Lovecraft
- Gideon Marcus revisits the October 1970 issue of Galaxy.
- James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1980 anthology Galaxy: Thirty Years of Innovative Science Fiction, edited by Martin H. Greenberg, Joseph D. Olander and Frederik Pohl
- Kat Hooper and Bill Capossere revisit the 2014 cozy space opera The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers
- Judith Tarr revisits the 2018 science fiction novel And the Ocean Was Our Sky by Patrick Ness
Con and event reports:
- Dave Hook reports about a panel entitled “The Fantastic Four: The First Family of Comics” at the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington.
- Daniel Dern reports about the 2025 Readercon in Burlington, Massachussetts.
- Locus reports about the 2025 Readercon in Burlington, Massachussetts.
- Ed's Retro Geek Out reports about the 2025 Toyplosion in Castrop-Rauxel, Germany.
- Mercedes Milligan reports that GalaxyCon LLC, which operates several US conventions, has announced a sweeping AI art ban
- Germain Lussier looks ahead at Fantastic Fest in Austin, Texas.
- Randee Dawn shares a photo of the Brooklyn Books & Booze event in Brooklyn, New York.
- Germain Lussier reports about the exhibiton Shadowboxers by Jayson Weidel in Miamisburg, Ohio.
- Christina Rees reports about a tour of Guillermo Del Toro's collection of movie props and other artefacts in Santa Monica, California.
- Matt Martin reports that Twilight tourism is still going strong in Forks, Washington, twenty years after the first Twilight book came out.
Crowdfunding:
Science and technology:
Toys and collectibles:
Free online fiction:
- "Four People I Need You to Kill Before the Dance Begins" by Louis Inglis Hall in Clarkesworld.
- "The Right Kind of Royalty" by Ismail Soldan in Swords and Sorcery
- "Finishing Touches" by Adam-Troy Castro in Nightmare Magazine.
- "The Witch Trap" by Jennifer Hudak in The Dark.
- "Changeling" by Frey Lylark in Apex Magazine.
- "If a Digitized Tree Falls" by Ken Liu and Caroline M. Yoachim in Reactor.
- "The Sunflower Covenant" by Lyrra Isanberg in Imagine 2200.
- "Apeiron" by Cadwell Turnbull in Lightspeed.
- "The Place I Came To" by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko in Lightspeed.
- "Large Emotional Models" by Cecilia Tan in The Sunday Morning Transport.
Trailers and videos:
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