Speculative Fiction Links of the Week for January 16, 2026

 

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 in general, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Avatar: Fire and Ash,  the series finale of Stranger Things, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek in general, All You Need Is Kill, 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, the exceedingly odd advertising campaign for Avengers: Doomsday, the battle for Warner Bros and much more.

Speculative fiction in general:

• Lisa Tuttle shares a round of her favourite recent science fiction, fantasy and horror books.  
• Christina Orlando shares thirty SFF books to look forward to in 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new SFF crossover books arriving in January 2026 
• Reactor shares all the new young adult SFF crossover books arriving in January 2026 
• Tobias Carroll shares can’t miss indie press speculative fiction for January and February 2026 
• Andrew Liptak shares his favourite science fiction, fantasy and horror books of 2025 
• Alex Brown shares five underrated speculative anthologies  
• Jo Walton shares her reading list for November 2025. 
• Joanna Kavenna takes a look at SFF books which have predicted current trends. 
• James Davis Nicoll side-eyes science fiction’s love of empires 
• Charlie Jane Anders discovers a mini-trend of books about characters sharing memories with each other. 
• Matthew Byrd discusses the evolution of the cryosleep trope from King Arthur to corpsicles.  
• Lish McBride shares whimsical wintery SFF reads to enjoy. 
• Dimitra Fimi explains how J.R.R. Tolkien's essay "On Fairy-stories" shaped the thinking of later fantasy writers 
• Keith Roysdon shares his appreciation for the work of Richard Matheson. 
• Adam Kirsch explains that being a reader means cultivating a relationship with the world that, by most standards, can seem pointless and counterproductive. 
• Nathan Masters takes a look at the many science fiction writers, collection and sites in Los Angeles, California. 

 

Comics and Art:

• Robin Marx reviews Conan the Barbarian #25 by Jim Zub and Alex Horley 
• Frank M. Young talks about the decline and fall of newspaper comics
• The Hiveworks Guild shares a statement on problems with the webcomic publisher Hiveworks Comics
• Justin Carter reports that Ultimate Endgame #1 has potentially become Marvel’s top-selling comic in years due to Robert Downey Jr. contributing a cover.
• Tom Gauld shares a cartoon about performative reading  
• Cartoonist Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, has died aged 68. 
• Illustrator and cartoonish Dan Moynihan died aged 52.  

 

Film and TV: 

• io9 share their thirty most anticipated SFF films of 2026  
• Isaiah Colbert declares that the animated series Primal is back and as gnarly as ever 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido declares that in The Fantastic Four: First Steps superheroes may save the world, but can't defeat terminal blandness. 
• Jacob Oller calls A Useful Ghost a hilarious and affecting ghost storyfrom Thailand. 
• Peter Bradshaw calls Bulk a quirky science fiction film that brings small-budget charm to big questions 
• Leah Thomas declares that the anime Frieren offers timeless life lessons from a tired mage 
• Arturo Serrano declares that the new Anaconda feels like something captured by its titular monster: a regurgitated, half-digested lump that is hard to ignore but much harder to look at. 
• Jacob Oller calls Greenland 2: Migration an arbitrary apocalypse 
• Indrapramit Das talks about Pluribus, generative AI and Imperialism. 
• William Hughes shares his thoughts on the latest episode of Fallout.  
• C.T. Phipps shares his thoughts on It: Welcome to Derry. 
• Ellen E. Jones and Mark Kermode take a look at the many Stephen King film adaptations.
• Cheryl Eddy looks ahead at horror movies coming out in 2026. 
• Amber Dubin revisits the 1971 Night Gallery episodes "The Dead Man" and "The Housekeeper" 
• Jessica Holmes revisits the 1971 Timeslip serial “The Year Of The Burn Up”, 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido revisits the 1997 Babylon 5 episode “The Face of the Enemy”  
• Kali Wallace revisits the 2002 science fiction film Minority Report. 
• Paul Hirons revisits the 2006 time travel cop show Life on Mars.  
• Keith Roysdon shares a brief, disturbing history of the Universal monsters  
• Germain Lussier interviews Matthew Wiatt, director of the documentary Saber. 
• Justin Carter muses five years onwards whether the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s excursion into worked.  
• Stuart Heritage is frustrated that disaster movies keep destroying the same landmarks over and over again. 
• Germain Lussier reports that Kathleen Kennedy is stepping down as the head of Lucasfilm and passing the reins to Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan. 
• Hannah Postlethwait reports that several Philip K. Dick adaptations are on the way. 
• Actor T.K. Carter, best known for his appearances in The Thing, The Corner, Ski Patrol and Punky Brewster, has died age 69. 
• Composer Guy Moon, who provided the music for many animated TV-series, has died aged 63. 

Comments on Masters of the Universe in general:

• Colt Crane shares a profiles of the Masters of the Universe character Dekker. 
• Cora Buhlert reviews He-Man and the Masters of the Universe: The Sword of Flaws No. 2 by Tim Seeley and Freddie Williams II 
• Robert Labandeira discusses the possible fate of the 2018 She-Ra and the Princesses of Power cartoon, once it is pulled from Netflix at the end of the month. 
• James Eatock recounts how an edit made for the UK airing of the He-Man episode "A Beastly Sideshow" actually made the episode better.

 

Comments on Star Trek: Starfleet Academy and Star Trek in general: 

• Ryan Britt declares that Starfleet Academy really isn't your parents' Star Trek
• Vanessa Armstrong notes that Starfleet Academy is the horniest Star Trek show in years 
• Grame Virtue declares that Starfleet Academy is a hormone-fuelled tale of the training college for space voyagers that is like Grange Hill, with phasers – and it has a female lead unlike any captain before 
• Keith R.A. DeCandido shares his thoughts on "Kids These Days", the first episode of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. 
• James Whitbrook shares his thoughts on "Kids These Days" and "Beta Test", the first two episodes of Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.  
• James Whitbrook explains the state of the Star Trek universe at the time of Starfleet Academy  
• Vanessa Armstrong interviews Holly Hunter who play Chancellor Nahla in Star Trek: Starfleet Academy.  
• Jimmy Kimmel interviews Tig Notaro who plays Jet Reno in Star Trek: Discovery and Starfleet Academy. 
• Ed Gross revisits a proposed 1989 movie that would have shown Kirk, Spock and McCoy at Starfleet Academy 

 

Comments on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: 

• Cheryl Eddy calls A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms an absolute triumph   
• Cheryl Eddy interviews Ira Parker, showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. 

 

Comments on the series finale of Stranger Things (spoilers): 

• Haley Zapal shares her thoughts on the series finale of Stranger Things. 
• James Whitbrook finds some unexpected parallels between the series finale of Stranger Things and the video game Mass Effect 3. 
• Kate Arthur interviews Matt and Ross Duffer, creators of Stranger Things.
• Tony Maglio interviews Martina Radwan, director of the documentary One Last Adventure: The Making of Stranger Things 5 
• Cheryl Eddy shares elevan things she learned from the Stranger Things finale documentary  
• Samantha Nelson reports that the Dungeons & Dragons terrain seen in the final episode of Stranger Things comes from the real world manufacturer Dwarven Forge. 

 

Comments on All You Need Is Kill: 

• Elijah Gonzales declares that the anime All You Need Is Kill avoids déjà vu and that colourful visuals and an introspective outlook ensure this adaptation isn't a brazen repeat of Edge of Tomorrow.  
• Isaiah Colbert calls All You Need Is Kill a trippy, heart‑flecked time loop that only partially lands 
• Isaiah Colbert interviews Kenichiro Akimoto,director of All You Need Is Kill.  

 

Comments on 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple: 

• Peter Bradshaw calls 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple the best chapter yet of zombie horror series  
• Jesse Hassenger declares that 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple doesn't zig-zag as stylishly as its predecessor, but is still more than worthwhile. 
• Germain Lussier calls 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple smaller, gorier and more fun than its predecessor  

 

 Comments on Avatar: Fire and Ash: 

• Sam Adams is annoyed that people are still claiming that the Avatar movies leave no cultural impact, even though they are massively successful.
• Sam Adams also declares that the Avatar films are animated movies. 
• Justin Carter reports that Avatar: Fire and Ash continues to sit at the top of the US box office. 

 

Comments on the exceedingly odd advertising campaign for Avengers: Doomsday: 

• Ben Child shares his frustration with the various teaser trailers for Avengers Doomsday which don't actually tell anything about the movie at all.  
• Germain Lussier is also exceedingly baffled by the odd advertising campaign for Avengers Doomsday. 
• Justin Carter attempts to explain why Avengers Doomsday is being marketed the way it is. 
• Watch yet another teaser for Avengers: Doomsday.  

 

Comments on the bidding war between Netflix and Paramount for Warner Bros: 

• Jill Goldsmith reports that Paramount has filed a lawsuit to stop the merger of Netflix and Warner Bros. 
• Joanna Partridge reports that Netflix has now switched to a multi-billion US-dollar all cash offer to purchase Warner Bros and pre-empt Paramount
• Alex Weprin predicts that the battle for Warner Bros might get even uglier.

 

Awards:

• The finalists for the 2026 Philip K. Dick Award have been announced.  
• The finalists for the 2026 Splatterpunk Awards have been announced. 
• The winners of the 2026 Golden Globes have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2026 DGA Awards have been aannounced.
• The finalists for the 2026 ASC Awards have been aannounced. 
• The finalists for the 2026 VES Awards have been announced. 
• The finalists for the 2026 NAACP Image Awards have been announced, 
• The finalists for the 2026 2026 D.I.C.E. Awards have been announced. 
• The winner of the 2026 Ark Prize has been announced  

 

Writing, publishing and promotion: 

• David Arndt shares five steps to a better writing process 
• Ed Simon tallks about writers and their day jobs 
• Kemi Cole shares a research guide for responsible SFF worldbuilding 
• Paul Anthony Jones explains the most viral slang terms of 2025.
• Surina Venkat reports that publishers are taking a step back from LGBTQ books following Donald Trump's return to office. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Must Reads Magazines, publishers of Analog, Asimov's and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, have changed their standard contract in response to cricitism by SFWA 
• Michael Capobianco urgens writers who are part of the class action lawsuit against Anthropic AI to check whether their rights have reverted. 
• Mike Glyer reports that Sheila Williams, editor of Asimov's Science Fiction, has been hospitalised following a brain aneurysm and that Emily Hockaday will serve as interim editor.  
• Literary agent Patrick Delahunt has died aged 72. 

 

Interviews:

• James Hibberd interviews George R.R. Martin. 
• Locus interviews Tom Holt a.k.a. K.J. Parker. 
• Scott Edelman interviews Andy Duncan.
• Gabrielle Harbowy interviews Erin M. Adams. 
• Sophie McBain interviews George Saunders. 

 

Reviews: 

• Adrian Collins reviews Wolfskin by Jeremy Szal 
• Jonathan Cowie reviews Halcyon Years by Alastair Reynolds  
• James Davis Nicoll reviews System Collapse by Martha Wells 
• Marlene Harris reviews Intergalactic Waste Management LLC by Ash Bishop 
• Paul Di Filippo reviews God’s Junk Drawer by Peter Clines 
• Ainy Cormac reviews Immortal Aberration by Calum Lott  
• Paul Di Filippo reviews The Essence by Dave Hutchinson 
• James Davis Nicoll reviews Private Rites by Julia Armfield 
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Saint of Steel Series by T. Kingfisher 
• Rob Bedford reviews Twelve Months by Jim Butcher. 
• Marlene Harris reviews The Shop on Hidden Lane by Jayne Ann Krentz
• Jenny Hamilton reviews An Unlikely Coven by A.M. Kvita 
• Marlene Harris reviews Sorcerous Plates by Tao Wong 
• Doreen Sheridan reviews The Book Of Autumn by Molly O’Sullivan 
• Russell Letson reviews Lives of Bitter Rain by Adrian Tchaikovsky
• Julia Kitvaria Sarene reviews The Silencing of the North by G. R. Matthews
• Blue Book Balloon reviews The Echo of Crows by Phil Rickman   
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Asunder by Kerstin Hall 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Blackfire Blade by James Logan 
• Bill Capossere reviews The Poet Empress by Shen Tao 
• Mark Yon reviews The Poet Empress by Shen Tao. 
• Ian Mond reviews Playing Wolf by Zuzana Říhová, translated by Alex Zucker. 
• Colleen Mondor reviews The Moss by Lisa Lueddecke  
• Blue Book Balloon reviews House of Splinters by Laura Purcell  
• Alexis Ong reviews Letters From an Imaginary Country by Theodora Goss. 
• Joanne Anderton reviews Tailored Realities by Brandon Sanderson 
• Runalong the Shelves reviews Acquired Taste by Clay McLeod Chapman 
• Arley Sorg reviews the Beyond Glittering World: An Anthology of Indigenous Feminisms and Futurisms, edited by Darcie Little Badger, Stacie Shannon Denetsosie and Kinsale Drake,   
• Marlene Harris reviews We Will Rise Again, edited by Karen Lord, Annalee Newitz and Malka Older 
  
  

 Classics reviews:

• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1950 science fiction fix-up novel The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury 
• Sandy Ferber revisits the 1963 dark fantasy collection Who Fears the Devil? by Manly Wade Wellman 
• N.S. Ford revisits the 1968 Pern science fantasy novel Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey 
• Joachim Boaz and Rachel S. Cordasco revisit the 1970 dystopian short story "Slum" by Herbert W. Franke. 
• Victoria Silverwolf revisits the February 1971 issue of Fantastic. 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1988 fantasy anthology Unknown Worlds: Tales from Beyond, edited by Stanley Schmidt 
• James Davis Nicoll revisits the 1995 science fiction mystery The Man Who Died Seven Times by Yasuhiko Nishizawa, translated by Jesse Kirkwood. 
   
  
  

Con and event reports:

• Ari Anderson reports about the 2025 Worldcon in Seattle, Washington.
• Jonathan Cowie wonders whether Worldcon has shot itself in the foot. 
• Alexandra Witze reports that international scientists are increasingly avoiding conferences in the US due to Donald Trump's immigration policies.
• Guy D'Astolfo reports that the planned Museum of Science Fiction & Fantasy Arts in Warren, Ohio, has received a grant of 2.3 million US-dollar. 
• Christian Thorsberg reports about “Paws on Parchment”, an exhibition about the depiction (and occasional paw prints) of cats in medieval manucripts in Baltimore, Maryland.    
• Germain Lussier reports that the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge attraction at Disneyland in Anaheim, California, will also cover the original trilogy. 
• Sarah Szabo reports about people who dress up as mermaids. 

 

Crowdfunding:

• SFF writer Alma Alexander needs some help with emergency repairs to her house. 

 

Science and technology:

• Aaron Leong reports that astronomers have identified a baby galaxy cluster that's far hotter and more energetic than current cosmological models allow 
• Lauren E. Low reports that the final steps are underway for NASA’s first crewed Artemis Moon mission   
• Rachel Goodman reports that NASA will return the current ISS crew to Earth months early due to an astronaut’s illness 
• Erin Morton reports about NASA’s Dragonfly mission to the Saturn moon Titan. 
• John Scalzi is thrilled that an asteroid has been named after him. 
• Justin Hughes reports that the Space Shuttle Discovery will remain at the Smithsonian Museum. 
• Hilary Douwes explains how to build a handheld muon detector.
• Erich von Däniken, writer of popular non-fiction books about alleged visits of aliens to Earth, has died aged 90. 
   

Gaming: 

• Keza MacDonald talks about the video game Hollow Knight: Silksong and how it helped her deal with her chronic pain.
• Keza MacDonald talks about the "gamer brain" phenomenon. 
• James Whitbrook reports that Games Workshop have banned the use of generative AI in the game design process.  

 

Toys and collectibles:

• ToyPix shares his five favourite action figures of 2025.
• Adam McCombs reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Sketch Book Collection Mark Taylor style He-Man action figure.
• Pixel Dan reviews the Mattel Masters of the Universe Origins Mark Taylor style Castle Grayskull. 
• Anna Bawden reports that Mattel has launched the first autistic Barbie in the Fashionistas line.  
• James Whitbrook notes that Hasbro's latest Star Wars Black Series reveals include many odder alien characters. 
• James Whitbrook shares a look at some upcoming LEGO Pokémon sets. 
• Amy Hawkins reports that the popular Labubu toys by Pop Mart are manufactured under exploitative conditions in China. 

 

Free online fiction: 

• "Doughnuts from the Daydream Network" by Julia Vee in The Sunday Morning Transport.
• "Bots All the Way Down" by Effie Seiberg in Lightspeed.  
• "Where the Chicken-Footed Dwell" by Marisca Pichette in Lightspeed.  
• "Donor Unknown" by Nika Murphy in Clarkesworld. 
• "Je Ne Regrette Rien" by James Patrick Kelly in Clarkesworld.
• "Punks Don’t Die" by Kat Sedia in The Deadlands. 
• "The Doorkeepers" by A. T. Greenblatt in Uncanny Magazine  
• "Joiner and Rust" by Lavie Tidhar in Reactor.
• "Three on a Match" by Joanne Anderton in The Dark. 
• "To Hear Herself Speak" by Gustavo Bondoni in Swords and Sorcery Magazine. 
• "Dregs" by R. Diego Martinez in Nightmare Magazine.   

 

Trailers and videos:

• Watch a trailer for season 3 of Primal. 
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of the live action One Piece. 
• Watch a trailer for season 2 of Monarch: Legacy of Monsters 
• Watch a trailer for Lee Cronin’s The Mummy  
• Watch a trailer for The Bride. 
• Watch a trailer for This Is Not a Test. 
• Watch a trailer for Starman.